Avoiding Time Poverty
In recent weeks, I started to feel a bit disconnected from my team and from my purpose. Upon some soul-searching, it occurred to me that I was becoming too busy to focus, serve, and mentor our team. Deserving leaders cannot effectively serve those they lead without making time and being present for them.
In today's fast-paced society, busyness has become a status symbol – there is a perception that if you aren’t on the go you are lazy or unproductive. Busyness is NOT a reflection of the outcome.
Being busy means that you have a lot of things to do, while being productive means that you are accomplishing the things that matter most. Being constantly busy can lead to burnout and stress. When you are always on the go, you don't have time to recharge and take care of yourself. It can lead to a decrease in productivity and overall well-being. I have personally experienced this in recent months.
So, how do you ensure you make time for things that matter the most and be productive and present for those you serve rather than be busy? Here are a few tips:
Prioritize and re-evaluate: Prioritize and constantly re-evaluate your tasks, focusing on what matters most and what will have the most significant impact.
Allow yourself time to recharge. When you take the time to recharge, you come back to your work with renewed energy and focus.
Develop new habits. Identify distractions like social media, junk emails, etc., and develop new habits to combat them.
Work in your genius zone. If possible, delegate everything else. When you work on something you're passionate about, you're in your genius zone and getting stuff done while time flies.
Focus - Stop forcing yourself to work on tasks you dislike. They take up more time and energy because you must motivate yourself.
Listen to your inner voice. When you say, "I don't have time for that, "you're saying, "That's not important to me right now." Replace "I don't have time for that" with "That's not important to me."
We get what we speak in this world, so if you say things like "I don't have enough time," you will create that experience.
In one famous experiment, psychologist Timothy Wilson and his colleagues found that 67% of men and 25% of women chose to press a button to electrically shock themselves rather than sit still with their thoughts in a lab room. Cultivate reverence for idleness. Making time for self-reflection and mental recovery is vital to being productive.
I have found these strategies to be very beneficial in helping me be more productive, present for those I serve, and achieve a healthy work-life balance.