It’s simple right? Follow some time management rules; make a list, work out what’s important and work your way through it. Not so simple. Even people who really focus on managing time well are being secretly sabotaged by their own brain. Why?…
Well your brain isn’t checking everything you do for efficiency, and some thinking habits can really get in the way.
Here are the most common ones:
Your brain is making you think about something else
Our brain’s capacity is huge, there’s a lot of information in there so it’s hard for your mind to stay focused on one thing at a time. Anyone who’s tried meditation knows this. Staying focused and in the moment is by far the most efficient way to get anything done well, so drifting off, thinking about yesterday or tonights date night or what to get Nan for her Birthday are all secretly slowing you down.
Practise focusing on the thing you are doing RIGHT NOW and finishing it and notice what happens. You can download this free relaxation track to help you.
Your brain knows all your worries and fears and past failures
Your back catalogue of memories is at your brain’s constant disposal, most of it out of your conscious awareness. Every thought that enters you mind is subject to screening based on what you believe, care about and fear. If you’ve seen the Disney Pixar film Inside Out, it’s pretty accurate. This slows you down because if you think you’d like to do something that new and different, all those past fears come up for alert and your brain gives you all the objections and (very sensible) reasons why it won’t work or it’s not the right time. You then have to consciously sort through all these objections before getting on with it.
This is why getting rid of old fears or limiting beliefs is critical to good time management, when they are gone you can easily decide what’s right for you without all the noise. Learning NLP can help with this. Find out more on this short video.
Staying focused and being clear on what you want are key attributes for managing your time well, without the use of fancy grids and lists. Find out more in Karen and John’s book Time Mastery; Banish Time Management Forever available from Amazon & bookshops.
