Everyone I speak to is saying how they don’t have any time, that life is going by too fast, and that they have too much to do, with so little time to do it.
Having children only speeds up this realisation as to how precious time really is. One minute your children are rolling over for the first time, the next they are rolling out the door without even saying goodbye.
So in light of this ticking clock, which seems to be ticking faster everyday, I think we need to rethink our relationship with time.
The thing is… running around and telling each other how busy we are and how stressed out we are about a lack of time is not helping one little bit (and rest assured I’m as guilty as the next person on both counts).
I’ve decided to reinvent my relationship with time and there are a few ways I’m going to do it.
Firstly, I’m going to stop any negative words coming out of my mouth about my lack of time. Whenever I start to complain about time, I’m going to take note and stop on the spot. I’m going to get everyone in my life to pick me up the minute these negative words start to issue from my mouth.
Then I’m going to change those negative words about lack to more positive words about abundance – things like, “I have as much time as everybody else, I will spend my time wisely”. You get the drift and if you are up for this challenge, pick words to suit you and your style.
Clearly, this is the next part of my reinvention of my relationship with time. I’m going to not only change the words I use, I’m also going to look at everything I do for the next week and record whether or not it was wasted time or time well spent.
I’m determined to see where my time gets wasted and why. I’m pretty sure I’ve got a few ideas, but if you are like me, you get up, have breakfast and then it’s dinner time. Everything in between is a blur and I want to get a better grip on how I’m actually spending my time.
OK, so I’ve made the commitment to stop the negative self talk about not having enough time, I’ve decided to really look at how I’m spending my day and identify my time wasting activities, now it’s time get rid of anything in my world that is simply taking up quality time and replace it with more meaningful things.
A big part of this for me is slowing down. I’m going to retrain myself to stop and appreciate moments – and I’m going to do it every hour, on the hour for the next week to make it a habit. I’m simply going to stop and look around, take a breath, slow the clock down for 30 seconds. What’s the worst that could happen?
My main aim is that at the end of every day I feel like I’ve achieved a lot, but I’ve also been a great mum, boss and every other role that I choose to play. If you’re running around complaining about your lack of time, I hope you will join me and reinvent your relationship with time too. I think our lives will become far less stressful, panicky and fleeting.
