Do you ever feel like some days go by faster than others? I sure do. Some mornings seem slow, and I finish up my work, get downstairs, make breakfast, read to my boys, tidy up a bit and it's only 11:00. Other days I'm still making breakfast, and I peek at the clock and it's 10:30. By the time my boys eat, and we get through our reading time, they are asking for lunch before breakfast is even cleaned up.
It's those late start days that set my entire day off to feeling a bit more rushed. Literally, some days feel like they go by in chunks. Those days it seems every time I look at the clock, it's not another 20 minutes that have gone by, but two or three hours.
I swear, some days I feel the clock plays tricks on me.
In reality, the clock just does it's sweet thing every day, ticking by quietly, consistently, in perfect manner, never missing a beat. I guess that leaves only me to blame for the days I feel rushed and don't get as much done.
Have you ever felt that battle against the clock?
Isn't it amazing how some people seem to have so much time to fit in what they want to fit in and not only that but are extremely successful in what they do as well?
I've wondered about them...
And we can't blame the children, or the house, or the dog. Many successful people have all those things, and many of them if that!
The truth is, whether you are a mother of six, are running two businesses, ten businesses, are the richest person financially or the poorest person out there, the one thing we all have in common, aside from a heartbeat, is the steady tick of the clock.
* No matter who you are, the clock ticks the same for us all. *
The difference is not only what we do with our waking hours but how much FOCUSED ATTENTION we give to the things we need to get done.
I can have a list of important, intentional things in my mind I'd like to get done but the list in my mind is no good if I let myself get pulled in other directions that take my time, or I pick up my phone and get lost on Instagram or do 'busy work' like laundry instead.
The best way I reach my goals is I block out time and FOCUS on my intentional goal. And sometimes it's not much time, but it's something. Something is better than nothing,
So, what can you do about your list and goals?
Are you trying to learn a new skill but don't feel you have the time in your busy day to do so? Sneak in 20 minutes and FOCUS ON JUST THAT. Want to practice yoga or get to reading that book that's been sitting there beside you? Set a timer if you're short on time. 20 minutes and FOCUS ON JUST THAT.
It's funny but you might find there are actually lots of little 20-minute increments that you live in your daily life that can be used more wisely. Lots of things can grab your attention and pull you away from what your original intention was for the day.
It is absolutely incredible what you can really get done in a day with FOCUSED ATTENTION.
I try to set aside little pockets of time like this throughout my day but my most productive part of my day is between 5:30 in the morning until about 8:00 am.
They are my most FOCUSED 2 1/2 hours of my day, yet not always because my little guy can get up real early and hang out with me at times! But for the most part, that is my most focused time before I've got two boys filling my head with questions or asking for food or being the loudest kids on earth. It's before my dogs get antsy for breakfast and my son tosses a chicken on my lap. Yes, you read that completely right by the way.
My days can get very hectic at times between my boys and my businesses and our pets and the house and all else life throws, yet still as I lay down at night, I feel good about something I got done that I intentionally wanted to get to.
I got myself a nice planner to start the year off and let me tell you, that thing is a Godsend. I write down my main goals for my week, on the days I plan to get to them, and more times than not, as I sit down at my computer in the morning, focus on my goal and as 8:00 rolls around, I find myself putting a beautiful check mark beside my daily goal.
It's all because of FOCUSED ATTENTION. Not because I don't have other things to do but because I said, 'I'm doing this today' and I FOCUS on JUST THAT and don't let anything else distract me for that time.
Are you easily distracted? Don't even get me started on that!!! I am the queen of being easily distracted. I can be in the middle of something and completely move on to something else and see something else that needs to get done and start on that, all while thinking about 10 other things I want to do. So that's no excuse!
The secret is when you set aside time and tell yourself you are going to do JUST THAT and stick to it CONSITANTLY, it gets done, or a new skill gets learned, or a business gets built, or a book gets written or read.
Being CONSISTANT and having FOCUSED ATTENTION, even if it's only 20 minutes a day can make all the difference from where you are now to where you want to be.
Give it a try. Block off just 20 minutes and get started. Today. If you have more time all the better. Have only 10 minutes? Great! That's still 3,650 minutes closer to where you want to be at the end of the year.
The clock ticks the same for us all, if you focus on nothing more, focus on that fact.
Talk soon...
