I Am A POWERFUL Woman

More Joy. More Peace. More Power.

Tag: Time Management

Running Out Of Time

October 6, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Saturday I wrote my most well received blog post to date.  (You can read that HERE.)  It’s been really exciting!  Usually when I share a post it gets 2-5 likes.  That’s right TWO – FIVE.  This one got over 60! and several people took time to tell me they enjoyed it or that it touched them.

It was awesome to get all of that LIKE love but I couldn’t figure out what I’d done to make this one appealing.

We were all in the living room later that night and Jason said, “Do you know what happiness is?”

I quickly replied, “2,000 views on your blog post!”

He was actually referring to family time, but whatever 🙂

When thinking about why this post was embraced and the others go mostly unread, I decided it was because the picture and title I chose made it look like Jason and I might be Moving On from each other.  And so I’ve decided that all future blog posts will be teasers of some sort.

Thanks to all of you that read, liked, commented and shared that post.  That really was a treat!

I feel like there’s a lot of pressure in writing subsequent posts now.  I sat down for an hour or two last night and tried to write something worth reading.  I got nothing.  

I sat down again this morning about 9:30 and threw out some thoughts that will EVENTUALLY be posts but it’s just not happening yet.  

It’s 11:30 a.m. and I’m starting to freak out a little.  I was supposed to go to work this morning but I called out in order to have more time to get our stuff ready to move.  Instead of organizing, I’m obviously writing.

Thankfully Jason is out “adulting” so I can finish this post, get dressed, and appear to have been working hard by the time he gets home.  Unless one of you talks, he’ll never know.  

It’s no secret that I’m unorganized.  I’m literally running out of time today.  It’s decision time.  Will I sit and continue to let time slip by or will I wrap these thoughts up and move on to the next task?  

I’ve made a decision.  Here are my TIME TO WRAP IT UP thoughts.

  • No guilt.  It’s 100% okay to do something enjoyable, whether or not it makes a larger contribution in some way or produces an income.  If it contributes to your personal happiness, that is MUY IMPORTANTE!  Nurture yourself.  Buy and read that book.  Watch that movie.  Go out with that group of friends once a month.  Take that class.  Take time to write.  Be good to yourself.  It’s been said many times by many people that taking care of yourself allows you to be there MORE for others.  I can vouch for that.
  • You matter too.  YOU wouldn’t deny ANYONE ELSE the right to take time for themselves; time to relax, to create, to soak in life.  YOUR need for that time is ABSOLUTELY as important as theirs.
  • Think about the BIG PICTURE for the day and find a balance. – What is the feeling you want to have at the end of the day?  How do you want to use your time?  Make a plan and go for it!  Don’t forget to do nice things for yourself too.  

If I think about my day at this point (I’m embarrassed to say what time it is now) and what I’d like to accomplish, then I know what I need to do to make it happen.  I can take an honest look at what’s most important to me for the day, when I think about the feeling I want to have when I go to sleep tonight.  It might mean I don’t finish this post right now.  I know making progress on the house would FEEL GREAT.  I know that if I don’t haul butt upstairs and organize, then while I’m at work tomorrow and Jason moves stuff over to the new house, he gets to decide what gets moved and what gets tossed.

Uhm…yeah…gotta go!

I really enjoyed reading your responses to the last post so let’s do that again 🙂

What is it you love to do or would love to do more of?  Are you good about making time to do it?  Leave your answer here or over on Facebook.

Self Sabotage

June 30, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Hey there!  Thanks for clicking and reading this post 🙂

I haven’t been making time to write and the rare moments I sit down to do so, my brain feels all clogged up.  I even put off writing by cleaning.  That feels bizarre but I also like the results I’m getting.

There are a few reasons that I can see that I’m not writing consistently.

1. Lack of confidence/fear- What if it’s not clever enough, like Marc and Angel who hack everything there is in life to hack?  What if it doesn’t provide any value?

2. Perfectionism- I put so much pressure on myself to make sure everything I write is the right combination of words.  It takes way too long to compose what should be a quick Facebook post, email, or Birthday card.  What takes the average person 2 minutes to write, takes me 10.  No joke.

3. Lack of discipline/time management- I can squeeze in 15 or 30 minutes into my now super duper busy schedule.  I’m working a full time job now and have about four hours a day to get done what needs to get done.  That’s housework, a side job, family time, and writing projects.  That’s a pretty tall order, but not impossible.  There’s also about an hour in the middle of the night, when I get home from work, that I’m wide awake and have been spending watching Netflix as I get sleepy.

Steve Chandler, the man I credit for flipping the switch on my thinking with his book 100 Ways To Motivate Yourself, sent out this recent email.  At first I didn’t connect with it at all, but as I was procrastinating, by doing housework and filling up my four hours with everything but writing, it came back to me and STUCK.

Robert Kegan quotes William Perry, a favorite
teacher of psychology of his at Harvard, “Whenever
someone comes to me for help, I listen very hard and
ask myself, ‘What does this person really want–
and what will they do to keep from getting it?'”

This is a question worth asking ourselves (and our
clients when they come to us for help.)

What do I really want, and what will I do to
keep from getting it?

My first night at work, my trainer asked me what I did before coming to this job.  I told him that I’d mostly been a stay at home mom and worked a few part time jobs over the years. I hesitated and then decided to share about the last four years of personal development and my desire to share what’s worked for me with others.  He was very curious about the What One Person Can Do program.  Each break, he’d ask me to tell him more.  As we talked, I knew this program could support him in his situation.

All of that to say, THAT’s one of the things I want to be doing!  I want to be spreading the news about THAT program that had a SIGNIFICANT impact on the way I live my life, a life that used to be riddled with worry and stress and is now positive and more often than not, worry free.

There’s still a ton of circumstances I could be freaking out about on a daily basis, but I’ve learned to do what I can and go on to have a VERY enjoyable day, EVEN IN THE MIDDLE OF A CRISIS.  I WANT THAT FOR EVERYBODY!

Here are the things I have control over, keeping me from having what I want.

1. Lack of confidence–Telling myself I’m not qualified to share.  You know, I need some letters behind my name or something. (Side note–I mentioned to my trainer that I know I’m holding myself back because I’ve been “just a mom” for all these years to which he replied, “That probably makes you MORE qualified.”  THANKS MISTER!)

2. Perfectionism–If I can’t do this well, because of the lack of letters behind my name, then I might as well not do it at all.

3. Lack of discipline–not writing and sharing daily.

And here are my 3 responses to myself where all of the negativity and holding myself back is concerned.

1. Everybody has something to contribute.  We’ve all learned valuable lessons from our experiences.  I’ve experienced peace in the middle of times of trouble and that’s not something you learn in college.  Someone else can experience stress free times too if I’ll just open my mouth.

2. I need to get started and let GOOD ENOUGH be enough, because I am NEVER going to be perfect and really I don’t want to be.  I’ll do my best and have a great time doing so.

3.  Make contact daily, even if it’s one small task or a 15 minute writing session.

There are many things that I want and I need to get good and clear on how it all looks, but for now I’m starting with writing more and sharing What One Person Can Do as well as the online version What Every Person Can Do. Wish me luck!

What about you?  What do you do to keep yourself from having what you REALLY want?  Leave a comment below if you feel like sharing.  I’d love to hear from you 🙂

Sarah Boucher

Sarah Boucher happily encourages women to grow in their power daily at I Am A Powerful Woman. Come join the conversation there.  If you have questions about What One Person Can Do or the online version, email sarahboucher@iamapowerfulwoman.net or bill@oneperson.net with What One Person Can Do in the subject line.

 




6 Tips for Finding More Time

December 16, 2013 / / 2 Comments

6 Tips for Finding More Time

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”
~Jim Rohn

blank paper

I write in my head all day long.

Sometimes I actually jot thoughts down to write about later—when there’s time.

GUESS WHAT? There’s NEVER extra time.

I write down the same ideas day after day. There’s so much I want to write about but it stays stuck in my head or in stacks of paper that never get revisited.

IT’S DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

Here are 6 tips for finding more time. They’ve been helping me rethink my own issues with time. I hope you’ll find them useful as well.

#1 MAKE it a Priority.
This activity that you would love to be doing, whatever it is, needs to be moved up on your priority list, whether it’s a creative outlet, exercising, reading with your kids, or serving others.

If you can’t figure out how in the world to fit it in to your already overbooked schedule, move on to Tip #2.

#2 Track Your Time
Track your time to see where you lose 30 minutes or an hour. I did this a couple of weeks ago and it was eye opening. I already knew I was losing time in front of the computer but to track it and see it go was helpful.

#3 Pencil It In
One of the things I want to do but never get around to, because there is always so much to do, is to spend “fun time” with my kids. This is hard to admit because it seems so basic. Other families appear to have this family time down and we seem stuck as a family. We do the same thing day after day. The day seems completely booked with all of the to do’s. Over the summer, I wrote down HAVE A BONFIRE on my to do list. One bonfire led to subsequent bonfires and I learned if I want to have special time with my kids, I am going to have to plan those events. The same goes for my writing.

#4 Good enough
Good enough is a fairly new concept for me and I LOVE IT! Good enough is a POWERFUL weapon in the fight against PERFECTIONISM. It’s freeing to say, “The kitchen is good enough. The laundry is good enough.” We all know the house work is NEVER done. I don’t want to spend my children’s youth slaving to have a super clean home or checked out in front of the computer and miss out on any more time with them. Good enough will be the key that brings me balance and extra time.

#5 What’s possible for one POWERFUL woman is possible for another.
I know of women juggling the same set of circumstances as me, some of them with even more responsibilities than I have. If they can crank out a couple of blog posts, then it’s completely possible for me too. The only difference is that they’ve decided it’s a priority and I haven’t fully committed to it yet. I’m getting there.

#6 Put something down
I recently saw a quote that RUBBED ME THE WRONG WAY, but the more stressed I felt trying to accomplish EVERYTHING on my plate, the more I came to accept the truth of this quote.

“In order to pick up something new, you must first lay something down.” -unknown

I tried to beat the system because I’m rebellious like that. I went right ahead and picked up a business of all things. I signed up to be a Beachbody Coach. To have a successful business means you have to be a product of the product. right? That’s only going to be an additional 30 minutes to an hour of working out a day. No sweat.

Well actually, there is quite a bit of sweat involved. On top of that, it’s a business. I’m discovering that they don’t work themselves.

After a month of trying to hold all of that, in addition to what I was already holding, I eventually found something to set down.

“You can have it all. Just not all at once.” ~Oprah Winfrey

I guess Gloria was right.

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” ~Gloria Steinem

If you‘ve tracked your time and there is seriously not a spare minute in your day for the thing you’d love to do, what can you put down?

So…what are you waiting for? Get busy doing the thing you’ve been putting off. It’s time.

I Am A Powerful Woman

Sarah Boucher happily encourages women to grow in their power daily at I Am A Powerful Woman. Come join the conversation there. If you are interested in learning more about the 12 week conversation What One Person Can Do or in one on one coaching with Sarah, you can get in touch with her here.

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