![Time Clock](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ecf0032afd8c45c29584a0439869b05a.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_650,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/ecf0032afd8c45c29584a0439869b05a.jpg)
Not completely successful…
Have you ever thought about how hard it is to do what you actually want to do?
How about thinking about how hard it is to do what you know is the healthiest thing to do?
I have had many clients try to figure out how to overcome these questions. Often thinking shameful things about themselves because in every other aspect of their life they are “successful.” How can they make millions of dollars and not get to the gym? How can they have a growing organization and not have time to consider strategy? How can they have a growing customer base and they cannot take a vacation?
Why the heck can’t they carve out time to consider strategy? Why can’t they carve out time to exercise? Why can’t they carve out time to have one-on-one meetings with their employees?
What is in the way?
It seems like everything they have tried is not working. Sometimes it works for a little while and then falls off the wagon. Sometimes it falls apart before they even start. Sound familiar?
High leadership demands
A client of mine was in one of these types of situations… They lead an organization of about 200 people, are nearing the end of a divorce, and are caring for their aging parents. Their time was demanded from many angles with many different intensities. There was little to no room for them to breathe.
Their organization was responsible for the largest percentage of revenue for the company, it was growing in size and impact, and yet they could not find time to take a step back and consider strategy for their team, organization, company, family, and self.
Time… It is finite.
They were reacting to the calls of the business and not intentionally providing solutions to the challenges that were most impactful. This was not just about their work. It was also about their health and well-being.
So we started to examine their weeks over the last two months. We looked at when they woke up and went to bed. How many meetings they had scheduled. What types of meetings they had. How important each meeting was. When they ate lunch. When they commuted. When they took time off for the nights and weekends.
Their calendar was packed full! Hemorrhaging!
We worked through how this way of living was making them feel. It was not positive. They felt as if they were a slave to the demands of everything else and were not able to take care of things most important to them. They were losing hope, but had a motivation to address these issues and try something different.
Time blocking
I walked them through an exercise of creating their ideal week for two weeks. I like to do two weeks versus one, because one week, I have found, is too small of a focus. Two weeks provides us a little more flexibility to expand our perspectives.
They designed their ideal week for two consecutive weeks and we discussed the differences between their current reality and their desired state. Immediately, there was a sigh of relief, so I inquired why the sigh. Their response was that it gave them a little more hope just seeing their two different calendar states.
Yup! We are visual people!
We then started to examine what meetings or events during their current state could be moved or eliminated so that they could taste a little bit of their ideal week. I made sure they knew that if they jumped quickly, the motivation would dwindle quickly. It would overwhelm them. They needed to incrementally shift. Kind of like gears in a car. You don’t just go from first gear to fifth gear.
Planning your time
They created a plan to move incrementally from their current calendar to their ideal calendar over two months, determining what kind of support they needed and from who. They worked through delegating meetings, declining meetings and providing reasoning, and carved out space for them to take care of themselves, strategize, and care for their family in a more meaningful way.
It took time, courage, and determination to pull it off, but it was completely possible and in reach. They just needed help seeing it! And having someone walk alongside them helping them.
What time planning methods or tools have you found helpful? Please share your experiences so that we can all learn.
Go be a force of awesome! Let’s go!
I am an executive/leadership coach working with high-achieving business owners, leaders, and their teams that are working on getting to their next level of performance. You might sense that what got you here might not get you to the next achievement. Want to connect? Contact me here.
This is GOLD Dave! Pure gold! Keep bringing the wisdom my friend!