Those days are the worst aren't they? As soon as you wake up you experience some form of dreadful feeling that you can't seem to shake off. As you walk downstairs you might stub your toe, bang your knee or walk into a wall. You try to shake it off as early morning haze.
But what is this dread you feel?
What causes this feeling? Is there really some major life-changing event that is going to happen for the worse every morning?
Perhaps the dread comes from the knowledge of all the stuff you have to accomplish this day. There is a distinct difference between that amount of work we have to do most days and the amount of work we can get done in a day.
These are quite often disproportional to each other with the amount of stuff needing to get done being far greater then that which we accomplish.
The average person has a dozen or more things to accomplish before they even head off for work. Just how long does an early morning routine last?
Ever find yourself taking a nap first thing in the morning AFTER you just got out of bed? Take 30 minutes to get from the bed to the shower to the coffee maker? Or does it take even longer?
Stop Feeling Overwhelmed
The good news is that these feelings can go away. It happens when you can shift the balance from the "to do list" over to the "Done List".
But how does one get more stuff done when your time is so limited? After all most of the stuff goes unfinished now, right?
Assessing Your Routine
It begins with taking an assessment of your habits and routines. IF you routinely spend an hour checking your email only to find nothing worthwhile, well stop checking it so often. There's nothing there worthwhile anyways. How about television? FaceBook? or some other thing chewing up large chunks of your time?
These "time sinks" eat away at our day little by little like the "ant eating an elephant" one bite at a time until like the elephant our time is all gone.
Making Changes To Your Routine
Once you have a better understanding about what is eating away at your day then and only then can you decide to make changes that affect your time. If you feel you are not getting the most out of your time in front of the television then you have to take back control and decide to use that time more efficiently.
Perhaps you can eliminate the shows that you have been recording for 6 months that you didn't watch. Perhaps a better use for the hour might be a short walk or 30 minutes of meditation.
If you have ever heard of Getting things Done (GTD). This program is based on just what its title says. Learning better ways to get stuff done can be as simple as the 2 minute rule.
2 Minute Rule: If a task takes you less then 2 minutes to do, just do it now.
Avoid putting it off until later where it will continue to build up on your to do list. Procrastination is a cornerstone to laziness. Being able to take time for yourself is a key process of life but we have to learn how to do the work that we must do in a timely and efficient manner.
You can even implement technology to help assist you. Sites like IFTTT (If This, Then That), can help to integrate your technology to work better together.
Changing Your Sleep
Altering your sleep habits will also make a considerable difference in your day. There are few things better then a restful night sleep to get your day going strong. I do not mean a lot of sleep, but in fact "restful" in the fact that you sleep soundly and wake naturally.
The human body is quite an amazing system. It will let you know when you have too little or even too much sleep. Waking during a natural sleep cycle will often be some of the most peaceful and refreshing sleep you will likely get.
Bear in mind the amount of things that can and will affect your sleep patterns. Everything from your bed, your pillows, what time you ate your last meal, what you ate, stress of the day, and host of other things you experience throughout the day plays a role in sleeping.
Imagine taking a sleep study with a box strapped to your chest, wires all over and electrodes pasted all over your head. Then imagine the response when they tell you to sleep normally so they can record it. If you have ever had one you are laughing right now. As if sleeping wasn't hard enough in your own bed now your in a strange bed, with people watching you sleep, with an octopus like machine nearly strangling you. Sure sleep well indeed.
Unload Your Workload
There are still options that you can avail yourself of in the event you are still unable to get handle on your day by yourself. This is an option that most people often overlook, that of outsourcing.
Tim Ferris (twitter @tferris), one of my favorite authors wrote a book call "The 4 Hour Workweek". In this book one of the key points he makes centers around the concepts of delegation and outsourcing.
If you have children then you should be familiar enough with delegation. Tell your kids to clean their room might seem like punishment to them but for a parent its about delegating the workload. Now I am not suggesting you make your kids do your "TPS Reports" (Movie reference to Office Space). (everyone should watch it at least once.)
However your kids can help with the chores that you often find yourself doing. Cleaning up the house, stacking the dirty dishes, washing the laundry or any other chore they are old enough to accomplish. If they are not sure how to do them, well teach them.
If you don't have children, consider hiring someone to help out. Depending on the work you need to get done you can hire a Virtual Assistant. Virtual Assistants (VA), also known as freelancers, are great for helping out for many types of workloads. These often include stuff like making phone calls for you, writing reports, create blog posts (this was not done with a VA) ;), or just about any task which you need and they are will or able to do.
Much like hiring a maid to clean your house or a chef to cook your meals, VAs can help you to accomplish more in a day then you are getting done now. You would not hesitate to hire someone to mow your lawn during the summer or shovel your driveway during the winter but for some reason when it comes to doing other workloads we balk and "assume these things need to be done by us, and only us".
This could't be further from the truth. We should focus on the things we are best at and if possible pay someone else to do the things we are not good at. It's not cheating, but it does make your life considerably easier. On top of that you are helping to provide a career for those people who choose to be freelance assistant.
In Conclusion
Either way you look at it you become responsible for your own time and how much you get done. If you want more time to yourself each day then it is up to you to make that time a reality. Either you have to give up on things you may not really need or you have to find better ways to get your stuff done.
Remember the definition of insanity:
"Insanity: Doing things to same way over and over again and expecting different results."
This applies to all aspects of life. If you're not where you wanted to be in life then step up and take charge of your life and make the changes that will get you where you want to go.
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