Henry wrote to us with concerns on how he was spending his time, he expressed fears of loosing large chunks of time, and that regardless of his efforts he did not feel that he was moving his life forward.

Do you ever feel like you’ve lost a whole day, that the time just got away from you?  Napoleon Hill once said that time is your only opponent in life; if you don’t make a conscious effort to defeat it then it will take you over. 

I hear from people who express feeling tired, drained, and just depleted after they get home from work.  they take a minute to sit down and eat before they begin to do something productive for themselves.  Eating then morphs into a few minutes of relaxation while watching a little TV.  Then before they know it 2-3 hours has passed and it’s time to get things and people ready for bed.

Routine
We were all children at one time or another and as such I think we can agree that we functioned better when we knew what was expected of us each day.  We performed better when there was a plan of action for the day, task, or event.   This is still true for us as adults. 

It’s just as important for us to orchestrate a plan for our day now as adults as it was for us to have a plan when we were kids. 

Growing up, most of us knew that we had to wake up by a specific time, eat something, brush our teeth, take a shower, get dressed, pack our lunches, and head out the door. 

Most of us automatically do these things because for a consistent period of time they were incorporated into our daily routine.   Now, we do these task effortlessly, without having to put much of any thought into doing them, they’re simply part of what we do.

Plan
So how do you incorporate moving your life in the direction of something you desire as part of your effortless daily routine?

Plan your day, manage your time, and hold yourself accountable.  Will you do it everyday, maybe, and maybe not.  But make a plan and stick to is more often than not.

Plan Your Whole Day
Not every day will go according to plan but a general guideline for how you spend your time will have you accomplishing more than if you had no action plan at all.

To-do lists have a way of keeping you focused and motivated to keep pushing yourself to conquer time and accomplish more and more. 

Before bed each night right down what you’d like to accomplish for the following day. 

This gets it out of your head so you have a more restful night sleep and keeps your task percolating in your mind the whole next day.  As your list is then brewing in the back of your subconscious mind you’re devising quicker and more efficient ways to go about these tasks to accomplish more in less time.

Grease Board
I also have a grease board, (which I use to use for organic chemistry equations), that I now cover with what I plan to do each day.  At the end of the day I either put a Y- for yes, signifying that I did it or an N that I did not. 

I have it divvied up so that I can basically see an entire month at a glance.  I can see clearly not only all the things I want, what I need to do to move towards them, and exactly how much effort I put forth into moving myself in that direction.

Reflect
I’m always honest with myself and some days, weeks, and months are better than others.  In the case of the latter I take the time to reflect on those days, recalling what I did, how I felt, and what was happening.  Then I begin to question it all.

So if, for example, I was emotionally distressed about this, that, or the other and decided to sit on the couch, take a nap, or eat a few cookies I question how I felt about those decisions. Take the time to scrutinize the experience.  Examine your mood at the time of a perceived set back and your emotions afterwards. 

Taking the time to make conscious observations within and outside of yourself is some of the best education you can give yourself on the subject of your own self improvement. 

Benefits
There’s a certain feelings that I get when I’ve accomplished everything I’ve wanted to in a given day.  The day itself was a gift and knowing that I’ve used it to its fullest potential for my benefit makes me feel good, I sleep better, I’m happier, my confidence is higher, and my overall self esteem is pushed up.  But to do this requires management of your time. 

If you don’t manage your time then it will manage you.  I hear many people say how time got away from them, they don’t recall how they spent their weekend or their only memory of the previous evening or weekend is a detailed recall of what was on television. 

There’s certainly nothing wrong with watching television but anything in excess has a set of negative affects all its own. 

Consistency
Each thing that you consistently incorporate into your daily routine will eventually become just a natural thing that you do; becoming just as much a must-to-do as brushing your teeth. 

When your routines become consistent and predictable for you, there’s little thought going into the completion of these tasks.  When you learn to do this, when you learn to live each day effortlessly moving yourself forward, then you free your mind to think about the next step, to vision and create your next dream; and life is much more relaxed and enjoyable.  

You no longer battle with things that have seemed like have to’s… they simply get done.

Success
This is a formula for success.  This is a formula for making life easy.  This is a formula for staying healthy, emotionally strong, and focused on what’s really important.

You are giving yourself the gift of happiness and security because by structuring your day and managing your time you are letting yourself know that you love and care for yourself enough to set your own boundaries, to make your own rules, and give yourself structure.

This is a recipe for your success.  This recipe makes life easy.  This recipe helps you to focus on what’s really important to you. 

This helps you to know and keep in touch with what’s expected of you each day, you have a plan, and you have set an expectation for yourself each day.

Time
Managing your time increases your self esteem as you stick to your commitments and make it clear to yourself on when your down-time is.

When you are not managed by your time you are free to do what you need to do to live the life you want while also having the most fun during your designated down time.  

Set a time to work.  Make sure it occurs at the same time everyday.  Then stick to it.  You may notice that your old habits will steer you away from your schedule in protest now and again but be persistent.  You’re establishing a new routine for yourself.  Once you’ve done it you’ve effectively made the change but it can take several weeks for the routine to become a habit for you. 

By setting a specific time for you to devote to whatever project is important to you then you are saying to yourself that you value yourself, your personal growth, your life, and what you do with your life.

Help
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  No one has every accomplished anything without some sort of help, assistance, or guidance in one form or another.  No one other than you can create whatever it is you desire to create.  But be open to the assistance of others. 

There are billions of people on this planet are we are not just here for people watching at the airport.  We’re here for each other.  We are all connected.  We all need each other. 

Let someone help you.  It makes people feel good when they can help someone and then you open yourself up to helping someone else in need at another time.  It’s all part of that wonderful giving and receiving cycle of life.

Thoughts
Watch you self-talk.  When you embark on something new and you encounter even the slightest bit of failure you may feel as though you can’t do it, it’s too hard, and start to doubt and question what you where even thinking in the first place. 

The more you venture outside of your comfort zone the less you will hear this kind of chatter.  Keep moving forward. 

Did you know that Thomas Eddison failed ten thousand times before inventing the light bulb?  If you think about it he never really failed at all.  He simply discovered another way that did not work and thus cleared the path for what would work.

Behavior 
When you begin to incorporate tasks to assist you with being more organized (for example) you are learning a new behavior and are teaching yourself about a new system.  This takes time.

Commit
Commit to your commitments – by your example this will teach and develop these behaviors in those around you to do the same.  As you push yourself to seek new adventures and try new things an amazing thing will happen to those around you.  Either they too will begin to explore new avenues of interest and you will feed off of each other’s positive energy, or you will gradually find the distance between you and them growing as new people who support your vigor and excitement for life begin to surround you. 

You must be a person of action if you want your word to count.

Recognition
Make note of what you accomplished each day.  Many people end their day with a laundry list of all the things that they didn’t get done, all the things they should have done but did not.  I rarely hear people saying I accomplished so much today!  I feel great!  I think I’ll shoot for even more tomorrow!  Can you see the difference?  Once is freakishly depressing while the other makes you feel good about yourself. 

No matter how small the accomplishments give credit.  Just because you’re accustomed to doing or having something does not make it any less significant.  Gratitude is the fertilizer that allows everything to grow; be certain to count your blessings. 

Each and every day you are doing the absolute best you can in that particular moment in time and space.  Don’t put yourself down, no matter the reason; there is no justification.  Be gentle with yourself.  You are with yourself all of the time; it doesn’t feel good to hear bad things from others or from our self.  Lift yourself up, give yourself credit, and get on with the rest of the day and the rest of your life.

Diet-Exercise-Sleep
It should come as no surprise that you do better when you are taking in healthy foods, getting some physical activity and getting enough sleep.  Making a routine for yourself will bring some predictability and security to your day and a proud feeling of accomplishment for taking control.

Nap when Necessary
I get up between 5 and 5:15am each morning.  Some days come 3:00 o’clock I’m exhausted.  I set an alarm for 20-30 minutes, take a little nap, and am refreshed for the second half of my day.  If you need a nap, take the time to recharge… you’ll be glad you did!

Set a Rewards System
When you honor the commitments you’ve set for yourself all week give yourself a reward.  Try to avoid rewarding accomplishments with food as there are so many ways to pat yourself on the back that don’t involve potentially going up a size. 

Do whatever it is you like to do but rarely ever make time to do; such as taking yourself to a movie, or for a spa service, or buying yourself a little something special.

Let it Go
Some days you will be more productive than others… it happens.  You may become emotionally involved in something that takes you away from your designated focus…. It’s okay.  You’re human.  Learn as much as you can from each of your experiences and know that nothing is every a set back, and continue to move yourself forward. 

I hope you found this article helpful. Please continue to send in your questions, comments, and constructive feedback!

Most Sincerely,
KimChell