Time is a limited resource. We each have the same amount each day, week, year. Since we cannot create more time, it’s important to use the time we have the best we can. To do this, we need to determine what is truly important to us. From there, we can decide how to prioritize what we do with our time, how we fill our time.
There are some things that we might not want to do, but we need to do. Going to work and earning money to buy the things we want could be an example. (Although, if you don’t enjoy your work, you might want to consider why and make changes.) Other examples include responsibilities like housework and yard work. (An option might be to hire someone else to do them.)
Some things to consider in prioritizing how you fill your time is to think about the impact for the future as well as for today. Will there be an impact a year from now, ten years from now? Will you remember it a year from now, ten years from now? Will your children and grandchildren remember how clean you kept the house or the Sunday afternoon ice cream runs? For example, making time for a family vacation is something that you and your family will remember for the rest of your lives.
Another challenge is that how we prioritize our time and how others want us to prioritize our time might not be the same. In fact, it usually isn’t. In these cases. remember that it is acceptable to tell people “no.”
It’s difficult to find the right balance between “need to do” and “want to do.” Don’t worry if you are not finding the right balance every day. Are you finding the right balance most days?
I feel like I am always busy, but I don’t always feel like I am doing what is most important. I might be doing what is most immediate, but that doesn’t mean that is necessarily a high priority item.
Don’t fill your time with things that aren’t that important. Focus on what is truly important, not just for today, but for the future. Just because your time is full, doesn’t mean that it’s leading to the life you want.
