We all have the same amount of one thing in a day: time. Time is a key part of our success journey because if we aren't able to use or manage it we won't be able to be successful to the degree that we want to be in the time we want to be successful. One of the things that really became evident when we got over the initial shock of the pandemic was exactly how overscheduled many of us were. We learned that there was something to be said for not cramming as many opportunities and experiences into our lives and the lives of our kids as we could. Some of us have remembered those lessons as we work into the next chapter, but others of us seem to be a little too excited to be getting back into more activities and seem to have forgotten what it felt like to not be going every minute of the day. So today I thought we'd reflect a little on why it's important to be more conscious of time when it comes to success.
As I mentioned, yes, part of the relationship between success and time does include not overscheduling yourself. Why? Because when you're more careful about vetting and more selective about choosing the opportunities you pursue, not only can you avoid some of the dead ends that have frustrated you in the past, you'll also have more room for the stuff that really matters to you or can really help bring you to the next level of success. I know that it's hard to ignore opportunities that come along, because more opportunities seem to mean more chances for success, but it can often be the opposite.
The other part of this scheduling topic that I want to focus on today is the importance of having buffer time in your schedule. Yes, sometimes there isn't really a way around booking your schedule, and sometimes you even intentionally do it to maximize resources (for example if you're visiting a certain city for work you'll connect with as many of your contacts as you can while you're there). But when you are intentional about not overfilling your schedule you leave space to be creative, to think, to touch base with your emotions and heart, and to know that if it takes a couple extra minutes or even an extra hour to work through a particular part of your success journey it's OK because you've built that time in.
How often do you build buffer time into your schedule and how has the pandemic changed or affected your perspective on scheduling?
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