Sunday Newsletter - Choosing Time, Your Most Valuable Asset (7 Jan 2024)

Hello and Happy Sunday,

Now that the dawn of a new year has broken across the horizon, we find ourselves standing on the precipice of endless possibilities.

It is a time to reflect, to set our intentions, and to embark on a journey of self-discovery.

And what better way to navigate this uncharted territory than reviewing your approach to your time in 2024?

Your Most Valuable Asset:
Time is our greatest asset and our most precious commodity, how do you intentionally manage yours?

Grab a favourite drink and get comfortable...

Here's a few thoughts for you to ponder this week:

Are You Serving Time?
There’s a story about a man who went to live among a primitive people. These people had never seen a clock or a watch before, but they noticed the strange looking band on this man’s wrist. The band looked like it had a small face on it.

Frequently, the man would consult the little face and then make decisions based on what it told him. The tribes-people concluded that the face must
represent this man’s god whom he served.

Although that story is probably apocryphal, it brings up a good point:

Do you serve time, or does it serve you?

I find it interesting that when someone goes to jail, we say “they are serving time.”
Indeed, many of us are “imprisoned” by the clock, allowing it to dictate our every move.

But we seem to walk a fine line, balancing between letting time control us and disciplining ourselves to master it.

We speak of:
‹ Killing time
‹ Wasting time
‹ Time flying
‹ It’s about time
‹ Making the most of our time
‹ Turning back the hands of time
‹ Some other time
‹ Running out of time
‹ Not having time

At one extreme, we don’t want to waste time and at the other extreme we don’t want to run out of it.

How do we maintain proper balance?

Here are some time-tested suggestions that may help:

1.  Establish helpful routines.
   Routines like rising and going to bed at the same time each day help establish rhythms in our lives. These rhythms aid us in leveraging time more efficiently and effectively.
   
   Other routines might include things like: only checking email at certain times of the day; working first, playing later; taking the same days off each week etc.
   
   Resist the urge to veer from your established routines unless absolutely necessary.
2.  Take unexpected interruptions in stride.
   This point seeks to balance out an over-strict adherence those established routines. An unexpected interruption doesn’t have to derail you.

Try to approach such a situation with playful spirit.
Who knows? Perhaps that interruption may actually move you forward in your work in an unexpected way.

Serendipity often births a fresh perspective or a new idea.

3.  Avoid a stressful approach to time.
   Beware of setting back-to-back tight deadlines or appointments for yourself.
   
   Rarely do we tackle a project that takes less time than allotted.
   
   An unknown wit commented, “A carelessly planned project takes three times longer to complete than expected; while a carefully planned project will only take twice as long.”
   
   Placing unreasonable time restraints on yourself produces a stressful work environment that kills creativity and makes you hard to live with.
4. Build in flex time.
   By building in more than enough time to complete a project, you can always guarantee on-time completion.
   
   You finish your work stress-free, with time to spare. Use your spare time to catch up on something for which you didn’t allot enough time. You can also use this extra time to work on something that you’ve wanted to start but didn’t think you’d have time for.
5. Beware of time killers.
   Some time killers like spending precious time on games and social media are obvious.
   
   But other things that suck time away may not be so apparent, like: attempting to do things outside our expertise, hanging around certain individuals, and lack of routines or self-discipline.
   
   Also, meetings, unless carefully planned and artfully facilitated, can be massive time wasters.
   
   Murphy’s Third Law of Meetings states: “The time spent discussing any given topic is in inverse proportion to the importance of that topic.”
6. Be gracious with yourself and others.
   When we become time-police we hold ourselves to unreasonable expectations and we get cranky when we don’t meet those expectations.
   
   We may become irritable and short-tempered with those around us, all for the sake of a little bit of time.

If you find yourself getting cranky due to time constraints, it may signal the fact that you’re now serving time instead of letting it serve you.

7. Plan for breaks and RR.
   As the old saying goes, “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.”

The human mind and body need rest, relaxation, and play. Reward yourself for finishing a project or completing your workday with something pleasurable.

Give yourself something to look forward to.

Also, make time for people, especially your loved ones. Never let your commitment to time steal your commitment to love your family and friends.
In all these ways, you can make time work for you instead of being its slave.

Drop me a line and let me know if you found this helpful. I would love to here for you.

Feeling Isolated.

I have had the pleasure of spending time with my son for the past two weeks.

I am acutely aware that just having him here in the same space gives my life a boost.

Do you ever feel the same?

There are many folks navigating life alone at the moment and I personally feel it's easy to unintentionally withdraw and contract life, and the opportunities that are available to us.

It's through our imagination, our ability to see and create beyond current circumstances, where we grow and thrive.

Yet it is so very easy when you are alone and seldom connect with other to believe that that's all that is available to you/me.

One of my visions for 2024 is to intentionally build relationship, reconnect with folks in my network and join classes and groups that challenge me to grow and embrace connection, companionship and collaboration.

If you are alone and isolated, what one thing could you do, what one group or class could you join, that challenges you to step out and embrace opportunities and expand your opportunities for aliveness, expression and relationship?

Will you do that?
You just might find it changes everything.

That's it for this week!

Details of current ways to work with me are below.

And always remember, if you fancy a coffee and a chat, I am only an email away.

Wishing you everything you want and more in 2024!

May love, peace and healing surround you. May your families and friends be safe in these times. May you find an inner peace that can radiate outward. May you find companionship, connection and collaboration in your life and business.

As always, stay You.

To your happiness and prosperity,

Heather

Heather V Masters

Chief Coach, Trainer and Facilitator of Magic

Taking Your Business Online and Choosing Happy Podcast

Email: [email protected]

Coming in 2024!

I am still working on opening up some 1-1 coaching spots in January and I thought

I’ll send more details later, but drop me a line if you have questions or are curious. [email protected]

Business Boost Accountability Coaching - New Offer for January:

https://www.heathervmasters.com/offers/VidQuL73/checkout