“Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you use. One man gets only a week’s worth out of a year, while another man gets a whole year’s worth out of a week.”
Charles Richards
There are many important things in life.
Your family and friends. A hobby perhaps. Exercise and stay healthy.
The most important relationship in your life. And read, learn and grow as a person.
But finding time for what’s most important in life isn’t always easy. Sometimes it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day.
But even though it may not feel like it, there are often ways to improve the way you use your attention and your time.
This week I’d like to share six of the best questions I’ve found to do just that and shake yourself out of a rut.
1. What are the three most important priorities in my life right now?
With a lack of focus on what is most important in your life, it becomes easy to spend too much time and energy on aimless actions or work.
About things that are not that important, but that you do out of old habit or for other useless reasons.
To keep your attention in the right place, it’s essential to remind yourself every day of what really matters most to you.
So ask yourself: what are the top 3 most important priorities in my life right now?
Write those three things on two sticky notes and place one on your workspace and the other on your bedside table.
2. What are the 1-3 most common distractions that keep me from focusing on my work?
Figure out how to keep those things from distracting you. It could be due to:
- Close your office door.
- Put your phone in silent mode.
- Have notifications turned off for your email or an instant messaging program/app.
3. What are the 1-3 most common distractions that keep me from having quality time with the people closest to me?
For example, the answer could be your smartphone, TV shows that you watch out of routine and not because you really like them, or taking work home with you.
Then figure out how to reduce or eliminate those distractions.
4. What is a healthy boundary I can set in my life this week?
One of the smarter ways to simplify your life and making time means setting boundaries.
Here are a few key areas where you can set strong and healthy boundaries:
- Your daily input. Reduce the number of blogs, newsletters, magazines, book clubs, podcasts, TV shows, etc. that you follow. Just keep the things that you really get something out of.
- E-mail. Only check and process your email once a day for a set period of time. Instead of checking it 10 or more times a day.
- Social activities. Make a list of the social activities you do after school or work. Perhaps you are involved in a club or activity that is no longer as fun or rewarding as it used to be. You may want to rearrange your priorities a bit to focus on something else this fall.
5. How can I minimize or eliminate something I may have missed?
What else can you eliminate or minimize?
Some meetings at work or school? Redditing or a social media channel where you hang out a lot?
Instead of continuing in the same old footsteps just because that’s what you usually do, regularly question and reconsider your own daily and weekly habits.
6. What is an unnoticed or misused piece of free time during my regular day?
There is often quite a bit of open travel or waiting time during a year.
What will you use this time for as we enter fall this year?
You might want to read more while you’re on the train or waiting for a meeting to start.
For example, I often listen to podcasts while on the road or while waiting for a meeting.
Even if you only have 10 to 20 minutes of commute time each day, you still have a lot of hours each year that you might want to use, at least in part, in a new way.