In our blog, we often talk about challenges, obstacles and ways in which we can overcome those eventualities, while still keeping a tight hold on our sanity. We all see the world through our own unique set of experiences. This means we all face slightly different challenges and conversely, we excel in different aspects as well. Many of the stories I share are meant to inspire, provide perspective or generally give freely of knowledge gained in hopes that it helps someone else on their journey.
What is the most challenging part of your day to day life? Personally, my challenge is that life is not predictable, per se. For example, when I’m working on a number of different projects simultaneously, time can shift unexpectedly. What do I mean? Something might happen with a client, something on their end that they have no control over that requires me to respond and adjust. Whether that means rescheduling, re-quoting the project, or whatever the case may be. At the end of the day, I am solely responsible for all my client-related interfaces.
With so many obligations, it’s crucial to take time to prioritize. For myself, each project or client that I’m working with is extremely important to me. I have made a commitment to them to deliver value, regardless whether I’m consulting, coaching, planning or something else. I am intentional and clear about my goals related to them, and to my larger vision. It is important for me to determine what’s essential – what I must do to succeed versus what I could do (but should maybe get help with doing). I’m always trying new things, embracing new tools or tips to improve my process. However, I’ve realized that in order to be able to respond and provide great service that makes an impact (and to be of service to people) I need sufficient, uninterrupted time to do the work. I need to carve out time to focus, dig in, create, reflect and produce.
In such a fast-paced, demanding world, how can we set the expectation for others so they understand we have priorities to attend to? The best solution I’ve found is to “go offline”. Take a TIME OUT from electronics, email, phones and TV’s. It wasn’t easy for me at first. But, I have found and currently use some nifty automated tools that help. One tells email senders when “I’m paused and not available”. I have also gotten into the habit of setting up auto responders, some really simple actions you can take too. Tools are one way of letting others know when to expect a reply. Now, the trick is to let the tools do the work.
So, you’ve set up your email auto responder to notify folks that you are out of the office – GREAT! Only problem is, you are still checking your emails every five minutes, as you routinely do. STOP! Retrain your brain. Here’s what you can do so you don’t have to go cold turkey. First, start by NOT responding to everything, whether it’s texts or phone calls or emails. If you have to wean yourself off slowly, that’s fine. Shut off your texts and email for one hour. Just one hour… Yes, it’s normal for your adrenaline to go up a little bit. After all, we’ve all come to expect an immediate response when we email or text. Trust me. It can wait an hour. Breathe. Breathe deeply. At the end of an hour look at everything that came in and respond if you must. (Not everything needs or deserves an immediate response.) Then set your timer to go interruption free for another hour (better yet, stretch it to 90 minutes if you can). It gets easier and you will find you accomplish more. As you practice this, you will be able judge the best intervals for you and your goals. There are somedays now I am entirely “offline”.
Now, this may be the point where your heart is racing and you start to worry about letting people down or that something might come up that you need to handle right away. The key is to communicate your intentions. If you know someone is likely to need to talk to you, be proactive and reach out first. Honestly, when you break it down, there’s really very little that can’t wait.
Of course, the exception to that is some sort of an emergency. In that case, I rest assured knowing that I’ve set up ways to reach me in an emergency ahead of time. Generally, we benefit and our time is more protected by the advantages of technology. It’s just important that we are not consumed by it.
What are your personal priorities? Have you set boundaries and expectations with those in your life, whether they be family, friends, coworkers or clients? Daily life can be a balancing act, but setting priorities and expectations can eliminate a lot of stress and minimize hurdles we must overcome. If you are looking for more inspiration, scroll through our past blogs for interesting topics on goal setting, progression and planning for success.
