The Key to Managing Your Time (It's NOT what you think it is!)

Do you have a challenging time with your schedule?

Well, you're not alone! Nearly everyone I know and nearly everyone I've ever coached can relate to this in some way. This includes: feeling like there is too much to do, feeling like there is not enough to do, feeling overworked, overtired, not knowing how to fit everything in, not leaving enough time for important things, getting places late, and so on.

Most people have at least one obstacle or challenge around how they use their time and manage their schedule.

And here's the good news!: There are a lot of wonderful, useful tools out there for time management and schedule creating.There are in fact a number of Woman Wisdom Time Management Tools I've developed myself that work wonders for people who are ready to move through their lives at a different pace and in a different way. They can be really helpful in allowing you to prioritize and make space and time.

However, before you dive into the practical how-tos of time management, there is a VERY important yet nearly always overlooked first step to managing your time and schedule.

This is the foundational building block to creating a healthy and effective pace in your life that no one really tells you about:

It is vital that you understand your relationship with time and create healthy beliefs around how time functions and how you move through it.

Let me explain a little more: if you are having trouble managing your time, you are most likely operating under some limiting beliefs about time that are so deeply embedded within you that you don't even realize you hold these restrictive and sometimes damaging beliefs. However your limiting beliefs are getting in the way of feeling balanced and energized, and allowing you to accomplish what you want to. These beliefs are causing your bad habits and harried experiences around managing your time and schedule.

Here are some of the most common limiting beliefs around time:

* There isn't enough time for everything I need to do
* There isn't enough time for everything I want to do
* I need to work hard in order to succeed
* People will think I'm lazy if I'm not busy
* In order for "it" to be done well, I need to give it a lot of time
* Time is fleeting
* Time is passing me by
* Doing is much more important than Being

As long as you harbor a limiting belief like one (or more) of those above, it doesn't matter how many calendars you use, how well you schedule yourself, prioritize, make to-do lists, etc., because you will still find yourself feeling overwhelmed, running around like crazy trying to get things done, letting important things slip through the cracks, and feeling bullied by time.

On the flip side, once you let go of your limiting beliefs around time, then you are ready to move on to and make use of all of the amazing time management tools out there, and make them work for you!

Now you are probably wondering: how can I actually go about transforming my limiting beliefs around time? Here is a 4-step process for you:

1. Identify the pace of your life and your relationship with time by asking yourself the following questions:

* What is the pace of my life?
* What does is feel like to move through my day?
* How busy am I?
* Do I feel I am able to accomplish all the things I want to?
* Do I have open space in my day, or do I run from thing to thing?
* Do I feel rested or exhausted?
* Do I take care of myself?

2. Uncover your limiting belief around time

Based on what you discover about your relationship with time, begin to formulate a succinct one sentence statement that captures your limiting belief. For example, let's say you are an extremely busy working mom who feels guilty about being so busy but at the same time feels useless when you aren't busy. So, your limiting belief around time might be: "I believe that I am useless unless I'm busy."

3. Get clear on how your limiting belief has been serving you

The belief is there for a reason. Get clear on WHY you've been holding on to this belief for so long, what is has done for you, where it has come from.

To use the example above: maybe you are able to make the connection between the prejudices you held against your mother being a stay-at-home mother which made you want to launch into a career in order to not be like her. You realize that you fill up your time with work while not allowing yourself to also respect your natural motherly instincts. Working makes you feel "successful" and as if you are doing something worthwhile with your time while tending to motherly duties makes you feel simple, uninteresting, and as if you are wasting your time.

4. Create new beliefs for yourself around time

Now that you have made the incredibly important discovery of what limiting beliefs you harbor, you can "rewrite" the internal script you have been unknowingly living by.

To continue the example I used above, now that you realize why you have not been respecting your own motherly instincts you might create the following NEW belief for yourself: "I believe that creating time for myself and my family will make my professional life even better."

Once you create your new beliefs around time and start living them, then you can start implementing practical time management tools as well, for long-lasting habits to a healthier, happier and more balanced way of approaching the way you spend your time!