Tag: time management

I don’t like to commit to my calendar… but here’s why I do (Read Time: 3 min.)

Kassandra VaughnLeave a comment

woman 39Over and over, I’ve heard it said, “If it’s not scheduled, it’s not real.”  

I’ve fought the idea of putting my life on a schedule.  I’ve said:

How can you schedule when a child’s going to get sick and they have to stay home from school?
How can you schedule an accident on the highway and intense traffic?

How can you schedule going grocery shopping, forgetting an item, and having to go back?

Aren’t most schedules for show anyway?

Yes, I’ve given every objection to planning my day and living my life by my Google calendar and my android digital personal assistant but here’s what I’ve found:

Until you schedule it, it’s not a priority.

Wanting to work out everyday is a nice wish but until you have a set time that it occurs in your week (hence, why people love going to classes where times are scheduled and locked in), it won’t happen.

I’m a commitment phobe when it comes to my calendar.  It takes me 20 minutes too long to plan out my day because I look at my list of to-dos and look at my calendar and my constant gripe is:

There’s not enough time in my day to do EVERYTHING I want to do!

After about five minutes of pity partying, my Higher Self kicks in and lovingly reminds me:

At the end of the day, there will NEVER be enough time…

It’s not about having enough time.  It’s about doing ALL  you can with ALL you have, accepting that life is a work in progress, and being okay with the fact that it’ll never ALL be done.

We’ll never ALL be done.

“Waiting” to arrive is a total and complete waste of energy. 

The journey is THE thing.  The destination changes A LOT.

If you want to get more accomplished in your day, week, month and year, here are three tips that help me:

  1. Schedule your most important tasks DAILY.  Okay, take one day off during the weekend so you don’t feel like a total auto-bot (Side note: Transformers!  More than meets the eye:).
  2. Change your schedule as soon as “life happens.”  Yup, when a child gets sick or I have to run an errand I wasn’t expecting to run, I go back to my Google calendar and change my time frames.  It keeps me honest and it keeps my calendar consistent with my life.
  3. Spend 5 minutes each night evaluating how you spent your time.  Before I sit down with my husband and watch another episode of Life Unexpected on Net Flix, I sit down and ask myself a few questions: What worked about today?  What didn’t work about today?  What do I need to change in how approach tomorrow?   This idea came to me from Peter Bregman’s book, 18 Minutes.

Well, there you have it.  I’m not in love with the idea of scheduling my life but it works.

Sometimes, you do what you HAVE to do now so you can do what you WANT to do later.

It’s called, “Never give up what you want most for what you want now.” 

#usetodaywisely 

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Women Breadwinners & the Early Start: 5 Ways to Get Your Day Off to a Fabulous Start!

Kassandra VaughnLeave a comment

wake upI’ve always said, “The way things start are the way they end…”  That comment has a multiplicity of meanings which I won’t go into in this post.  However, that point truly fits how you start your day.  If you’re like me, you’ve lived the evidence:  You wake up… 10 minutes late (the alarm didn’t go off or it did and you, in mid-sleep hit the snooze button).  You get out of bed and hit your big toe against your footboard, “Shit!” and you limp to the bathroom.  You look in the mirror and put on contacts.  Your last contact breaks and you’re stuck in glasses all day… and the rest of the day is… shitty.

Yes, the way you start your day has a powerful influence on your mood, your approach, your entire day.  Even in the scenario above, your attitude determines a lot but if you live in such a way that you live by the seat of your pants with no game plan for your morning, when crap hits the fan, you’ll succumb to the negativity.  There is a better way.

Decide, in advance, how you begin each day.  Make it a ritual (a habit with meaning).  Make it sacred.  Make it NON-NEGOTIABLE.  In other words, the first 10 minutes to 1 hour of your day needs to be about you: you getting centered, you feeling cared for, you honing in on your intentions for the day and how that fits into your entire life.  Yes, it’s big stuff.  So, here are 10 ways to get your day off to a fabulous start.  Pick one and see how great you feel after being consistent with it for 3 weeks (yes, I said 3 weeks; doing it for 3 days doesn’t count; be consistent!):

1. Wake up and meditate for 20 minutes.  Choose your music, your mojo, your method.  Quieting your mind and centering your soul is a wonderful way to begin the day, especially if your inner critic had a field day the night before.  Check out Deepak Chopra’s meditation center (lots of meditations available for free): http://www.chopra.com/library/guidedmeditations

2. Get outside and do your hour of power.  I learned this technique from Tony Robbins’ Ultimate Edge CD program.  Spend your first hour outdoors, walking, breathing, feeling gratitude, setting intentions, speaking out loud (as you move) how you want your day to go.  In his program, Tony walks you through it.  I go to the Santa Monica mountains and get my hike and hour of power done in one go.  Here’s a video on You Tube featuring Tony Robbins talking about getting to the next level in life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScuTtEa3UPo.

3. Hire the Heavens.  If you haven’t read Jean Slatter’s book Hiring the Heavens, google her and find out.  I spend 5 minutes every morning meeting with my Joy Committee and hiring my angels to help me with whatever I have on the agenda for that day.  When you hire the heavens, two things happen: 1) you get results, 2) you feel lighter (it’s an awesome feeling to know you can tell an angel what you need and let it go at that).  Don’t be a skeptic.  Read the book and try it for yourself.  Here’s Jean’s website: http://creativemystic.com/.

4. Listen to some good music as you drink your favorite am drink.  Coffee, tea, hot chocolate, green smoothie.  Add a jam to it that gets you pumping.  My favorite track is the Step It Up 3 Soundtrack.  When my husband first downloaded it, I thought to myself, “Yeah right!  I’m not 16 anymore.”  I have half of the songs of that soundtrack on repeat as I workout in the gym.   LOVE the energy it gives me!

5. Work out.  This is Body By Jake’s way to start his day.  Dwayne The Rock Johnson swears by it.  They’re both up at 4 am every day making it count in the gym.  Find time to get your body moving and strength training on.  One hour in the gym will add to your life and your wallet.  If you’re paying for a gym membership every month and not using it, it’s time to stop that.  Get back to the gym!

And there are 5 ways to get your day off to a fabulous start.

What are your ways to get your day off to a fabulous start? 

I look forward to your comments!