Prioritising the priorities!
I love helping others with their finances and would do it day and night if I could (hence my previous life as a workaholic…) but I have also acknowledged that there are other things in my life that equally matter to me. I can change my beliefs and perception around my challenges, but I am limited as to how much time I have on any given day or week because we all have 168hrs each week. Assuming sleep, cooking, eating and bathing consume around 12hrs each day this leaves us with 84hrs each week to do everything else!
Not much huh…
To do what we want to achieve within that time scale requires us to be focused, firm and disciplined. You can just go with the flow if you want but you may find you don’t get where you want to be and that’s ok. Being disciplined with your time might not get you there either, as you may encounter other challenges, but your success rate will be higher.
You need to acknowledge what you want to be done and then prioritise. There is no right or wrong way to prioritise but you can learn from your mistakes (and those of others) then keep carve your own way. I would suggest the following:
Step1: Prioritise yourself first. If you’re not nourished and energised quite frankly you’re no use to anyone. And if you’re like me, you’ll be as crabby as hell and be eating & drinking lots of unhealthy food & drink. Ask yourself, what do you need to be in top form? The answer to that must always happen (which is why I start and end my day reading & writing). How long do you need for that each week? Deduct that from your available 84hrs.
Step2: How much time to you want to allocate to your business, partner, errands, family, and friends in the remaining time (84hrs less time needed in step1)? Summarise that now.
Step3: Break down the time allocated to each of the above in step 2 and start splitting it out. Things you may need to consider are: what things do you want to do with your partner, kids, friends, extended family & pets and how what time is needed for this. How long do you need to spend on housework, gardening, and errands required each week/month? What time can you give to your hobbies and interests? Then consider your business. What time is needed to attend to your clients’ needs, admin, keeping your accounts up to date, marketing, training to keep up to date with changes, and business development to ensure your business does what it should be done effectively and efficiently.
Step4: Implement.
Step5: Review. Re-read the previous blog (Are you stressed and overwhelmed with an ever growing to do list) for help on intentions and reflections. Ask yourself the following questions too.
Is this working as you wanted it to?
What needs to be tweaked?
What challenges are you encountering on this?
Know that you may get it wrong. That’s ok because it felt right today but things change. When you change something, no matter how small, everything around you does too and that can result in a few things you didn’t anticipate. Additionally, life itself changes, your needs change, your desires change and you boldness increases (see next blog for more on this).
How much do you want something to be different in your life, whether that be more money, more sales, more time with your partner, have children and/ or more fun, or maybe you just want a life that goes along at a steadier pace? You can have any of those things (or all of them!) but it can only happen when you take firm action. Your actions must change and your beliefs must change.
However, if you’re still struggling with this, then read on to the next blog: How to be bold when quite frankly you’re shit scared…
Love Helen x
Accountant & Author of Successful Business Minds and 12 Steps to Improve Your Cashflow.
© HM Coaching Ltd
