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Denver-based life coach, Karen Van Cleve, helps you discover methods to find more meaning in the way you spend your time. |
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Time management—and enjoyment |
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| Print Extras spoke with Denver-based life coach, Karen Van Cleve, author of 66 Simple Secrets to
Save Your Sanity, for some advice on how to get the most efficiency and, more importantly, enjoyment from our most
precious and finite resource—our time.
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Evaluate your current schedule |
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As a first step, Van Cleve recommends reevaluating how you currently spend your time. Use this
worksheet (PDF)
to record your daily activities on paper for a week. Be certain to include the smaller activities around the house
as well as more time-consuming engagements.
When that's done, Van Cleve asks people, "Out of what you're doing, which of those things really serve you, and which
of those things don't?" In other words, which of these activities adds value to your life by making it run more
smoothly or bringing you meaning?
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Examine your outcomes |
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One of Van Cleve's favorite tools for evaluating almost any activity is to ask a pair of
questions: "What is the ultimate outcome?" and, "Is that activity the best way to achieve that outcome?"
Imagine that one of the items in your current schedule is ironing, but you despise ironing. If the ultimate
outcome you're seeking is "achieving a neat and clean appearance," you might discover other actions that
achieve the same outcome: You could either take clothes to the cleaners or buy no-press clothes in the future,
and phase a dreaded task out of your life.
Or, if you've retired recently, you may realize ironing is just a habit, but a few wrinkles don't bother you since
you stopped going to the office. Adios, iron!
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Find your best work style |
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Van Cleve asks, "What is your preferred style for an activity?" If you're a morning person, but work on
your taxes at night, you're likely to be both inefficient and unhappy. Why not wake up an hour earlier
and try it when you're fresh?
Van Cleve tells the story of an extrovert who hated filing, so he hired a companion to sit, drink coffee,
and chat with him while he worked; suddenly, the time flew by.
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Create long-term goals |
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Once your reevaluation has helped free up some room in your schedule, it's time to set some long-term goals.
Even if you find your schedule is efficient just as it is, it's important to have bigger goals.
They add purpose and meaning to our lives.
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Research your subject |
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| Van Cleve suggests that people research their priorities and goals by making a date with someone.
Who? "Yourself." She continues, "If you met somebody and wanted to get to know them, you'd spend time with them
and ask them questions," and she suggests the same for people trying to reevaluate what matters to them. Try a
museum, a movie, a long walk, or a solo outing to a local coffee shop.
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Ask yourself the right questions |
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Start by asking yourself what's important to you. Van Cleve notes, "It sounds like an incredibly simple question,
but it can be really hard. People are often focused more on what they don't want than what they do." A couple of
questions that can help focus this line of inquiry: "What do I want to be known for? What are the changes I want to make in my life?"
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"I want to do everything!" |
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Imagine your list reads something like this: "Learn Italian, write a novel, re-model kitchen,
learn better investment techniques, take an art class, travel to Antarctica." How do you decide where to start?
Van Cleve suggests, "Make a list of all the reasons it's important to take action on this. Bring emotion into the 'why.'" If
you want to learn Italian because your grandmother only speaks Italian, and you hope she can tell you about the father you
never met, but an art class sounds "kind of interesting," your answer is right there. (Take Italian!)
A shortcut Van Cleve recommends to get to the same place: Ask yourself, "Which of these things will make me feel
best at the end of the year when it's done?"
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Break goals down |
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Van Cleve suggests, "Get clear on the actions you can take to move forward on that goal.
Create a list of what you need to do to make it happen and do one little thing each week."
If you think one hour a week doesn't sound like enough time to get anything significant done, it
might help to realize that, after one year, you'll have spent the equivalent of more than two
round-the-clock days working towards your goal.
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Celebrate your accomplishments |
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At a job, there can often be a system in place for setting goals, accomplishing tasks, and rewarding success. Setting
deadlines is one way to impose that sort of structure on your goals outside of work.
"When I finished something at work, somebody cared," is a complaint Van Cleve has heard from clients. To combat the
feeling of working in a void, she often suggests collaborations with others. "I encourage people to find other ways
to find camaraderie."
Plan to raise a toast with a colleague or friend when you've achieved an important goal on your list.
However, after following some of these tips, we hope the getting there was just as satisfying as the end result.
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