Spend 95% of your time on your Top 5 priorities in life. – Peter Bregman
Wow! What a challenging idea! What a great goal! Have you stopped to think about and name your top 5 priorities in life? Or assessed how much time you spend doing things or pursuing things that don’t fit your priorities?
To be real, I’m often writing about things I’ve struggled with in a big way. I have three young kids who need a lot of attention. It seems I’m always working on my surfing, cross training workouts, potty training, naps, emails, different work projects, meetings, dinners, and of course nurturing my marriage. Oh and just some extra time in there for spontaneity!!!
This time on maternity leave has been a great break from some of that busyness.
One thing that has been helpful for me over the past decade is to “Name” what my top 5 priorities are. Can you guess them?! Faith, family, surfing, health, and meaningful work. I have found that in order to protect my time and be able to devote most of it to those areas I have to say “No, thanks” to many things – often really good things. I am continually assessing if an invite, obligation or opportunity aligns with my priorities or takes time away from my priorities. Is it really necessary? Can it be eliminated?
It is so easy to be busy and feel like you don’t have enough time for things you want to do only to realize you aren’t spending your precious time on the things that matter most to you. Socrates says, “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” Despite what our culture says, I don’t think busyness is a sign of importance or success.
For me, if I am too busy to make a healthy dinner for my family, then I know it’s time to adjust and reassess my schedule. Why can I feel good about prioritizing this? Because it checks more than one of my priority boxes: family and health.
Or, I often check in with myself…Am I looking my kids in the eye or am I too busy on my phone? When I need to say no or re-prioritize it isn’t a sacrifice when those boundaries are for the sake of my children and our family health.
We all balance and juggle a lot on a daily basis. Even when we spend our time on our highest priorities it takes strategizing and planning and adjustments to find the right balance. Maybe we all want to be super human but we also need to be realistic. We are no good to ourselves or our loved ones if we are run ragged on a daily basis. Prioritizing time for rest is crucial!
In my Unstoppable Life Course conversations with Kate Merrick (Be Present) and Sarah Hill (Bless Others) we talked about the importance of prioritizing time so that we can be well and love well.
We invite you to join one of these powerful Unstoppable courses and the Unstoppable Living Community where you will receive expert guidance and practical tips for helping you set your priorities and put your time and energy into things that matter most to you – so that you can be Unstoppable!
