The best thing I heard this week was Episode 100 of the Elise Gets Crafty podcast, “On Time”. Elise Gets Crafty is a podcast for creative small businesses hosted by Elise Joy. Elise is a thoughtful and deliberate host who has a knack for being relatable. She also is the creator of the “Get to Work Book”, a planner I have my eye on getting very soon. She did not feature a guest on this episode, as it was her final episode of her second season. Elise chose to highlight a topic that I believe many people, including myself, struggle with – TIME.
Being that she has two young daughters, hosts a popular weekly podcast and runs her own small business, her thoughts on this topic carry a lot of credibility. Over the past year or two, I have really started to become more aware of time, and how quickly it can disappear if you are not intentional with how you choose to spend it. I could not agree more wholeheartedly with Elise when she says that time is the only real commodity we have.
The points that she outlines in this episode of Elise Gets Crafty very much resonated with me. Some of them because I have adopted them. Others because I know they would be game changers in my productivity. I will share a few with you and encourage you to listen to this valuable episode on your next available moment.
Identify what you want to make time for.
This is KEY. Simply put, what are your priorities? I’m not talking about what are all the things you wish you could do. This should be a very short list. What are the top 2-3 most important things you would like to accomplish in this season of your life? Once you have identified what those priorities are, it will be much easier to make them happen. You will also have a clear vision of what time wasters can go. When I boil down the priorities in my life, meaningful family time, my health and living a creative life are on my shortlist. Whenever I am faced with a choice, I am learning to ask myself if it supports one of those areas. If it doesn’t, then it’s something I have to let go for now.
Let go of habits that no longer serve you.
We are all creatures of habit. Routines are comfortable. But sometimes routines and habits are occupying the space in our lives that you need for one of your top priorities. It may seem like you have no time, but the fact is, most of us have time hidden behind our habits. Taking a closer look at where I may have hidden time, I know where it is – reading blogs. I love reading blogs! However, one of my top priorities right now is to get more consistent with my own blog posting. If I ask myself which choice will support my top priority of living a creative life, creating content trumps consuming content. It’s time for me to create some boundaries that will support my priorities.
Recognize that what other people are doing has very little (if anything) to do with what you are doing.
What a good reminder to keep our eyes on our own paper. Isn’t it crazy if we see someone doing something, our first thought goes to, “Should I be doing that too?” Not only is it a waste of time to continually do this, but the judgement of their actions is not productive. We should be happy for other people’s choices without feeling like their choices make a judgement on ours.
What makes other people happy has nothing to do with what makes you happy.
I loved Elise’s perspective on this point. When you see photo after photo on social media of people enjoying this or that, you get the feeling that if you did the same thing, you will be that happy too. In reality though, the attraction is often not to what they are doing, but the joy they are experiencing. Think about that. What are the things that you would truly enjoy doing? Do those! It seems so much of life boils down to knowing yourself very well. Once you do, you can become so much more confident in your choices.
While the first few tips have to do with knowing yourself and making some mindset shifts, the last two tips are more on the practical side. They happen to be the ones I struggle with the most right now.
Know what you HAVE to do and write it down.
Do you ever go to make a “to do” list and include 700 things on it? I do. As long as you are working on the list, you feel like you are being productive. But that can be so deceptive, because most of the time, the important things never get accomplished. It feels like you are so busy, but what do we have to show for it? Before creating our list, what if we took time to identify the truly important tasks that will move us forward in our goals and then actually worked on those first before moving on to the rest? I think this could be a game-changer.
Follow the “one-touch” rule.
The one-touch rule is to take care of something once you touch it. For example, if you are checking your email, instead of reading it and then telling yourself you will reply later, just do it right then. I am the worst at this. At any given time, I have a dozen half done projects. It really adds up to a lot of wasted time. I blame it on technology brain. The one touch rule is definitely something I need to start adopting.
This Elise Gets Crafty episode “On Time” is not about having factory-level productivity. It’s more about feeling satisfied with what you are accomplishing. It’s even having more time for rest if that is what you need. The key is learning how to feel like you are in control of your time as opposed to feeling like you are constantly racing. If more time in your life is something you are looking for, this episode is for you. Let me know what you think!
To see more of my favorite podcast episodes of the week, check them out HERE.
Ashley J.
“Recognize that what other people are doing has very little (if anything) to do with what you are doing.” This is my major takeaway. It’s said all the time in several ways, but putting it into action has been easier said than done!
Ale Post author
You are absolutely right. It’s not easy, especially since with social media we know what everyone is doing at all times.