Never Enough time for Personal Wellness?<dataavatar hidden data-avatar-url=https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/9edcf8614fe64a5e7244b5bdbb82a041?s=96&d=mm&r=g></dataavatar>

Never Enough time for Personal Wellness?

Interested in simplifying life, and making long lasting positive change?

As a girl with varying interests and careers I recently re-read Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. And yes I could go on. There are so many valuable take-aways in this book people! But what I really love is the clear simplicity of Covey’s Time Management Matrix.

Quadrant I are items that have to be dealt with. They might be a hard and fast deadline, a fire or crying baby.  This is simply where your attention must be.

Quadrant II are the activities we need to focus on for health, long term achievement of goals and positive life change. You are in control in this quadrant.

Quadrant III are the interruptions and distractions other people throw your way.  It is also a result of poor planning. These items aren’t urgent, but they interrupt your focus, your productivity and consume tremendous time. Today these are amplified through technology.  Texts, email, phone calls.  If you allow it to happen, this is the quadrant that controls you.

Quadrant IV are trivial time wasters.  In today’s society this has been all consumed with social media, binge watching episodes or mindless addictive web browsing.  Not to say downtime isn’t important, but what does healthy downtime look like? Spending time on “toxic” relationships or doing what you think should be done to please others also sits in this quadrant.

So how does this apply to each and every one of us? Items in Quadrant II get overtaken by all the other quadrants because Priorities in Quadrant II aren’t urgent and they’re about you!  So naturally they fall to the wayside first.  But in the long term the importance of these items doesn’t dissipate. Critical items such as health and wellness, planning your career path, and maintaining relationships need to be prioritized. It comes down to awareness, priorities and self-discipline.

How to Execute:

1. Outline your matrix. What is in each of your quadrants? Be honest. If it isn’t real and visible you won’t make change. Post it on your bulletin board or your refrigerator.
2. Analyze how and where your time is sucked away in quadrants III and IV. What will you do to minimize or manage? (Note: it isn’t what Can you do, it is what Will you do.) Implement control! This could be:
   • Set your phone on do not disturb for a few hours during the work day
   • Phone off when you are spending time in quality relationships
   • Identify meaningful relationships and those that aren’t
   • Say NO
3. Just as you plan your work deadlines, your childcare and or children’s activities. Each and every week Schedule your Quadrant II. 

Remember you are in control of your time management and life choices. Implement discipline and mindfulness regarding how and where you spend your time. Not only will your personal effectiveness improve, but so does your overall health and quality of life!