I recently completed a course (check it out here) on time management and making space for guilt free personal and professional productivity – and damn… it was a huge wake up call.
It’s not that I didn’t know that I haven’t been the most effective with how I manage my time – specifically when it calls for making or expending time on myself – but, I didn’t realize just how much of my day was beholden to limited learned behaviors and beliefs.
One of the beliefs brought to surface is that I’m aligning worth with productivity – seeking some sort of self validation for the ‘gold star’ days of when I can do more and achieve more. As a result, I spend my day in two extremes. The first: I’m heads down, furiously trying to check off a list of a dozen (or more) different things that are 80% of the time not as urgent as I make them. The second: I shut down once I’ve run out of fuel and end up completely wasting time on mindless things like scrolling through social media or half watching Hulu in an attempt to recharge just enough to handle more to-dos.
Living in those quadrants leaves little room for taking steps forward toward more long term goals – and snatches the enjoyment away from times when I do manage to “fit it in”.
And that’s the problem – having time to do the things that truly fill my cup shouldn’t just “fit in” to what’s left of my day. They should be just as much of an integral part of my daily life as getting my daughter ready for school, going to work, or straightening up around the house.
I’m determined to get to a place where the pursuit of my goals isn’t an “I’ll get to it when I can” because taking steps toward them are non-negotiables.
From this point forward, I’m giving myself permission to thrive. Permission to be relentless in chasing my dreams. Permission to move my goals to the top of my to-do lists. Permission to stop and recharge before I’ve run on E. Permission to release the rough draft. Permission to try and fail. Permission to try again. Permission to be proud – and loud about it. Permission to unlearn the limits – because the limit does not exist.
