By Neil Phillips.

The way we describe things affects what we think, do, and feel about our activities.  Time management is no exception.  You can

  • get bogged down in the details OR lean back satisfied that the plan is fleshed out
  • feel as if everything is pointless OR live in the certainty that the universe is coming together as it should
  • micromanage to the point you lash out OR just give up and do it yourself.

The point is that you get to decide what you call the activities that fill your time.  How you label them matters.  Here are three possible areas that you might what to relabel in your life.

The opposite of life is not work.  It’s easy to get upset about a lack of work-life balance.  Unfortunately, the opposite of life is not work.  It’s death.  The opposite of work is non-work.  Really, isn’t the choice among work, recreation, spiritual, community, personal wellbeing, etc.?

Balance is not a static state.  We think about have work-life balance as if it were a set of weights and measures.  Take some time from this side of the scale and put it on the other and then you’ve got balance.  Unfortunately, time does not stand still.  After all, time keeps moving on.  The minute after you think you’ve achieved a state of balance, you lose it.

We don’t control time.  Time continues to do what it does despite our best efforts to manage it.  When we give up the futile effort to manage time and switch our focus to managing what we do with our time, then powerful shifts happen.

When you change your language you change our possibilities.  For example:

  • Pay attention to what you are doing. You can be so into the flow that time concerns go away.
  • Think about time as flowing. What does balance mean to you now?
  • Take a long-term perspective. How’s your balance over the course of a month?  A year?

Changing your language is not an easy task.  You’ve spent a lifetime creating these images and relationships in your heads.  How will you start to be less concerned with balance?

Want to Hear What Others Say About Focus Management?

The Direct Selling Leaders’ Network is the Facebook group for you.  This social learning community is the premier online community for direct selling leaders, future leaders, and those who want to create their future. Leadership is a way of life, not just a position. Join us as we add new FREE content every week! Recruiting, Getting Your Team to Work, and Tips on Working Smarter, Not Harder.  PS:  If you have some people on your team that this can help, let them know about the Direct Selling Leaders’ Network.