Make the most of your time

Time continues at the same speed, and we have 24 hours in a day. We may not be able to control time itself, but we can certainly make the most of it. Every time we choose to do something, we also choose not to do something else. So, wise choices are vital to achieving more in the time we have. With Christmas around the corner, many of us struggle to find time to do everything we need to do and still have time to enjoy the season.

The key is to know what you want from your time and what’s important to you, but before you can do this, you need to understand how you spend time so you can prioritise. In reality, time management is actually simple: do the right things, in the best way possible.

How do you experience time?

NLP helps us to understand how we think, communicate and behave, and then creates models which support us in achieving our goals. Time management is one area that this can be applied to. In NLP, there are two common ways in which people may experience and order time. These are known as “in time” and “through time”.

People who operate “in time” tend to be less aware of the passage of time, live very much in the moment and show little concern for following a timeline or meeting deadlines. They can often get completely absorbed in a task and become easily sidetracked, without noticing or worrying about the time constraints. Often, the task in hand may be passion-driven and enjoyable, but the lack of awareness of time passing can sabotage the effective use of time for other important activities or goals.

On the other hand, “through time” is very much process-based. Through-timers are able to disassociate from the experience at hand and picture time stretching out ahead of them. These people are conscious of time passing and the interaction of events. This approach gives them the ability to multitask and plan, because they can see time and activities as though looking at a timetable. One of the pitfalls could be that they spend too much time planning and not enough time doing.

It’s important to realise that time should be of service to you rather than constant pressure. The more you engage with who you are and how you spend your time, the more you engage with the life you want. Working with an NLP coach can help you to understand how you manage your own time, whether you operate more “in time” or “through time”, what that actually means for you and how you can make time work for you and your goals.

Some powerful techniques for managing time include learning to prioritise and delegate, identifying time-drains and dead time, making distinctions between quality and quantity, training others to respect your time boundaries, simplifying life, finding time for relaxation, being realistic about what you can achieve and actually creating time to plan time.

If you can find time to manage it, time will be on your side.