I’m guessing no one wants another blog acknowledging what a busy time of year it is. We know. No matter what you have going on, you are busy.

I have been working with several executive coaching clients recently, all bringing the topic of time management. As summer approaches, you might also be wondering how to add in more leisure time or family time but something has to give in order to make it enjoyable.

Here are some strategies I shared with them.

Re-frame time management as

“energy management” :

• What do I have the energy for? How do I manage my energy differently, depending on the areas in which I need to engage? How do I want to feel at the end of the day?

• • The way this plays out with me is that if I know I have dinner with my family, I might put my high energy tasks in the morning and put in a break before dinner out so that when I head out to dinner, I can be present with my family;
  • If I’m hosting a BBQ on a Sunday, I try to make a light Monday morning so that I can allow some of the clean-up to happen then, instead of late on Sunday night;

When you create your To-Do list, fit the items in these 4 quadrants (Eisenhower’s Matrix) :

• Urgent & Important
  
  • Do it soon; get it off your list
  • Things with dates and deadlines can go here
• Urgent & Not Important
  
  • Give this to someone else – outsource, give it to a kid or partner
  • do something to shift which quadrant it belongs in
• Not Urgent & Important
  
  • Put it on the calendar and mark time to do these things
• Not Urgent & Not important
  
  • Put it on a punch-list or eliminate it all together

Urgent & Important is your to-do list for the day. Start there.

Check in with yourself:

• If you are feeling stressed by the demands placed on you, check in with yourself.
  
  • Stop, feel your feet on the ground, and take a breath
  • Is it true that these demands are being put on you? Is it true that you must do it all? Is everything both urgent & important?
• Ask yourself this question
  
  • In the quiet of the moment, ask yourself “What do I really want right now?”
  • Wait a moment for the answer to come

We can hold a perspective that summer is both crazy-fun and crazy-not-fun. We can hold that there is both an abundance of time and no time. Nothing is black and white. Look for the third truth within those perspectives. Finding that will allow your nervous system to relax a bit. And from there, you can enter into the next moment.

I’d love to hear from you. What is your go-to strategy for “doing it all” once summer hits?

We’re talking more about this in Mighty Networks. Come on over and we’ll all learn from each other!