Two Areas You Must Master If You Want to Be Successful-Part 1: Time

We all desire success, but success has many meanings. For some, success will mean we are high-achievers, earning multitudes of accolades. For others, it will mean massive financial success. And for many, it will mean having flexibility with their day-to-day routines. Finally, there are a lot of us that define success as having healthy, positive relationships with family, friends, and their community.

The real question is this – what does success mean to you?

Regardless of what success means to you, there are two major areas you must master if you want to be successful. The good news is, we all have the option to make these decisions. Everyone qualifies. There is not one person reading this who lacks the power in their circumstances to choose wisely in these two areas.

Time

The first decision you must make if you want to be successful is how you will spend your time. Have you seen the social media gif that says, “We all have the same hours in the day as Beyoncé?” It’s true! We all get twenty-four hours a day to maximize. Time is the one commodity we don’t get back. It’s so precious!

Some of you may be thinking, “I don’t have power over my time. I have to take my kids to daycare, show up to work, pick my kids back up after work, go grocery shopping, make dinner, do some laundry, put my kids to bed, and at some point, I need to sleep.”

While I won’t argue that you may have tremendous responsibilities, I will argue that you still have the power to prioritize your time. For example, you can choose to get up before your kids do in order to get your workouts in. You could spend your early mornings reading books on salon business or development prior to starting your day. After work, you can choose to hit the gym before going home. You can choose to substitute television for planning your digital marketing each week. We may have a lot on our plate, but we still have the ability to maximize our time. Depending on what success means to you, how will you choose to spend your time?

I personally choose to get up before my ten-month-old son does, so I can have a quiet time. I also start work before my salon opens, so I can make it to a 4 p.m. yoga class – which I do so I can make it home before my husband is home from picking up our son from daycare. Additionally, I go to bed by 9 p.m., so I can easily wake up early and refreshed. Every choice has to be purposeful because there are many tasks to complete and many events I need to be accountable for. I once heard that success is simply making a few value-based decisions and managing those decisions each and every day. I make sure I book no more than two in-person meetings per day, while giving myself at least two uninterrupted weekdays to accomplish tasks. I’m mindful about only scheduling one afterwork event per week so I’m not neglecting my family time, and I’m especially intentional about getting enough sleep. I’m sure there are many other little things I could share, but you can get a great picture of what this means to me. The question is, what does prioritizing your time mean to you?

For the next month, consciously think about how you are prioritizing your time and start making changes. But, remember that time is only one of two areas that you must master for success, so make sure to check back for Part 2 when I share the second area!  

Finding Your Time

Have you read any productivity books or blogs lately? Productivity is a HOT topic and one that we can all learn from. But, with all of the information circulating about increasing your productivity, you might be wondering where to start!

If quitting your multitasking habit or only checking your email three times a day is too scary, I have one exercise that is easy and can make a huge difference in your work! This practice is all about finding the best time of day to work on certain tasks—finding your time.

Pay Attention to Your Body Your first step towards finding your time is to begin noticing and paying attention to your body. For example, do you wake up early to respond to emails, but already feel exhausted by 9:00am? That’s a sign that you should either sleep later or save emails for the afternoon. On the other hand, are you the most creative after eating lunch, around 1:00pm? Then, start scheduling your creative projects for the afternoon. Are you catching on? By scheduling specific tasks for the time that you’re best suited to work on that project, you will save time, frustration, and you’ll create better work!

Be Patient & Practice. Finding your time will take some practice and patience—this is OK. Spend a few weeks experimenting with your tasks and scheduling. Maybe you’ve always wanted to exercise in the morning, so you give it a try but you’re ready for a nap by lunch time. Recognize that what you want and what you need might be different, so try switching your workout to the afternoon. You won’t find the perfect time the first time, but don’t give up!

Be Flexible. If you’re lucky enough to be a leader and have a team who reports to you, be flexible with their needs. As you may know, I am the founder of Be Inspired Salon in Madison, WI and my team of stylists are ALL millennials. After building my team, I quickly realized that their work preferences differ—often significantly—from mine. Sometimes as leaders, we expect others to follow in our footsteps simply because we did it this way and we know it works. However, I’ve learned to compromise, set boundaries, and be flexible. If you have an employee who wants to come into the office at 6:00am and leave at 2:00pm, be open to their needs! Don’t get stuck in a traditional mindset at the expense of happy and productive employees.

Are you ready to find your time? Give it a try, and share your results and other productivity tips with me on social media!