You have twenty-four hours in every day—1,440 minutes. If we subtract seven hours for slumber, that leaves us with about one thousand waking minutes to make the most of.

So, here is today’s big, “little” Question: Are you using your time wisely?

How we spend our time can be summed up in four categories—obligations, growth, distraction and deception, and waste tasks. As you read the descriptions that follow, note which category you spend the bulk of your time in, and pay attention to the specific tasks that get the greatest amount of your attention. Notice your habits around distraction and deception, and waste tasks, since we’re capable of frittering away a lot of time and energy there. Your goal is to shift your priorities away from those areas so you do more of the things that will bring you success.

Obligations – Obligations include your paid work, along with taking care of your family, your aging parents, and your bills. They also include emergency circumstances and pressing deadlines.

Growth – Growth tasks include those big, game-changing goals you have for your health, happiness, and career. Everything is this category will help you get ahead personally and professionally. Personal growth tasks include exercise, eating right, getting enough rest, finding better life balance, enjoying leisure time with family and friends, travelling, learning a new hobby, and saving more money. Professional growth tasks include business development, taking a course, returning to school, creative work, organizing your desk or systems, and financial and business planning.

Distraction and deception – These are low-priority, ever-present tasks like unimportant emails, phone calls, and “to-dos.” You jump to them because you think they’ll only take a moment and they’re usually easier than the high-priority tasks of growth. They distract you from your goals. These tasks disguise themselves as work, and can fool you into believing you’re being productive when you’re not. In reality, while these tasks need to get done, there’s no hurry.

Waste – We all sometimes need to sit, stare into space, and tune out—but the hours you spend on time wasters, such as excessive television, social media, non-work-related internet, video games, and the like, will impact your efforts to grow. Everything we do in this category feeds our stress. If you tell yourself you don’t have time for exercise or other good things, check in with how much time you spend doing waste tasks.

Get to Growth

Your goal is to get to growth. Which of your growth tasks need more of your attention?

Identify them and then see if you can move a couple of them to obligation so they become a non-negotiable part of your week.

Take a few moments to think about how you hold yourself back from doing your best work. Be honest about the distractions that eat up your time, or the time wasters that use up your energy, then think about small changes you can make, starting today, to work better and with more focus. Consider your personal and professional goals, and answer these questions:

• What do you want that you are not achieving?
• What must you do that you are not yet doing?
• What gets in the way?
• What is your first step toward better?

Until next time. I’m Michelle Cederberg, reminding you we’ve got one chance to do this life. I say Dare To Live It Big and dare to remove the distractions that prevent you from doing your best work.

P.S. this post is an excerpt from my latest book The Success-Energy Equation. Read below to find out how to get your copy and take advantage of more information like this that will decrease stress and drive success.

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Michelle Cederberg, CSP, Health and Productivity Expert, Speaker, Coach & Author
CEP, CPCC, MKin, BA Psyc