“How do I get more time out of the day?”
“How can I be more productive?”
A lot of my clients come to me with questions about efficiency, productivity and the overall desire to have more time in their day. It’s also one of the first questions I get in a networking conversation when I explain to people what I do.
The thing is. You don’t need more time. Even if I could give you 2 or 10 more hours in the day, it still wouldn’t be enough, if you are still in the same mindset.
If you don’t need more time, what do you need?
Prioritization? Automation?
Sure. But what you really need is greater clarity. When we feel like we need more time, what do we feel? I feel stressed, behind, that people are asking too much of me or I have too much on my plate. Most importantly, I’m wishing I had more time for something(s) specific.
Most people view themselves as the amount of time they have as a problem.
In coaching, we prefer not to label things as problems. In corporate, we referred to problems as opportunities. Thankfully, in coaching, we don’t do that either.
In coaching, we don’t focus on the “problem.” Instead, we look at what commitments are in breakdown or where we are out of integrity.
Example: You want more time to go to the park with your kid/dog. Not going to the park with your kid/dog is a breakdown in what commitment? It could be a commitment to spend more time with your kid/dog, or OUTSIDE, or to be a present dog/kid mom/dad.
Now that we are looking at what we really want instead of a "problem", what can we do from here? What do we want to commit to now?
Maybe I can play with my kid/dog now. Maybe I can commit to a morning walk with my kid/dog. Maybe I can take the dog for a longer walk instead. Maybe I can read with my kid instead.
Going back to what we want to achieve, who we’re committed to being that is in breakdown, allows us to creatively fulfill that commitment or create a new commitment.