Reading is my thing!  Reading about matters such as time management, productivity and the works are absolutely the stuff of dreams. I have read many books on managing time or not (there is an ongoing debate on whether we can manage time or not), but Rory Vaden’s book called Procrastinate on Purpose is absolutely gold to me. 

The book speaks of the actions of people who are successfully multiplying their time and I am inspired to take on those habits as well. I can obviously not outline the entire message of the book in this blog post, but I was so inspired I thought I would share some of the parts which were particularly insightful to me (I have limited this to chapter 1, only – goldmine I tell you – keep reading). 

How often do you tell others and yourself how busy you are? I do it on such a regular basis that I tire myself out. An interesting point of departure is that by doing so we put ourselves in a self-defeating pattern which takes away our sense of ownership and control of the constraint of time management which could negatively impact our creativity. The more we lament at ‘how busy’ we are, the greater distance we put between ourselves and a solution to our “busy-ness”. 

I have heard countless people complain about how busy they are and in the same sentence express how defeated they feel. Changing our outlook and the manner in which we speak about our situation plays an incredible role in how we respond to the situation. 

Another great take-away is the notion that “leisure is a deceptively unsatisfying goal”. We structure our entire lives to reach the point where we can “relax”. Relaxation is equated with fun and leisure activities.  Work therefore becomes this dreaded activity that must be completed, and relaxation can only be embraced after all this dreaded work is completed so that we can finally engage in the leisure activity we are looking forward to.  What though, if we embrace work as good? As an incredible source of joy and satisfaction? Oooo … the HR Practitioner in me jumps at the thought of this.  I have wondered about this many times and still do, not only at work but in my home as well when I look at my children. Our son, Nathan lives for every opportunity he can get to play his XBox. He will rush through work tasks with great speed to achieve the ultimate joy and satisfaction which is his XBox. No judgement here, I also live for specific moments of leisure and pleasure.  Most of the time, however, these moments feel too short and not satisfying enough. 

We can however learn to find joy, fulfilment, and satisfaction in our daily tasks/jobs and not always feel the need to escape from work. I should be the first to admit that I have not fully achieved that as yet, but I am a firm believer that it IS possible, so I am enjoying the journey.  

Teaching yourself to mind the use of the word “busy” as a constant reference to your life and/or situations and changing the way you view work may seem like minor change and not contributing to your growth in multiplying your time. I do however think this is a good place to start. Small changes are the best as success lies in the consistent application of whatever small action we commit to. 

I am starting with a basic personal challenge of limiting my use of the word “busy” to three times a week. Believe me this is still a stretch for me. And I might as well throw in the use of the word “tired”, whilst I am so inspired. I hope you join. 

Till the next post.

Stay committed to your growth.