The biggest time management mistake you can ever make is forgetting your closest partner in life. The one who stays with you all the way from cradle to grave. The one who drives you through your daily and nightly routines, who runs all your habits. You want it or not, this partner of yours is the real manager of most of your time. His name is Your Subconscious Mind.
You and Your Subconscious Mind make one tightly bound team in everything you do. Whatever big or small project you undertake, you two depend critically on each other. And unless you both work in the same direction, your team hardly makes any big progress.
But how do you align those directions? Like in any team, communication is the key. You need to communicate to Your Subconscious Mind the specific target you want to hit and in what time frame. Of course, you can take the lead and set the direction to go. Yet, you still need to convince Your Subconscious Mind to follow you in that direction and hit your target.
The challenge is that Your Subconscious Mind has a stubborn and inert personality. If you just tell him what to do, he does not listen you well. He already has strong opinions about what you should be doing instead. After all, he is the one who holds all your beliefs that you absorbed throughout your life up to now. And he has a comprehensive toolbox of routines and automatic reactions to get you through your day.
But don't give up on this challenge. If you manage to convince Your Subconscious Mind to drive you in the direction you want to go, he has the power to make you unstoppable! The power that can keep you on course through the storms of every day distractions and interruptions.
But how? How do you convince Your Subconscious Mind to help you? You need to learn how to communicate in the way he accepts and understands. That special way of communication with Your Subconscious Mind is what goal setting techniques and skills are really all about.
While there are finer points that you can pick up in books or on my site, here is the core essence of goal setting techniques as a way of communicating with Your Subconscious Mind.
The most critical element of goal setting is WRITING your goals. For a number of reasons, this writing process is absolutely necessary for Your Subconscious Mind to take them seriously. Writing is the basis of the communication. Anything less than a clearly written goal will be discarded as unimportant noise.
Note that the goal writing process is a two way communication. When you write your goal, if Your Subconscious Mind does not accept that goal as reasonable, he will try block your hand until you actually write something more realistic.
The second critical element is about the way you formulate the goal when you write it. You want to get your point across to Your Subconscious Mind most directly and effectively, in the language he understands best. That's why you need to follow certain rules of goal writing.
In particular, formulate your goal in present tense, as a complete sentence that starts with "I". Make the goal as measurable and specific as you can. Correct and rewrite it until it is crystal clear.
Set a specific time frame. Set it by finishing your sentence with a deadline that you honestly think you can meet.
Keep those notes in a safe place and come back to them often to review and correct your written goals. Keep thinking about them throughout your day.
Finally, take a few minutes right now and actually write down three to five of your most desirable goals. Reconnect to that important partner of yours and start communicating. Right now, and from now on.
Sergey Dudiy, Ph.D., is a time management writer and web entrepreneur, founder of Time-Management-Guide.com, the definitive guide to personal time management and goal setting.
He also publishes free Time Management Fortress newsletter, dedicated to building a stronger foundation for your success skills. Subscribe today and get a free copy of his report Getting Unstuck When You Have Too Many Things to Do or Under Pressure.
If you reprint this article, your notification at http://www.time-management-guide.com/contac t.html would be appreciated, though not required.
We are all born equal! We all have the same... Read More
Last week I attended a presentation from Parenting Expert and... Read More
At Home? Keep related items together, for example the coffee... Read More
Any habit of mind or body that interferes with taking... Read More
There are so many books on Time Management published every... Read More
According to a Miller Heiman 2003 Sales Effectiveness Study, over... Read More
Why Read?It's been said that there are three kinds of... Read More
You can lose, damage or waste some things in life,... Read More
What would you say to me if I told you... Read More
If you are like most moms I know you think... Read More
The concept of Mercury Retrograde is very well known even... Read More
Time and money are both very important in business. Yet,... Read More
Not 1 in 10 people can tell you where money... Read More
It is not enough if you are busy. The question... Read More
"Time is what we need the most and what we... Read More
TIME MANAGEMENTWith the creation of the universe, God gave humankind... Read More
Fitting an education into a busy lifestyleMany people have aspirations... Read More
There are two types of time killers in everyone's life.... Read More
From Potential to PerformanceOne of the great things about life... Read More
Here's a smart system for doubling or tripling your daily... Read More
If you have ever missed an appointment, forgotten to pick... Read More
I have a habit of sending a thank you letter... Read More
As each day passes, and more and more things need... Read More
Hey - Did someone press the FFW button?Have you ever... Read More
A year and a half ago I was introduced to... Read More
How you spend the first sixty minutes of your day... Read More
One of the most challenging aspect in life is time... Read More
One question a lot of people ask me recently is:... Read More
Increased productivity, the ability to get more value for our... Read More
Where does your time go? We all know we are... Read More
Goal Planning-Achieving balance in a person's life requires assessment of... Read More
Ever feel that you spend too much time shoring up... Read More
Do your dishes really need to be dried, or could... Read More
What keeping time really means is...being on time!You know, there... Read More
The Internet is increasingly becoming a major time killer for... Read More
As I sit here in front of the computer... Read More
"Time management" is a myth. Time ticks by, whether you... Read More
It is not enough if you are busy. The question... Read More
Let's say that you have a software project that's under... Read More
Last week I attended a presentation from Parenting Expert and... Read More
Balancing a family's varying schedules can be near impossible. Soccer,... Read More
Are you obsessed with getting everything just right? Do you... Read More
I keep a fossil on my desk at all times.... Read More
When I was small, I have never considered the importance... Read More
You can use the Power of 90 Seconds to transform... Read More
We are all born equal! We all have the same... Read More
Many of us spend long hours at our desk. To... Read More
Whenever I've worked on 'de-cluttering' my living or working space,... Read More
Work brings together people of different characters and behavior, and... Read More
Whenever you have projects that can't be done in one... Read More
It's easy to waste time on things that seem urgent... Read More
Here's some time management tips to try:1) Set strict office... Read More
Such an innocuous little phrase, yet when you are hard... Read More
Benjamin Franklin wrote: "If you want to enjoy one of... Read More
Does it seem like there is never enough time in... Read More
"You will never find time for anything. You must make... Read More
How many of us are guilty of "Putting the cart... Read More
Everyday, in life, we are bombarded with 101 tasks that... Read More
Once you have completed your day you can boost your... Read More
Having a home based business can be overwhelming. When you... Read More
There are times, when I am driving in my car... Read More
"Work smarter, not harder" is a cliché that has darted... Read More
If you can motivate yourself at will to get any... Read More
One of the most common complaints that small business owners... Read More
Setting goals is the easy part -- but sticking with... Read More
Do you wish you could work less and play more?... Read More
Time Management |