A Holistic Approach to Time Management

When most of us think of time management, we think of time blocking, or setting a schedule that we hope will be better than the last one.

However, just like change management is really about transition management, a holistic approach to time management is needed to create something that actually helps you feel more in control over your life, health, relationships and work. 

Our schedule is where we live… where and how we spend time, with who, when and why.

Which necessitates  taking  a few steps back to assess some important aspects of our lives before we just start employing time management techniques.  We have to learn and understand more about our self, values, priorities,  energy levels and more.

I recommend to clients that they do a health& wellbeing energy assessment first.  This assessment also asks us to identify our values as well.  Once we gain insight on how to understand ourselves better and manage ourselves more effectively, that translates into creating a plan that is far beyond common time management tools and techniques.

Below is a portion of the assessment.  Take the assessment when you are in a quiet non distracted place.

Let it guide you as you begin to look at managing time and energy in a whole new way.

SELF LEADERSHIP - PERSONAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING ASSESSMENT

Please consider the following areas of your health and wellbeing and rate level of satisfaction in each area, from 1-10. 1 indicates not satisfied at all, while 5 is “moderately/ average” and 10 is the most satisfied.

Then consider your desired level of satisfaction in each of these categories, then note the point differential. 

1st blank  - rate satisfaction now. 2nd blank your desired level of satisfaction.

3rd blank  difference between the two.  E.g.  6 / 9/   3 is the differential.

Rate each of the following areas of your Health and Wellbeing

PHYSICAL- includes the quality / healthiness of your diet, how often you exercise or engage in physical movement, your energy levels, immunity, how well you recover from illness and overall feeling of vitality and health.   _____________/ ____________. _____________

EMOTIONAL / MENTAL – includes how well you cope with day -to -day stressors, how positive your attitude is, how well you are attuned with yourself and aware of your emotions, how well you manage big feelings (sadness, anger, frustration), how you manage any anxiety, depression or grief, how you manage yourself through problems and trials, and how resilient you would describe yourself.  __________/____________                            _____________

SPIRITUAL – includes how attuned you are to what you believe, how you practice your faith, what faith or religious habits you do and how your faith or religion guides your values, choices and direction.  _____________/___________   ___________

RELATIONAL-  How  the quality is of your primary relationships.  Does your primary relationship, partner/ spouse, feel safe, joy filled and satisfying?  How do you feel about your relationships with children, extended family overall? _________/_________   __________

SOCIAL/ FRIENDSHIPS/ COMMUNITY- How much time do you make to nurture meaningful friendships?  To what degree do you feel you have social support?  How much do you integrate yourself into the community? Volunteer?  How often do you make time to be social with others, either individually or as a couple?  __________/_________    __________

FINANCIAL – How financially secure are you feeling?  Do you have a plan for saving/ investing/spending/giving?  Do you feel content or stressed more often about money? Is money and/ or financial issues a huge factor in arguments, distress or are you managing both money, and emotions around money, well?  __________/__________.  ___________

WORK LIFE AND WORK LIFE BALANCE-Are you content with where your business is at?  Is the health or sustainability or profitability keeping you up at night?  Are you able to find balance, to offload and/or delegate and /or hire out tasks that someone else can do?  Does your job or business cause strife between you and a partner?  Are you feeling supported as a business owner or at your job?   ___________/ ___________   ___________

SELF CARE- SELF MANAGEMENT- How often do you take time for you? Time to enjoy solitude, to rest or rejuvenate?  How often do you say no when saying yes will put you over the edge in stress, or be a detriment to your health?  ________/________     ___________

MANAGING YOUR ENERGY- MANAGING YOUR EMOTIONS- TUNING INWARDLY

What do you notice about your energy?  Is your energy highest or lowest in the morning?  How many cups of coffee before you feel like you have energy and the brain fog has lifted?  Do you notice an energy boost or downfall in the afternoon?  Are you someone who struggles with fatigue all day and then gets an energy boost in the evening? Write down what you notice.

How many hours of sleep do you get?  _________How many do you desire/ need? ________

What time do you go to bed? __________Time lights out?_________ Awake time?__________

MANAGING YOUR EMOTIONS, MOODS, ATTITUDES and SELF TALK

How aware are you of your emotions and moods? How much energy is expended feeling difficult emotions ( e.g. angry, unappreciated, uncared for)? How aware are you of your internal dialogue, emotional needs and how often do you ask others for what you need?  ________/ ________      __________

VALUES ASSESSMENTS-

Please write a values statement for each of the areas you just assessed.

PHYSICAL________________________________________________________________________

EMOTIONAL /MENTAL_____________________________________________________________

SPIRITUAL________________________________________________________________________

PRIMARY RELATIONSHIP___________________________________________________________

OTHER RELATIONSHIPS___________________________________________________________

SOCIAL/ COMMUNITY_____________________________________________________________

FINANCIAL _______________________________________________________________________

WORK LIFE/ BUSINESS____________________________________________________________

SELF CARE/ MNGMT ______________________________________________________________

ENERGY MNGMT__________________________________________________________________

EMOTIONAL MNGMT ______________________________________________________________

The answers and the differentials to these questions, along with reconnecting with our values can be used in myriad ways to further our health and wellbeing in a holistic way.   

How this applies to ENERGY AND TIME MANAGEMENT:

Learning how to manage energy is as important as everything else you have identified.  If our energy is low in the afternoon, but we are scheduling important priority tasks and meetings at that time without doing anything to change our energy level, we are setting ourselves up for a difficult challenge.

Learning how energy and emotional management is essential to having agency over our life, health, work, relationships and schedule can make an amazing difference in our lives.

When we learn to understand ourselves more accurately and manage ourselves more effectively, we can get more done in less time with increased efficiency and decreased stress.

We encourage you to begin to make a Master 40 day Strategic Schedule taking into account what you have discovered- your values, priorities, energy and more.  Consider your commitments and schedule them first and then ensure you have actionable items identified for each category under your value statements.

Now you can begin to make your schedule.

For the remainder of the process, including identifying obstacles to effective scheduling, learning boundaries, and creating a schedule that works and is balanced, consider reaching out for a consult at lesli@thewellspringcompany.com.