Your mind-clock
Are you sometimes accused of being a workaholic? Do you feel that you have plenty more to achieve but not enough time in which to achieve it? Perhaps you just have too many projects on the go which leave little time for anything else like health, fitness and family? Maybe you have tried to apply some time management techniques with little success, and now wonder where the answer lies.
There is much talk of work/life balance, and yet you may feel that you don’t want to give up one thing for another just yet. It may be more about managing your energy and your memory across a variety of different activities. Well how about utilising your natural mind-clock?
First let me explain what I mean by your mind-clock. Have you had the experience of knowing you need to sustain your energy for the duration of a long project? Or maybe when you have gone for a long run or attempted a marathon? Some people go full-out all year, miss holidays and everything until Xmas when they ‘let go’ and then develop flu symptoms, or are attacked by some other nasty virus which gets through their weakened immune defence.
The idea that you can set your mind-clock to sustain your energy over a pre-determined period of time is fascinating. What if you can set it for a lifetime? How long do you tell yourself you are going to live? Do you tell yourself you are getting older, or that you feel so good to still have your youth, regardless of your age? Do you count your age in years, or just feel your way through life? There is plenty of evidence of people checking out at certain ages, or expecting to retire at a certain age. Social evidence can influence your mind-clock if you let it. But it can be different.
How long have you set your mind-clock as commitment to a project or business plan? How does your mind-clock deal with the range of activities which run almost in parallel with each other such as holidays/work/parenting/leisure/health & fitness? Does your mind-clock apply its time spans with equal depth of focus and attention on each one? Are there cut-off’s for some activities and not others, for example does work ride on a one year timer and parenting on a shorter cycle time? Maybe some activities have no mind-clock at all, or maybe it has just stopped ticking.
How about imagining a separate mind-clock for each special relationship in your life? So you have one for your partner, one each for your children, one for your health, one for your vacations and a whole series of them for your work projects. Just imagine a clock for each one. Have a clear picture with a symbol representing its unique relationship, and hear it ticking. In this way you not only extend time, you extend it in a multitude of directions (or relationships) at the same time. So no clock ever stops. Try it and see how it changes things for you.
I am curious to discover how else we can use the mind-clock – as a way to have longer, healthier and more meaningful lives. This might be a good start – and what else is possible I wonder?
Let us know your thoughts, contact us or call on 0870 762 1300.
