Put your hand up if you are wondering where your time goes?
How are the kids that big already? Can you believe that they are starting high school or, dare I say, University this year?
Can you believe how long you have been married for?
Where the heck has all the time gone?
And worse… do you feel guilty about it?
Do you feel like you could have been there more for the people that mattered the most to you? Did you really have to take that ‘important call,' even though in your heart of hearts you really could have rescheduled it.
I’ll be honest with you… I can relate to all those things…
And, like you, it stressed me out and made me feel bad.
If you can relate to these examples than you'll want to keep reading...
So the real question than is: How can we fix that feeling of ‘not doing enough’ but still get everything done that we have on our plate?
Here is the secret:
It’s not about amount of time invested; it’s about your FOCUS.
We live in the culture of distraction. Most of it comes from our wonderful mobile devices that we are completely addicted to…
I mean think about it...
Every time you have a spare second you are probably checking your phone to see if anyone responded to your post, what’s happening in the group chat or if someone posted something funny on instagram.
Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with any of that. However… and this is my key point…
The human brain CANNOT just switch from one thing to another efficiently.
Let me share an example with you…
You are spending time with your child and you grab your phone… your brain has to switch focus from your child to your phone and then back again. The problem is…
This takes valuable time.
Now multiple that by the 1000 times a day you check your phone or social media and you will see that you don’t have a time problem, you have a focus problem.
The first rule of being maximally present is to focus.
So next time you have an activity planned with a loved one… whether it’s watching your son’s hockey game or date night with your spouse… leave your phone at home and actually focus on what you are doing.
This focus will help create a feeling of presence and will help reduce or even eliminate that feeling of “I’m not doing enough for my loved ones.”
Can you relate? Please share your expereince below... especially if you've discovered some effective strategies to help you stay focused.