Now there’s a thought?! As you plan your day and week, try evaluating the options and choices you have, and take into consideration the energy you need/want for each task.

We all know what it feels like to be stressed about “time”. You know, too many things to do and not enough time to do them in. If this sounds like you right now, you might be trying too hard to micro-manage every hour, often overfilling your schedule. This is a sure-fire way to set yourself up for frustration and disappointment, versus success.

Managing your choices and assessing wisely the energy and focus you need is a much more realistic and useful approach. You will be more inclined to have a better perspective on how much time you will really need to allot for each appointment or “to do” item on your list.  You will also quickly see the value of creating a cushion over the course of your day, to allow for the meeting that runs a little later or the road repairs that tie up traffic unexpectedly right in the middle of your day.

More positives:

•  The breathing space in your day will help you think more clearly, and recognize opportunities that you might have otherwise missed (being distracted by all that you still had to do).

•  Remaining in the moment will show more respect to others you are engaging with, and definitely give you more joy and respect in return too.

There are still a couple of other significant challenges people can face. Have you ever added tasks to your day just randomly (in reaction mode) without checking and prioritizing with your existing commitments? Or perhaps you added ones that shouldn’t have been there to begin with (i.e. those tasks belonged on someone else’s list)? I’m not saying that these things should never happen; there’s just a lot of wisdom in doing so with more thought than is often given.

To help you get a better sense of where your time is going and provide you a quick and easy way to see where you can tweak things, I encourage you to do what I call a Wellness Journal for one week.

From my book, Working From Home & Making It Work©

I initially created the Wellness Journal to help my clients and colleagues get a handle on their use of time—or as often was the case—get a handle on how and who else was using or consuming their time. As with many other tools I have developed or passed on from my mentors, the Wellness Journal has become an amazing exercise that I utilize regularly.

It’s very simple, and you can customize it the way you see fit for your particular circumstances. Detail is helpful, but not to the point where it will inhibit you from following through with the process.

Every one of us has 168 hours in our week, that’s 7 days times 24 hours.

I encourage you to pick a relatively normal week you can commit to—and write, type or record in some way, all that makes up your day. Note everything you do for yourself, for your friends, family, work, etc.

Quite likely, well before the week is up, you will see some areas that you can make adjustments in, to help things run more efficiently and productively.

Here’s to your success!

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This week’s guest blog is by Sheri Andrunyk, on Managing Your Energy & Your Choices, more insights of which you’ll find in her new book, Working from Home and Making it Work.

Sheri Andrunyk is Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Inspiring Speaker, Holistic Business and Life Coach, Author and Publisher. Her specialty is working with small business owners and entrepreneurs.

She has a passion for all forms of meaningful communication, and has expertise in providing invaluable guidance to her clients, colleagues, and community.

Sheri’s new book Working from Home and Making it Work discusses time and choice management, work/life balance and shares powerful insights on how we can become better self-managers, an essential component to success.

For more information and to download a free chapter, please visit

www.insightfulcommunications.ca