Funny How Time Slips Away – Making The Seconds Count

It’s Sunday, a regular Sunday, nothing out of the ordinary. I know people out there are sleeping off the night before and relaxing, so that should be okay for me right?

Yet there’s something that’s making me restless, and it’s the thought that I should always be working harder and longer than I am.

When I was younger and studying for my A-levels, for inspiration I would imagine a parallel universe version of me. That Amy was also sitting at my desk, except when I took  a break to scratch my head, daydream, stare out of the window, the other Amy kept working. She was a determined little pest that plagued my conscience, but it made me conscious of the fact that I was wasting time and could be working harder.

It’s a little bit like this now that I am freelancing. I imagine competitors fervently working away when I scratch my head, daydream and stare out of the window; it is this thought which take me back to my computer and finish the article I was going to let “marinate” whilst I caught up on CSI…

Its’ made me think a lot more about time, how those minutes of non-productivity add up to hours, to days even where we could have achieved something rather than glance through the gossip magazines, or watch a TV show we’ve seen before. If you’re thinking of building a business, this is very important as touched upon in this great Venture Level blog post

But being busy for the sake of it, is just as bad as sitting and doing nothing, and taking a break is important to maintain a flow of constructive, productive efforts. It’s finding that balance that is important.

For me, planning my day the night before is an essential aspect that I couldn’t do without. Here, Jack Canfield explains it better than me (and a video is always more fun).

So, on my Sunday, which I thought was going to be mostly for mooching, I instead tried planting some acorns. I contacted the fantastic site Women Unlimited to see if they would like article submissions, and also applied for their coaching programme.

And now it’s down to planning my day tomorrow, and then a reward in the shape of CSI…

How do other people think about how much time they should be putting into their work and play? Do you use any other methods to motivate you?