I lacked focus and clarity. I was having a hard time getting motivated to get in bed on time. To get up on time. To work out. To write. Maybe you’ve been there.
Why does this happen? We set out with big plans and we make great progress – then the wheels come off! And we can’t figure out how to get it all back together.
Weeks, months, even years slip by. Then one day – reality slaps you in the face! You’ve got to get moving again!
In this post I’ll tell you how you can get a chapter of Jon Acuff’s new book, Start, absolutely FREE!
Sometimes we don’t even know when or how we left the path. It was so long ago. Maybe it was a simple distraction. Maybe a transition at home or at work – or both!
Derailed
I got way off track in 2012. My wife finished a graduate degree and started a new career. I left a career in higher education and shifted into a new field. We moved 3 times – one move took us halfway across the country away from our families to join a new team. We left behind a great church and wonderful friends that we loved deeply. Our daughter, Madison, enrolled in a new school. We bought a new home. And we had a son.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m not complaining. (In fact, each member of my family would tell you today that 2012 was the best year of our lives together.) I’m simply admitting – our proverbial train derailed!
Your life matters
You’ve been there, too – through significant transition, grief, pain, disease, bad news. Some days you’ve wondered if it even matters if you get out of bed.
Let me tell you – YOU MATTER!
Your life matters! So what is it that is keeping you from making progress? Why haven’t you started?
Last week I asked myself a similar question – What are the things that keep me from starting? And I started writing. Ten minutes later I ran out of space on the white board in my home office.
Here are 7 things that were draining more than 5 hours out of my life every day! (It’s not pretty!)…
1. Social Media
I was checking Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Buffer, my blog stats – 10 to 12 times a day wasting more than an hour a day. There’s no reason for me to check these more than once a day. Nobody cares if it takes me a few hours longer to like their witty status or comment on their latest photo.
So I set aside a time every morning to process social media. And I can do this in a matter of minutes.
2. TV
Yeah, you do it, too – sit down to watch one program, and it turns into 3 (or more)! Before you know it the entire evening is gone.
I was wasting an average of 1-2 hours each evening watching television which caused me to stay up late. Then I had a hard time getting up on time the next morning – more wasted time.
3. Going to work early and staying late
This one sounds weird – let me explain.
I was going to work about an hour early nearly every day and staying an hour or so late. To be honest, those 2 hours were extremely productive because the building was empty and there were few distractions. But here’s the problem – I was neglecting top priorities in my life to spend more time at the office. How does that make sense?
So I stopped! Now I go in on time. And I leave on time (most days).
4. Finances
We use software to track our personal and business finances. We track most everything. Which means we keep all of our receipts and enter the transactions into the software.
I was doing this each day as we would make purchases – sometimes several times a day. Entering the transactions daily wasted about 30 minutes a day – mostly because I would get distracted and start looking at other areas of our finances while I had the program open.
If we are living within our budget, there’s no reason for me to enter the transactions daily. So now my wife enters them and I review them weekly – in less than 30 minutes.
5. Golf
For years, I enjoyed golf as a recreational hobby. Recently, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t do much for me anymore. In fact, I’ve found myself bored out on the course, thinking about how much time I’m wasting away from my top priorities. I even tried connecting golf to some of them – spending time with friends, my health, etc. It still felt empty.
I shared this with my boss. So he asked me, What refreshes you? What stirs your soul? Then he said, If your recreation does not fulfill these things, you are cheating yourself. (He loves fishing – he’s cheating himself!)
So I’m getting rid of my clubs to allow me to focus on what I love doing!
6. Projects
I am a doer. So its easy for me to focus on projects, processes, and planning while I neglect developing and serving others.
I’ll be far more effective if I set aside the projects in the short-term and focus on developing new leaders. And, with your help, new leaders will take your organization much farther than you could ever go alone.
7. Reading
I know, I know – leaders are readers. But my reading had become an excuse that was keeping me from writing. I was reading everyone else’s book instead of writing my own. So I set aside a specific time for reading each day. And I’m writing a lot more too.
Now, here’s what I want you to do – write down one thing that is keeping you from making progress. Do it right now – then share it in the comments.
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Checking twitter and other social media. Watching Netflix all evening.
Lack of focus
Fear…simply procrastination…getting too involved with Facebook…
I agree. Those are things a lot of people struggle with. Thanks for connecting.
Developing new leaders is the key to success-yours, ours, your company’s, your family’s–your community, the planet! Thanks for the reminder. Need to gt on that with a few of my employees at Forster-Thomas here in NYC.
Thanks Evan. I’ll be in NYC June 30-July 5.
Thanks, Evan. I’ll be in NYC June 30-July 5.
I tend to deviate from my To Do List and wander a bit. When this happens, my days seem pointless and wasted. I have to maintain the discipline of planning my work and working my plan. Thanks for sharing! Good points…especially about golf…we’re twins in that regard.
Good to know, Dwayne – misery loves…. wait. 😉
That sounds like my life. Fear and overcommitment, mainly overcommitment! It is especially hard because many good causes languish due to lack of participation by dedicated people. Problem is, I can’t be dedicated to everything, no matter how good.
I had the same problem – I was overcommitted. My pace was not sustainable. I had to set priorities. To help me with this I created my personal life plan. I shared how I did this in these 3 posts:
http://www.michaelnichols.org/life-plan/
http://www.michaelnichols.org/your-life-matters/
http://www.michaelnichols.org/get-better-results/
Review them then let me know what you think.
Battling to get a grip on what I should be doing so my bed and Twitter win. Too many choices and trying to please others.
I know what you mean. I had similar problem – trying to do everything well. There was no way I could keep up. I had to set priorities. To help me with this I created my personal life plan. I shared how I did this in these 3 posts:
http://www.michaelnichols.org/life-plan/
http://www.michaelnichols.org/your-life-matters/
http://www.michaelnichols.org/get-better-results/
Review them then let me know what you think.
I know this sounds crazy and I am getting help for it but for many years I’ve had an eating disorder which sucks out tons of valuable time that I could be using to improve myself and help others., It also ruins my social life as well. Once this is gone I can only imagine the things I will be able to accomplish.
Thanks so much for sharing this – focus on making progress. When you nail one area, you gain momentum to tackle other areas. I prayed for you.
Probably checking social media and blog statistics for me – as I try to grow my blog I’m eager to see how things are going.
Thanks Tom.
I’m with you on a lot of the things that can cause failure in my life. I know social media has been a huge distraction and, at one point, so was TV.
I’d add Mindless Internet Surfing. Going from one news site to an entertainment site to some other site. Sucked in for hours at a time and so much lost productivity.
Been there – drafting my “ideal week” helped me to proactively take control of my days.
You and I have a lot in common Michael. Social media is/was a big time-waster for me. Now, I try to close the facebook tab after I spend a few minutes there in the morning until after work but need to do more. I was actually thinking of blogging about this very thing today so this was very timely. Thanks for your encouragement and reminders.
Yep – it’s a drain. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Social Media and going to bed late!! Your article was really good and challenging!!
Thanks Mysia – we have some things in common! Enjoy your week!
Social Media, certainly, is one of mine. I think my biggest issue is similar to what you say of golf, though it’s not golf. It’s trying to find refreshment/recovery through activities that are not really very refreshing. The end-result is that I would spend a few free minutes to “relax” and find that I wasted a morning to get those few minutes to catch my breath.
I know what you mean. I found that I have to intentionally schedule time for rest and recreation. Hope you enjoyed your trip last week.
Last week’s trip was a blessing, especially considering that both vehicles went down today! I did like the south-of-Dallas area, though. Had a great day hiking the trails at the Wycliffe Center.
Very nice! Hope you get the vehicles back up soon.
Social Media and Reading are my stumbling blocks. They’re such a double edged sword. I want to ensure that I’m building relationships and often that’s through sharing blog posts/articles/books that I find are beneficial. If I can trim back in this area, my time to take care of my own writing would increase and then I’d have material that could be shared.
You are right – I agree. The way to handle many of these time-wasters seems counterintuitive. It’s tempting to think, if we limit these activities, our community will suffer or we’ll no longer enjoy our work. But reality is that we end up with stronger community and we are more fulfilled and happy about our work.
Thanks David! I was articulating excuses like “fear” and “overcommitment” as well. But I found that, though I knew I was afraid and over-committed, those labels were not specific enough for me to do something about it – and I wasn’t making progress fast enough.
The principle is – if you’re not getting the results you desire get more specific. This led me to write out my “stuck” list. You may find that when you get that specific that you gain momentum and make more progress.
What do you think? Enjoy your week!
Nice. 😉
Hi Michael. I have “Start” on my iPad so someone else will be blessed by your gift! I admit it…a year ago I discovered blogging. Through blogging I discovered social media and building a platform or a tribe. Then I discovered Twitter, Google +, Pinterest, and all the rest. Then I got a vision of what I could give to the world and began taking online courses. I have a full private practice as a therapist and am in three online courses plus other online activities that take up a ton of time…as well as reading about four books at a time on my days off. This is ridiculous and I have suddenly realized that I am rarely doing my Beth Moore Bible Study these days (I’ll get back to it…yada, yada). I like your ideas. I’ll let you know how I implement them. Thanks, Michael! I needed that kick in the pants!
Wow – thanks for sharing your story! I know what you mean. Enjoy your week!
You too, Michael!