[00:02] This is the starting point, really. Acknowledging that you have ownership, that you have control, and that you can pivot things.

[00:10] Welcome back to the Focus B show. This is Katie Sudddhart here aka the focus b. And on this show, I interview high performers and leaders around the world to discover their secret on peak performance, productivity, mindfulness and leadership. So if you want to take your performance and your leadership to the next level, then you're in the right place. Listen up and connect with the magic.

[00:46] How can you have more time? Such a big question, such an interesting topic. In today's episode, I'm going to share three key tools that can help you to craft more time for what matters for you. Because we all have 24 hours in the day, 168 hours in the week. So it's a matter of looking how do you spend that time? And do you spend that time on what's important for you? Number one tool is around taking ownership. You might have already heard the expressions to take ownership, to take responsibility for what's important. But do you actually apply this? There are two different types of mindsets victim mindsets and ownership mindset. Victim mindset is when you believe that circumstances happen to you from the outside, that you are a victim of circumstances. Ownership mindset is when you see life as you have responsibility and you can do something about it. How does this relate to time? It's easy to have a victim mindset when it comes to time. When you say things like I'm busy, I don't have the time, it sounds like these are things happening from the outside. People are giving you things to do. You have along to do this. There's nothing you can do about it. You're a victim of all this busyness. If you take 2 seconds to think about it, you know that's not true. You know that you're not a victim of time because time is your essence. You are time as you're living. This is what time is. It's not something you can be a victim of lack. So taking ownership for your time is acknowledging that how you spend your time is a choice. You can choose what you spend your time on. You might feel that you have obligations that surely you can't just choose how you spend every day. Otherwise, maybe on a Monday morning you would choose to lie in bed until noon instead of going to work and to those meetings. The thing is, you can choose. Maybe you'd lose your job. That's still a choice. This is what I'm trying to say is there's a lot of choices that we have that feel like an obligation, but they are a choice. It's just that the alternative isn't great and so we feel obliged to take that choice. You might wonder how all of this is linked to having more time. You might think, okay, great, I get it. I have to acknowledge that I'm taking ownership of my time. How does this help me to craft out more time? Here's what happens when you stop to think of time in a victim mindset and take ownership. You will start to put boundaries in place and think no, this isn't how I want to spend my time. You will start to dedicate time to what's important for you. You will start to shift things around in terms of priorities. You will stop being as much of a people pleaser again boundaries higher up and be more assertive. You will begin to delegate. You will simplify things in your life, you will change things around because you will see that you are the pilot and that you can make those decisions. And then you'll think I don't want to spend my time this way and you'll shift it. Another important aspect of time is not thinking of it in terms of scarcity. When you say I don't have enough time, you have a scarcity mindset. The scarcity mindset is when you believe there isn't enough of something. And this creates desperation, it creates rush, it creates stress. And instead I invite you to have an abundance mindset around time and to think of it in the words of there's always enough time for what's important. For me, I have several affirmations that I use that help me to shift my perspective on time. One of them is there's always enough time for what's important. Another one is there's always enough time for a conversation. Because I believe that I want to prioritize important people in my life or conversations, people I meet. And so I never want to feel rushed and like I can't fit in a conversation because these things are important for me. Basically, you find time for what matters, if it truly matters. I realize that if you're feeling super stressed and rushed, this might be upsetting. You might feel you want this special, amazing hack and tool to change your perspective and to actually have more time. But this is the starting point really, acknowledging that you have ownership, that you have control, and that you can pivot things in your life. And also the way you think about time changing your thoughts. Like I explained with those affirmations, this is the first tool. The second tool is to look when you think about time at your past and your future. Let me explain. So in the first part saying that time is something you can choose right now, but it's also linked to past choices. For instance, you might be in a meeting and thinking what am I doing in this meeting? This isn't how I want to spend my time. Now, there was a point you accepted that job or you chose that job or you agreed to that meeting. There was a point in the past that led to this current moment. And I guarantee that everything you're doing every second of the day is either a result of a choice you're making now. You choose right now to get up and eat, for instance, or to listen to this podcast. This is a choice you're making right now, or it's linked to a past choice. You agreed to a meeting beforehand. You agreed to this job. You agreed to have this dinner or lunch. You agreed to do this appointment. Think about it. How you spend your time during one day. I guarantee every single minute is linked either to a current choice or to a past choice. So if you take ownership in that past moment and you realize that when you accept this project, it will take up X amount of time in your future, you're taking ownership. And then when this happens in your future, and you then think, oh, now I have all these meetings because I agreed on this project, you won't have the victim mindset, because you know that when you took that decision, it would probably lead to that. And this is where connecting with your future self is important. And I've done another episode on this that I'll link in the show notes. Because when you're doing this, you're bridging that gap. And we often forget that when we say yes a week before, we'll actually have to turn up a week later. This is so important. This is the only way you will manage to have way more time in your life, is by bridging that gap, understanding that how you spend your time is linked to past decisions or current decisions. And this all impacts your future. And if you connect past self, current self, future, self, all aligned, you will never feel a lack of time again. I'm just letting it sink in. See if you can put the pieces together. This is super, super powerful. And if you really reflect on how you spend your time during the day, you will start to see these patterns and it will shift the way you think. Okay? So the third tool is around energy management. All time isn't created equal. And if you have a lot more energy, you will be able to do things faster, more efficiently, more calmly, more clearly, and it will take up less of your time. So by managing your energy, you're managing your time. And this is where priorities come in. Again, prioritizing your health, your exercise, a good night's sleep instead of cramming in as many hours as possible. This is one of the key tools that shows up time and time again in the question of time management. Because energy management is really what creates that time and that space. So things like single tasking instead of doing multiple things, things like meditation, isn't it ironic that spending half an hour in the morning doing nothing creates more time in your day? Because you're more focused, because you're more clear, because you're less emotional, so you can make decisions more effectively, so you don't spend time and mental space on decisions. Though this is also hugely powerful energy management. And I will also put some links in the show notes to a couple of episodes I've done on energy and one that I did on Pareto and Parkinson Law that can help you to do more things in less time. I won't dive into this now, but I will put the links in the show notes. I hope today's episode has been useful for you to summarize the key points take ownership of how you're spending your time now, be aware of the past decisions that are affecting you and how your current decisions are affecting your future self and manage your energy in order to create more time in your life. If you've enjoyed today's episode and you.

[11:49] Want to share it to the world.

[11:51] Share it with a friend or family member and leave a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify. This really, really helps the podcast and it means the world to me. I highly, highly appreciate if you leave a podcast review. That would be amazing. So thank you so much and thank you for tuning in today and wishing you a wonderful, wonderful day ahead. Thank you so much for tuning in.

[12:18] Today to the Focus Bee show. I would absolutely love to hear your feedback, so let me know in an Apple review or YouTube comment what was most valuable for you, and feel free to share this episode with a friend or a family member. Wishing you a wonderful, magical and focused day ahead.