Avoid Time Management and Do This Instead

You’ve likely heard of the metaphor of a “fish in water.” The fish doesn’t realize water is there because the water is its entire reality. Water is all the fish has ever known.

And so, the fish is unconscious of this phenomenon of “water.”

Now, the next leap your mind probably wants to make is to draw a parallel here. “Fish is to water” as “A human being is to…” What should go next?

Well, “air” seems like the most likely analogy. Fish is to water as a human being is to air…

But as human beings, we’re well aware we breathe air. We might not be conscious of every single breath – but we certainly know we’re immersed in air.

A stronger candidate for what human beings are immersed in but don’t realize is:

Time.

Specifically, a fish is to water as human consciousness is to time.

We are embedded in Time.

We swim in it all day and night.

And we rarely if ever stop to think about Time as a medium that we can interact with. If anything, we assume we’re victims of time and fight it with total futility.

The concept of “managing” time proposes a certain type of relationship to time. Time exists, it is discrete, and we can “manage” it through various systems proposed by the time management gurus.

But time and consciousness are specifically intertwined.

And management isn’t exactly the highest capability of consciousness.

So, if time management isn’t a viable option for how to relate to this invisible medium we exist within called time, what is?

Don’t Manage Your Time; Intend It and Then Follow Through

I’ve come to view Intention as the key pivot point for evolving our relationship with time.

Instead of allowing our embeddedness in time to remain unconscious, we make time conscious through cultivating precise, detailed intention.

This may sound ungrounded and a bit hippy-dippy, but it isn’t, I assure you.

Here’s how we support our clients to develop a highly intentional relationship with the time they have in front of them:

1. We begin with precise clarity about our Vision for what we want to create in our lives.

This vision can (and should) extend to any area of your life. The more precise our Vision, the stronger our Intention can become.

2. Then we break our Vision down into actionable targets.

Call them goals if you like. Or don’t, if the word “goals” evokes things you don’t relate to.

The point is: we translate an expansive vision into specific stations along the path toward full fruition of our vision.

3. Then we break our targets down into short-term action plans.

What good is a Vision of what could be and an intense Intention without actual step-by-step follow-through?

4. Finally, we continually talk about our Visions, our Intentions, and our Follow-Through

Accountability is everything when it comes to following through on our intentions. More accountability leads to more follow-through. Less accountability leads to less or even zero follow-through.

That Packed Calendar Isn’t a Badge of Honor

Outside of your booked sessions with your clients, you should seek to maintain a flexible, loose structure to your days and weeks.

This way, you can flow with your energy and the rhythms of time each week and apply your Vision and Intention precisely to the time you have available outside of sessions and other strict commitments.

When you have a clear Vision and then have set your Intention precisely and with detail, you can find a balance of flow and row in your weekly allotment of Time.

Flow feels good – when the river we’re flowing on is leading us somewhere we want to go.

But even the nicest and most well-directed river has little boulders and rapids that we must navigate.

Flow and Row – through Intention built on Vision – is a way of relating to time that’s vastly superior to the standard “time management” approaches you have likely already tried and failed at implementing.

What If You Didn’t Have to Do It All Alone?

Growing a successful practice is often lonely. You’re pushing your limits while the people around you simply can’t relate.

What if you could encounter an environment of excellence that would spur and support you on to ever-greater practice growth? And all in a spirit of Flow and Row so you can actually enjoy the process of growing your success?

That’s what we offer here at Therapy Practice Accelerator.

Curious to learn more?

Book a call with one of our practice growth experts today and let’s talk.