FIND MORE TIME

Reduce Unwanted Noise

As an entrepreneur or business owner you know the most IMPORTANT resource you have is TIME.  This is something that you CANNOT alter or CHANGE.  We each only have 24 HOURS in a day.  How you CHOOSE to spend your time MATTERS.

The biggest MISTAKE a lot of people make is they don’t take the time to look at HOW they are actually SPENDING their time.

We are humans. We form HABITS and behaviours that become COMFORTABLE to us.  We do things because “that is just ALWAYS how it has been DONE”.  But our lives don’t always stay the same.  As we learn and grow we need to ADAPT to make the BEST USE of our time.  Something that you did for the last 3-5 years might have worked well for you then BUT is it still working well for you TODAY, and for what you want in the FUTURE?

There are a few quick simple HACKS that you can do to find more time in your day.  These three hacks are all about reducing or eliminating UNWANTED NOISE.

You might be SURPRISED at how much time you can find when you take action TO COMBAT your noise POLLUTION.

So what is UNWANTED NOISE?

It can be ANYTHING that is coming at you that you no longer want to hear or deal with. It does not add value to your life, your goals or your progress.  In fact, it HINDERS you by distracting you and taking up space in your life.

It could be someone who is always calling you to COMPLAIN and they just want you to sit there and listen.  It could be some of the posts you see on your FACEBOOK FEED.  It could be people or businesses that are contacting you that you no longer have any INTEREST in hearing from.

All of this noise, all of these things you don’t really want in your life are DRAINING you.  They are taking your TIME and most importantly your ENERGY.  They leave you feeling like you want to do nothing.  You are too TIRED.  You just want to sleep or watch Netflix 24/7 because that is EASY.

So here are some quick and easy things to put into practice to REDUCE the noise.

1. SET BOUNDARIES with friends and colleagues

If you have a friend or colleague that is always calling you to complain, try to implement boundaries to SHIFT the dynamic and reduce the unwanted noise that is polluting our space.

• • • DON’T answer the call. Instead call them back later when perhaps they might not be as heated or invested in talking about whatever it is they want to complain about.
    • Answer the call but set a time LIMIT. Give them five minutes to vent and then change the subject. If they don’t want to move on tell them, you have got to go and you can chat another time.
    • Limit how FREQUENTLY you talk with this person. If it is someone you talk to everyday try to reduce it to once or twice a week.

The whole idea here is to REDUCE your time in order to reduce the noise and reduce your energy expended on this.  And, it is not to say people don’t have emergencies or something bad happens to them – of course be a good friend and listen BUT we all know those habitual abusers that love to have anyone listen to them.  Those are the ones you need to WATCH out for!

2. PROTECT your Social Space and Headspace

Social Media is a great way to stay CONNECTED with friends and other business owners until it isn’t. You love seeing peoples updates until they become annoying.  And, they could be annoying in more than one way:

• • • They only post their HIGHLIGHT reel which makes you feel not so good about your own life
    • They post information that makes you ANGRY or stressed out
    • They post information that you know is NOT TRUE – this could be about them personally or professionally

First, I want to say “COMPARISON is the thief of joy”.  You should never compare your life to anyone else’s.  We are all at different places and in different spaces.  If you find yourself comparing your life to others it might be time to do some DEEPER work into why that is happening for you.

Second, there is no point in ARGUING with anyone on social media if it is going to take you down a deep rabbit hole.  You are not going to SPARK any real change and your time and energy can be better spent driving IMPACT where it matters more.

Here is the GOOD NEWS you can also set BOUNDARIES on Social Media and protect your social space and head space. On Facebook you can just SNOOZE the person that seems to be getting under your skin for 30 days. You will no longer see their posts in their feed and as a side bonus it will allow one of your other friend’s posts to display instead.  For other social media channels you can STOP following or REMOVE the connection.

You also have the options to unfriend the person or just go off social media all together.  You have to do what works for you.  But taking these small actions can help to FREE up your time and headspace.

3. SIMPLIFY your Inbox

If you get a lot of email to your inbox and it stresses you out take some time to IDENTIFY what you want to receive and what you do not want to receive.

There are those businesses that email you everyday and FILL your inbox.  Are you really getting any VALUE from the emails that you are NEVER reading? Or is this just CREATING more noise?  Another thing you HAVE to do?

Do yourself a FAVOUR and scroll to the bottom of the email and hit UNSUBSCRIBE.  And, don’t feel bad about it.  They are also paying to have you on their list and if you are not really interested in their content there is no real BENEFIT for either of you, but it costs you both time and maybe even some money.

Once you start to reduce and eliminate unwanted noise you will CREATE some SPACE, FIND some extra TIME and then be able to fill it with things you REALLY want to do.

TAKE ACTION: REDUCE UNWANTED NOISE

1. What is the biggest source of unwanted noise in your life in the last 6 months?
2. What are you doing to implement to reduce or eliminate it?

Until next time,