Hack Back Time to Achieve your Life Goals

Hack back TIME by cutting DISTRACTIONS

How do we stop being distracted and start living the life we deserve?

This blog is about being Super Optimised for success because we all know what to do but when we feel in OVERWHELM, then we become frustrated, anxious and inactive.

We all value honesty, so let’s take a moment and be honest with ourselves and answer this scale below to measure where you are starting at BEFORE you implement some of the ideas to hack back time.

On a Scale of 1-10 – 1 below LOW and 10 being HIGH

My current time management           1-10 _______

My current ability to focus                 1-10 _______

Need for better habits & routines      1-10 _______

Ability to avoid distractions                1-10 _______

Being fully present                              1-10 _______

Once you have a baseline of where you are, then you can re-assess after you’ve implemented some changes.

We’re only going to look at 2 areas that cause distractions (as there are many!), but finding out what INTERNAL and EXTERNAL triggers we have that cause us to be distracted in the first place, will hack back enough time to alleviate your feeling of overwhelm.

The idea to is notice your distractions and manage the response, which sounds simple, but the reality is that we’re used to distractions and this has become a habit to react, therefore, it takes time and effort to crack that habit.

Internal Triggers

We can’t tell ourselves to stop dealing with these urges, we need to learn a healthier way to deal with the urges.

Here’s some internal triggers and you can add more to your list:

·      Anxiety

·      Restlessness

·      Cravings

·      Tiredness

·      Unmotivated

·      Hot flushes

·      Sadness

·      Loneliness

·      Stress

·      Belly growl for hunger

TASK:

Write down your triggers and keep a journal so you can unblock these. Once you’re aware of your triggers, then you can manage these triggers more easily.

External Triggers

This is when you might be reacting to other peoples’ interruptions on YOUR time, which leads to overwork, over stressed and not enough time to get your goals and work completed, causing some “internal triggers” to be released.

Here’s some external triggers and you can add more to your list:

·      Phone

·      Email

·      Social media

·      TV

·      Hot & Cold Flushes

·      People coming to see you at your desk/home/work (unscheduled)

·      Deliveries arriving  

TASK:

Write down your triggers and keep a journal so you can unblock these. Once you’re aware of your triggers, then you can manage these triggers more easily.

So, now is the time to take responsibility for your actions (without guilt or shame) and implement some of the ideas below to hack back some time.

Firstly, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, then you need to get yourself into a state of calmness before anything as this makes the process much easier, less stressful for you and helps you implement a new habit.

The calming technique:

Imagine leaves floating down a stream, now place your stressful thoughts on that leaf and let that leaf float away.

Take a few deep breathes and keep adding your stresses onto the leaves and let them all float away.

Visualise this happening for a few minutes until you feel calmer and can take action and remember to be reflective, not reactive with your thoughts. Be kind to yourself here.

Here’s some ideas you can implement to hack back some time:

1.     Decide to make changes – a positive mindset – you can do this!

2.     Decide to do what you PLANNED in your schedule, because if you’re spending time doing what you planned, then you’re off track

3.     Allocate time in your diary for making changes to your schedule

4.     Chunk your time and do tasks in allocated times like

·      Emails

·      Deep Thinking work

·      Meetings

·      Shopping

·      Meal times in your diary

·      Exercise

·      You Time

·      Family Time

·      Social media time 

TASK:

Think of your week and write down all of the activities in your work & home life and organise them into your diary

5.     Delete APPs on your phone that are not needed and actually just “interrupt you” with push messages

6.     Re-arrange the APPs on your phone to have important APPs on one phone page, then maybe social Apps on another page, so when you look at your phone, you only see urgent messages

7.     Remove your phone from your view when you’re doing deep/important work

8.     Eliminate POP-Up notifications on your computer that are about un-important news, celebrity gossip, etc.

9.     Unsubscribe to newsletters that clog up your email

10.  Make a PACK with a mentor/friend/family member and check in each week to assess your progress.  

Think of each week as a “Mini Experiment” and reflect on what worked well and change what didn’t work well.

After each week, redo the scale and note your improvements in hacking back time and lessening distractions leading to greater focus and success.

On a Scale of 1-10 – 1 below LOW and 10 being HIGH

My current time management           1-10 _______

My current ability to focus                 1-10 _______

Need for better habits & routines      1-10 _______

Ability to avoid distractions                1-10 _______

Being fully present                              1-10 _______

Take responsibility for your life and stop making convenient excuses and conquer your distraction to live your best life.

Thanks

Barbara