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If you’re like most women, you probably struggle with time management challenges. Does any of these struggles sound familiar?
- you get distracted by a ton of different things throughout your day and you don’t get done what you want to get done
- you feel like you’re just spinning your wheels – – working your butt off, but getting nowhere
- or you’re not sure what you even need to be doing and you have a hard time knowing where to start
All these things are so common. What’s not so common is the understanding that there are seven underlying reasons for these challenges that you need to diskover and work on before you can truly eliminate your struggles with time. The underlying reasons are:
- not knowing who you are
- having low self-esteem
- not knowing your vision, or being unclear about it
- not knowing your why (why you’re doing what you’re doing)
- not having effective goals
- not knowing your purpose, or being unclear about it
- fear
These seven underlying reasons fit together to form a map that helps you overcome them. The map shows you:
1. Where you are.
You have to know where you are in order to figure out where you’re going and how you’re going to get there.
It’s like those “you are here” maps in the mall.
In this case, it’s not where you are physically, but who you are.
You need to know who you are by diskovering your values, personality, beliefs, talents, skills and gifts. And you need to come to love who you are (self-worth).
2. Where you’re going.
Once you know where you are, you can figure out where you’re going.
You can’t get there if you’re not clear on what your destination is – you’d be wandering aimlessly.
So, get clear on your vision.
3. How you’re going to get there.
This is your route to your vision.
It’s made up of your purpose, your goals and your why (the reason you do what you do).
4. Information you need to help you along the way.
This info is like road signs. It’s tools and strategies that prevent you from being sidetracked by fear, doubt and “shiny objects” along the way.
Let’s focus on the underlying reason of not knowing your purpose and how it causes challenges with time.
First of all, what’s purpose?
Your purpose is why you’re here on earth. It’s who you’re to be and what you’re to do (in a much broader sense than your job or career). It’s what you’re to achieve or accomplish, what you’re to learn and experience, how you’re to make the world a better place. It’s your “calling.” Your gift. The thing you’re here to share with the world.
So, how does your purpose affect your time management?
Your purpose is like a compass. It sets the course toward your vision in your life or your business. It helps you navigate. It steers you in the right direction. It helps you move toward your vision. If you don’t know your purpose, you might be traveling on a path that seems to wind in circles rather than lead you to your destination. You might be working really hard, but getting nowhere. You might be easily distracted by lots of other things that look good . . . but really don’t lead you to where you want to go. Or you might not be sure where the path even is. When you’re clear on your purpose, you know where you’re going and you work to get there. You know your path and you follow it without being distracted so easily. You have focus and you stay on course toward the place you want to go.
But how do you diskover your purpose?
Well, remember the map? First, you need to know who you are. Next you need to know your vision. Then you can determine how you’re going to get there. Part of that is your purpose. And the most powerful way that I’ve found to diskover your purpose is to consider your life lessons. “What I’m here to master, I’m also here to teach. This is my life purpose.” ~ Heather Dominick So . . .
- Set aside some time to consider your life lessons. Go through your life in your mind or your heart or your gut. What patterns stand out? What experiences seemed to repeat themselves? What have you learned?
- Write down your life lessons. Does any of them fit together in one theme? Do you see patterns here? Is there one main lesson?
For me, my hugest life lesson was in the area of self-worth. When I looked at my life, every single thing that I went through was related to this main theme. I’ve spent many years working through this lesson. It’s now my purpose to help other women learn who they are, love who they are and live who they are. It’s about self-awareness, self-worth and self-expression. One way I do this is through helping women diskover and eliminate the underlying reasons for their time, balance and productivity challenges.
How about you?
What are your thoughts about how your purpose impacts your time? Do you know your purpose? If not, how does it show up for you in your time management and will you use this exercise to clarify your purpose? 
Bio: Leanne Chesser works with women online entrepreneurs to diskover and eliminate the real reasons for their time, balance and productivity challenges. She then helps them create a plan and a system that actually works for them because it’s based on their own personal style. And she provides lots of tips and strategies for creating more time, achieving more balance and getting more done. She is the creator of Juggle It All and the author of, “How to Improve Your Self Esteem” and “How Your Self-Talk Can Change Your Life.” You can find her at http://www.juggleitall.com.
Yes, i’ve struggled with this ‘what is my purpose’ lesson and certainly the need to ‘focus’ comes up regularly. Sometimes I clash between issues from my past that I learned a ton from, yet am hesitant to focus there since those lessons bring back so much pain…I see others focusing there and support them, but not so whether that’s an avenue I wanna walk myself online. Prefer to focus on the bright side, the possibilities…the future.
Focusing on the brighter side of life is good, but you really need to work through the bad stuff, or it will continue to influence you
Hi, Carolann. My lessons have brought up pain as well . . . that I’ve worked through a TON :). There’s no longer pain there and there’s a lot of purpose and now possibilities and a huge bright side.
Yes, so true. I have found the same to be the case for me and my clients. It’s so crucial to connect with that inner guidance system (purpose) so you know whether you’re on track or not. I’ve certainly ‘wasted’ lots of time in the past by getting distracted by shiny objects and other peoples’ visions. Great point. Thank you!!
I still waste a lot of time, but I’m trying to do something about it 🙂 Thanks for commenting Rachel.
That’s awesome, Rachel, and thanks for your comment!
Great post. I recently realized that I was wasting scads of time because I was obsessively checking my social media and traffic results–which are good things to check, but not daily! I was getting OCD about it and forgetting to connect with my purpose and most effective ways to spend my time. I realized I could use that time to walk or take care of myself, my business didn’t even NEED that time from me!
It’s easy to go OCD on stats. I’ve scheduled my stats check on Monday mornings, so I manage to ignore them the rest of the week. Thanks for the comment Mindy 🙂
Hi, Mindy! Thanks for your comment. I can definitely get obsessive, can’t it? I’m glad you’re using the time for self-care now . . . so important!
I definitely agree with this! Whenever I’m lacking clarity on how to live my purpose in the new week, I suck as being productive! I tend to just float around doing whatever…for me being clear and knowing the “why” behind it all is the most important piece!
Thanks for commenting Ashlee 🙂 I tend to float as well, when I don’t have a clear plan.
Ashlee, I love how you worded that – “float around doing whatever.” That’s a great description of not knowing the why or purpose. Thanks for sharing your comment!
I agree completely. When we work with clients we always start with “what is your mission”, “why are you doing what you do, etc. We find that even people who have been in business for 20+ years struggle with the answers.
Once they find the answers suddenly they are able to get more done and move their business forward by leaps and bounds.
A little internal clarity makes everything around you more clear and saves time by making it obvious not only what you should be doing, but also what you should NOT be doing.
Thanks for the comment Cindy. Clarity is definitely important.
Hi, Cindy! That’s great that you start with your clients’ mission and you’re right – – makes what to do and what not to do more clear.
Totally understand the low self esteem experience. I knew what my purpose was (building my own business) but denied it for a long time due to accepting someone else’s definition of my purpose.
Having embraced my purpose and fallen in love with life I strongly encourage everyone to do the same! You are worth it, your purpose is awesome so own it!
All of us are definitely worth it. I also put mine on the back burner because of other people’s opinions. Not anymore! Thanks for commenting Caylie 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Caylie! So many of us go through that type of experience where we take on someone else’s definition of our purpose or of ourselves. It’s totally empowering when you embrace who you are and what your purpose is. I’m glad you’ve done that and I shout your encouragement along with you :).