Be Intentional

I keep wishing I had more time in my day to get things done but this morning I started wondering if maybe my problem isn’t the amount of time I have but the way I am spending my time.

I try to stay on task but when I look back on my day I can clearly see that I spent a lot of my time not staying on task. Of course during the day it doesn’t seem like I am off task, it either feels like I am on task or like I am “just taking a break”. It feels like I am just having fun, or relaxing, or searching for inspiration, or reading up on what was going on in the world. Looking back at the end of the day though I realize all I did I was talk about nothing with my friends for an hour or two, and scroll Pinterest, or Tumblr, or Twitter. Not that there is anything wrong with these activities, they have a time and a purpose too, but the problem is at the end of day I wish I hadn’t done them so much.

So this week I think I am going to keep better track of exactly what I do and work to move myself back to doing things that are more productive or useful. Joking around with friends is nice but doing it for two hours during my lunch isn’t helping me improve myself in the areas of my life that I need to, or get the things done that I want to. I struggle with time management and I honestly feel exhausted when I try to stay on task but I have to remember what is important and how I will feel at the end of the day.

So time management is what I am working on this week. Well not just this week, I’m going to be working on it for the entire month. I have a lot to prepare for in April and I am really trying to be the kind of blogger that has posts written early and scheduled to publish automatically. That way I have more time for interacting with other bloggers and replying to comments.

I also want to write better, I’m always trying to write better, and proofreading and editing are important parts of that. I can type out a post in 30 or 45 minutes but is it a good post? Is what I am trying to say coming through? Does my writing flow well? These are the things I am concerned with now and they take practice and a lot of time. Time I am currently devoting to things I don’t want to devote time to.

But not only just for my writing though, I need to work on doing more things with an intent in mind. I fall into bad habits and I often don’t know why. I want to recognize actions that are harmful before I commit them. I keep slipping up and smoking when I quit months ago, I keep getting distracted by stupid internet drama that doesn’t even concern me, I keep getting wrapped up in petty debates with friends, I keep doing these things because I am not thinking before I act.

I used to tell my little brother to think for 2 seconds before he did anything and he would have half the troubles he did, I need to follow my own advice and be more proactive and not reactive. I need to get ahead of myself and my own mind choose what to do, not just do things without knowing why I am doing them.

I also have to think long and hard about the purpose behind my actions and keep that in mind somehow as a reminder of why I need to do some things and not others. I thought about printing out the above quote to tape to the front of my planner and idea book then carry them around in my hands, not inside my bag. This way I will have to look at it and remember that everything I do needs to be done with intent.

I also think I will search for a printable worksheet for tracking my activities throughout the day. By the end of the week I hope to have a better idea of what I spend my time doing when I’m not thinking about what I’m doing. I need to be aware of my problem times and make adjustments for when and where I can be more productive.

By doing this I hope to find the time to do more of the things I want to do. I hope to find the time to do more things that I’ll happy about at the end of the day and not regretting my actions and wishing I had done more. Wish me luck!

Originally published at zenandpi.com on March 2, 2015.