4 tips to improve your relationship with time
The relationship with time is one of the factors that most influences our ability to manage our time effectively both at work and in our personal lives.
In this article, I will start from the model developed by the psychologist Philip George Zimbardo and bring you some practical tips to start improving the way you perceive and use your time.
A brief summary of Zimbardo’s model
According to this author, people organize their time according to several factors:
- the negative or positive elements of their past (past orientation)
- the immediate elements of their present with the decision to focus on an immediate pleasure or the factors that are out of their control (present orientation)
- positive or negative things that will happen in the future (future orientation)
According to Zimbardo, the most balanced profile consists of a person with a:
- high focus on the positive elements of their past
- moderately high focus on the future
- moderate focus on the elements of their present
To learn more about Zimbardo’s theory, I invite you to watch this video or to visit his website.
Now, I propose you to discover 4 useful tips to start improving your relationship with your time.
1 – Become aware of your time perspective
In accordance with Zimbardo’s work, to improve your relationship with time it is important to first identify your temporal perspective.
This is your tendency to focus more on your past, present or future.
If, for example, you tend to focus most of your time on the negative aspects of your past, try instead to remember more pleasant events.
If you tend to focus on things that are out of your control, take more action on things that are within your control.
If most of the time you prefer short-term benefits, try to make decisions based on medium and long-term rewards.
If you tend to live from day to day, try to plan more actions for your future.
The important thing is to become aware of what limits you in organizing your time because this will also allow you to stop procrastinating.
Now, I suggest we move on to the next tip which is to remind yourself that your time is limited.
2 – Remember that your time is limited
You’ve heard people tell you that time is the most important resource we have.
This is true because our time is not infinite. You can live for a long time and exceed 100 years, but your time is still limited.
The purpose of this observation is not to become pessimistic but rather to encourage you to assign the right value to your time.
With this realization, you will become much more selective in the use of your time.
You will begin to eliminate unnecessary activities that contribute nothing to your life.
You will also decide to stay away from certain people and places that do not bring anything positive to your life.
You will also start to delegate some of the activities that do not suit you to other people. To learn more about this topic, I invite you to read my article on how to delegate.
In summary, the way you perceive your life, the choices you will decide to make, the actions you will schedule in your to-do list and those you will implement, will undergo a radical change.
Now, I suggest we move on to the next tip, which is to plan your time in accordance with your values.
3 – Make time for what really matters
You can’t make the best use of your time if you don’t have a clear vision of your values and their order of priority.
Working with a life coach will help you create greater consistency between your priorities and your actions.
On a more intuitive level, you already know what matters most to you. However, be careful to differentiate between what is yours and what comes from your upbringing, culture, etc.
Certainly, some of our values are rooted in our family upbringing and past experiences. But before you say these are your values, take the time to question those that are no longer useful to you in your life.
Doing this mental cleanup is essential to creating a life that truly meets your desires and expectations.
If you habitually schedule too many activities that do not allow you to satisfy your values, it is time to eliminate them and reorganize your schedule differently.
Now, I suggest we move on to the next tip which is to understand that you cannot control or manage time.
4 – Take control of your habits and emotions
In everyday language we talk about time management to indicate procedures that allow us to accomplish important or urgent tasks within a specific time frame.
The truth is that we cannot manage or control time. However, we do have control over our decisions, our habits and our emotions.
At every moment of our existence, we make decisions. Some are conscious while others are not. Some decisions are easy to make while others are not at all.
Making the most of your time requires understanding the importance and consequences of your choices.
These choices include whether to behave the same way over and over again or to change your behavior when necessary.
Your habits can be your best ally or your worst enemy. Once they are established, they govern most of your behaviors and the results you achieve in both your work and personal life.
Then there are your emotions. Your ability to effectively manage your emotions is another key aspect of making good use of your time.
If you deny your emotions, they will become difficult to manage. But if you give them the space they deserve, you will be able to reach your goals more easily.
Conclusion on the relationship with time
In this article, I have provided you with a summary of Zimbardo’s approach and 4 tips to improve your relationship with time.
If you are interested in the topic of productivity, I invite you to discover all my articles on productivity.
If you are looking for tools to improve your time management skills, I recommend you read my article on the best time management apps.
If you want to take advantage of the expertise of a time management coach, write to us now using our contact form or call us by phone or on WhatsApp at +33 6 69 46 03 79.
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Read this article in other languages
Français : Le rapport au temps : 4 conseils efficaces pour l’améliorer
Italiano: Il rapporto con il tempo: 4 consigli efficaci per migliorarlo