Blog
You don’t need more time to accomplish more
by Amy Riley
April 13, 2010
I’m a mom to 2 young kids, a wife, and an owner of 2 businesses. There are more roles that I fulfill, yet these are the ones I struggle most to balance.
In order to balance my life and feel satisfied, I thought that I had to do one of 2 things:
- Figure out how to get more time to work on my businesses: Get a babysitter every Wednesday night that my husband has other plans, work for a few hours each weekend, use more grocery delivery and housecleaning type services, something. OR
- Lower my expectations for my businesses: Know that I only have so many hours between 8:30am and 5pm when my kids are at daycare, reign in my impatience and expect that business growth will move along a slower trajectory, etc.
Well, pushing myself to carve out more time away from my family and trying to get myself to want less inside of businesses for which I have a lot of passion, wasn’t working. In fact, my body was giving me a clear message that it wasn’t working: I was getting sick more frequently than I ever had in my life.
I decided it was time to try something new and radical. I decided to take MORE TIME for myself. What? It seemed a little counter-intuitive at the time. (Still does at times, quite frankly.) Yet, I gave it a shot. I started to get 7 or more hours of sleep a night, to take naps, to add dance classes to my workout routine, to get regular massages, to take time for lunch, to read and proactively communicate (rather than madly try to get through the emails in the Inbox), and to take walks.
I’ve since had the experience of being able to do more with less time. When I nourish myself, I have more brain power. I’m more creative. Recently, I was working on some writing projects one afternoon. Because I felt rested and energetic, I think I did in 3 hours what it would have previously taken 5 hours to do. There are other benefits. When I’m not in hurry, hurry, execution mode, I find more creative solutions. Overall, I am seeing evidence that I don’t need more time in order to do more. It’s revolutionary to me!
Now, I’m not doing perfectly. This new way of operating still feels counter-intuitive a good deal of the time. I still see mounting lists of what I’d like to accomplish…and, I know that nourishing myself fuels me, re-energizes me, and is simply fun. And, when I’m nourished, I’m more productive.
What examples do you have of being about to do more with less time? What benefits do you experience when you take time to nourish yourself?
Just had a conversation with a mom yesterday about how so many times when my children are losing it, it seems to be because I am losing it. And how can I (or we as mothers) take as good care of ourselves as we do our children? And as I have been in nesting mode as of late, I frequently remind myself that I will NEVER get it ALL done. Which for me, is like a sigh of relief, whatever part I accomplish is getting me closer to the house of my dreams. I might as well enjoy the ride.
Love this! I literally took a deep breath and smiled as I read. Another reinforcement that everyone benefits when we make ourselves a priotity!