Have you ever had a realization strike you right between the eyes?
That moment where you think...well, of course?
I had one of those moments recently that taught me (once again) a great lesson when it comes to investing your time upfront.
The other day, I was working on a webinar, and I was super in the zone. I was in flow, working away feeling super engaged with the task at hand.
(A side note here: can you guess what the webinar was on? It was about how investing time in your vision now saves so much time later on. Seriously.)
So I was working away, but I knew I had a doctor’s appointment later that afternoon. I was wrapped up in my task that I didn’t want to break my focus, and was kind of annoyed that I needed to stop in order to go to this appointment.
Soon, I started thinking to myself, Well, maybe I could maybe bring my laptop with me, and work while I would inevitably be waiting!
But then I thought, No, I am close to the office, I’ll just go and come back.
So, I go to the office...and realize I need to park far away. Just a small walk, not a big deal.
Then I see it - the massive line to get in. I wait in line, only to be told once I got to the front that I actually needed to be in a different line.
This is getting ridiculous, I started to think. I could have been getting so much work done.
I get in the other line, get to the front, and am told that now I am actually in the wrong building.
Yes. THE WRONG BUILDING.
Great.
I am already quite late at this point, so I ask the person at the desk if they could call to let them know that I will now be sprinting from this building to that one and to not cancel my appointment.
She tells me that the hold times are so long, I would be better off just go over there with my fingers crossed the whole way.
I speed walk my tiny little legs as fast as I can the 6 blocks and head up to the front desk. The front desk person was on the phone, so I stood back and waited a few more minutes. She motioned for me to confirm if I was there for an appointment, and then informed me that I was too late and that my appointment was canceled.
I would have to reschedule.
Cue annoyance. Extreme annoyance.
I couldn’t believe the waste of time the afternoon was.
But herein lies the lesson, Visionary.
If I would have invested my time to confirm the parking situation, building location, and time I needed to be there before I left... I would not have been in that position.
You need to ensure that you are making your time work for you, even if you are knee-deep in flowy work and don’t want to pry your eyes away.
Making your time work for you
Earlier that day, while in said workflow, I was thinking to myself “how annoying are mid-day appointments?!”
I was setting myself up for the whole mess without even realizing it.
Even though part of my Vision for myself is to have flexibility in my day, I still do not enjoy needing to leave mid-work for appointments or other obligations. My ideal situation would be to have the whole day to work, and then have my appointment later on - only after I’ve had the chance to get my tasks for the day completed.
After the whole debacle, I sat back and gave myself some grace.
By going to the appointment, I was investing in my health. Regardless of scheduling errors, I was still putting effort into the most important thing.
Although frustrating, the situation brought to light my own learning when it comes to Visioning.
I was seeing, in real-time, the exact lesson I was working on before I had to leave my house.
You need to put a little bit of effort and time before you undertake really anything. If you do, you will see returns in terms of time, ease, and lack of frustration.
Doing the work first will mean you don’t need to do it again
While I was wallowing in my annoyance, I didn’t even think to check the time of my appointment or the location. Doing so would have saved me the headache AND all of the wasted time.
If I would have stepped back from my work instead of pushing it until the last minute, I could have had the extra time I needed to plan and make the correct decisions.
Doing the work FIRST means you will not need to do it again later or need to make up for missed appointments, time, or work.
The time I wasted resulted in a rescheduled appointment, none of which would have happened if I’d just invested my time upfront.
The same goes for your Vision, leaders.
If you can step back for just a second early in your processes, you can identify where it is you want to go and the steps you need to take to get there BEFORE you are lost in crisis mode (or super annoyed in a doctors office!).
How to invest your time vs. spend your time
This all relates back to the idea of spending your time vs. investing your time.
Going back to my example, investing in your health is one of the most important things that you can do. Instead, I over-valued my work and put my health on the back burner, resulting in hours lost and precious mental energy wasted.
If you INVEST in the work of Visioning, then you are not going to be spending that time later, lost and unaware of the direction you want to take in your business and life.
Give yourself the gift of spaciousness and time by actually paying attention to the details, planning out your steps, and putting in some work up front to save yourself time later.
Tant to learn how to set up your days the Visionary way? Let’s work together to discover what you can do to INVEST your time instead of spend it.