***How to Find Time to Create Your Ideal Day

Finding time doesn’t need to be difficult. So, what does your ideal day look like? Would you recognize it if you stumbled upon it? Sometimes we get so caught up in the busy-ness of our lives that we lose sight of what we most value and enjoy. Productivity is important, but if we live too long without replenishing ourselves, we become less and less productive. Our energy flags and our creativity dries up. We are depleted and out of touch with the wellspring of our inspiration and vitality … ourselves! Your time management efforts don’t always need to be about efficiency and productivity, per se. In fact, you get more bang for your buck when you focus some of your energy on simply connecting with yourself in a relaxing and rejuvenating way. Got 15-minutes to spare? There are some excellent exercises that improve the quality of your life, and many are short and easy. Settle back, then. This is one of my favorites – the "Finding Time for Your Ideal Day" visualization exercise. Finding Time for Your Ideal Day 1. For a month, set aside 15-minutes a day. Select a time when you will be uninterrupted. If you can’t find 15-minutes, you can divide this exercise into three 5-minute segments. 2. Settle down in a comfortable, quiet spot and just relax for the first 5-minutes. As you slow your breathing and focus inward, begin to imagine this time for yourself. Picture yourself waking up, stretching, and beginning your ideal day. Where are you? What are you doing? How are you feeling? The more vivid your images, the better. What sounds, tastes, smells, and sights come your way as your day unfolds before you. Most important, experience the pleasure of it all! 3. In the next 5-minutes, pick out portions of this ideal day when you are alone or perhaps enjoying time with your animal companion. Let these images flow and expand. What are you doing? Breathe into it. How do you feel? You are selecting this set of images because they are completely within your power to bring about. No one else needs to participate. 4. Identify a 5-minute slice of your ideal day that you can duplicate in real time … today. Choose something that expands your repertoire of pleasure. It can be something that you’ve never done, or maybe something that you usually don't allow yourself to fully enjoy. 5. Now take the third 5-minute segment and fully experience the slice of your ideal day that you’ve chosen. Choose a time of day when it will be easiest for you to savor the experience. Allow yourself to absorb the fullness of this activity (or lack of activity). Let yourself be totally in the moment. Does this sound simple? It is … AND it provides you with 5 profound benefits that you can carry with you, moment-to-moment, throughout your life: 1. You develop your power of visualization. Once you have it, you can call on this skill to reduce stress, enhance creativity and even promote healing in tiny slices of time. 2. You clarify your values about how you want to use your time. As you learn about what time choices fulfill you, you become an expert on your happiness. 3. You create a pattern that's easy to maintain. A month of practicing just 15-minutes a day establishes a new life pattern. What an easy way to add daily pleasure to your life! 4. You reinforce your proactive power to improve your life through your time choices. Nothing helps foster self-reference like experiencing simple pleasures you can provide to yourself. 5. You cultivate the gift of being in the moment. This focus stretches time and multiplies your capacity for enjoyment … something you'll experience firsthand. One last thought: Don’t just read this exercise and set it aside. It’s called an exercise for a reason: It works if you work it. Give it a try and begin to reap the benefits that your ideal day can give you … in practically no time! Learn more about the gifts of energy, time and meaning that Paula’s unique, Heart-Based Time Management System offers. To begin your transformational jou ey sign up for her Finding Time Success Kit. Discover how you can find time for what matters most. Offered by Paula Eder, Ph.D. The Time Finder Expert.