Ahhhh….the life of an entrepreneur.

Working when you want to work, making your own hours, doing what you want, having all the freedom to choose everything, lots of money and the time to spend it with family and friends, a never ending list of clients that are always happy with what you are providing…said no entrepreneur ever!

Perhaps some entrepreneurs do say these things, but not nearly enough of them. But wait…isn’t that why you got into business in the first place? The dream of a better life. Sure you did, but no one told you about all the other stuff. The administrative duties aka paperwork, the accounting, the sales and marketing, clients who need help 24/7 and yes… cleaning the toilets. You probably started your business because you loved to coach people or fix computers or [insert what you do here].

You did not sign up for the other stuff but there it is, in front of you every day.

Now everyone else has control over every aspect of your life…or do they? Perhaps it is time to take back control, kick those time hijackers off your plane and course correct.

I call this Priority Management. Some people like to call it Time Management but really, you can’t manage time. It keeps going on and on. Priority management is different. It is all about figuring out what is important to you and managing how you use your precious 168 hours every week to support these important things.

1. Make a list of what is important to you. Some people use the wheel of life for this exercise. Consider things like family, friends, career, health, spirituality or contribution, fun and playtime or anything else that is important to you.
2. Rate each area on a scale of 1 to 10; 1 being low and 10 high. Does your wheel still look like a wheel or are you coming up flat in some areas?
3. Consider your current schedule and those things that you have deemed as important. Are they in your current schedule or not…if not, why?
4. De-clutter your schedule and make room for what you have deemed important by eliminating things that are not important to you. This is what I call weeding the garden of your life. Think of people that drain you every time you are with them. Why are they still in your precious schedule? Activities that have lost their lustre; if your heart is not in it why are you doing it? Consider the clients that take up too much of your time that you will never make happy. Remember the cream rises to the top; you earn 80% of your income from 20% of your clients. These are the people you want to give your valuable time to.

If you say your family is important but you never see them then let’s be honest…they are not a priority for you. If your health is at the top of your priority list but you never move your body outside your office and fast food cartons are spilling out of your garbage can, it is not a priority.

Here is where my journey and your journey intertwine…I was on the road to some major catastrophic events and my life was not pretty. I woke up one day and I did not like me or my unhappy life and I wanted a change. I spent most of 2012 weeding the garden and making major changes that created space in my calendar and my life for a marriage that I never imagined could happen, new amazing friends, great adventures and a new project that happened because I made space in my calendar and my life. Part of that project is a commitment to helping others see that there is another way to live, thrive and to be well.

Knowledge is power… acknowledging the current situation in your life and making a commitment to change is the first step in the course correction of this journey of your life.