Your Core Values Help You Manage Time

Time management is an interesting concept. It is elusive, and by nature untrue. BUT when you understand your core values, it will ultimately help you manage time.

Although most moms think we ‘manage time’… we cannot truly manage time – time actually manages itself. The sun comes up and goes down, seasons change, and the world turns round and round – regardless of how much we control, the decisions we make,  or how we choose to spend the time we have.

What we can do is plan our work and activities, and execute those plans, within the time we’re given. Creating a time plan gives you freedom and authority over how you spend your time.

Taking the time to understand your values helps you get closer to estimating what your time is worth to you.  When you have a clear picture of what your time is worth it helps you manage time. Working within your defined core values make it easier to set aside the time you have to the tasks, activities, and people that matter most to you.  This leads to higher levels of self-respect and when you respect yourself, you will automatically value and respect others more.

Understand Your Values

You can only “master” how you manage time and become effective and focused when you have done the work to get clarity on how self, family, career, and health all work together in your own personal magic formula.  Clarity around what is most important to you comes from doing the deep dive inside your head, heart and soul to uncover your true (what I call core) values. When you’ve done the work to understand your core values, you can then define those values with daily practices and ongoing routines that help support your core values.  Without clarifying who you are from the inside out you will not have focus.  Without focus, the desire for managed time may only ever be an unachievable dream.

What Is A Core Value?

A Core Value is something that is most important to you. It is a way you want to be seen and understood, and is often noticed when it is not being met. Core Values tend to govern both personal and business relationships, clarify who we are and articulate what we stand for, help explain why we do things the way we do. They guide us on how to teach, reward, act toward others, make decisions and underpin nearly everything we do. When we are in touch with our core values, we feel as though we require no external justification. Our Core Values help us manage time because they tell us what is most important in our thoughts, actions and motivations.

When you do the work to understand both WHAT your core values are, and then begin to define them on your own terms, you become much clearer on what is most important to you. When you know what is most important, priorities flow easily.

To figure out your core values, consider what you find attractive about yourself and others. What do you consider as most important to how you conduct your daily life?

Or, consider this approach that appeared in Inc.com by Kevin Daum to help you determine your core values.

Effective time management is about planning, prioritizing what you do according to what is most important to you, and then spending your most valuable resource [time] doing exactly what you desire.

To best use your time and avoid procrastination and waste, it’s important to clarify your values, write down your goals and respect your own time.

What are your most core values? And how do they influence you and how you spend your time today? Please share in the comment box below!