Make Time for the Things that Matter by Creating your Flow
Audio version:[audio m4a="https://askdiana11.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Make-time.m4a"][/audio]
We all know we’re supposed to make time for the things (and people) that matter. But it’s not always that easy is it?
Lately, I've been learning a lot more about how to make time for ALL the things that matter to me, and ALL the things I want to do. And one thing I've learned is although it can be challenging to do every single thing you want to (depending of course, on how much you choose to take on), when something truly matters to you, you will make the time for it.
I’ve also learned the best way to make time, is to schedule things in. Better yet, let’s call it dedicate time. For example, instead of saying I want to shoot one Ask Diana TV episode per week, I dedicate every Sunday to shooting one. There’s some small room for flexibility because sometimes you gotta bend with life (and make life bend to you) and keep that balance, but generally speaking, I make the time to shoot a video every Sunday. I also schedule in time to see my friends, visit my parents, and time to spend with my love. But it’s not so much a schedule as it is a flow.
So many people tell me how little they see of their spouses (partners, boyfriends, girlfriends, wives, husbands) once they live together. Because they live together, they no longer intentionally carve out the time to spend together.
But the thing is, just like you schedule in or dedicate time for your meetings, doctors appointments and all the things that are important to you – you gotta schedule or dedicate certain times for being with your loved one (s) and to doing the things that are most fruitful for your life.
This is all part of living an intentional life.
My mister and I are two people with full lives (I’ve been trying avoid using the word busy!); we both work full time and have our hands in different projects – aside from the other commitments we have to our families, friends – and ourselves. So we’ve created a flow that works pretty well for us. We’ve set aside certain nights of the week and every Sunday, to work on our crafts. This helps us to plan our activities with each other and with others. We have balance and when we’re planning our weeks, we’re pretty clear on what nights we should aim to keep open for spending time together. Now, that’s not to say it’s a hard-set rule, or that we can never deviate or make other plans, it’s just our general flow.And you know what? It keeps things fresh. Because we generally know when we'll be spending time together we can either plan to do something interesting, or just see where the day or night takes us.
Having a general flow to your week doesn’t mean there’s no room for spontaneity. Spontaneity is beautiful; it helps us stay young and adventurous. Having a flow is a way of striking the balance between intentional living and letting life happen. It's about not letting the daily grind overrule the connection with the person you chose, that project you’re committed to seeing through, or that hobby that makes you so happy. The flow helps you make and dedicate time for all the important things and people, and all the beautiful things you want to create in this life.
Peace, love and make time,
Diana