In any situation, good or bad, an opportunity-focused mindset will allow you to look for the lessons, the opportunities or the upside that lies within.  While the Covid pandemic has been challenging for some and even devastating for others—we encourage you all to think about the positive ways in which this experience has affected your life or the opportunities it has presented. 

One thing that comes to mind for us is TIME MANAGEMENT.  Life before Covid was not just busy, but too busy, to where most of the time we were running at this frenetic pace that left us exhausted and stressed. We were over-scheduled and trying to keep up, measure up, and do it all well. And now we realize that came at the expense of good quality time with our families and a more healthy flow to our days.

We know some of you can relate – that feeling of lack that creeps into your thoughts when you just don’t have the time “to get it all done.”  

Enter Covid-19… 

. . . and the Stay-at-Home orders, a quarantine, school closures, work transitions and suddenly it seemed like the choke hold our busy schedules had on our time loosened its grip and presented us with a new opportunity to examine— “What will I do with my precious time?”

But wait, what is Time Management?

First, we can’t manage time. There are only 24 hours in a day (only 16 to work with if we are getting enough sleep each night)—that will not change. We only have control over what we do with the time we have. 

The key is to choose wisely—and to do this you must be clear about your priorities. Here are some things to ask yourself:

• What are my goals – health goals, career goals, family goals, life goals?
• What is most important for me and my family right now?
• Am I spending my days working toward my goals or on the things that are most important?  
• Would being better organized help me do things more efficiently and effectively?
• Can I put a system in place to review my goals, plan my objectives, and schedule my days so the most important things are getting the attention they deserve?
• Can I cut some things out (trade late night TV for sleep), delegate some things to others, and limit time spent on some things (scrolling social media maybe)?

As always, mindset is important

Your mindset around how you spend your time matters too. Consider this:

When you look at time, do you look at it as time spent or time invested?  

That may seem like semantics, but it’s not.

When you spend (time/money/resources) ON something your mindset is more focused on lack, limitation or waste. When you invest (time/money/resources) IN something, your mindset is more focused on abundance, growth, or getting/making things better.

That’s an interesting way to look at it, isn’t it?  

So, today while we may not be driving around like crazy working mom’s trying to fit it all in, our days are still busy … especially now that we are juggling homeschooling our daughters Emery and Kendall, working, and taking care of our homes and other beloved family and friends. But we can honestly say we feel more connected to those who matter most. We feel grateful for the comfort of our homes. We feel like our time invested in our family, our Empower community and our friends is meaningful, important and impactful—and for us this is enough.

Just some food for thought. 

How will you invest your time this week?