3 Strategies to make time for Personal and Professional Development

YOUR QUESTION:
Kathy, How do I find the time to be the best leader I can be? 

• You have all of these wonderful courses and worksheets, but I struggled to fit it all in.
• What would you suggest I do to find the time to grow myself as a leader?

MY ANSWER BELOW:

What this question says about you:
First, I applaud you for the question 
What that tells me is that you have a desire to be your best self and that you recognize that there's room to grow. That's true for all of us. None of us is perfect. None of us will ever stop growing. 

What that also tells me is that you have a growth mindset. You are willing to put time and effort into growing and developing yourself to be your best self.

• The opposite of that would be a fixed mindset, which says; I'm stuck just as I am.With a fixed mindset, you believe that you can't change, grow or develop. That often leaves you feeling like a victim and acting like a martyr...Not fun!

Instead, you are choosing to be Response-Able...choosing to make a difference in your life — Bravo for you ​

Personal and professional development is your path to success in leadership and life! 

MY ANSWER
Now, how to find the time to do some of the work to grow and develop yourself.

Things to consider:
** You will never FIND time. You need to CREATE time.
We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It is what we choose to do with those 24 hours that makes the difference for each of us.

• You have to prioritize in some tiny way growth and development.

** The time doesn't have to be perfect
We often think it has to be the perfect time with the right pretty journal and candle lit beside us. Nope.

• If you keep waiting for the ideal time, you'll never do it!

** It doesn't have to be a big chunk of time
You don't need a full hour to do personal development work. A few minutes here or there will keep you moving forward. Certainly, you'll want more substantial chunks of time to do some of the work. But you can also do parts of it in smaller segments.

• You'll find a mix of both short and longer timeframes works best.

** You may need to be creative
This goes back to the perfect time idea. We often have a vision of what reading or journaling looks like. Don't think it has to be that way. 

• I've read books while stirring a pot on the stove. 
• I've watched videos while straightening my hair in the morning. 
• I've jotted notes down on the back of an envelope about ideas that have come to me hours after reviewing a lesson.

 What it means is you need to find opportunities that already exist. ​

3 places to create time to do the work necessary for growing and developing yourself as a leader

1️⃣ Make use of existing downtime
The best example is all of the times in your life when you are waiting! For example:

• Waiting for your kids to finish their extracurricular activity or while they are at the dentist. 
• Waiting for a meeting to start
• While on transit or driving

2️⃣ Look at current time wasters / time fillers 
Consider changing what you do during some of these times:

• What you could better do with the time you currently spend watching T.V. or scrolling through your favourite social media app.
• How many times do you go back and check the same email without responding?What if you set aside specific times for checking email and specific times for doing your personal development work?
• How much time are you complaining that you don't have time, rehashing what's not working for you and your team or shuffling piles on your desk?

What could you do to be proactive about creating time for growth and development with these time-wasters?

3️⃣ Carve out time
Find 15 minutes 4 times a week here in these spots (That's a whole hour each week!!)

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier one day to journal
2. Make time on a lunch break for 15 minutes of reading
3. Schedule 15 minutes in the evening to watch a video
4. Plan 15 minutes on the weekend to organize your notes, schedule time in for the following week and respond to a question in the online program.

Tada....
YOU just CREATED a whole hour each week to work on developing yourself!
?WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!! ?

Personal and professional development is your path to success in leadership and life! 

Do this right now.
✅Schedule at least two 15 minutes into your next week to begin the work you need to be your best self!
You'll be thankful you did!

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