Time Management Tips - 5 Essential Keys To Use Age Wisely To Create New Effectiveness

Time management tips get better with age - your age, that is! And you can make use of these 5 essential guidelines to transform age-related challenges into new compassion, self-awareness, and spontaneity.

"Who forces time is pushed back by time. Who yields to time finds time on his side." (The Talmud)

I deeply appreciate and embrace the process of aging. So I'd like to share personal discoveries that have made a world of difference to me; I hope they open new doors for you, too.

5 Favorite Stepping Stones To Living Powerfully While Aging

1. Welcome Each "Wake-Up Call" As You Age.

Have you ever been startled by your reflection in a store window? Turn this into an invitation to develop your wakefulness. See how often you can actively and compassionately explore changes in your mind and body. By stepping forward to welcome what might also threaten you, you develop considerable inner trust.

Think back over these past several weeks. Consider the subtle ways that your efficiency and or energy were less than you'd anticipated. Instead of judging yourself or worrying, validate your insight and accept that this will happen more frequently as you age.

List tasks that you now need more time to complete. By changing your plans to accommodate your actual pace, you are developing more positive control. And your reward will be reduced stress, relaxing out of urgency and more pleasure day to day!

"Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength." (Betty Friedan)

2. View Life's Challenges From A Broad Perspective.

Anger and impatience require energy - if you spin in circles, you waste valuable energy. It's helpful to embrace your feelings, as long as you encourage them to flow, rather than churn in whirlpools. Once you've released them, use your creativity and challenge yourself. How can you craft new ways to maintain your productivity, while accepting that you now require more time to accomplish tasks?

As you gain perspective, you become far more realistic about what is essential to maintain, and what you can simply let go. Scott Peck, in his landmark book, The Road Less Traveled, names "balancing" as one of the essential 4 disciplines for solving all life's problems. Aging with wisdom offers you the immense power to simply let go, and let be.

3. Let The Flow Of Grief Aid Your Transitions.

Grief cleanses. Like your anger, it needs to flow. That's how you make way for the new. Is your self-esteem linked to high productivity and accomplishment? If so, you may initially feel like you've 'hit a wall' when you reduce your pace.

However, as you allow yourself to feel your grief, you will find that aging opens new gateways. If you look forward, not back, and accept your real losses (and honor your accomplishments) you can re-frame this as a time to stretch, savor, and celebrate what truly matters.

"It takes a long time to become young." (Pablo Picasso)

4. Use Humor.

Simply put, humor humanizes. Try to approach complaints about the changes that aging brings with empathy and a humorous anecdote. You see, negativity is highly contagious, but so is a pragmatic view, softened by humor! Create an environment of acceptance... and see how it changes everything,

"Grow old with me, the best is yet to be." (Robert Browning)

5. Grow Into Your Power.

Finally, as you deepen your understanding of what truly matters to you, speak up! Be a strong ally to yourself.

So, what can you do right now to speak out - and take the time and the space you deserve to celebrate your life?