Special Business Coach Feature

The Secret to Finding More Time

If you take 5 minutes of your time right now, I will tell you how you can free up AT LEAST 2 DAYS of your time in 2006.

You probably have a bunch of stuff that you want to do – get in shape, read more, take up a new hobby or just spend more time with friends and family. But there never seems to be enough time. So before you try to jam more activities into your already crowded life, how about first clearing out a few things to make room?

To help you do that, here is a very simple 3-step process that will give you back that time and energy so you can start having some fun!

Step 1: Recognize Tolerations

Let's start out by defining what tolerations are. Tolerations are those hundreds of little things that you put up with everyday that quietly drain you of your time and energy. Let's take an example – junk mail. You probably think of it as a necessary evil – you don't hate it enough to do anything about it, and yet, it takes time and is annoying to deal with. Each year, the average person gets 30 pounds of it. Let's say you spend an average of 10 minutes a day looking through it (who can resist a Pottery Barn or Williams Sonoma catalogue),sorting it, reading it, throwing it away. But it's not that big of a deal, right? Well, with just one click of a mouse, you could opt out of a junk mail list and save yourself 52 hours a year – that's more than 2 days of your life!

But what difference do tolerations make in your life? Imagine that you have an internal fuel gauge that measures your energy. Every day, you start out with a full tank.

• As you get ready for work in the morning, you trip on a pile of clothes. It reminds you how crazy clutter makes you. You just lost a little bit of energy.
• You spend 10 minutes staring at a closet full of clothes you hate. You settle with an outfit that makes you feel frumpy. You lose a little energy.
• Your computer crashes at work for the umpteenth time . You lose a little energy.
• You have lunch with a coworker who talks nonstop and complains incessantly. You lose a little bit more energy.

Tolerations are sneaky little devils – they are so small and seemingly insignificant that we ignore them. As the day goes on, all of these small tolerations add up and you end up running on an empty tank. By the end of the day, you are drained of valuable mental, emotional and physical energy – energy that could be used for something more meaningful like starting that new hobby or connecting with loved ones.

Step 2: Identify your own tolerations

Take this quiz to find out what you are putting up with. (Requires Adobe Acrobat. The quiz opens in a new browser window.)

Step 3: Choose one toleration from the list that you will eliminate THIS WEEK!

Commit yourself to tackling one toleration each week. As you start clearing space in your life, you will have more time and more energy to do the things that have more meaning to you.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot about those 2 days I promised you…

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Starla Sireno helps people get paid for doing what they love. She is the founder of The Fearless Entrepreneur , a company dedicated to giving entrepreneurs everything they need to succeed – from coaching to a business plan. She especially loves helping those who are still working in “cubicle land” find their freedom. Check out The Fearless Entrepreneur to sign up for the newsletter and to get a free 45-minute phone Strategy Session.