Time Management Tips - For Foolproof Priorities Use The 3-3-3 Exercise

May 17
10:40

2014

Paula Eder, PhD

Paula Eder, PhD

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Time management tips are really brain building exercises in disguise. Using them strengthens your decisiveness. Each time you establish powerful priorities and follow through, you establish inner direction and self-trust. You gain confidence. In short, you become more of who you've wanted to be all along.

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Time management tips help you live effectively. But without clear priorities,Time Management Tips - For Foolproof Priorities Use The 3-3-3 Exercise Articles you can't become who you've wanted to be. Build prioritizing skills and you strengthen your decisiveness, build confidence and maintain others' trust.

Something as simple as using the 3-3-3 exercise consistently boosts your decision making over time.

Why Are Clear Priorities Life-Changing?

Anytime you establish priorities, you map out the consequences you are prepared to cope with. So even small decisions shape your life in ways you can't currently imagine.

As you know very well, prioritizing looks simple, but quite often it isn't. When you open one door, another door closes. What you are giving up may be something you value a good deal. However, full acceptance of what you can and can't manage to fit into your day helps you become more mature and decisive.

If you'd like some support, you'll appreciate this deceptively simple yet extremely effective exercise.

The 3-3-3 Exercise: Compare Consequences In 3 days, 3 Weeks And 3 years

If you find it hard to decide between 2 competing activities, indulge in some time travel.

Visualize 3 Scenarios:

How will you feel about the consequences of the choice you lean towards, versus the competing possibility?

How will things unfold in 3 days, based on your choice? What about in 3 weeks or in 3 years?

To gain the maximum benefits, briefly record your insights. Don't over-think this! Put down whatever comes to mind, so long as it's based in reality. See what picture your intuition paints. Explore the details and the feelings they bring up. Trust the wisdom of your subconscious to enrich your decision making process. Then bring in the rational specifics, using the problem-solving skills you've developed. Will your choice have consequences that affect you or others adversely?

Weigh The Benefits And The Costs

Strengthen your decision-making process by listing the pros and cons for each choice you're considering. Brainstorm and write them all down, creating sets of costs and benefits for what you're considering. Then list them in order of significance, so you can compare the most significant benefit against the greatest drawback. Pay close attention to how you feel as you weigh these possibilities.

Don't Be Held To 3 If You Wish to Venture Further

Remember: this is your exercise. If different time spans are more appropriate to consider, by all means revise the timeline. Maybe twenty years is more pertinent. Just bear in mind that your needs and priorities may very well shift through the years. At the same time, don't commit yourself to future sacrifices that you'd do anything to avoid at present!

How You Gain By Traveling Through Time

Comparing consequences over multiple time spans gives you a richer understanding of the life you are shaping through your choices. What seems urgent at present may fade in importance, as you consider other long-range needs. Fantasizing the future can be a very powerful time tool that helps clarify your best choice for right now.

As you add to your prioritizing skills by engaging in the 3-3-3 Exercise, notice how it can compassionately guide you through the day. You keep your own best interests at heart at all times, and assume positive power over your time.

So, what priorities would you like to set in place right now?