One tool to help you align your actions with your values

I was recently thinking about the trips I did with my family during summer time.

My parents, myself and my two older sisters sitting all together in a small car (per American standards…), without air conditioning, pulling along a small RV trailer and driving across Spain back in the early 80’s.

I remember those rides, they were long…I was the smallest so I would sit in the middle back sit (not wearing a seat belt), my oldest sister on the left and the second one on my right.

We were sitting in the car for hours and hours, and we were always trying to find the radio station that would play music. We had to fine tune the radio dial as we passed different cities on the way to our destination. I remember that whenever my dad was stopping the dial at a news station or a station where they would just talk, we would ask him to change it out…

I had the notion that people that just listened to radio talk shows and news were “boring” and I never saw myself doing that one day.

But, I guess as the years passed, I became one of the “boring” people that listen to talk shows (or how we like to call them now, podcasts…). 

It’s funny how we change with time, isn’t it? 

I became one of the boring people that enjoys hearing others talking on the radio…I love listening to podcasts and audiobooks during my commute…

Now, when I am not driving I enjoy what I call “real reading”, like sitting at my favorite spot with a real paper book and not just listening on my phone with earphones…

There is nothing wrong with audiobooks, I love them, I can learn so much faster by listening to books, but there is something soothing for me when I sit with a book in my hands and read. I just get relaxed and enjoy it so much…

So, anyway, because I’m spending more time reading, I’ve finished some very interesting books lately and I wanted to share with you some very good tips from some of the books I read. 

One of the last books I read was “Indistractable” from Nir Eyal. 

This book is a fast read and it’s full of very practical tools to improve your productivity and increase your focus and not be easily distracted while doing whatever tasks you need to do.

As Nir Eyal defines it, “being indistractable means striving to do what you say you will do.”

I love that definition, because it brings the power to yourself. It keeps it very simple, you say you will do something and that’s what you do.

You plan for that thing that you say you were going to do. You make the time and the commitment and you get it done. 

It forces you to be honest and congruent with yourself. And it is also very easy to track.

Sometimes, there are tools that are not very helpful because you don’t know how to measure progress. They are not easy to track. And when you don’t know how to track and measure progress, you tend to get discouraged.

But with this definition, there is no gray area, it’s black or white. You know if you kept your commitment and did what you said you were going to do, or not. Easy to measure. 

In the book he talks about his four part model to explain all the different areas where you can take action and take control of your time becoming indistractable. 

One of the areas that I found very powerful for me was when he explains how to gain traction towards what you want to achieve in life. He talks specifically about how we spend our time.

I don’t know about you but for me, health, family, relationships and learning are some of the values I have. And what I like about the idea from Nir Eyal is that for me in order to live my values in each of those domains, I must reserve time in my schedule to do it. 

I can say that I value my health but if I don’t schedule time for exercise, for rest, for eating healthy and for stress relief, how can I live up to my value?  

If I value my family and relationships but I don’t schedule time with them, how can I say that they are valuable to me?

If something is important for you, do you plan your days so you can spend time doing that thing that you value so much? Or, you say that it’s important but you never get to do it because everything else had to be done first?

I know what happens because it happens to me too.

I say that I value my health but when I get too busy, exercise time is the first thing that gets pushed out of my schedule…or I say that I value my relationships but when I have to get something for work, it takes precedence over the family time…

So, what does Nir Eyal suggests that we do to make time for traction?

He suggests using “timeboxing”. This technique breaks down your day in a way where you decide what you are going to do and when.

You decide in advance and success is measured not by what you do but by seeing if you actually did what you planned to do. So, if you want to plan in your day half an hour to check your social media accounts, there is nothing wrong with it, as long as it is what you planned to do when you planned to. As he says “if you are not spending your time doing what you’d planned, you are off track.” Easy to measure…

So, why is this so good?

I find it very useful because, if you are like me, and you want to do many different things, you could use this technique to actually reduce your overwhelm. You can plan the time in advance and make some traction in some of the areas that you might have been neglecting.

Maybe you can use your time to get more movement in your life if you value fitness. Or maybe is a time you can use for reading your favorite books if you value learning. Or maybe is a time you can spend with your kids if you value your family…

Whatever it is, why don’t you try scheduling your day in advance and blocking your time so you create the space for those things you value? Why not using this tool to help you align your actions with your values?

I think this is a powerful tool to use and I’ll be trying this myself to make sure I put my time where my values are!

Now, let me know, what do you value most? And, do you spend time frequently doing those things that you value? Or, are you overwhelmed with everything else that needs to be done first?

I’d love to hear from you, let me know below!

xoxo,

Sofia