“What we do during our work hours determines what we have; what we do in our leisure hours determines what we are.”
– George Eastman
GOOD MORNING!
A very senior executive who I coached was always completely scheduled—never time to even think quietly. When I helped him pick up a new lens to see that time for not working was the most important determinant of the quality outcome OF his work, we instituted several blocks of time on his calendar. We called those blocks of time “GreenTime.” In his mind the color green indicated nature, natural, refreshing, spring-like time—renewal time. Actually the use of green in those blocks of time in his calendar became green because green was a color he hadn’t yet used in his color-coded calendar ☺
Here’s what he said about what happened when he instituted GreenTime: “I initially thought that using Green Time would simply return some sanity to my life, with little blocks of time that I was in control of, rather than being driven mad by a never ending string of time filling commitments. But Green Time was much more than that. It underlined what was important and how much of my time was being wasted on phony emergencies. Before long I had more and more green time and more and more productivity and peace. Green time is now the most important time in my calendar.”
TIP: Green Time helps you have space to THINK about the things that truly can make a difference–EXPAND YOUR VISION. SO, if you don’t have GreenTime blocked out in your calendar, begin this week! Call it GreenTime or anything, just guard that time as if it were the most critical meetings you have for your business or your life—because it is!