Freedom = Efficiency

“When a system polices itself, it slows liberty.”

Zinga Hart of Z in the city freedom capital mini series
Freedom = Efficiency → how trust cuts friction

Most organizations still confuse control with efficiency.
They build oversight committees, sign-off layers, and approval chains in the name of “accountability.”
But every redundant checkpoint is an invisible tax on trust.

The most efficient teams I’ve studied run on freedom metrics: clarity of purpose, access to information, and psychological safety. Teams build faster when they feel safe enough to question the blueprint.
While we mustn’t skip governance—leaders can strive to design it so well that it disappears into flow.

As the next economy matures, time will reward the leaders who trade surveillance for structure and compliance for coherence.

What would your org’s performance look like if “freedom” replaced “friction” as your key efficiency indicator?

#Leadership #Strategy #OrganizationalDesign #FreedomEconomy

👻Phantom Pressure on Our Leaders: Why Growth Without Culture Haunts the Hero and The Witnesses Too

How to Haunt a Hero

You can hit every KPI, scale every quarter, and still feel the quiet echo, the hum, the silent undercurrent of an organization’s success: mission burnout. The good news is this , ‘phantom pressure’ is a common occurrence. Any leader who senses a team under strain can take a big sigh of relief in realizing sometimes burnout is beyond their immediate planning, intention, or control. What leaders should caution themselves against is simply putting it off as their problem (the employee)  only. More so, leadership would be extra wise to tune in if no problems come across their plate. 

Imagine you are the story of Ajax. By history’s telling Ajax was every bit as worthy and heroic as Achilles, yet when it was time for a promotion the crown passed to Odysseus. Upon first-take one perceives that Ajax was a victim of his own haughtiness, self-determination, and rejection of “playing politics”.   Sophocles’ tragedy Ajax (5th century BCE). Ajax believes he should inherit Achilles’ armor (as the second-greatest warrior).

Instead, the armor goes to Odysseus, the OG-Linkedin Thought Leader:

After Achilles died, his armor (divine, forged by gods) became the prize.
Ajax, strongest warrior after Achilles, assumed it was his by right.
Instead, King Agamemnon gave the armor to Odysseus.
Why? Not because Odysseus fought better, but because he spoke better — his speech convinced the Greeks.
Ajax felt robbed, dishonored, cheated — his worth overlooked for someone else’s rhetoric.
This humiliation enraged him and cracked his pride, leading toward the spiral of madness.

The humiliation of broken pride and promises haunts Ajax. 

How I have spent my rage on beasts that feared no harm! … To what shame am I brought low.”

He was proven to be an Achilles-level leader who delivered results every time, praised and honored the gods, and was ultimately a beast on the battlefield known to all around. Before he became blinded by the will of his worth, he was certain of his victory. As a millennial who comes from a generation that thrives through trauma, commutes, pandemics, and headlines while death and taxes still ring their tolls the loudest. I could feel his plight. 

Meanwhile Odysseus shows up, a smooth talker and system-player, the one who wins with optics. Was the tragedy the loss of the crown? Was it the madness of pursuing justice in a culture-less system that rewards visibility over inherent truths? Honors spectacle over spectacular?

Nope! It was the divine design behind the scenes. If one sits with the story long enough, you see the mechanism of a goddess, Athena, unfold. 

After Achilles’ death, Ajax and Odysseus each claim the armor. The Greek leaders can’t agree, so they stage a contest.Different sources vary, but the outcome is that Odysseus wins because Athena (goddess His eloquence, was her gift, and cunning strategy, her confidence bestowed upon him, which impressed the judges. Athena herself had long favored him for the win before the game even began (she’s his divine patron). Ajax, though stronger, lacked the rhetorical and political skills Athena prized and Athena gave Odysseus the prizes she possessed to use in the game. Ajax essentially lost a rigged interview and a copy-paste-pitch.

This is a key dynamic to note within any systems-design. When optics reign as a rule, the system as a machine will reward spin over substance. When god decides optics wi the system feels rigged by default. So Ajax isn’t just bitter about a popularity contest — he’s crushed because an authority he couldn’t sway (Athena) betrayed and sanctioned his dishonor.

The tragedy clearly shows he is Ajax, The Burned-Out Champion. He gave everything, expected honor, but was betrayed. 

Panopticon of Politics

Now imagine running  those values through a mechanistic authority system.

Culture-less growth is expansion without repair, speed without stewardship. It’s the psychic prison Gareth Morgan warned about — where organizations become trapped in outdated myths and metrics.

Symptoms include rising turnover, disengaged talent, and wellness programs that feel like band-aids on broken bones. Baylor’s historical review of workplace wellness shows how these programs evolved from safety nets to slogans — often missing the deeper need for belonging.

It looks like growth on paper but feels like erosion to any system’s success. As Gareth Morgan’s 8 organizational metaphor’s define the lens of the mechanistic authority system:

“Culture-less growth is the psychic prison of modern organizations — expansion without essence.”

“It looks like progress on paper, but it starts to manifest:

  • Excellence → Efficiency. Instead of celebrating excellence of spirit, machine-culture reduces worth to output, speed, optimization.
  • Divine Lineage → Elitism. Instead of mythic heritage, it crowns privilege and hierarchy as “divine right” (who has access, not who has honor).
  • Glory Before Longevity → Burnout Before Belonging. The heroic choice becomes warped into grinding workers down for insatiable wins.
  • Rage + Love → Competition Without Care. Aggression is rewarded, but love and loyalty are stripped out as “unproductive.”
  • Apotheosis → Metrics. Immortality is flattened into numbers: awards, valuations, rankings. No spirit, just clout.

Essentially it would leave even the fiercest and most strategic leader singing: 

I wear this crown of thorns

Upon my liar’s chair

Full of broken thoughts

I cannot repair

 (-Johnny Cash or NiN – your choice)

When employers, employees, and leads slog through systems that haven’t resolved its own ghosts, the middle carries the burnout weight. The greatest tragedy is that those who witness it unfold choose silence as survival, while the heroes stand in a trial of fire and insanity. Ajax woke to a pile of cattle; today’s leaders wake to a pile of pings.

Ajax on his throne.

What’s critical to note is  Odysseus would’ve won on Law and Order too under these pretenses. Let’s recall the case from the story of  Martin’s Close: The courtroom in M. R. James’ tale, where a ghost appeared not for spectacle but to demand justice.

A man on trial for murder smirks, sure of his clever defense. *cough* Odysseus *cough*
But in the hush of the courtroom, the ghost of his victim appears.
She does not speak. She does not need to.
Her presence alone demands justice.
The haunting is not the terror of a shadow.
It is the silence that forces the jury to face what was buried.

In Martin’s Close, justice only came when the ghost appeared in plain sight. The courtroom is shaken (only) when the murdered woman’s ghost appears during her killer’s trial. The haunting wasn’t random; it was the reckoning for injustice that had been buried. Yet, Martin silenced Athena with by sharpening the sword of optics against the machine.

Where’s Justice At?

zinga hart

Meanwhile The Judge & Jury,  are present as the, formal witnesses, hearing testimony and weighing evidence. The ghost’s presence forces the jury to confront what was buried. The Spectators in Court
Act as communal witness — the haunting becomes public knowledge, not just a private torment. The trial becomes a  ritual of silencing accountability.  The courtroom hushes at the ghostly interruption and we (the reader) slip into a silent judge and jury too. 

The “witness” in Martin’s Close = anyone who sees the haunting and claims it out loud and true. Instead, the reader, in both Ajax and the Close receive, 

  • A working-warrior wakes in shame among the slaughtered cattle.
  • A haunted trial stalls as a ghost stares at the jury.
  • A middle manager scrolls LinkedIn at midnight, exhausted, unseen, yet demanded for more.

All three are the same.

So was Ajax’s haunting madness? 

Or could the optics no longer hold the truth of Athena’s love of a slow-burn? 

Ajax stayed the hero, then he saw the truth: that the system had robbed him of honor, blinded him, and left him wrecked among wasted battles. In our organizations, burnout is that moment. The haunting arrives when the strongest contributors wake to find their labor spent on illusions, their honor denied, and their culture absent. That is the true cost of culture-less growth.

In our organizations, burnout plays the same role. The haunting will not stop until leaders restore what was silenced: culture, belonging, joy. Because growth without culture is always a ghost story.

When culture is absent, burnout fills the vacuum. That’s the ghost in the system.

The tangible costs are clear: productivity loss, hidden rehiring expenses, brand erosion vs the intangible costs — morale, creativity, trust — harder to measure and even harder to restore.

Some systems were designed with rigid parts in mind: checks & balances, assembly-line labor, bureaucracies. The machine feels steady, but “runs,” but like an old factory engine — creaking, inefficient, built on outdated logic. Yet, when trapped into a logic of heroics and optics, the hidden haunt begins to build its case. The result is: 

  • Tangible cost: Workers stand before systems that crown optics over honor, leaving culture absent and burnout rising. 
  • Intangible cost: “Creativity erodes when systems encase control outdated logic and win-at-all-costs culture. Just as Martin’s ghost forced a reckoning, burnout forces leaders to confront the invisible debts of culture-less growth.

Yet, Culture isn’t perks or slogans. It’s values our embodied, rituals honored, people aligned.

Think of the parable of the three bricklayers: one sees his task as laying bricks, another as building a wall, and the third as constructing a cathedral. Same job, different culture.

Culture is the infrastructure that turns growth into sustainability. It’s the difference between a machine and an organism — between extraction and evolution.

Millennials run on haunted coffee. We don’t need more slogans; we need a séance of our systems. 

👻 In every age, the haunting is the same: Ajax with cattle, Martin with silence, us with burnout. Growth without culture is always a ghost story — one that turns heroes into specters and witnesses into weary jurors. And yet, ghosts only appear because something sacred was silenced. Which means the cure is never metrics, but relief from the memory that binds us.

Guest Post: Tried and True Marketing Methods That Have Stood the Test of Time

Man in a Dress Shirt and Black Pants Standing In Front of a House

Tried and True Marketing Methods That Have Stood the Test of Time

While innovation is great and has resulted in a quicker, more convenient way of doing things, it would be wise not to forget those traditional forms of marketing that were foundational to the great strides we’ve made today. Moreover, you could say that these ‘older’ more traditional types of marketing are just as relevant today. Here’s why they still work and how they can work for you in accomplishing your marketing goals.

This‌ ‌article ‌is‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌several‌ ‌great‌ ‌pieces‌ ‌of‌ ‌content‌ ‌you‌ ‌can‌ ‌find‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌‌Zinga Hart ‌blog.‌

Flyers

When it comes to advertising your message and doing so quickly, flyers are an efficient marketing strategy that works well. Furthermore, if you’re looking to bring flyers into the 21st century, but more importantly into the digital age, there are ways to inject a bit of creativity into this traditional marketing method to make it more modern. For example, including your social media handles or scannable barcodes on your flyers for instant connectivity is one of combining the old with the new, so to speak, to make your marketing strategy that much more effective.

Thoughtful postcards

Whether it’s the more traditional form of postcards you’re accustomed to or it’s the more current postcard mailer you’re looking into using, there’s no doubt about it, postcards still work at communicating your message effectively. Here, it’s more about personalization. And with digital marketing, identifying your target market and reaching an even wider audience base is certainly much more achievable than in days gone by. Again, it’s about tailoring your message to suit the intended audience. But even more than that it’s about finding ways how to capture the attention of your intended audience using attention-grabbing slogans, offering not-to-be-missed discounts or deals as well as designing your postcards so that it catches the eye of the reader using tools such as Adobe, for instance.

The good old yard sign

Of course, nothing beats the good old yard sign if you want to instantly attract the attention of drivers passing by. For example, what would a real estate advertisement be without a peg in the sand? This is a prime example of why yard signs are definitely not as outdated as they sound. 

Enormous billboards

It’s hard to believe that billboards have been around for well over a century. But it’s true. It seems that billboards are one of those marketing tools that’ll never go out of fashion. This, in part, is due to its versatility. And the fact that it has digitally evolved to include digital screens that have moved with the times.

Changing it up every so often

What happens with marketing sometimes is that you’ll likely see a need to combine one or more marketing strategies to really make your mark. Alternatively, if your current marketing strategy is not yielding the results you intended for it, it may be time to change your marketing strategy up a bit. Furthermore, the solution for a failing marketing strategy may lie in finding ways of adapting to new (or even traditional) marketing methods you may not have thought of before. Here, it’s about not being afraid to test out what you’re not typically used to, for instance.

In summary, the world of marketing is subject to change. In fact, it’s more of an inevitability than a probability. Therefore, it may be a good idea to stay in tune with what your audience is looking for, whilst not discounting the fact that traditional marketing methods may still very well apply. 

Image via Pexels

Guest Post:3 Things to Remember As You Build A Successful Business

Hey all!

It’s been a journey since I’ve written my last article! Getting an MBA has been the major focus of my writing free-time. Articles coming back and a special summer series for my small business owners sisters is already in the works. For now, I am sharing a special guest post from one of my readers: Chelsea Lamb, author at, https://www.businesspop.net/

Photo by fauxels from Pexels

Are you considering starting a new business or branching out with your current venture? Ready to take that next step into small-business ownership or looking to hire more people for the business you have already forged and made successful? As we come out of the pandemic and consumers are looking to spend some of the savings they accumulated over the last year, you may be considering (or reconsidering) a foray into entrepreneurship.

Let’s take a look at a few things you should remember as you build a successful company following the COVID-19 pandemic:

1. The numbers are on your side

Now could be the best time to start a business thanks to the assistance and incentives being provided by the U.S. government to small-business owners across the country. For instance, there are programs that will help companies maintain their payroll so that they can continue to pay their people throughout the crisis. Around six weeks into the pandemic, U.S. economists were shocked to see a boom in the numbers of new business applications. 

In fact, the third quarter of 2020 is the quarter with the highest recorded number of applications since 2004. New businesses are springing up from the old ones that had closed during the pandemic — more now than ever before. So it may just be that now is the time to start a new venture.

2. Consult the experts

Talk to people who know how to build a successful business. That includes social media and marketing experts, networking specialists, and business success coaches. Keeping a metaphoric rolodex of people who you can consult when you have questions or concerns about the business is a huge way to set yourself up for success in the long term. It’s hard to do this alone — and if you’re a solopreneur and doing everything on your own, it is still essential to have a group of folks you can turn to in times of need.

For instance, business coaching provides you with guidance for every step of the way as you’re ideating, planning, strategizing, launching, and building your business. There are a lot of moving parts in entrepreneurship — and if you’re doing it all yourself, it can be overwhelming. A business coach can provide a critical objective perspective on the work you’re doing and the clientele you’re attracting, not to mention they can help you identify weaknesses in your current strategy and help you strengthen these areas for long-term goal achievement.

3. Don’t forget the importance of organization

Running — and maintaining — a successful business is all about keeping a tight ship. Part of that is making sure your organization is on point. Being able to deliver statistics on your customer lifecycle, developing a marketing persona, and paying your people on time are all artifacts of an effective organization system.

For instance, you may find yourself having trouble maintaining accurate and effective payroll records. Investing in a system that can help you keep things straight and that offers direct depositing payroll for employees can improve your ability to pay them on time and accurately. The right payroll platform allows employers to enter hours and send timely payments directly to employees’ bank accounts without worrying about paper checks.

Take the leap

Is it time for you to finally realize your dreams and start your business? As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic and move toward the “new normal” in terms of the impact the pandemic has left, we can safely say that the new-business boom is here to stay, especially if you’re in it for the long haul. Now’s the time!

For more information about consulting services offered by business coach Zinga Hart, contact her today!

— Thanks for the tips Chelsea!

Reset

Writing is a calling, not a choice.

-Isabelle Allende

I’ve written less since spring season.

New job, new challenges, and a big focus on the day-to-day of my passions pulled me into my introverted nature to sit back and take in my new surroundings.

So I made a decision, to give myself space from writing, while I adjusted to these rapid, yet pivotal, life changes.

After a while, though, the yearning returned. My true passion, writing to draw out your success. To make you, us, the world feel the inspiration and magnitude of pleasure from doing our greatest good.

These words do not come out, they escape, as if they were always there, a kyuubi, waiting for me to tap into its infinite power.  No matter how far I push it away from my deepest desire to write it pummels back to me.

What is a calling that you can not ignore?

Finding your calling may not always be easy, but following your calling is twice as hard, but you HAVE to do it for it to be realized in your life. So what do you do as an alternative to putting-it-off forever?

Take a break.

Find time to walk away in a calm, controlled, and consenting manner.

You may think …now Zinga…how could you suggest putting-it-off as a remedy to putting-it-off?

At first the idea does seem like a contradictory, but taking a break, involves some key factors to keep it from falling on the dark side of the procrastination line.

Here are some quick factors to taking a break:

Have a reset time. The main difference between taking a break and procrastinating forever is that you get back to doing what you were doing. Maybe you use an exact date and time, maybe you use an event in your life, or maybe you have a season in mind. Just know, visualize, and even write down when you will return to your original activity. Please note, the length of your timeline should be set realistically to how important it is that you get back to what you’re doing. For instance, if it’s your goal to get an A on a test in two weeks, but you need to take a break, then a two week break wouldn’t make sense.

Choose honor over guilt. Find the admirable reasons for making your choice instead of reasons that make you feel guilty. If you are in a state of rest then respect your wish to let your body restore itself. If you need to reshift your priorities for pressing matters, then appreciate your ability to adapt to new situations and see things through. Whatever narrative you build,  it should be one that is from a positive perspective.

Use what you learned. During your break, try to find one-to-two learning nuggets you can implement once you reset. Maybe it’s a shift in your schedule or reaching out to form new partnerships. This sets up two bonuses to your break:

1) You can be assured your break fits into your larger master plan

2) Your break serves an immediate purpose of helping to improve your your path to success.

So…this is how am I making an honest reset with writing for this page. I allowed myself to adjust to the pace my new situation before getting back to get back to writing. I committed to a goal to write again before the year was over. During my break, I learned that given the new responsibilities to be consistent, I will give myself time to ease into it, starting with twice a week! 

Are you ready to hit the reset button on something in your life, what is it?

Til the next time,

Zinga

The Simplest Way to Build a Discipline Map

Zinga Hart Success Quote (2)

Let’s say you’re starting from scratch.

Sure you’ve gotten things done in the past, but your reliability is 50/50 on your good days. You know you need to get more done to get somewhere, but life — ever-distracting life — draws you away from your personal bigger picture. It happens to the best of us, as we make room for new family responsibilities, changes in professions, a call to civic duty, or the gamut of things we have to deal with as we paint our life vision into reality.

What keeps you going? 

For me, my biggest skill to develop has been the habit of discipline, which I see as doing something even though the thought of doing it brings one discomfort. Putting off that 50-page thesis or skipping a morning run all stem from the ideas that come into our heads when we think about doing them…

ugh so many pages to write…

but I’ll get all sweaty…

Whatever the situation or thoughts may be…it is the sensation of discomfort the forces us to choose whether to stay with the discomfort and do what is important anyway or find a way to escape the sensation by another binge session of Shameless on Netflix.

Discipline is the act of going forward anyway.

How does one use discipline?

While we can be sporadic about the ways we are disciplined (you should see me buy the whole town on Sims…), if you are interested in creating your authentic vision of success you exercise discipline in meaningful ways otherwise, you run the risk of life molding your discipline muscles for you. Creating a routine for yourself allows you to apply your discipline to your personal mission.

 So here goes, here’s the simple way to create that routine:

  1. Figure out what you want to do with your life (i.e. write your vision)
  2. Write out what you want to achieve in the next 10, 5,  and 3 years
  3. Develop goals to get done within 1 year
  4. Figure out what you need within 1 month
  5. Write down what you need by the end of the week
  6. Jot 3 things to get done by the end of your day
  7. Check 1-2 (once a year), 3 (once a month), 4-5 (once a week) and update 6 every day.

And we’re done. Sure there are tons of tools you can use, and please remember, you have to actually do the things on these lists for them to be real, but if all you had were a pencil and paper, this list is all you would need.

Build your routines around finding time to achieve what is on these lists and let life fill in the blanks.

Here’s a great article from ZenHabits on mastering discipline.

PS Posting are switching from Tuesday Mornings to Thursday mornings.

professional picture zinga hart return on investment akron cleveland

Return on Investment: Get a Professional Picture

Most of my “One More Moves” are free. Honestly, most of our beginning desires for success in life can be achieved for free. Mapping a business plan, building a network, sharing your ideas, staying productive and motivated….there are free ways to do all of these things, the investment comes when you are ready to grow.

Like all good things that come to grow, you need to invest:

  • energy,
  • time,
  • and/or money

into getting to the next phase of your mission. While you could live in the very romantic world of hopes, dreams, and ideas, you will miss out on the fulfilling experience of creating your desires into a reality.

How tomakea workshop (4)

So what’s one small investment you can make?

Adding a professional picture to your digital profiles.

I tell you! It’s an investment I made near the end of 2016 and the changes have been real and meaningful. Here are some immediate returns on my investment in a professional photo:

  • Improved level of connections on LinkedIn: Within days of updating my profile pic, I was invited to connect by a US Senator.
  • Impress colleagues: For my new role, I did an interview, having my own professional photo instead of the standard issue one given by the university, allowed me to bring my warmth and character into my first stamp.
  • Increase confidence: When building my website and creating flyers, I feel great sharing my face and brand because I am not doing an “in-the-car selfie”. I show that I could invest in the experience needed to do the job.
  • Better lighting: Improved lighting allows for you to use your photos in a variety of situations, you can cut and paste can add it to book covers, marketing posts, and plenty of other places.

A typical professional business headshot will typically be an investment of $100-$250.

Unless….

How tomakea workshop (3)

You’re a Northeast Ohio (Akron Event) woman and a member of Empower NOW, the social enterprise group that empowers women to empower women through business development, creative connections, and resource sharing!  Get a professional headshot on March 25th for only $10 thanks to the generous donation of one of our members and the sponsorship of the Akron Microbusiness Center!

 

 

Have any tips on getting a professional headshot? Comment below!

one more move reset on zingahart.com

One More Move: Reset

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while as I like to step back and observe during major life transitions.

What’s the big change?

Well, I managed to land a new role in higher education! Working with the College of Communication and Information to help serve our graduate student community. A dream opportunity, I am thrilled, excited, and pumped to embrace the new waves of change.

Working with the College of Communication and Information to help serve our graduate student community. A dream opportunity, I am thrilled, excited, and pumped to embrace the new waves of change.

A dream opportunity, I am thrilled, excited, and pumped to embrace the new waves of change.

Yet, at the same time, being an INTP (and a Taurus) I find sudden instances of change to take a lot of energy from my spirit. As an act of self-care, I go into Reflection & Rest mode.

I find ways to delegate projects, streamline tasks, and lighten up on meetings and events. I use the time to connect fully with family and take in the situations as they come.

we can't be afraid of change. you may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean a sea joy bell c quote found on zingahart.com

How do you approach big changes?

 

Before this Rest & Relax phase, I do one critical task:

Set a deadline for when your “rest” phase ends. Eventually, you should get back up to your full speed.

Rest is a beautiful gift, but it is best balanced with the energy of creation. Creating your future, your business, your brand or whatever drives you forward towards your goals.

So…here we are…

Building back up to full speed for me means taking the time to build on my mission to draw out your authentic success. To remind you of the hunger your ambitions ignite and give you the tools that satisfy your desires.

So I share one more move that gets you a step closer to where you want to be.

So my one more move is a review of how to reset after an extended period of rest. Disclaimer:  This is the method I’ve observed over time and I fully encourage your customize a process that works for you.  With that here are some actions to take.

How to Reset

Brain Dump

Set aside 5-10 minutes to free write or map all of the things important to you and what you want to achieve.

Organize and Prioritize 

Group what you wrote in the first part into major domains and then order the importance of what you should achieve first.

Review Your Vision

Does your latest brain dump align with your ten-year vision? Use your long-term look to further refine your current priorities or re-strategize the long-term goals as needed.

Get to it.

Things won’t get done unless you do them. If after the first three steps, you’re still frozen in the act, let’s chat about it.

one more move reset on zingahart.com

 

Free Up Your Time on Your Path to Success

There was probably a point in your life when you had more time than you do now.

Time and freedom to buy the entire Simsⓣ town or spend all day with friends at the mall, but then something shifted. You emerged hungry for the fulfillment of your true purpose…whatever it may be. And as you claimed it, soon the encounters and opportunities for you to will blossom before you…and soon…you may find yourself busier than usual. Then while you grow in experience your life pivots too, you may find yourself married, with greater family/community responsibilities, or just committed to what some may think is a full plate.

You know better, you’ve got this, but you also get the fact that there are so many hours in a day. If you had more time, you could do more and still build healthy relationships with yourself and others. While time is only a figment of the human imagination, it is still a valuable tool for measuring our movement through the day. If you find yourself searching for more time to focus on your higher-order priorities then you’ve found the right post.

You can find more time in your day, some ways are easier than others, but we’ll go over some that have worked for me in the past decade or so. Check out below for ways, by challenge level, to free up more time so you can continue seeking your authentic success.

Know Where Your Time is Going

The simplest of all is to first analyze and assess your typical week. Try your hardest not to change anything you would normally do and just keep track of your activities by the hour or half/hour. This honest assessment will help you understand the flow of your day and potentially identify some time sinks.

Do you come home after work and hop on Facebook for 3 hours? Is the first thing you do in the morning is play a couple of rounds of Call-of-Duty? Find gaps in your time, and places where you spend time doing low-priority activities. Next, make the decision to shorten or replace these slots with your top priorities.

Commit to Smaller Increments

Switching from the broad view to the specific. What is your main goal for freeing up time? Just how much time do you need to achieve this goal and by how soon? Set realistic numbers for the goal you want to accomplish. For instance, if you’re studying to become a real estate agent, but can’t find the space to study for 2 hours in the day, switch to 30 or 40 minutes to start. Set a timer and then congratulate yourself for sticking to it. Have your bare minimum amount of time to spend on an activity and commit. As you grow comfortable focusing on your passion regularly you will find your time will expand.

zinga hart a quote the river swells from the little streams

Set your priority boundaries

A lot of time can feel pulled away when you begin to commit to something you are not truly interested in doing. While some things may have to be done, you need to consider what brings you joy and pleasure, and what you really are not committed to doing. If someone is requesting something of you that goes outside of your priorities then consider letting it go. This can be more challenging because if you’re used to saying yes to everyone, they may be taken aback by a no, but be honest with yourself and others and you will save even more time in the long run.

Freeing up time in your schedule may or may not be an easy feat, but if it is to find more time for your greater search for success then it is a worthy challenge. While there are many other ways to free up time, these are some of the small adjustments you can make. What challenges do you have freeing up time in your schedule?

If you’re interested ask me about the time discovery worksheet I created to help analyze where your time is going.