We talked a little about mind talk or self-talk in the last time management tip. Today I want to go into a little more detail about how simple self-talk can save you time.
I drive my family nuts!!!
Okay this is a confession, I still haven’t mastered this tip, although I’m getting better and the self-talk definitely works when I remember to do it.
Have you ever got in your car or half down the road and thought. “I can’t remember if I locked the door.”
So it’s back to check. I must have wasted hours of my life (many hours) going back and checking doors.
Same thing with the car. I get half way across the car park and have to go back to check if I locked the car.
I’ve been out for the day and had to call my mum to go and check if I’ve left the iron on, the gas fire on…
These checks take up our time and it’s hugely frustrating for those of us who do it and others we involve.
Introducing self-talk
This is all about building positive habits. When you lock the door, simply repeat in your mind “I have locked the door.” Or use your name. So I would say “Wendy, you have locked the door. The door is locked!”
The same thing with things like the iron ~ “I have switched the iron off.” “The iron is unplugged.” The iron is cooling in a safe place.”
Other times when you might want to use this technique.
- The bathroom window is closed now
- The gas is off on the oven (hob)
- The fire is off
- The straightening irons are unplugged and cooling in a safe place
I’m sure there are more. Add them if you think of any in the comments below.
This may sound simple, but this technique really can save you time and a lot of it over the course of a year.
[tweetthis]If you regularly have to go back and check things, this post is for you [/tweetthis]
This blog post is part of a series. To read the rest of my time-management tips, go to Time-Management
OVER TO YOU
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i definitely need to try the self talk, I can’t tell you the amount of times I stress over wether or not I locked my door, remembered my wallet etc lol.
I will certainly give this one a try.
I’ve driven back to see if I’ve closed the garage door so many times that I finally installed a security camera in the garage so that I can check on my phone that it’s actually closed and not stress out all day that I may have left it open.
It really does make a different. Again it’s all about making it a habit. Thanks for commenting.
Great idea about the camera Kevin. Thanks for commenting.