My second LifeHack.org article came out today. The title is “Change the Way You View Work, Change Your Life.” The direct link is http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/change-the-way-you-see-work-and-change-your-life.html

Enjoy!

“You can do anything you put your mind to.” That’s what my mom said to me when I was growing up. When I developed carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms and had to make the choice between surgery and career change and I was afraid of the latter, my mom said, “Susan, you can do anything you put your mind to.”

Years later, I look back on that wisdom of my mom and I realize that it’s useful on so many levels. I’m not sure she was aware of how profound her comments were, any more that I think she considered the inherent logic in her favorite statement whenever I lost something, “It must be somewhere.”

But “you can do anything you put your mind to,” now that’s something. It suggests that it’s not just hard work that counts at the end of the day- it’s also what I call “smart work,” plus dedication, persistence, and focus.

When my mom used to say it to me, she meant, “Think about it, figure out how to do it, and then go do it.” When I combine that with my sister’s wisdom of “figure out where you want to go first, then once you’ve decided, worry about how to get there,” I find that I’m virtually unstoppable.

How can you apply this to your life? Are you “putting your mind to it” or are you just stumbling through? How can you put your mind to your goals and really make them happen?

A few weeks ago, I was working hard and finished a major project. I was so focused and had gotten so much done, I figured the day was almost over. Since it was pretty cloudy that day, I really couldn’t tell from looking out the window what time of day it was. Imagine how surprised I was when I realized that I’d only been working for a couple of hours, instead of a whole day!

Another day, I was totally unmotivated. I couldn’t focus and just couldn’t quite buckle down and make much headway on any of the things I’d planned to work on. And when I looked at the clock, I’d noodled away most of the morning and afternoon, just checking e-mail, starting articles, changing my mind, refreshing my cup of tea…I’d spent literally hours doing virtually nothing.

Once I realized that I really didn’t know where my time was going and if I was being truly productive, I started looking for ways to track my time. I’ve been using a tool called ClockIn to track my time- so I can see how much time I’m spending on various activities. I’m able to track the time I spend working on client projects, which helps me with billing, but I’m also tracking time I spend developing new products and materials, which helps me set pricing. And I set up login IDs for my subcontractors within my account, so I can keep track of  their hours and productivity as well.

Tracking your time and watching where it goes can make you a lot more aware of what you’re doing, so you can see where the “time suckers” are. Once you know where you’re wasting time, you can take action to reduce time waste and become more productive. Plus, the bonus of watching your time automatically makes you more aware and conscious, so you no longer while away the time without realizing it.

Where does your time go? Are you spending more time noodling around, getting nothing done, or are you focused, concentrating your efforts on making true progress and getting things done in less time, because you’re really working?