As we start a new year, a lot of us like to make goals, resolutions, or intentions. Some of us focus on a word for a year, some of us focus on an overall goal. Some of us wing it.

A popular goal is around time management. Better managing how we go about our days. Better managing our obligations. Or our kids’ obligations. Let’s face it, we live in a society where being busy is a good thing. That is something to tackle in and of itself for another day. I want to challenge those of us who want to time manage better to shift our focus a little.

What if we managed our attention?

Time is so concrete, black and white. There are literally 24 hours in a day. 60 minutes in an hour. 525,600 minutes in a year. (Bonus points if you get my reference.) Ever set a goal to do something in a set amount of time and it didn’t go well? That’s likely because the goal is not concrete to time yet you are trying to fit it in a unit of measure that is concrete. Like trying to put a square peg in a circle hole. Not going to work so well.

What if you could shift your thinking and set a goal that is more conducive to real life as opposed to “how it’s always been.” By that I mean, stop managing time and start managing attention. Does that make things feel lighter? More attainable? More realistic? Awesome, that’s the goal here.

Does it sound amazing but the execution feels impossible? I get that. I’ve been there. Is your anxiety rising just thinking about how to go about this change? I get that, too.

Here’s some tips to get you started: write down all of your goals. Break them down into steps. Prioritize them how you see fit. Measure completion based on attention needed as opposed to time.

Still feel too big, too daunting, or impossible to accomplish? I’m happy to help. Management can be hard! There can be things under the surface making it hard. Let’s work together on any barriers that may be keeping you from reaching your attention management goals.