Do you ever feel like you are juggling more than just too many balls in your life—like you’re juggling a bunch of sharp axes that will cut you, someone you care about, or one of your dreams to pieces if you don’t keep throwing them back up in the air at higher and higher speeds? That level of busyness and intensity saps the joy from our lives. I’ve been there, and I found a process that helps me create more freedom in my time. In his book, Procrastinate on Purpose, Rory Vaden shares how to invest in time assets. Just like investing money now in financial assets yields more financial freedom and capacity in the future, investing in time assets now yields more time freedom and capacity in the future. Vaden calls his process the Focus Funnel, and it can help you identify where in your life you can create time assets that can then allow you to focus your time on what’s most meaningful and fulfilling.
The funnel has five steps, and each step requires us to give ourselves a corresponding mental and emotional permission.
- Eliminate – Permission to ignore certain things that don’t really deserve our time.
- Automate – Permission to invest in processes, systems, or technology.
- Delegate – Permission for imperfection as we train and trust others to make things happen.
- Procrastinate on Purpose – Permission to leave some things incomplete until the best time arrives.
- Concentrate – Permission to protect our time and energy for what truly deserves our focus right now.
The book provides excellent insight on how to apply the Focus Funnel to increase the quality of your life, and it’s helped me as I strive to show up well to my personal wellbeing, marriage, children, family, friends, church, professional endeavors, and community. I highly recommend it.
Blessings until next time! -Caleb