{"id":863,"date":"2019-01-07T14:17:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-07T14:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/?p=863"},"modified":"2019-01-07T14:17:51","modified_gmt":"2019-01-07T14:17:51","slug":"the-precious-gift-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/the-precious-gift-of-time\/","title":{"rendered":"THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF TIME"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Have you broken any of your New Year\u2019s resolutions yet? Essentially, it is just another \u201cto-do\u201d list. As with many to-do lists, some of the items on it keep getting pushed down in the ranking of priorities because of the constraints of time. So, I have a suggestion to keep in mind when making pledges to yourself about what you are going to do this year; make purifying your time your first resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many driven\npeople pride themselves on how many tasks and commitments they are able to take\non. This is difficult to sustain. Eventually, this philosophy of always doing\nmore becomes counterproductive, as you inevitably have to approach your growing\nlist of commitments from a different perspective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reality of\nit is that getting more done is not a matter of doing more things; it is a\nmatter of doing the right things with your time. In that sense, the answer is\noften found in identifying and relieving yourself from the low-value time\nwasters that hold you back from giving your full attention to the things that\ntruly matter to drive you forward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can\u2019t buy\nmore hours in a day, but you can reclaim time for yourself. You can choose to\ndelegate and\/or choose to streamline and purge yourself of recurring nuisances\nthat eat away at your productivity. You can choose to say \u201cno\u201d. If there is\nsomething that does not fit your criteria for being worthwhile, don\u2019t do it. By\npurifying your time priorities in this way, you amplify the value of your time.\nAnd the best part is that you end up getting more significant things done and\nget more out of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, as you put\ntogether your list of things you want to do over the coming year, be sure to\nwork on another list at the same time: a list of things you don\u2019t want to do\nanymore. Think of it as a \u201cTo-Not-Do\u201d list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the\nitems on this list may take time and effort to detach from, such as delegating\nothers to take over certain duties. Some of them you will find you can drop\nright away. Of course, this does not include things that you are passing on to\nsay your spouse, like laundry and grocery shopping. Eliminating things from\nyour life does not mean burdening someone else with daily personal\nresponsibilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be persistent\nwith it, keeping in mind that this is your most precious resource we are\ntalking about. Examine each recurring demand on your time and ask yourself if\nit\u2019s adding value to your life in an intangible way? Is it enhancing your\nproductivity and improving your life? If the answer is no to both of those\nquestions, the next question becomes obvious: Then why are you doing this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenge\nyourself right now to sit down and create your own list of things to not do in\n2019. Try to come up with at least five items. This is a great way to start the\nyear with a feeling of liberation. This allows you to clear your mind of\nclutter and award yourself more time and energy to embrace the really important\npossibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can create\nspecific lists for different aspects of your life, like your health. Changing\nyour habits takes effort and the awareness that you want the change in your\nlife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have\nbeen neglecting your dental health, make this a priority to get in order this\nyear. It doesn\u2019t matter if you \u201cthink\u201d everything is okay. As with every single\nthing on your list, there needs to be accountability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. St. Clair\nmaintains a private dental practice in Rowley and Newburyport dedicated to\nhealth-centered family dentistry. If there are certain topics you would like to\nsee written about or questions you have please email them to him at jpstclair@stclairdmd.com<\/a>.\nYou can view all previously written columns at www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you broken any of your New Year\u2019s resolutions yet? Essentially, it is just another \u201cto-do\u201d list. As with many to-do lists, some of the items on it keep getting pushed down in the ranking of priorities because of the constraints of time. So, I have a suggestion to keep in mind when making pledges to yourself about what you are going to do this year; make purifying your time your first resolution. Many driven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":880,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863\/revisions\/880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jpeterstclairdentistry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}