How To Create More Time To Reach Your Goals (Without Stress)

By Doug Bennett, with special guest Jessica Bledsoe

How much time do you dedicate to the pursuit of your goals? 

Being “too busy” is one of the most common reasons people give for not having achieved their personal or professional ambitions, but there’s a good chance that if you got up close and personal with your diary, you’d realise you had a lot more scope to turn your dreams into reality.

Serial entrepreneur Jessica Bledsoe has co-founded time management app Pav*r to help you become mindful and intentional with your schedule, so that you can achieve more and enjoy your free time.

Just like me, Jessica loves to write her goals down and advises that, before you get stuck into a new time management system, you clearly define your objectives. You can hear our full conversation on the Goals Do Come True podcast. 

Why goal clarity must come first

Jessica: “If you have a money goal, it’s not enough to say that you want to be a millionaire. You need to be specific about where you want to be and the impact of that goal; know what you want to do with the money, how you’ll feel when you have it, and what you will do with it. Don’t just start moving towards unclear goals.

If you are not clear on your goal, how will you know what steps you need to take or if you’ve already accomplished your goal? Your goal can still change as you move forward and you evolve as a person, but make the time you need to daydream and get crystal clear on what your goals are and why.”

Jessica and her husband have already realised one of their personal goals which was to invest time into developing their app while travelling in their campervan; if you are a service-based professional, it’s a perfectly viable option. While Jessica enjoys the freedom of life on the road, she also benefits from writing her goals down and ring-fencing space for them on her time management app.

Why being intentional with your time matters

Jessica: “Pav*r generates data and can tell me exactly how much time I’ve spent on certain areas. I treat my ‘goal time’ just like any other important event or meeting that I schedule with another person; I will not cancel or reschedule it because it’s super important.

Whenever I run the reports, I can see how much time I spend in investor meetings, on customer research, or content creation. These are the things I need to be aware of to be able to hit my fundraising goal [more on that later] and stay in tune with what my customers want. 

I can also break the data down further so I know how much time I am spending on professional versus personal goals; life can’t only be about business! Time is a finite resource; we need to invest it in ways that make us happy.”

Striking the right balance

Having spent way too long at the office in the past, I’ve now committed to work-free Fridays and taking off three months per year. I’m a big fan of finding balance between work and leisure time. Jessica also makes a compelling case for “time-blocking” so that you make the most of what brings you joy.

Jessica: “I don’t plan every single moment of my day but I am intentional with making time for the things that really matter. I know that if I don’t do that, I’ll allow other people and other things to creep in, and before I know it I’ve run out of time to work on what matters to me. It’s easy to become resentful when you’re the only person who misses out. 

The app is a great way to know that you have taken care of the things that need to be taken care of, because when you do, you’ll find you actually have more time left over to do whatever you want, and that includes doing nothing without feeling guilty for relaxing!”

Embracing challenging goals

As part of Jessica’s commitment to rolling out her app on a bigger scale, she’s on a mission to raise a million dollars. While that might sound daunting, Jessica’s got a plan.

Jessica: “It’s a really big goal for us but it just requires a different process and a different mindset. I am a serial entrepreneur, so I’m not new to business, but the startup world is completely new so there’s a lot to learn and navigate, which has pushed me to view things from a new perspective, learn and keep working to raise the funds we need for ongoing development.”

Jessica’s enthusiasm for creating more structure to her days, including her free time, has inspired me to pay attention to how I allocate my time. Often when you do this, you find that you are consistently losing little pockets of time that over a week or a month, for example, could make a significant difference towards achieving one of your goals.

Time waits for no one

How are you spending your time? What are your time-sucks? Have Jessica’s wise words motivated you to make a shift or reprioritise? Drop me a line and let me know; and if you’d love my support to help get your goals off the ground, why not book a free discovery call and find out how I can support you? Or, you might like to check out one of my books Goals DO Come True: From The Edge Of Financial Oblivion To A Life Of Freedom & Fun, or the reworked edition (well suited to entrepreneurial minds) Think Simple Win Big: How to Build the Business of Your Dreams With a Few Simple Goals.