Filling the In-Between

Life is a series of In-Betweens. How do you spend your In-Between times?

Ok, let’s start with an explanation if what an in-between is. In the broadest sense, the in-between is the time between your birth and your death. Then take that and break it down more into the time between being a child and an adult, the time between each year, each month, each week, each day, each hour… You can also think of this as the time between each different activity you are doing. You get the picture.

How much time is spent waiting for something to happen instead of filling the in-between time with something productive? It boils down to being proactive about your life or just reacting to things as they come up. You can choose to live your life based on man-made parameters of time, or you can choose to live each moment as a separate space which you can fill. It really is up to you.

Have you ever said, “Where has the time gone?” Doesn’t that make you feel stressed about not having any control? When you look back on the day, week, month or year, is there a lot time wasted on waiting or doing nothing? Do you fill this space with watching mindless television shows? Can you fill that waiting time in more productive ways? When you fill that time with some sort of activity, you are more aware of the passing of that time.

Let’s put this all in the perspective of moving towards your dreams. Being aware of opportunities that present themselves is part of filling the in-between. One of the benefits of this is keeping your mind sharp and clear, ready to take action. Knowing the steps or sequence of events or activities that you need to accomplish towards this end allows you to use this in-between time to move forward.

To fill this time doesn’t mean busy work. That doesn’t help at all. Fill that time with quality actions that help you in completing your daily, weekly or yearly goals. The way you fill this time depends on your short term and/or long range goals. It also depends on the length of time you have available at that moment to do something. The action you can take will differ according to how much in-between time there is.

For example:
• If you have 5-10 minutes, you could
o Make a phone call
o Meditate
o Mentally prepare for the next task or an upcoming meeting
• If you have 30-45 minutes, you could
o Read a chapter of a book
o Run an errand
o Connect with a colleague or friend
• If you have an hour or two, you could
o Study a subject that will enrich you
o Complete a task you’ve been putting off
o Clean and organize your space

Do these examples spark more ideas for you? Can you see how to turn these in-between times into more productive times that leave you feeling less stress about all you have to do? You are taking charge of your life instead of allowing circumstances to dictate your actions.

This is not about time management. That is a misconception. You cannot “manage” time, but you can manage what you DO at any given time. So the next time you begin to stress out over not having any time to get things done, take a closer look at what you do every day. Look for those in-between times in your day and begin filling them with activities that get things done. You’ll be amazed at how productive you become once you begin taking action. Small steps will result in huge benefits down the road. Come on, give it a go!

“A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.”
by Bob Dylan