Coaching Tip: Free Time Versus Wasted Time
Category: Coaching Secrets (CS296)Originally Submitted on 9/12/2000.
Introduction
There is a vast difference between free time and wasted time. Sometimes, as coaches, we work with clients who have difficulty allowing themselves free time, and they need help in taking more time for themselves. Sometimes a client may have problems with wasted time, and it might appear that they are to be coached in the opposite direction. Yet, in fact, the two issues are not opposites.
The Coaching Tip
Free time is time taken consciously to relax, to do what feels good and to nurture ourselves. It may involve staring at clouds, taking a bubble bath, going for a walk to enjoy the colors, sounds and scents of nature. It may involve just sitting and, to all outward appearances, doing nothing... but who knows what is going on within us. It renews us by benefiting our humanity, feeding our creativity, un-stressing our minds... the list of the benefits of free time are long.Wasted time, on the other hand, is time spent that does not feed the heart, but just mindlessly passes the time. There is no one activity that is ALWAYS wasted time (always and never are dangerous words). Television is the most frequently mentioned as having mind-numbing qualities, though not all television is mind-numbing. For some it may be computer games, for others chat rooms or newsgroups. For others it is unrelated to computers or TV - wasted time existed long before technology came upon us.
Each of us, or our clients, can examine our individual time-use to see where time passes without our experiencing rest, renewal or achievement, and decide what activities contribute to wasted time - and how to eliminate it, and what constitutes free time - and how to encourage it.
About the Submitter
This piece was originally submitted by Diana Robinson, Ph.D., Personal Development & Life Coach, who can be reached at Choices4U@ChoiceCoach.com, or visited on the web. Diana Robinson wants you to know: Discover all the options and choices that you really have, and how to choose them! To learn more, and/or to subscribe to either/both of my two e-mail free newsletters, please visit my web site. I also offer you the gift of a half-hour of free coaching by phone, with no obligation.
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