I talk to myself all the time. Every time I begin a new project either at work or at home I am instantly overwhelmed. Then I start talking it through to myself. This helps me separate what is important from the mishmash swirling around in my brain. In this instance talking to myself is helpful and has enabled many projects to move forward.
I have a big life. I do a lot and still have a lot I want to do, but we are only given 24 hours in each day. I want to pack it with as much stuff that interests me as possible. For me, seven of those hours are spent sleeping, so I have 17 more hours to work with and I don’t want to spend a minute of them thinking about things, like sleep, that should automatically happen in my day. There are things like showering, brushing my teeth, exercising, and eating that I refuse to talk to myself about. They are scheduled in my day and they happen automatically so I have time to spend on things I really want to accomplish – things that I need to consult myself on. Even my hair and nail appointments are scheduled for the whole year because I can’t waste time on deciding if I want to call and make an appointment.
There are times when I simply must stop talking – especially when it comes to diet and exercise. My workouts are on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Yoga is on Monday and Friday. I don’t ask myself if I want to go. I don’t enter into a discussion with myself about whether I feel like it or not. I just go. My food for the week is planned and I don’t ask myself if I really want to eat that, or will eating that make me feel good, or even make me happy. Feelings are whimsical. They come and go and change from hour to hour. I can’t tie diet and exercise to how I feel because that would throw consistency completely out the window. Having discussions with myself about food and exercise takes away from time spent on projects both at home and at work that I really must talk to myself about.
Recognizing when to stop talking to yourself is crucial to accomplishing goals and putting your energy into things you are passionate about, rather than spending time going round and round with yourself about going to the gym. Take the things that need to happen to keep you healthy, put them on your calendar and just do them like you’d do any other appointment you scheduled. When you stop bantering with yourself about things that shouldn’t even be a topic for discussion, you will be amazed at how much time you gain for the other aspects of your life.
So, as another day goes by, it’s important to discern when to stop talking.
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