Test: What stops you making the most of your time?

When you’re conscientious with high standards, you can get stuck on a treadmill of tasks or commitments, unwittingly postponing your enjoyment of life until you ‘have time’. If you’re not careful about what you take on, you can feel weighed down by responsibilities, whether work, financial or family commitments, sticking to goals or juggling your projects. There is nothing wrong with setting the bar high, but seeing life as a series of tasks to be ‘done properly’ can drain you of joy and crush spontaneity. And, by giving 100 per cent to the small stuff as well as the big stuff, you may be inadvertently self-limiting what you can achieve.

It’s no wonder you feel stuck, craving progress but convinced you don’t have the time for it. Self-criticism goes hand in hand with perfectionism and a sense that you have be ‘better’. But perfectionists run the risk of burnout and you may be frustrated when those with lower standards achieve more. Instead of judging, can you learn from people who are OK with ‘good enough’, and watch the time in your day expand?