If you are anything like I used to be, there are not enough hours in the day for everything you want to accomplish. I started each day with great intentions and always had an idea of what I wanted to do and then life would happen. Between business commitments, personal time, and life on life terms my hours were filled and by the end of the day what I wanted to accomplish was not even on the radar.

Assuming you can relate I want to share a process I have come to rely on that not only affords me time in my daily striving to achieve more, but more importantly, it helps me to be more productive, which equates to achieving greater results in less time. And because of this process, I get into alignment with the results I most want to experience.

Throughout my life I have traveled quite often. While building massive sales territories I traveled up to 4,000 miles week after week. Even though I no longer travel that much, I still do run up the odometer quickly. For so long all those driving hours were wasted with mind chatter, talking on the phone, or relying on the radio to entertain me. At the end of the road trip, I would be exhausted, cranky, and stressed that I was behind on my “to do” list. Anxiety and negative thoughts would creep in and begin to berate me and make me feel like I wasted time.

As a result of these countless “mind fights” I finally realized that I could cover the miles I had to cover and at the same time be more productive towards my goals and desires. I have come to refer to this process as my Productive Windshield Time (PWT). Now whenever I jump in the truck and I have those 150 MPH thoughts flying through my mind about an area I’m focused on creating, I turn off the radio and start bringing my mind’s focus to that area. I do not try to figure out the pathway. Instead, I visualize the result and focus on building the vision of what I want to achieve.

A recent example of a PWT was during a four-hour drive from Alabama to South Carolina where I was challenged with how I could serve more clients in building their businesses. I spent about 45 minutes building the vision of serving at a greater level. I envisioned business owners and realtors thriving in their business and seeing them experience greater life freedom because of my program. At one point, the imagery began building an internal excitement within me and a calmness came over me that the solution was going to come. Once the vision was anchored in my mind I relaxed. I kicked on the tunes and enjoyed some music, made some phone calls and at one point stopped to eat even though I was no longer focused on the vision the excitement kept building.

By the time I arrived home, I had four ideas that came to me on how I could achieve my desire. The next day I experienced three out-of-the-blue phone calls that not only added new ideas but started bringing clarity towards the pathway of increasing my impact and client growth.

Here’s how all that happened…

Because I was focusing my mind versus letting my mind focus me, I was consciously building the vision and in doing so, I was tapping into what I call the “universal idea base”, which is so much more powerful than what I can come up with utilizing my limited mind alone. Maybe it is the motion, or the monotony of the road hum or having the task of driving, which allowed me to quiet my mind to allow the vision to come into focus.  All I know is that I personally find that the windshield gives me a way to vision and receive insights that sitting in my favorite recliner at home or at my desk doesn’t produce.

Consider this, how many hours do you spend a week driving? What is your typical pattern when doing so? Talking on the phone is the number one thing people do, followed closely by listening to music, a podcast, or if you are anything like me, the comedy station on Sirius.

By taking half that weekly drive time to consciously focus on building the picture of whatever it is you desire you can create a powerful way of being more productive that will lead to achieving your desires quicker and easier than the traditional grind of massive actions and exhaustive efforts that so many of us are used to living through.

So next time you jump in the car, whether it is for hours or minutes, try turning off the radio, put your phone down and partake in Productive Windshield Time.  Who knows what that time will manifest, you might find it to be the most productive time of your day.

Published: BRAINZ Magazine, June 2023