Create conscious time with MeTime

Entrepreneur, trainer, and author Thomas Graber on his new book "MeTime." In it, he provides tips on how to cope with the ever faster and more hectic everyday life. Mr. Graber, what was the intention behind your book MeTime? Stress-related overload, burnout, stroke, heart attack are the modern and threatening health issues of our society. Whether it's health insurance companies, travel agencies, or fitness gurus - the internet is full of recommendations on what one must do to live a healthy and happy life. However, most recommendations are "alternative programs" to the (frustrating and stressful) work life. Instead of thinking about the causes - because it is commonly believed they cannot be changed anyway - we look for a wide range of regeneration options rather than working on "giving my best" and being happy in the process. Are you indirectly saying that work can make you happy? I am convinced that in the long run, work must be fulfilling and in a way also make you happy, so that one remains sustainably healthy and motivated. An entrepreneur is connected and confronted with his work environment for almost 2/3 of his waking time. The greater the imbalance in work life, the more endangered this person is. What, in your opinion, are the reasons why work is becoming less enjoyable and the health and psychological risks are increasing? If you take a closer look, you will notice that bureaucracy is increasing. At the same time, everything seems to be getting faster and faster. Being global, flexible, and always accessible have become characteristics of our modern work environment. Shorter deadlines, less time, everything must happen faster. Many entrepreneurs, especially in trades, find themselves caught in a hamster wheel from which they can hardly escape. What are the reasons for this ever-accelerating hamster wheel? A large part of this development is certainly due to digitization. Emails and messages of all kinds reach the recipient in seconds, and of course, a quick response is expected. Psychologically, the pressure to respond as quickly as possible or to expect a response automatically increases. In a modern work environment, everyone is required to play as many common information channels as possible, not to miss anything, and to always be online. Who is particularly affected by this? Actually, everyone feels this increasing speed and the associated stress. However, this particularly affects entrepreneurs in small and medium-sized businesses. Why them in particular? The smaller the company, the more tasks remain with the entrepreneur. They not only have to take care of orders and their processing, but also personnel management, marketing, accounting, and many other entrepreneurial tasks. This "surrounding" has developed dominance in recent years, pushing the actual core competencies more and more into the background. This creates increasing dependencies and therefore more stress for the entrepreneur. Does MeTime as a philosophy aim to help address this stress? Absolutely: When everything has to be faster, efficient and good structures are needed to not lose track and, quite literally, to avoid getting bogged down. MeTime offers an approach to this. For example, it involves focusing on the essentials, delegating, eliminating time-wasters, and structuring daily work in a way that is achievable. Because only then does satisfaction arise, but also "consciously" time for oneself - to be used meaningfully! Why is this conscious time, MeTime, so important? If one is only on the hamster wheel all day long, one quickly loses track. Driven by everyday life, constantly dependent on others, shaping one's day self-determinedly has become an increasingly greater challenge. In order to still meet all demands, everyone first sacrifices their private personal time - just to somehow achieve a few goals at the end of the day. This has long-term fatal consequences: the "exploitation" of health, psyche, and satisfaction. What does this MeTime look like? Everything that does me good and helps me recharge my batteries. This is not only relaxation, sports, and leisure time. A successful sales deal, a successful business meeting, and a personal conversation with employees or colleagues can also contribute to recharging my batteries. It's just about planning it consciously - doing it - enjoying it - appreciating it - receiving recognition - feeling satisfied. But MeTime can also mean lying around doing nothing or spending time in front of the TV. If that's what you enjoy, that's fine too! What matters to me is to sustainably and repeatedly take care of creating space for oneself, to consciously and self-determinedly implement the things that are personally important. Therefore: MeTime - Time for ME! How much time does it take to read your book? A very good question! I deliberately kept it to around 90 pages, as it shouldn't be a burden to inform oneself about the topic. But in the book, everyone will find enough tips and suggestions on how to better structure their everyday life. And the important thing is: If you implement only a part of it, you have already taken a big step. What does MeTime look like for you? First of all, for MeTime, everyone must find their own way, as the structure and way of working must fit the company and one's own type. I have structured my company in a way that tasks and competencies are clearly distributed and not everything depends on me. Additionally, I consciously and specifically plan free spaces for myself to also be able to engage in other things like teaching assignments, volunteering, coaching, seminars, lectures, sports, leisure, family, or writing books. In everyday life, what helps me is what I call checkboxes: The daily to-do list is my roadmap. Checking a box shows me that I have completed the task. Each checkmark brings me closer to my daily goal. Each completed item on my list gives me an increasingly good feeling. If at the end of the day all boxes are filled with checkmarks, I have achieved a state of completion for today. This makes me happy and satisfied.