Don't worry, I'm not going to start telling you that in order to be successful, you now have to be on a strict diet and exercise regime. Although I personally use exercise to get me into the right frame of mind to get on with work in the morning... and a lot of caffeine, this post is about time management. Time is our only commodity that you can't buy more of and you can't get back, and it's the greatest commodity we have. So why do most of us waste so much of it?
So many times I ask people how they're doing and the first thing they say is that they're tired and they're busy. I hear far too many people telling me that they have too much to do, they wish they had an extra day or that they never seem to have any time to themselves. I never have too much to do. I have a lot to do but never too much. If you have too much to do, then you're selling yourself short. If you need an extra day, you need to learn how to prioritise and manage your day. If you are too busy, chances are, you're wasting a lot of time.
The most important rule of time management is to cut the fat. If you have clear goals this process should be really easy. If not, perhaps you had better read some of my earlier posts.
You have to list down everything you are part of, every project you're doing, every club you've joined, every voluntary position you hold etc etc. You may find you have a lot on your plate. You may also find that actually, you don't have as much on as you thought. A good way to really see what it is you're doing is by writing down everything you do in a day, what time you start it, how long it takes etc. If you do this everyday for about ten days, you'll really be able to see how much time you are wasting and what activities you are doing.
How many of those activities are bringing you closer to your goals? Could a lot of things you are doing, actually be done quicker?
People tend to have a habit of taking on activities that actually pushes them further away from their goals. We all have a habit of agreeing to do jobs for people, or helping someone with their own work and often neglect the things we need to do in order to get us closer to what we want. If you look at that list of activities you do, you may find that only a couple of those are bringing you closer to your goals, and sometimes we neglect those activities to do things that take us further away from our goals. If you are not working towards your goals, you are increasing the amount time it will take to get there.
By cutting the fat, you are also streamlining your activities. When something is streamlined, it gets there faster.
If you were to look at a page in a Millionaires diary, you would see that every activity is written down to the minute. The most important activities are prioritised and every activity will bring them closer to their own goals. People with good time management can still do things outside of working towards their goals... but they don't prioritise them.
You'll also see, that they're doing a lot more than the average person who thinks they are "busy". Most people who say they're too busy, are actually wasting a lot of time... including mine! Millionaires diaries have accounted for every minute of the day. Nothing takes longer than it needs.
Millionaires know that a working day is longer than eight hours. Although you don't want to be working twenty hours a day, if you're leaving work unfinished so you can clock off at five, you're not working hard enough and you're not prioritising your time. You may think that you need some time in the day to rest, and sure it's nice to have an hour or so to relax before going to bed, but remember, Millionaires are in the position of being able to take a month off at a time to go Yachting around the south of France. If you prioritise your work well enough, one day you can too.
Time is our only true commodity. If you value it highly, you won't waste it. Prioritise the things you do in life and push yourself to get things done quicker. If you can do it well, you'll be able to achieve a lot more and will probably find you have more time to spend on hobbies or being with the people you love.
FM
More Posts on Time Management coming soon.
Thank you for reading. I hope you are getting a lot from these posts. If you find them interesting, please share them with friends and colleagues. Please join me on Twitter and help spread the word.
