The Myth of Time Management

are most valuable.

I often receive questions about time management and balance in my seminars. I have found throughout my career that the people who are most concerned with time manage- ment and balance in their lives are the ones who believe in the notion of “shortages” that we discussed in an earlier chapter. Most don’t even know how much time is available to them or what tasks are most necessary to accomplish in that time.

If you don’t know how much time you have—or need—then how on earth can you expect to manage and balance it?

The first thing you must do is make success your duty by setting distinct and definitive priorities. I can’t do this for you, of course; everyone’s priorities are different. However, if success is a main concern for you, then I would suggest you spend most of your time doing things that will create success. Of course, I don’t know what success means in your life. It could involve a variety of people and things: finances, family, happiness, spirituality, physical or emotional well-being—or, if you’re like me, all of them! And remember—it can be all of them. I personally am not interested in balance; I am inter- ested in abundance in every area. I don’t think I should have to sacrifice one in favor of another. Successful people think in terms of “all,” whereas unsuccessful people tend to place limits on themselves. They may believe that “If I am rich, I can’t be happy” or “If I thrive in my career, then I won’t have time to be a good father, husband, or spiritual individual.” In fact, it’s interesting to notice that the people who put limits on what is available to them are also most inclined to talk about “balance.” However, this is a flawed manner of thinking that neither time management nor balance will resolve.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s pointless for people to worry about time management and balance. The question they should be asking is “How can I have it all in abun- dance?” Successful people have attained the things they desire in quantities so great that no one can take them away. And how can a person consider him- or herself successful if he or she isn’t happy? What happiness is there in being unable to pay the bills or provide for your family or worry about your future? The moment you achieve one goal you’ve set for yourself, then it’s time to establish a new target. Quit thinking in terms of either/or and start thinking in terms of all and everything.

As I was writing this, a client sent me a message asking, “Do you ever rest?” I jokingly wrote him back within seconds,

“NEVER!” I do, of course—like every other human being. However, I also know how much time is available to me, what my priorities are, and that it is my duty, obligation, and responsibility to go after them in the time I have. I challenge you to keep track of how you’re spending your available time, perhaps in a journal. Most people have no clue what they are doing with their time but still complain that they don’t have enough.

Every single person has 168 hours in a week, and based on a typical 40-hour work week, the average U.S. employee is only productive 37.5 of those 168 hours (30 minutes for lunch each day). And it’s pretty unlikely that most people actually work this entire 37.5 hours. In fact, the average individual spends

22.3 percent of his or her available time at work, 33.3 percent asleep, and then 16.6 percent in front of a TV or online—and those comparisons assume that the person spends 100 percent of his or her time at work actually working! Then these very same people worry about balance and time management. But an imbalance is always going to occur when you don’t do enough with the time you have.

While most people claim to value time, many don’t seem to know very much about it. Who creates time? Do you create your own time, or does someone else do that? What can you do to create more time? What does the expression “time is money” mean? How do you treat time to make sure your time is money? What is the most important thing that you should do with your time? All of these questions are worthy of consideration and require your attention in order for you to maximize time.

Let’s assume that you have 75 years to live; that’s approx- imately 657,000 hours, or 39,420,000 minutes, in this life- time. Take any given day of the week; you have an average of 3,900 Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc. Now—here’s the scary part—if you are 37 years old, then you have only 1,950 Wednesdays left. What if you had only $1,950 left to your name? Would you watch it slip away, or would you do

whatever you could to increase it? I believe that I can do more with 1,950 hours than most people can. The only way to increase time is to get more done in the time you have. If I get 15 phone calls done in 15 minutes and you get 15 calls done in one hour, then I have essentially created 45 minutes for myself. In this way, the 10X Rule makes it possible to multiply time. If I hire someone and pay that person $15 an hour to make 15 calls every 15 minutes, then I just duplicated my efforts—and my time becomes money.

To really understand, manage, maximize, and squeeze every opportunity out of the time you have, you have to fully understand and appreciate how much of it you have available to you. You must first take control of your time—not allow others to do so. If you listen to people discuss the topic of time—especially in regards to the amount they have at work— you’ll probably hear a lot of complaining. People act as though work is something to get tftrougft, yet in reality, they spend very little of their time even doing it. Most people only work enougft so tftat it feels like work, wftereas successful people work at a pace tftat gets sucft satisfying results tftat work is a reward. Truly successful people don’t even call it work; for them, it’s a passion. Why? Because they do enough to win!

An easy way to achieve balance is to simply work ftarder while you are at the office. This won’t just leave you with more time; it will allow you to experience the rewards of your job and make it feel less like work and more like success. Try to take this approach: Be grateful to go to work, and see how much you can get done in the time you have. Make it a race, a challenge—make it fun.

The first thing to do when managing time and seeking balance is to decide what is important to you. In which areas do you most want to achieve success and in what quantities? Write those down in order of importance. Then determine the total amount of time you have available and decide where you are going to allot time to each of these endeavors. Another vital thing to do: Log how you are spending your time daily—and

I mean every single second. This will allow you to see all the ways in which you waste your time—the little habits and activi- ties that in no way contribute to your success. Any action that is not adding wood to your fire would be considered wasteful— think Xbox, online poker, watching television, napping, drink- ing, taking smoking breaks—the potential list is endless. Brutal, isn’t it? Yes, it is—but if you don’t manage your time, I promise that you will waste it.

Of course, things will change throughout the course of your life and career. You get older. You achieve and then gen- erate new goals. Different things and people enter your world. All of these changes require that you continue to modify your priorities. For example, I listened for years to parents who told me that I didn’t understand how to balance work with family life because I didn’t have children of my own. Well, I recently had my first child—most assuredly an event that demands more of my time—and was able to experience this for myself. What I found was not a problem with balance or work but rather a solution based on priorities.

My daughter merely gave me another reason to create success—not an excuse to avoid working more. She is sheer motivation for me to do well because now I’m doing it for her as well as for myself. You cannot blame your family for keep- ing you from creating the success you deserve. They should be the reason why you want to succeed!

It might seem difficult, but there are ways to make it work. Get yourself and your family members on a schedule that allows you to do those things that are a priority for you. For example, my solution was to add one hour to each of my days in order to spend time with my daughter. My wife and I met and created a schedule that would allow me to have time with my daughter and my wife—and not negatively impact the work schedule that provides for our financial success. The first thing my wife and I did was build our daughter’s sleep schedule around our priorities. We agreed that I would get up one hour earlier each day and take my daughter on an outing

each morning. This would ensure that I would have qual- ity time when I’m home with my daughter before I go to the office and become consumed by the day’s events. It also would allow my wife some extra time to sleep. I have been doing this since my daughter was about 6 months old, and it works beautifully. I take her on errands with me—such as going to the local grocery store each morning and introduc- ing her to the people who work there. When I get back from our outing, the rest of the day is mine to produce in the busi- ness world uninterrupted. Because I get my daughter up so early, we are then in a position to put her to bed before 7 PM. Then my wife and I are able to spend quality time together as a couple.

We understand that this system will continue to change as my daughter grows up and that alterations will have to be made. However, the point is that we are controlling our time rather than just haphazardly trying to manage it. Our decision to set priorities and commit to a solution lets us be the bosses of our own time. The busier you become, the more you have to manage, control, and prioritize. Although I cer- tainly don’t have some scientific formula that will magically make this easier, I can tell you one thing: If you start with a commitment to success and then agree to control time, you will create an agenda that accommodates all you want.

You have to decide how you are going to use your time. You must command, control, and squeeze every second out of it in order to increase your footprint and dominate the mar- ketplace. Get everyone necessary—your family, colleagues, associates, employees—to recognize and agree upon which priorities are most important. If you don’t do this, you will have people with different agendas pulling you in all sorts of directions. My schedule works for me because everyone in my life—from my wife to the people who work with me— knows what is most important to me and understands how I value time. This allows us to handle everything else that comes our way.

In our culture, we’re frequently encouraged to “slow down, relax, take it easy, find balance” and just “be happy” with where we are and what we have. Although this can sound great in theory, it can be very difficult for people who abandon every decision to be in control of their lives. Most people can’t sim- ply “relax and take it easy”—since they never do enough to free themselves of the meager existence that comes as a result of mediocre actions. Work should provide a purpose, a mission, and a sense of accomplishment. These things are vital to every single person’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. People who promote the new age, esoteric advice to “take it slow” are encouraging a mind-set that isn’t doing anyone any good. Consider the types of traits this thinking has created in people: laziness, procrastination, a lack of urgency, sloth, a tendency to blame others, irresponsibility, entitlement, and the expectation that it’s up to someone else to solve our problems.

Wake up! No one is going to save you. No one is going to take care of your family or your retirement. No one is going to “make things” work out for you. The only way to do so is to utilize every moment of every day at 10X levels. This will ensure that you accomplish your goals and dreams. Happiness, security, confidence, and fulfillment come from utilizing your gifts and energy to achieve whatever you’ve decided is success for you. And it requires every bit of your time, which is yours—and only yours—to control.

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Date: 2016-04-22; view: 560