Touch Down and then Take Flight
Everyone is obsessed with time.
It is both a cross and deliverance. It flies and drags. But like an illusion, it does not exist. There is only now.
But what do you do with your time?
Like everyone else, you are probably not very good with it. You probably spend at least 2 hours of your everyday on reading your email (and clicking links), 2 hours for television or gaming, 4 hours on driving, 8 hours on sleeping and 8 hours on figuring out what to do and what happened to your day.
What is wrong here? Nothing. Except that time is money. And time that is wasted can never be recovered.
Jay Abraham and Rich Schefren give us some (provocative and helpful) thoughts on productivity and time management in their League of Extraordinary Minds panel discussion:
1. For the first hour of your work day, do not open your email.
What to expect: Nothing. The world around you will not collapse. You will realize that people and things and situations can wait. That if something is truly urgent and an emergency, people would have called you by now.
Action point: Do this for 30 days (it takes 30 days to make a habit). Then when you open your email, limit it to one hour. At the end of the day, another hour. Try to resist the urge of keeping one eye open to every email that comes through (please).
2. Make a time log (include sleeping time)
What to expect: You will be surprised at the amount of time you spend on the non-essential (really).
Action points: Do this for 2 weeks. Be shocked at how you squander your time and then try to correct course. Think about your top 3 goals. Try that at least 60% of your time be spent on getting you nearer to those goals. Measure again. Correct course.
3. Do not multi-task.
What to expect: It will be hard since you are used to doing one thousand and one things, and it has been okay, right? Wrong. Multi-tasking leads to shabby work, and actually make tasks longer.
Action points: Focus. Use 100% of your brain power to the task at hand. Leave multi-tasking to tasks that are mundane and repetitive and will not require you to think.
4. Schedule your procrastination.
What to expect: You will happily breeze through the day just to get to that fun point. You will be less guilty too (it’s on schedule!).
Action point: Schedule one now.
5. Exercise
What to expect: Good health. If you think that by being a workaholic you are doing everyone a favor, you are not. Well, okay, maybe. But every payoff has a tradeoff. Do you want it to be your health?
Action point: Exercise at least 30 minutes everyday.
6. Do not try to do everything. You can’t.
And it is okay.
If you do any of the above, please let me know how it goes for you.
Article by Issa. Photo by Solon Licas. Copyright 2009-2011.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com
P.S. To those who will register for the 2011 Money Summit via You Want to Be Rich, you will get a free financial planning session and 2 Walking Eaters. Register here now and please email issa@youwanttoberich.com the proof of your payment and that you paid via this site so I can send you the treats. Thanks!
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Seems that this post is my wake up call! 🙂 The first 3 thoughts make me sooo guilty!
Hi, would it be alright if I post it on my blog with a linkback to your original post? Thanks!
@Liz It is a reminder from me too… and I still have to stop myself from opening my emails first thing in the morning, but I have been doing it… it has been day 7, I think. You can do it too, I’m sure of it 😀
@Liz Sure you can, thanks!
The last point is so important because you get overwhelmed and end up trying everything but failing at everything also. But thanks for the reminder, I need to exercise again. 🙂
Very true, Ronald. Thanks for the comment.