Benjamin Franklin once said this:
“Dost though love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life’s made of.”
Maybe you’ve heard your dad or your teacher say that “time is life”. And while it may be cliche, there is truth to it as well.
You and I both know that we’ve all got just 24 hours in a day. Which is why I’m not here to get you feeling all melancholy about time slipping through your fingers like sand or something like that.
Most folks don’t need (or want) inspirational YouTube videos to get them pumped up to take back their morning routines....
What you actually need is something far more simple and honest...
Just a few helpful ideas will go a long way to help you make minor corrections with how you structure your days and manage your time. You'll be impressed at how just a few minor corrections can have an overwhelmingly positive impact on your life.
Do you ever feel pressed for time?
You’re in meetings all day long and also expected to be responsive via email. (Seriously?) Your office culture prioritizes the “urgent” (ugh!), and you’re trapped — unable to do any deep, meaningful work on a regular basis.
You’re good at establishing a routine but have trouble sticking with it for more than a week or two.
You’re struggling to keep interruptions from throwing your plans out the window. While you’re good at planning things, when something unexpected shows up it can easily derail you, and it’s a struggle to get back on track.
Poor time management skills can come across as a lack of character...
Have you ever noticed how some people's lack of time management skills actually come across as a lack of inward character?
Because they have a hard time managing and controlling their time, they're habitually late to events and meetings. They can rarely find the time to do the things they've said they're going to do, and they always have an "important" reason for why -- yet again -- they were late, etc.
Now, you and I know that it's not because they don't care... They're just bad at managing their time. They're always giving in to other seemingly-urgent issues and they can't take ownership of their own time and actually lead themselves.
But as a result those people can't be relied upon to follow through with what they say. Their lack of time management skills leads to our lack of trust.
Managing Your Time is Managing Your Life
There are so many challenges related to managing and scheduling our time.
Here are just a few emails I’ve received from real people just like you and me…
“My day is so full that I rarely have time to schedule time to do things important to my personal life and passion projects.”
“It’s hard for me to stay focused on the task at hand.”
“My office expects me to be available at any time whatever their needs are. Therefore, I never know how productive I’ll be in a day because I never know how many interruptions there are going to be.”
“Despite having good intentions, a well-thought-out task management system, and a knack for creating systems, my own time management efforts suffer repeated setbacks and failures.”
“When I make creative time a priority, the outside pressures tend to cloud and stress the time.”
“I find it difficult to stick to the plan that I’ve set forth. The urgent stuff always seems to find me, no matter how determined I am to stay focused.”
“My biggest challenge is getting time to do the things I want to do. I’m always working but not doing my most important work. I’m firefighting... Things are slipping and getting missed. I need to get organized and back in control of my life.”
Get In Control of Your Time
...and keep it.
What if you could take back all the lost time? Time that was lost to the tyranny of the urgent, to procrastination, to being interrupted, or just an habitual lack of diligence?
Alas, unless you’re Superman and you fly backwards around the earth at light speed, you’re not getting any time back.
But you can make changes so your future time is not squandered.
Your time and your attention are resources that can be managed better.