Time Management
“I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.”
That quote is attributed to former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir. How true it is! If we want to achieve our dreams and live our best lives, we must make the best use of the 24 hours each of us is given every day. Indeed, one of the big differentiators among people who get what they want is that they make excellent use of their time. If you would like to see some interesting thoughts on time management from very successful people, click on the link in Note 1.
So much to do, so little time
Every day, we are bombarded with a lot of things to do. How do you ensure you work on the most important projects or tasks that contribute to your success and eliminate things that waste time and effort and don’t support your dreams? How do you safeguard your time and energy so that your actions align with the goals you’ve listed on your priority matrix?
I heard a funny story once that goes something like this. There was a Caribbean resort that many people used to go to so they could relax and get away from it all. A local at the resort would take vacationers out in his little boat. A particular overworked finance guy decided to go out snorkeling with a local to a reef that was offshore a short way. After the snorkeling was finished and they were motoring back to shore, the finance guy asked the native, “Have you ever thought about coming to New York and working?” The native asked “Why”? to which the financier answered, “Because it’s exciting, you can work hard and earn a lot of money!” The native asked, “Why do I need money?” the New Yorker said, “So you can go on cool vacations to the Caribbean and relax and enjoy the pace of life.” The native asked, “Don’t I already have that?”
Our goal is to be wealthy, not rich
I’ve mentioned that I started Afterburner Success Partners to teach people to become wealthy, not rich like the New York financier. Our goal is not a lot of money; it’s wealth. Wealth is security, peace of mind, health, a stress-free lifestyle, and helping others who have a genuine need. As you can tell from the story, the native boat owner was wealthy; he did not have much money. Or maybe he did, but his lifestyle was such that he did not need much money to live the life he wanted.
I’m guessing there are not a lot of Caribbean boat owners taking the course or reading these posts. Most of you are probably the average person who goes to work every day and wants to become wealthy in the meaning I just defined for you. The good news is that when you take the course, in any form, you can get on track to obtaining it relatively quickly. If you read all the posts in order, you can still get there; it will take a very long time to learn all you need and develop your plan. I hope you do both: take the course immediately, follow the posts to keep yourself accountable, read the book, and continue to learn. And, of course, share with your friends and family.
How do you manage your time?
A crucial aspect of achieving goals (so you can achieve your dreams and live your best life!) is how you manage your time. This is typically called time management. Whether we like it or not, each of us, rich or poor, young or old, have the same 24 hours each day. As I already mentioned, successful people get the most out of those 24 hours. What do I mean by that? Each day, we are confronted with a series of tasks that must be accomplished. You have your first decision to make before you even get out of bed. Do I hit the snooze alarm or get right up? Do I exercise or blow it off? Do I spend the first part of my day in quiet reflection and prayer? Do I make my bed? Do I fix my lunch to take to work or plan to go out? Do I fix coffee at home or stop at the local high-dollar coffee shop on the way in? Once you get to work, how do you manage your day? Everyone must make these everyday decisions before you begin your work day, and your answers to these questions should tell you something about yourself. Reflect for a moment on what your typical workday morning routine is. Are you happy with it? Does it support your goals and dreams, or could you improve? If you conclude you need to change, do it today.
If you are a production worker, you may (or may not) have a say over how your day goes. Some production workers could be mostly self-managed, and their productivity depends on their initiative. For example, if you own a plumbing, carpentry, or heat and air business, you may have a lot of control over your pace of work and how many jobs you take on. If you work on a large company production line, you may not be able to alter the flow of work coming to you. You likely have more control over your time if you are an office worker or first-line supervisor. In all cases, you can learn techniques that can help you better manage your time. If you don’t feel you are as productive, then I would suggest looking into some of these resources. A key indicator of how well you are doing, if you work for a typical company, would be your performance report. If you are meeting your bosses’ goals, I might suggest it is not enough to take you where you want to be. If you aspire for career advancement, your goal should be to exceed their expectations and ensure you delight your customers. You probably already know this. Perhaps me stating it to you is something you need to hear.
I’m getting to be an old guy as I’m in my mid-60s, but with that age comes experience and many interesting stories. In about 1985, while I was in the military, we received the first computer I’d ever seen at work—one computer for the entire office of 30 or so folks. We had no idea what we would do with it. The first Apple computer came out in 1976. The Commodore 64 was first produced in 1982, and I bought one for my home about 1985. Each component had to be purchased separately, and it seems I had several thousand dollars invested in it, which was a lot of money for a staff sergeant in the military with a family. In 1982, the first Kaypro II “portable” computers came out, and I saw some folks pay a lot of money for this bulky computer that could be carried around like a suitcase. Interestingly, fax machine technology goes back to the 1800s, but we received our first one at work about the same time in 1985.
Do computers save us time? Or do they just allow us to do more work?
Here's the point. These first computers were supposed to save us time, just like cell phones and other technology that came out later. I will grant you that they saved us time and time to do other things (read: become more productive), but did they cut down on the time we spent at work? Hardly. We were able to do a lot more, but I will argue that our lives got a lot more complicated! Where is our Caribbean boat owner friend?!
While this increased productivity allowed us to do more at work, allowing our companies to become more competitive and thus increasing our pay and improving our lives, it did not come without a cost. That price was the “always-on” culture where we could never get away from work, not at night, on weekends, or even on vacation. In my later years working, when we would go on vacation, I would, of course, take my laptop. I typically spent from 5 am to 7 am drinking coffee and working while my wife slept. Then, we would start our day at the beach. I guess that was OK, but I still had my cell phone, and sometimes I got calls. It’s worse today; we can never really turn it off. Can you relate?
But as bad as all of this was, at least I’ll say that if appropriately used, our productivity would enable us to do more and contribute to our financial success. What worries me more are the things that we engage in that are complete time wasters. Do you know what they are? I could list them all, and there are a thousand excuses why these things entertain or inform us. Perhaps, if used in the correct context, that is true, but endless scrolling on your phone until your thumb gets sore probably does not qualify.
OK, how do you manage your time so that your 24 hours are the most productive so that you can meet your long-term goals and achieve your dreams? I want to tell you what works best for me.
When working, I managed my entire work life in Microsoft Outlook. I would print out a copy of my calendar immediately when I got to work, which would be my guide for the day. As I advanced, my office assistant would print it for me. Ideally, I reviewed my calendar the night before to know if I had any early meetings. If you are an office worker, you know that sometimes people will not bother to look at your calendar and schedule meetings right over existing meetings. Well, this was unacceptable, and all my staff knew that. As my assistant would see these pop up, she would either decline the meeting or call the individual to find a more acceptable time. If you are that person, please don’t do this. You are not that important, especially if you are scheduling meetings with those higher in rank than you. I may have mentioned that my wife was an executive assistant, and you can’t believe how many people would schedule meetings with the Vice President or Senior Vice President she worked for. Even schedule meetings over existing meetings! Now, let me take this opportunity to tell you that if you do not understand proper office protocol and that you should be going through the assistant, this is a lesson you will learn very quickly. Let me be a bit more direct. Working with the executive assistant = good for you. Going around the executive assistant = bad for you. Be sure you do not underestimate the power an office assistant has over your career. Be very, very nice to office assistants.
Back to the Outlook Calendar. As I mentioned, I printed a calendar off each day, and along the right side, I had blank space that I would use to put my To-Do list and take notes throughout the day. At the end of the day, I would disposition the to-do items or transfer them to a time when I could do them. If they were important enough, I would schedule time on my calendar to do them. I would then file the daily calendar should I need to reference it later. Some folks will use a spiral notebook for this purpose, while others will use electronic means such as smartphones, tablets, or laptops.
As always, find what works for you and then use it
Here’s the point: Find what works for you. Now that I don’t go to work every day, I have a paper calendar on my desk and a to-do list on top of it. It’s what works for me. As you go about your day, you will find interruptions that throw your plan off track. Sometimes, these things must be taken care of immediately, such as when there is an operational or production problem. Other things are time wasters, such as people stopping by to talk or checking your device or computer for nonwork-related items. Avoid things that sap your time. However, realize things like this happen. Let me discuss some of that now.
What I want to mention is something very important and could be troubling for some folks. Rising through the management ranks, I learned early that I could not get anything strategic done during the typical workday. The standard workday was for putting out fires, caring for people, and daily production needs—tactical stuff. I got my real work done on Saturday—or early in the morning before work. You see, for me, my career consisted of at least 50-hour weeks, often 60, and sometimes, when I had to travel, even more. If you want to excel, you probably won’t be able to do it in a standard 40-hour work week. If you are working in finance, perhaps in mergers and acquisitions, then a 50-hour week would be something you would reach at the midway point in your week.
Quiet quitting, WFH, and other pandemic-related terms
I know you have heard some new, post-pandemic terms: quiet quitting, quiet vacationing, coffee badging, WFH, and lazy girl jobs. Oh, don’t forget the mouse jiggler. Yeah, that hasn't gone well for a few folks. We’ll have to see where these new post-pandemic work methods all land, probably some hybrid WFH format. A few weeks before I authored this post, President Trump ordered most federal government workers back to the office. If you are directly involved in production, you probably will work every day.
Here’s all I’m saying. If you want to live your dreams, you likely are going to have to work very hard for it, making sure you do the right things, and that probably means working a lot of hours and carefully managing the 24 hours you and everyone else have very carefully to ensure you are productive and all of your actions support your long term goals. So you can achieve your dreams. And live your best life. That’s all for this week!
What’s in it for Me
Time management is important no matter what you do in life. Think about how you spend your time currently. Is your time supportive of living your best life? Do you have to make some changes?
Call to Action
Sign up for the course in any of the available methods today. After reviewing how you spend your time, take concrete action to find a system that best supports your desired future life.
Recommended Resources
Purchase and read the books “The One Minute Manager” and “The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey, both by Ken Blanchard. See Notes 2 and 3.
Up Next
Work, stuff, organizing, and getting things done.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
Time Management quotes: https://www.spica.com/blog/the-best-time-management-quotes
“The One Minute Manager” by Ken Blanchard: https://www.amazon.com/The-One-Minute-Manager/dp/0688014291/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
“The One Minute Manager Meets the Monkey” by Ken Blanchard: https://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Manager-Meets-Monkey/dp/0688067670/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=