By: Ben S. Fogel
Time is our most valuable non-renewable resource. Why does it feel like time melts away most days?
Most people fail with time management because they don’t know or frankly realize how much time they waste.
A typical smartphone user checks his or her phone 2,617 times every day, according to a study by the research firm D Scout.
Yes, you heard that right! That eats up 90 minutes per day wasted on your phone, or 23 days per year.
What about Television usage? The average American watches an average of 33 hours per week watching TV! According to Neilsen, the average American spends 11 hours per day watching or interacting with media. If you are wasting a majority of your waking hours on external media, and you are having a hard time “finding time” for other things, like taking time to take care of yourself – it may be time to audit your day.
Bill Gates is never late to a meeting. When asked, he said:
“Because time is THE ONE finite resource I can’t buy more of.”
The old proverb “time is money” isn’t really true. Time is worth so much more than money. Time is, literally your life. What you do with your time directly correlates with your quality of life.
Your tomorrow actually starts the night before. Instead of staying up late worrying about your never ending “to-do” list, putting together a plan for how you will win the day tomorrow helps you close all the open tabs in your brain.
Here are 3 tips I have to help you shape your best tomorrow.
1. Write out your “to-do” list the night before
But instead of just writing down all the things, capture them as either “primary” projects or tasks that absolutely need to get done tomorrow, or as “secondary” tasks – these are all your things you can quickly go through and “check off” your list when done, like grabbing the groceries, dry cleaning, or sending that email.
2. Place your primary and secondary items in your calendar
Remember, the project or task will NOT get done unless it lives in space and time. Make sure to actually schedule a time for it to get completed during your next day. This is SO important. This is often overlooked and you think, “I will just get it done tomorrow at some point” then it gets missed, forgotten or overlooked.
Make sure to place it in your schedule just like it is an important meeting with a co-worker or client.
3. Always overestimate the amount of time you think it will get something done.
As humans, we are horrible at estimating how much time it takes to do things. What I like to do is overestimate the amount of time a project takes. Then, if I finish it early, I can give myself a big pat on the back and feel good that I have completed something early! Also, if you have a project you know that will take more than one sitting (more than 1 hr) make sure you block out that time over the course of the week or month.
Controlling your time will lead to so much more positive things in your life. One being having the time to take care of yourself! Are you ready to take the time for you, and control your health?! We would love to be in your corner. We have 3 more spots for our May 21 Day Challenge! Learn more and sign up below:
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