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Something you may not know about me, is that I’m a bit of a time management nerd.
I have always loved being productive, and after my introduction to Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People I was certifiably hooked on learning how to do more with less time. I get asked questions a lot about how on earth I, “do it all,” or how I, “juggle so many things,” so I thought I would share my top three tips on how to be more productive.
Plan ahead. Stephen Covey stated in his genre-defining book, “All things are created twice. There is a ‘mental,’ or first creation, and a ‘physical,’ or second creation to all things”. This principle, central to his second habit, “Begin With the End in Mind,” emphasizes the importance of mental visualization and planning before action to ensure the physical outcome aligns with your intended design. Without conscious first creation, there are inevitable unintended consequences.
For any task, big or small, the thinking through or planning process is the most important first step. But for many, they simply skip over the planning phase and instead opt for a, “figure it out as they go” method. While there is merit and value to the fake it ‘til you make it mentality, which can give you confience in the face of the unknown, facing down hard tasks with zero forethought is a recipe for disaster. You can go fiercely into the unknown while also making it a point to think through each step carefully and methodically so you are at least as prepared as possible.
While it may seem like you are saving time by skipping the planning phase, you are potentially doubling or tripling the work time because instead of a streamlined workflow, your work will be clunky, interrupted and inefficient. “One ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure,” as Benjamin Franklin, the American polymath, inventor, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States— so wisely put it.
Be intentional. What is your ultimate life’s mission? What are your ultimate life goals? While that may seem like a big question - if you don’t know, how are you suppose to choose what tasks will help you accomplish your overall goals? For example, if your ultimate life’s goal is to sell all your worldly belongings, buy an RV and travel the world, then at least some of your daily time should be allotted to helping you get closer to that goal. If you spend all your time watching football games, shopping, or wasting time on social media, your goal may never be realized. It’s up to each one of us to know our goals, set our goals, and allot time out of each day to reach those goals. How we spend our hours, is how we spend our lives. Zoom in, then zoom out. It all adds up.
Get rid of time wasters. If you enjoy mindlessly scrolling on Facebook, I am not here to tell you to stop. But I am here to tell you that the average person spends 2.5 hours scrolling on one or more social channels per day. If you add those hours up, and translate to days, that equates to almost 38 entire days (meaning 24 hours a day) scrolling on social media per year. If you’re okay with that, then by all means, keep scrolling. But I personally would rather spend 38 days doing things that help enrich my life and get me closer to my ultimate goals.
Josh Kaufman wrote a book called, The First 20 Hours: How to Learn Anything... Fast! The central idea of the book is the 20-Hour Rule, which suggests that with just 20 hours of focused, deliberate practice, one can become proficient in any new skill. Breaking down practice sessions into 45 minutes of practice a day can lead you to learn a new skill in as little as a month. If you spent 2.5 hours per day learning new skills - instead of scrolling on social media - with 20 hours of focus on each new skill, that would give you time to learn almost 45 new skills in a year.
So, how do I juggle everything? I just use my time differently than other people. Again, how we spend our hours - is how we spend our lives.
Learning to manage time and use it more effectively is a practice, something that you never completely master, but always strive to do. I try to use my time as wisely as possible. We all have the exact same 24 hours in a day, we all wake up and put our pants on the same way - but how we use our waking hours can make all the difference in the world.
I’ll leave you with a quote from the late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, the tech billionaire who tragically passed away from cancer at the very young age of 56.
“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
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