“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?”” [CP_CALCULATED_FIELDS]
~William A. Ward
Thank you! – for taking a few of your seconds to read my message today. Of course, since this is November, it should be about giving thanks, the turn of the seasons, the bounty of the harvest… I hope each of you has a profound reason for your own sense of thanksgiving this year. I certainly do!
But my message is actually about how our seconds tick by either quickly or slowly depending on the circumstances. This year we celebrate our 30th anniversary in business – those seconds have passed quickly! Also this year we anticipate the beginning of some fabulous renovations to our physical space – those seconds are passing way too slowly!
And as we approach the holiday season, if we manage our time wisely, we can be at our productive best while enjoying life more and even getting in some much needed rest!
To that end, please enjoy these following “10 Tips for Mastering Your Time” originally published on June 10, 2012 by Preston Ni.
Do you ever wish you had more time to do everything? Have you had days that were busy but inefficient? Would you like to be highly productive, feel accomplished at the end of each day, with even time to spare? The following are ten tips to help master your time, interspersed with thoughtful quotes, many of which from well-known, successful individuals who have (obviously) made good use of their time.
1. Do not confuse busyness with productivity. Highly productive people are often less busy than those who are overworked and overwhelmed. “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
2. Do not confuse the urgent with the important. Last-minute distractions from yourself and especially others are not necessarily priorities. “If you want to make good use of your time, you’ve got to know what’s most important and then give it all you’ve got.” – Lee Iacocca
3. The key to time management is self-management. “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler
4. Remember the 80/20 rule of time management, which tells us that 80 percent of the importance of what we do in any given day, lies in only twenty percent of the activities. Therefore, if you focus on accomplishing the top twenty percent of the most important tasks, you will feel more productive and satisfied at the end of the day. “One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.” – Charles Richards
5. Use a good day planner. The best ones give you at least one full page (or screen) per day, with space allocated for each working hour of the day. “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.” – Golda Meir
6. Separate obligatory time from discretionary time. In your day planner, block out all the times when you’re committed to others to be at a certain place at a certain time, such as meetings, conferences and other appointments. What’s not your obligatory time is your discretionary time. This is the time you can manage. “Realize that now, in this moment of time, you are creating. You are creating your next moment. That is what’s real.” – Sara Paddison
7. List: At the beginning of each day, write down a bullet-point list of everything you would like to accomplish this day. “Make use of time, let not advantage slip.” – William Shakespeare
8. Prioritize: Next to each bullet-point item, assign an “A” if this is a “must do” item for today, a “B” for “should do” and a “C” for “could do.” For large projects, break it down into small parts and prioritize: divide-and-conquer. “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” – Benjamin Franklin
9. Implement: Focus on accomplishing your “A” list with your discretionary time. Check off each item as it’s complete. With this system, even if you only accomplish twenty percent of your entire list for the day, you still would have accomplished eighty percent of the most important work. “Until we can manage time, we can manage nothing else.” – Peter F. Drucker
10. What you don’t finish today, transfer to your list for tomorrow and reprioritize. “Time equals life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.” – Alan Lakein
