Think about time management. Is this something that you have been told you need to do or do you really want to get control over your time? You can learn many techniques for time management but you’ll never put them to good use unless you actually believe in the concept. So how to you think of time? Is time something to spend or something to invest?
If you see time as something to spend, then you will fit well into a high structured business where the tasks are established as well as the time frames for task completion. You may want to save time instead of spend it, so you’ll find ways to cut corners at work or rush around doing personal tasks.
You are likely to say, “If I rush through this meal then I’ll have time to go to a movie.” That’s more about allocating minutes to use elsewhere than making choices about the value of the activity compared with the time necessary to do it.
On the other hand, if you prefer to invest your time, then you are more choosey about what you will do with your time. By thinking of how to invest time instead of how to spend it, you give time use a greater long-term value.
You also think of time as the precious commodity that it is. For example, if you want to finish a college degree or start a home based business, you must decide whether to invest your evening and weekend hours in your new venture or watch another video.
It’s easy to decide to crash on the sofa after a hard day’s work. You have to be committed to your dream to get up and walk away from the television or computer game and invest a few hours each evening on your future. Time moves forward, you can’t save it to use later. That’s why you need a plan each day on where to invest your time for maximum advantage.
Perhaps you have said that you don’t have enough time to start a home-based business or go back to school. If you will take a hard look at how you use the time after work in each day and on the weekends, you can probably find at least two to three hours each day and five to eight hours on the weekend to invest in your future goals.
Initially this will seem you are giving up something when you miss the latest episode of some reality show or watch one football game instead of four games. It’s definitely a tradeoff but you are the ultimate winner as you invest time into something will take you farther in life than just sitting on the sofa.
When you need more money, you can borrow or charge it. But when you need more time, you have to work within the 24-hour limit. Print two schedules with 24 hours or 24 lines on each page. Start with how you currently use your time.
Block out enough time to drive to and from work or any other transportation time that you need between tasks. Don’t edit, you need to see where your time really goes. After completing the actual time log, use that information to design how you would like to invest your time.
You may not be able to convert to your ideal day immediately, but by having this plan, you can begin to make the changes needed to turn your ideal day plan into your every day plan. When you think of time as an asset to invest in, then you become more likely to follow your ideal day plan and respect your time.
