By JuJuan Buford
Here's the thing. There is no such thing as time management, but I had to put it in the title to get you here. And for the contrarians.
You can't negotiate with time. Manage time. Bribe, arm wrestle, flirt with, threaten, or coerce time. Time doesn't care. We all have the same amount of time and the difference between those of us who derive more value and results with the time we have as opposed to others boils down to two things.
#1. There are those of us who buy other people's time wholesale and sell their time retail (an article for another time).
#2. Our ability to better manage our priorities with the time that we have. In other words, make sure that we know how to identify the key performance indicators that ultimately determine and will improve our quality of life.
The greatest challenge for most entrepreneurs is determining what to focus on. Some things are urgent that must be addressed, but doing so doesn't really change the trajectory of our lives. Like paying a utility bill, addressing a screaming, angry client, or responding to 100 emails in a day.
On the other hand, spending an hour a day working on a project that won't be completed for another 3 months... but once completed will automate your business and build a stream of revenues that will passively pay for years to come. Not urgent, but imminently life-changing. Kinda like the digital project I'm working on.
And like most worthwhile endeavors, priority management is a skilled trade. It's not something you master in 2 days, weeks, months, or even years. However, if you don't master it, you may look up 2 or 5 years from now involved in projects, working at a job, building a business, or living a life that others have circumscribed for you, as opposed to you being the curator.
Here are a couple of questions to help you get the ball rolling.
WHAT DO YOU VALUE MOST?
Be honest with yourself, or this question will prove useless to you. What is truly driving you? What's your loco-motive?
Is it being a good parent? Are you compelled to pursue a particular cause, like helping children orphaned by war? Do you fear financial or food security, and so you work tirelessly to increase your net worth? Do you value country and service? Being an author? Or is it being upwardly mobile, or commanding respect? Do you think, eat, and breathe being a real estate investor? Entrepreneurial and leadership development. Education. Competition.
Define your values and use them as an internal compass to point you in the direction of the tasks and investments you should be spending time on. Ask yourself whether or not the roles you currently serve in - author, mother, CFO, retail sales-person, investment advisor, community liaison, etc., - are in alignment with your values.
WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE THINGS YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH PERSONALLY AND OR PROFESSIONALLY THAT WOULD MAKE THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT 365 DAYS?
Goal setting can be a clarifying and gratifying exercise, but absent a goal-achieving plan it becomes a broken promise. Write down three and only three things in each area of your life that matter the most. Remember, priority management and goal achievement are skilled trades. And most of us haven't spent enough time answering the first question to project three, five, or ten years out from now.
The year milestone helps us come to grips with our tendency to underestimate what we can get done over the course of a year, and overestimate what we can get done in a month.
WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE THINGS YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH THAT WILL MAKE THIS WEEK AND OR THIS DAY A MASTERPIECE?
You eat an elephant one bite at a time. Yesterday is done. Tomorrow doesn't exist yet. There are a million different distractions, social media posts, emails, texts, people's expectations, and agendas vying for your time and attention.
Think about time like a rock or a piece of wood. Then think about our focus like a chisel. Our time is useless in and of itself and can be devoid of meaning. However, apply some attention and focus to it and beautiful ornaments, useful tools, and fulfilling impacts can be fashioned from it.
What are the top three things you will do to consistently chip away at your one-year goal?
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BONUS: WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE SKILLS OR LEARNINGS YOU WILL PURSUE TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE WHAT YOU DESIRE?
We don't get in life what we want. We get what we are. And what we are is comprised of our beliefs, thoughts, and doings, with an emphasis on our doings. The better we are at doing things that are in alignment with our values and what we desire, the better our results.
Keep in mind 10 pages a day is approximately 300 pages a month equating to about 12-15 books per year.
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