Make Every Day Count

Have you ever caught yourself saying that you had way too much time on your hands? Probably not, and if so, it was probably more like something you heard from your parents when you were caught doing something that you shouldn’t have been doing.

The truth is that most of us just can’t fit it all in.  A day could be 27 hours and there still would not be enough time to fit everything all in. The number 1 most common mistake that many people make is attempting to find the extra time instead of creating it!

Question on your mind now is: How do I create time?

FIRST: Specify and define your most important goals and objectives that need to be accomplished:

Having a desire to reach specific goals will motivate you to make time for the actions it will take to accomplish the objective.

Know how you are going to spend the extra time created. Write it down as specifically as you can.

Answer the what, when, who and how questions and this will give you that extra push that you need to achieve your goal of creating more time.

SECOND, Every goal and objective is like a journey, by mapping it out ahead of time, you stay on course.

Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar as well as many others recommend setting up a day’s schedule the night before then, first thing in the morning, review your schedule and make any modifications that need to be made.

In creating time, it isn’t about the hour, but about the minute. Most of us waste our time in the minute, which then quickly adds up to the hour that we can never get back. The best way that I have heard this point made is with the hole in the bucket analogy; picture two buckets, one with a hole in it and one without a hole in it.

No matter how often you fill the one with a hole in it, it will eventually become empty, while the one without the hole will fill easier and create less work for you.

THIRD, to keep with the analogy; plug the leaks.

Start assuming that every minute you do not have working for you, is, in fact, a minute working against you.

In order to make the most of every minute, try to incorporate these time savers into your daily schedule.

► Take a look at all of your most common daily interruptions. Try to make a game of it to see how many you can eliminate, filter or outsource. Set up your schedule in similar blocks whenever possible; have a specific time for phoning people, move to checking emails, etc.

Should you be out visiting a prospect, use this time to check the mail, or other errands that would require you be out and about, as opposed to leaving multiple times for multiple tasks. Now these designated time blocks do not always work; the unexpected will happen, Murphy is alive and well, so you can allow for some flexibility. When you have a plan, however, for organizing, investing and implementing your time, it won’t be long before you find yourself with extra time to be more flexible with.

► Know when your battery is fully charged. Determine when you are at your best both physically and mentally. Schedule your more challenging objectives during those times that you are most alert and attentive and you will accomplish more in less time. An example would be to save the emails for the end of the day or during a time of the day when nothing else is going on to distract you.

► Time is money. Just like with money, the more wisely you invest it, the greater the pay out. Before investing your time in any activity, ask yourself this important question, "Is there something more important or productive that I could be doing with my time right now?"

Remember that, unlike money, time can never be recovered.

You can make the most of your life by making every minute count, every hour of every day and the compound interest received will be immeasurable!!