by Jim Rohn
| Feb 15, 2019
Let me
give you some thoughts on time management. Here is a list of things you should
consider to make the most of your time:
1. Run the day or it will run you.
Part of
the key to time management is just staying in charge. Here’s what usually
happens: We start something and we’re in control, but as the day starts to
unfold, we start losing it. It’s like running a business. If you don’t stay on
top of things, the business will run you before long. You have to stop every
once in a while and say, “Wait! Who’s in charge here?”
“Some
will master and some will serve.”
Here’s
a good phrase to remember: “Some will master and some will serve.” That’s the
nature of life, and you have to make sure you become the
master. You have to run the day. You have to stay in charge.
What is
the key to staying in charge? You must have your written set of goals with you
at all times. Prioritize your goals and decide which are important. Constantly
review your goals, then make them a part of a good written game plan.
With
your game plan in hand, try to separate the majors from the minors, the really
important things from the things that you just have to do. And prioritize. A little thought will save you a lot
of time.
Is this
a major day or a minor day? Adjust your time accordingly. Is this a major
conversation or a minor conversation? A lot of people don’t do well in this
area, and here’s why: They major in minor things. They spend too much time on
things that don’t count and too little time on things that should count.
2. Don’t mistake movement for achievement.
You
probably know some people around you who are just plain busy being
busy. You’ve got to be busy being productive.
Consider
this: A man comes home at night and flops down on the couch. He says, “I’ve
been going, going, going.” But the real question is, “Doing what?” Some people
are going, going, going, but they’re doing figure eights. They’re not making
much progress.
Don’t
mistake movement for achievement. Evaluate the hours in your days, and see if there’s a lot of wasted time that you could manage
better.
3. Concentrate on where you are.
You’ve just got to zero in on the job at hand. Don’t
start your business day until you get to the business. I used to start my
business day in the shower. I’m trying to compose a letter in the shower. I’m
not awake yet, and I’m trying to compose a letter. I found out that it doesn’t
work that way. Wait to get to the office to start your work. Don’t start your
business day at the breakfast table. It’s not good for the family, and it’s not
very productive.
So
here’s what you’ve got to do. On the way to work, concentrate on your driving.
In the shower, concentrate on the shower. At the breakfast
table, concentrate on the family. Wherever you are, be there. Don’t be
somewhere else. Give whatever you’re doing the gift of attention. Give people
the gift of attention. Concentrate on where you are.
Boy,
it’s easy in a society like ours to just say yes too much, to over-obligate
yourself. Then it takes all that time to back out of it. Don’t say yes too
quickly. It’s better to say, “I don’t know if I can make it, but I’ll give you
a call.” It’s nicer to say that than to back out later.
Being
too eager to please can be dangerous. You need to appreciate yourself, your
time, your limits.
One of
my colleagues has a good saying: “Don’t let your mouth overload your back.”
Being too eager to please can be dangerous. You need to appreciate yourself,
your time, your limits. Know when your commitment to someone else will end up
taking time away from yourself and your family. Appreciate your special
time alone. And appreciate your time with those you love and those who love
you.
This is
especially important when it comes to charity work. A group of entrepreneurs I
know have been very successful in their own business. They get a lot of press.
And they’ve been swamped with requests to do pro bono work. They must get a
couple offers a month to sit on one charity board or another. Here’s how they
handle it: They take all requests, weigh them for time commitments and evaluate
them for opportunities. Then they take a collective vote on which two they’ll
accept during the next year.
You
can’t immediately say yes to offers that sound prestigious. You can’t
immediately say yes to social functions, even if they sound like a lot of fun.
You’ve got to say maybe and take time to evaluate what’s truly important
to you and what will just take time away from your ambitions and your
family.
Be
eager to please yourself and your family. Don’t be so eager to please everybody
else. Appreciate your own limits. You don’t have to fill up every second of the
day; take time to appreciate what you’ve accomplished. Take time to enjoy the
fruits of your labor.
5. Appreciate the little details.
Your
success should be a pleasure. Appreciating what you’ve acquired and what you’ve
done and who you’ve become is important. It’s an important
component in fueling your future achievements. Just knowing that you finished
all you started out to do that day… that’s encouraging! It’s these little daily
gains that continue to fuel your achievement.
Let’s
say you’re figuring out tomorrow’s game plan tonight, and tomorrow looks pretty
light. So all you write down for tomorrow is “cleanup day.” Clean up all the
little notes on your desk. Write all the thank-you notes you haven’t
gotten around to writing all week. Take care of a few phone calls that keep
getting shuffled from one day to the next. It’s just minor stuff. Nonetheless,
it’s the little stuff that keeps weighing you down until you get it done.
So you
spend your day in cleanup mode. You file the notes, write the thank-you cards,
make the phone calls. It’s not a major day. But at the end of the day, you feel
you’ve accomplished so much. Why? Because you’ve taken care of so many little
details. It’s the little details that can make a major
difference. You feel like you’ve really achieved something during a day
that started out to be so minor.
Little
achievements are just as important as big achievements. Success is the constant
process of working toward your goals, little achievement by little achievement.
Little achievements produce big results. Anything is possible in those 24 hours
we’re given each day.
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