Time

Time…

What do you do with your time?  Is it productive?  Do you find yourself wishing for more time?  Try finishing the following sentence.

“If I only had more time, I’d…”

What kind of things come to mind?  Have you been longing to go back to school and get that degree or certification?  Perhaps you wish for more time to study a foreign language, learn a new skill or improve your health and get back into shape.  Or maybe you’d just like to spend more time with your loved ones.  It all equates to a need or desire for more time.

Don’t you find it amazing how some people seem to accomplish so much in their lives using the exact same amount of time we all have?  After all, every one of us is only allotted twenty-four hours in each day.  So how do they do it? 

Time is a precious and perishable commodity.  How we treat time can be equated to many aspects of life itself.  Mistreat it and it’ll slip away.  Make the most of it and it’ll pay huge dividends.  How have you been using your time lately? 

I’ve discovered a straight-forward, four-step process to getting more productivity from the finite allocation of time we’re all allotted each day.  See if you can find something from this simple approach that’ll help you. 

Assess your timeline.

Assess what you have or where you are in relation to what you desire and make a determination of what kind of time it’ll take to reach your goal or desired outcome.  Be honest and realistic.  Once you have a good idea of how much time it’ll take to accomplish your goal or objective, break up your timeline into monthly, weekly, and daily segments.  Defining an overall goal in terms of a total length of time it’ll take is necessary, but oftentimes it can lead to exasperation and an overwhelming feeling that it may be insurmountable.  If I had known that writing my first novel would’ve taken me two-and-a-half years to write, I may have been overwhelmed to a point of futility.  Yet, because I made sure to spend a few hours a week to write it, I was able to accomplish the overall manuscript…over time.

Define your goals.

It’s a universal reality that few of us truly define our goals with the clarity required to ignite a burning desire to pursue them.  However, once we do clearly define them, a passion ignites within us that’s difficult to ignore.  In a manner much like the timeline method, our goal should be defined as an overall objective, accompanied by milestones that offer clear indications of progress.  Without them, we tend to lose incentive and drive and have no clear indication of forward movement.  The chapters in my novel served as milestones for me as I wrote the ensuing storyline.  I was able to clearly see where I had started and could look back upon a series of chapters that provided added value to the drive and momentum that propelled the progress of my book forward to completion.  

Take action.

Get emotionally involved!  The fact that you’ve recognized the need to set aside time for your goal speaks volumes about your insight and ability to see things from a wide perspective.  The Latin phrase, “Carpe Diem,” or “Seize the Day” has been loosely translated to “Seize the Moment.”  Either way you slice it, the translation compels the reader or philosopher to “seize” time as we know it.  Any amount of time we allow to slip by is time never to be regained.  Taking action as soon as humanly possible allows us to make the absolute most of it.  It therefore goes to show that those who do, are the very ones who seem to make more of the time they have.  Capture the moments that collectively add up to the time that’s right in front of you to your advantage. 

Need an extra thirty minutes to make progress toward your goal?  Get up thirty minutes earlier than you currently do.  Watch thirty minutes less television.  Say no to the boys when they get together for a beer one weekend a month.  Put the kids to bed fifteen minutes early twice a week.  Get creative and watch the time add up!

Follow through!

Once you’ve assessed the timeline, defined your goals and objectives, discovered the time available and have taken action, make sure to follow through and stay consistent.  Because, another universal truth is that consistency will yield measurable results you can count on. Your time will not be wasted, but your consistent efforts will build a momentum of progress that'll reveal itself to a point where others will ask how you seem to accomplish as much as you do with your time!  

Until next time...

- G -

"The wise person recognizes the precarious nature of time and seizes moments that make the most of it."  

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