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Stop blaming time
How often have you heard people say, "I don't have enough time to do it ..." or "If only I could find the time to do X ..." Or "I'm too busy to do Y ..." Maybe the person you hear saying these - or similar - things is the same person who stares at you in the bathroom mirror every morning.
Now, it's time to stop blaming time!
Time is absolute - there are 24 hours (1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds) in a day and that will never change. We cannot 'manage' time.
What we can manage, however, is what we do in the next 60 minutes. How we use time is one of the big determinants of how successful we are. As business owners and as individuals.
Everyone from Bill Gates to the SME gets 24 hours, the same amount of time every day. Think of it as the car races where they make all drivers drive identically built and tuned race cars.
The winner is not determined by who has the fastest car, but who can drive the identical car the best. Similarly, the 'winners' in life are those who learn how best to spend their time.
So how do you get a grip on your time?
1. Accept that there is no such thing as too much or too little time
There is enough time available for you to be successful. Others have been successful and they did not have access to more time than you. Take ownership of your situation. Take responsibility for your results and be accountable for your actions.
2. Define what you want to achieve
What do you want to be 'successful' at? For some this might mean a million euros in the bank, for others it might mean being healthier. Others may be looking for better relationships with their family and friends. This is your goal. You should also be clear on why you want to achieve this goal and what it will mean to you - what feeling will it give you when you achieve it? Both the goal and your "why" should be noted with a timeframe.
3. Define activities
Having defined the goal and your "why", you then need to determine the activities needed to achieve that goal. What should I do? How much time do I reserve for it? What do I need to adjust/sacrifice/reduce/delegate to find the time to do what it takes? Remember, if everyone else found it easy, you too would have already done it. What distinguishes successful time users from unsuccessful ones is the discipline and determination to achieve their goals, no matter what. Winners never give up and they never lose faith in themselves.
4. Understand that life and business are about making choices
You choose how you spend your time - what activities you undertake and how much time you spend on them. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Being successful in many different areas takes effort and time. Success comes from razor-sharp focus on one or two goals. Once they are completed, move on to the next set of goals and focus on them.
5. Agreements with yourself
Prepare your calendar weekly by making "appointments" for the activities you have identified. By default, these are placed first in your calendar before everything else. Treat this as if it were an appointment with your most important client. Would you change that appointment with your most important client on Monday from 2pm to 3pm just because someone asked for that time? No, you would negotiate ... 'I'm booked at that time. I'll see you at 1pm or after 3pm, which suits you best?'
6. Be militant about your schedule
If you don't care how your time is spent, why should anyone else care? Learn to say 'no'. In Stephen Covey's book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People", activities are divided into 4 categories: not important/not urgent, urgent/not important, urgent/important and not urgent/important. The danger for most people is the urgent/not important category. This is when we respond to other people's urgencies, but that activity does not get us to OUR goal. By definition, it is not important. Beware of the time and effort you spend on these tasks. Conduct your own time-use study. Every minute you can convert from the non-important categories to the important ones will bring you closer to your goal.
7. Analyse your successes/challenges in sticking to your schedule weekly and adjust where necessary
Be honest with yourself and constantly reinforce your "Why". What are you trying to achieve and how important is it to you.
8. Find an 'accountability' partner or coach to keep you on track
We can all use this help - admitting this is a strength, not a weakness.
In short, stop blaming time, take ownership of your time and commit to the necessary discipline to win the race by being the best "driver" of time you can be. And get a coach to keep you on track.
Kurt Vervloet
Kurt Vervloet is a business coach, blogger and speaker. Since 2017, he has been coaching businesses around the world, ranging from solo entrepreneurs, SME companies to executive management teams at large organisations. His clients choose to work with him because of my proven, no-nonsense approach to optimising and scaling businesses. By achieving great results with his clients, he has already been rewarded with several Awards.
