Success in 12 Months: Is Time Your Friend–or Your Enemy?
Welcome back to the “Success in 12 Months” blog series! We’re moving into the third week of Month 8, and the topic we’re working on together this month is time management.
Time can be your best friend or your greatest enemy, and one thing is certain: If you don’t control it, it will control you.
You have no choice about the number of hours in a day, a week, or month, but you have every choice about how you spend that time. Like most people, you have about 15 to 18 waking hours each day.
How successful you will be depends on how well you control your daily timeline. That’s why a working action plan is so important.
If your day is full of stress, interruptions, and efficiency without results, that defeats the purpose of your action plan.
When your day is planned, runs smoothly, and is stress-free, this is your ticket to success at the end of the year.
Here are a few things to practice:
- Plan and prioritize your activities every day
- Don’t get sucked in to distractions
- Don’t allow interruptions; maintain a calm, positive attitude
- At the end of each day, plan, revise and prioritize your activities for the next day.
Time to Become More Effective!
Your work this week is to identify ways to eliminate the biggest time wasters that will keep you from achieving your goals.
Take a look at your success blueprint (from Month 1) and decide where you can perform more effectively. What are your biggest time wasters? Which activities can you minimize or cut out all together? Write your answers in your success journal (an example is provided in italics below).
1. Do I have any time wasters related to my goals? (list them)
I have to work online for quite a bit so checking my email could be a problem for me.
2. How can I address these potential time sinks before they become a problem?
I will check my email twice a day, and twice a day only!
We’ll take this further next week.
As I always say, share your thoughts and your progress, leave a comment below or e-mail me and let me know what’s been happening for you. I’m investing in you and want to support you in your success!
Your partner in making the most of your time,
James