3 Ways we lose time and what to do about it*

* This is an excerpt from a live coaching call with one of my clients recently.

What I’ve discovered is that there are 3 primary ways we lose our time. And they are different than most people expect or realize.

A.  Not knowing where you’re going next

1. Don’t waste a second – ever. Don’t let your goals and dreams fall victim to unplanned events. Anything that isn’t a part of your schedule is a distraction and should be minimized at all costs. Don’t be rude to people; just know that you should “always have a meeting to be at” in the next few minutes. There should always be somewhere you’re going next.
2. Have a written schedule and stick to it relentlessly. Your results are very often the output of your schedule. Do what is on your schedule all the time.

B.  Fatigue

1. Physical – You need at least 6.5 hours of Sleep and if at all possible get 7-8. Vince Lombardi said “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” If you’re not energized you won’t be efficient.
2. Physical – Get your booty to the gym. Don’t let your body feed you the BS that you’re too tired to work out. Your body recharges from working out. Even if it’s 30 minutes for 3 days a week. Just get there! We see consistently that people who can just get their body into the gym can usually get motivated to do something once they’re there. Do it. Once you are physically there then get yourself amped up to crush it! Dominate your workout and hit it hard. Then go home and go to the next thing.
3. Emotional – Some of the best managers in the country forget this and they don’t realize that one thing that is holding them back is they never get emotionally recharged. If you’re pouring out into others you need to be refilling your emotional fuel  tank. Find what fills you up spiritually and emotionally.
   • Positive reading: John Maxwell – 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Ken Blanchard – One Minute Manager, T Harv Eker – Secrets of the Millionaire Mind, Dale Carnegie – How To Win Friends and Influence People, John Maxwell – Leadership Gold, Jim Collins – Good to Great
   • Read the Bible each day – at least 1 chapter.
   • Church on Sunday with no excuses. Just go do it.
   • Family – I find that spending actual time physically with family is very recharging. Sometimes on the phone it’s not always. Try to get some place that makes you feel like home and especially reconnecting with parents and letting them know how much they mean to you will naturally recharge you.

C.  Having focus diverted across too many things

1. Imbalance is the new balance – The way most people think about balance is absurd. We tend to think of spending an equal amount of time on all different types of activities.  Balance is not equal time across equal activities; it’s APPROPRIATE time across critical PRIORITIES. In other words, don’t try to be all things to all activities or try to do everything. Instead figure out what things are most important to you and imbalance your life in those directions.
2. Keystone Goal – Have 1 overarching goal that ties all your others together. A keystone goal isn’t necessarily the most important; it’s just the one that if you accomplish it, all of the others will happen as a bi-product.
3. Batching – multi-tasking means juggling lots of priorities; it doesn’t mean doing many tasks at once. Don’t try to be on Facebook while doing paperwork and taking cell phone calls. Doesn’t work. Focus is power. Blitz it hard. Paperwork for paperwork time. Gym for gym time. Family for family time. Pounding the phones during phone time. That simple.

Your results are just a bi-product of your schedule. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. You be consistent and relentless about your schedule. Work the system and allow the system to work for you. Put your self-esteem into your work habits and  let the rest shake out as it may.

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Rory Vaden
Take the stairs – Success means doing what others won’t.

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