I wonder how much more time you would have on your hands, to do all the important things in life, all the things that you really want to do, if you stopped doing the things that you shouldn't be doing.
In conversation with a group of people earlier this year, they calculated that they would free up two full days - each WEEK - if they stopped doing the things that were a waste of their time, energy and focus. Things like gossipping - I've touched on that about. Things like the constant checking of emails and the reading of emails that were only written to cover someone's ass and, consequently, should never be read. Things like the writing of such emails!!
No doubt you have key priorities in life. I assume that you know what they are. And I assume that you're not fooling yourself! The number of people who have told me, over the years, that spending lots of time with their young family was a priority whilst, in the next breath, telling me that they spend almost no time with their young children, never ceases to amaze me.
We pretend that we have priorities and then pretend that we cannot devote enough of our energy to them because we pretend that we don't have enough time. And it's all down to the fact that you constantly and consistently waste time. So, as you go about your business today, keep asking yourself if what you're doing is an investment in your life and your priorities or a waste of time?
Willie Horton is an Irish self-help and personal development author and trainer living in the French Alps. He has been working in the field of personal development since 1996 with clients such as Pfizer, Deloitte, Allergan, KMPG, Nestle and DHL. He is creator of Gurdy.Net – the Personal Development Website and author of Normal Crazy People and To Succeed... Just Let Go.