It is those who concentrate on but one thing at a time who advance in this world. The great man or woman is the one who never steps outside his or her specialty or foolishly dissipates his or her individuality. Anonymous
Lost time is never found again. Benjamin Franklin
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is. C. S. Lewis
Ask any "successful" person and they'll confirm this one thing about their success. Read the works of well-known and respected business gurus and you'll learn the same principle. A focus on one task at a time and with a commitment to complete it and complete it well is the key to success in business and personal achievements.
You must have a plan to help you achieve the successes in your business life that you want while still leaving time to also live your personal life to the fullest. Many of the personal aspects of your life are time sensitive and if you let them pass by without enjoying them, it's very possible you'll come to a point in your life where you'll look back and regret that you didn't take time to enjoy them.
Learning to complete whatever task you face - well and efficiently - is the key to success in your business and personal life. Success creates financial rewards which can be enjoyed only if the successful person has the time to enjoy them. Sales people are paid to make sales. Production people are paid to produce. Managers are paid to manage. Unproductive time spent socializing or doing "busy work" that is not productive activity takes away time that could be spent with family and friends doing things that your financial success allows you to do.
You must build a philosophy of time management that may be very different than most of the strategies of managing time that you have heard or read about. The key is to introduce yourself to some thoughts and strategies that can cause a very dramatic and positive change in the quality of your life and in the level of achievement and satisfaction you derive from it and your work. The key to being successful with these principles is an open mind. Behavioral scientists tell us that the average person uses somewhere between 3% and 25% of their potential resources - their abilities and talents. The limitation is created by closed minds and preconceived ideas. As you research, open your eyes and your mind. Look for reasons and ways to make things work. Go beyond the obvious. Expand your horizons.
The key to successful time management is obviously you. Calendars and planners and charts alone will not keep you organized. Strategies and techniques are not magical. A successful strategy requires engagement with you.
The steps to the success of this strategy, the techniques and ideas, will be listed in multiple locations such as our website and books. Unless though you internalize them and apply them, they will continue to be strategies. To get the full benefit of your research, you should read the principles several times. Repetition is a powerful learning tool that can help you take the strategies and integrate them into your everyday life.
We are told that if you are exposed to the same idea six times over the course of six days, you will retain up to 62% of it for anywhere from 15 years to life. Repetition is a component of long term development and not just short term training. Two good examples of the power of repetition are the multiplication tables and many of the jingles that we remember from when we were growing up.
As we take a look at the principles of time management, we quickly come to understand that time cannot be managed. You and I both have only 24 hours a day. No matter what we do we cannot make more time. We can only manage ourselves and how we choose to spend our time. You gain control of your time and therefore your life by changing the way you think, work and deal with the multitude of responsibilities that we all have. You get control of your life only by not doing some activities that are less or even not productive and focusing your efforts on the activities that can have a real impact on your life.
The key is to create balance in both your personal and business life areas. To create balance you need to know what is important in each of these areas and what you want to achieve in those areas of your life. In other words what are your goals. Whether you know it or not you already set goals in your life - sometimes. Most people are very careful to plan out their vacation in order to maximize their limited time off. Unfortunately, many of us spend more time planning a two week vacation than we do the other 50 weeks of our year.
A successful life doesn't just happen. It happens because you plan and make it happen. A successful life involves all of your life areas. It means living a life filled with achievement and balance. Goal setting helps you to identify what is important to you. Once you have determined that, deciding how to use your time becomes more clear.
One of the most important discoveries of this century is the discovery that man can change his circumstances by changing his attitude.
William James
One additional area that you must explore is the impact that your attitudes have on everything you do and achieve. An attitude is the way we think about something, our perception, in fact, our attitudes are habits of thought. We respond to many of life's situations and challenges based upon our attitudes or habits of thought. It's almost a reflex. Our attitudes are almost like little voices inside our heads that tell us what we should do in a given situation. That little voice can either be your best friend or your worst enemy. The dilemma for many in life is knowing how to develop it to be more supportive.
Maximizing the use of your time is affected by your attitudes about your time. A successful time management strategy should help you balance your time use with your life plans and with your personal and professional priorities. To be successful in your planning you should....
• Develop some new time-conscious attitudes
• Clarify your goals
• Learn and implement techniques that will give you more control of your time and your life
I had reached a point in my life where my daily schedule had overwhelmed my life. As a business owner of two businesses, an active member of my local business and social community, the director of an annual state-wide All Star event, and a father of an active family, I found that I was working more and more hours to accomplish the work that needed to be completed. As my resentment increased, I found that I was less and less productive doing the things that I truly enjoyed doing. I finally decided that something had to change.
When I first discovered "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day" I almost decided not to spend the time reading it. It was an "old" book written many years ago and what insight would it offer in today's world. It didn't have any sample charts or forms that I could use to become more effective. Fortunately I decided to take the time to read it and I haven't been the same since. I learned how to use my time more efficiently so that I have more time to "enjoy" my family and activities that I have always wanted to do but didn't have the time. I still re-read "How to Live" on a regular basis so that I keep my focus on what's really important in my life.
Our website, http://howtoliveon24hoursaday.com offers a FREE download of this eBook and other ideas on how to make your life more productive and enjoyable. I hope that How to Live on 24 Hours will have an influence on your life and we invite you to return to our website on a regular basis.