“Don’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money, and I will tell you what they are” JAMES W. FRICK
There is great truth to this quote but I believe there is a better indicator of what’s important to a person, and that is their use of TIME.
It is the most personal example of a finite, ever-decreasing resource. Time is the great leveller, it cares little for privilege or position. You can buy it from others but it can never be added to your total. With this in mind, how comfortable, and confident are you that your use of it reflects your values, aspirations, and priorities. Auditing your time-usage is an important aspect of your self-evaluation whenever embarking on, or reflecting on, any type of personal development.
I suggest treating the process like the Lean Start-up MVP Cycle. MEASURE what you do right now, LEARN what possible alterations and hacks could be integrated, BUILD an altered schedule based on your desired outcomes, MEASURE the success and sustainability of your new time allocations, and so on until you have a workable process that clearly embodies your true priorities.
If you want to bring about some form of meaningful change in your life you are going to need to consistently commit a reasonable chunk of time to bring it to fruition.
If you are not prepared to make some changes to the way you go about your day-to-day life, you have probably picked the wrong focus, because it isn’t enough of a priority.
Once you KNOW your focus truly matters to you…
Honestly assess where you waste time on a consistent basis.
Identify what sits in your calendar as immovable objects, (important reoccurring events).
Place similar tasks around your set tasks (above) that enable fast/logical transitions.
Delegate, outsource, remove anything that has no link to your revised priorities list.
Find and assign appropriate time pockets to your new objectives, then set them as reoccurring events (as consistency builds habit).
Build overflow spaces into your schedule to cater for reactive tasks and unforeseen events.
If you want new results you need to integrate new processes and habits. Stop wasting time on things that don’t assist or accelerate your progress.
Remember, time is ticking!!