Herm
Allen, M.S.
"If you're ready to
climb, I've got the time."
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Time Management
is IMPOSSIBLE
It’s true. No one that I know can add
more time to their life; neither can we earn back “lost” or “wasted” time. Time
will exist whether we are alive or not. Time is a dominant force in our lives
and, unfortunately, controls many of us daily. How many of you have ever said,
“I wish I had more time,” or what about this one, “there’s not enough hours in
the day.” Stop right there! This is reason number one why time has control over
many of us. We think of time to narrow. Most of us see time in only twenty-four
hour blocks and that’s it. Here’s another way to look at it.
Yes, there are only twenty-four hours in a day; and no,
we cannot add more to it. We can, however, change how we think about time. How
do we do that? Think of time in larger quantities or blocks. For the purposes of
this article let’s look at time from a weekly perspective. If one day has
twenty-four hours, guess how many a week has? That’s correct, 168 hours in a
week. Wow! What can you – or better yet, will you do with all those hours? This
brings me to reason number two as to why time has control over us. With the time
we do have, we don’t effectively or efficiently use it to our advantage. Have a
plan. Plan your week and you will begin to “have” more time than you initially
believed. Without a plan, time will become the monster you think it is.
Here is a plan that you can implement immediately to
“increase” the amount of time you have to take care of all your obligations plus
have leisure time. Take out a notebook, a pen/pencil, and a weekly planner with
the time included (or you can create one with notebook paper). The first thing
you need to do is some simple mathematical calculations. Don’t worry, I said
simple.
Start with 168 hours because, remember, we are working from a weekly (not
weakly) perspective. Now begin subtracting your fixed obligations [see example
below].
ex. 168 hours
- 20 work
(add '20' if you work full-time)
148
- 12 school
136
- 56 sleep (8 x 7 – fantasy, right?)
80
- 24 study (2 hrs. x12 credit hrs.)
56 hours of “disposable” time
This is only an example, but look at the “disposable”
(56 hours or 2 days & 8 hours) time to eat, play or whatever else
you want to do. Make sure you substitute activities relevant to your
personal situation. Remember, that time is over a week and not
consecutive. Now that you have done the math, on your planner put
your fixed obligations in the appropriate time slots. You should,
now, be able to “see” your committed time and available time. Where
many of us run into trouble is with the available time or “free”
time.
What usually occurs is that individuals will slowly
sacrifice committed time and increase free time. Reason number three
why time controls us is because of a lack of self-discipline. Once
you can “see” what time you are using and what is available, you
must be disciplined enough to effectively use the latter. Learn how
to say no. Learn how to prioritize. Learn how to take time for
yourself. Not always an easy task but is possible.
Back to my original statement that time management is
impossible you can see is true. However, what is possible to manage
is yourself within the time allotted to you. In a world where
inequality is almost epidemic, EVERYONE still has the same amount of
time while on this earth. What you do with it lies with you. So the
next time you think you do not have enough time for something, look
at your responsibilities, your priorities and adjust accordingly.
Time waits for no one.

©Herm Allen
Coaching,
herm@hermallencoaching.net,
(864) 903-7475
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