Category Archives: Time

You’re spending time to save money when you should be spending money to save time

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“You’re spending time to save money when you should be spending money to save time.”

—Naval Ravikant, Indian-American entrepreneur and investor

Image from Unsplash by Daniel Watson

When I was eleven, I started my first business.

My dad loaned me $75 to buy a Sears Craftsman lawn mower, and I got busy knocking on all the neighborhood doors.

Prior to my gas-powered efforts, I used one of those rotary mowers that would always get clogged with grass if it was too long or wet. After one multi-hour effort on a neighbor’s neglected lawn with only three dollars to show for it, my rotary mower was history.

Where in your life have you and do you trade your time for money?

Where over the years have your learned to use your money to more efficiently and effectively allocate your time?

EXERCISE:

Where and in what ways have you learned that time is the coin of life? In what ways can you spend and invest it more wisely? How can you use your money and other resources to get far more bang for your bucks?

If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down

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“If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down.”

—Robert Pirsig, late American writer and philosopher

Image from Unsplash by Milan Fakurian

What is the current pace of your life?

To what degree are you running the rat race or crawling along at a snail’s pace?

Perhaps the tempo of your world is just right — you’ve found your groove and there is not much more to do other than put things on cruise control.

If you are on an entrance or exit ramp of life you know when it’s time to hit the gas or pump the brakes.

EXERCISE:

Where are you restless and need to speed things up?

Where are you out of breath and need to slow things down?

What is the optimal speed for you at this point in your life?

When is it time to let go or give up so that you can begin something new

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When is it time to let go or give up so that you can begin something new?

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Amazon

Where do you currently feel stalled or stuck in your life? How are you wrestling with the sunk cost of time, effort, and resources where your pivoting is just not paying off? How can you tell when it’s time to quit and when to stick things out?

An approach that has served me over the years is the HHG method. This acronym stands for Head, Heart, and Gut.

In most cases, when I evaluate my endeavors through these three filters, I can move on or stay the course with greater confidence.

EXERCISE:

Try the HHG method for yourself and let me know what you discover. I also recommend Seth Godin’s classic book “The Dip” as a resource to explore in times of potential transition.

Mortality makes it impossible to ignore the absurdity of living solely for the future

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“Mortality makes it impossible to ignore the absurdity of living solely for the future.”

—Oliver Burkeman, British journalist and writer

image from Amazon

What are your favorite things to do?

Where are your most enjoyable places to travel?

Examine the highlight reel of your life so far to pick out your most wonderful experiences.

How much time is left on your biological clock?

If 4000 weeks—which amounts to about 80 years—is all that we get, how much time remains?

How many of us have a someday list or bucket list for things we hope to do or experience in the future? The challenge we often ignore is just how finite the sands of time truly are.

What happens when we wake up one morning and it hits us that we can’t have or do it all?

EXERCISE:

Hope is not an optimal strategy for living, and someday is not a day of the week.

How then can you live more fully in each moment and avoid the absurdity of living for the future?

Please check out Burkeman’s book Four Thousand Weeks—Time Management for Mortals for some wonderful coaching on this subject.

We can revisit the past, be in the present, and even venture into the future

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We can revisit the past, be in the present, and even venture into the future with our miraculous minds.

—Calm App Reflection

James Webb Telescope Image from NASA.com

The James Webb telescope is a miraculous piece of technology that cost ten billion dollars and took over 25 years to create. It is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble telescope, which has transformed our knowledge and understanding of the universe for decades.

These devices use various frequencies of light to examine the past, based on the distance of diverse objects. With the finite speed of light being 186,000 miles per second, we can view the moon 1.3 seconds ago, our sun 8 minutes ago, and even distant galaxies over 13.5 billion years ago. With our awareness of our ever expanding and accelerating universe, we can also use computer simulations to look way into the future.

EXERCISE:

What value have you gained through lessons from the past?

What moments are you currently experiencing that you don’t want to miss?

What potential opportunities do you see for yourself and others as the future unfolds?

Friday Review Time

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Friday Review: TIME

What are your beliefs and practices relative to time? Here are a few related posts you may have missed.

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.”

 

 

 

“Well arranged time is the surest mark of a well arranged mind.”

 

 

 

“If time were to take on human form, would she be your task master or freedom fighter?”

 

 

 

 

You have plenty of free time

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You have plenty of free time. You just need to find where it is hiding.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by Annie Spratt

What if time were like an Easter egg hunt? What if you could find an extra thirty minutes — or even an hour — with each extra egg you found? Consider going on an imaginary hunt in your mind and add the extra time to your base of 24 hours. With four extra eggs you could suddenly have 26 to 28 hours to work with and navigate your days with greater wiggle room. How would you spend it?

Of course, the rotation of the earth is not going to slow down any time soon. It’s clearly up to us to become better hunters to discover where pockets of time are hiding — often in plain sight.

EXERCISE:

To determine where your actual time is being spent, consider using a time log for the next few days. You can find a copy of this exercise in my Time Management Strategies and Tactics workbook, along with other tools to help you manage your time and energy.

As you apply these tools, please also consider the filtering words More, Less, Start, and Stop as guides to reallocate this hidden resource.

About 99% of the time, the right time is right now

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“About 99% of the time, the right time is right now.”

—Kevin Kelly, founding executive editor of Wired magazine

Image from Unsplash by Randy Tarampi

What are you waiting for?

How often do you ask yourself this question?

How clear are you about what stops you from taking action in each moment of hesitation and procrastination?

How and in what ways is NOW the right time for the important (not just the urgent) matters in your life?

What are the risks and the rewards of seizing this moment to act with greater courage and boldness?

If you knew you had a 99% chance of success each time you initiated an important task, what new resolve would you find?

EXERCISE:

What can and will you do right now that will move your life in the direction you desire?

How can you support and coach others in your communities to also step more courageously into the NOWs of their lives?

Let tomorrow come tomorrow

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“Let tomorrow come tomorrow.”

—Author Unknown

Image from Unsplash by Brian McGowan

To what degree are you a clock watcher? How often do you check your watch, cell phone, wall clock, or your digital assistant to determine the time? When you do, how often are you seeing how much time is left before your next item on your schedule? How often do you determine how long you must wait until an upcoming event that you desire or dread?

A frequent example for many people is to check the time at night during what is supposed to be a restful night’s sleep. How often do you find yourself doing a bit of subtraction to determine how many hours and minutes before you must rise and hopefully shine to begin the day?

Hitting the pause button on today or fast forwarding to tomorrow are best used for your digital recording devices. How can you simply enjoy the show and savor the passage of time you have?

EXERCISE:

What alternative approaches and strategies can you employ to more fully experience your todays and let tomorrow come tomorrow?

What gifts in your life do you often take for granted?

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What gifts in your life do you often take for granted?

—Calm App Reflection

Every moment of life is a precious gift.

Open each of these gifts slowly and mindfully so as not to miss a single one — this will help you live more fully and purposely, regardless of what you may accomplish. Don’t be surprised, however, if you accomplish a lot living this way!

EXERCISE:

What tangible and intangible gifts do your intend to offer the people in your various communities? How can putting greater thought and heartfelt intentions into your offerings? Please remember that your time might be your most special gift of all.

You may wish to explore the book, 4000 Weeks – Time Management for Mortals.