Jul 09
13
Time Management Exercise
No way!
It just means that you should review your time "spending habits" an count the cost. Make sure that the activities you choose are things that have value for you. Eliminate all else.
Have you ever heard somebody say, "I just don’t know where the time went?" It’s a common complaint. Let’s take a few moments and figure out exactly where the time does go. Take out a blank piece of paper and write a big "168" on the top. This represents the 168 hours we are are given every week.
Then, begin listing all of your time commitments. It might go something like this:
a) Work, including drive time – 46 hours
b) Sleep – 56 hours
c) Household chores – cleaning, lawn care, etc. 10 hours
d) Meals, preparing and eating – 15 hours
e) Church and church responsibilities – 5 hours
f) Driving kids to activities – 4 hours
g) Shopping and errands – 8 hours
h) Bowling league – 3 hours
i) Shower, shaving, make up, etc. – 4 hours
This adds up to 151 hours. Now, out of a week with 168 hours, this leaves 17 hours hours.
That’s about two-and-a-half hours per day. Every day.
Seventeen hours a week is enough to hold a part-time job; do volunteer work; build that boat in your garage you’ve always been meaning to build; read about three books a week; take a college class.
You know. All the well-intentioned stuff you’ve always meant to do…but couldn’t find the time for.
Now, I’ve done this exercise with hundreds of people. And two things have become evident.
ONE: Most people overstate how long it takes them to do things. In the above example, the ten hours of household chores might only be six. And, maybe, with a little time management skill, that six could turn into four.
TWO: That nearly everybody finds that they have way more free time than they thought.
The power of this exercise is that it helps us understand that the time we need for meaningful activities is probably available.
Will you invest a little of that time now in completing this exercise?
You’ll be glad you did!
