Conquer Time Management by Doing This..............

Posted by Cheryl Majeski on May 31, 2015 - 3:36pm Edited 5/31 at 3:42pm

“For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.”

~Doug Larson

As we enter into the sixth month of the year I think, “OMG!” “I can’t believe that much time has passed already!”

Thoughts of the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland come to mind as I picture him holding his watch and muttering about being late – “oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting!”

Time management can help you eek out a few more minutes here and there but you’ll never know how until you have a handle on how you actually spend your time.

The exercise I’m about to share with you will hopefully help you manage your time more effectively and maybe even find a little more of it each day.

I learned the foundation of this many years ago and I’ve refined it to share with you. So, without further adieu, grab some paper and a pen and let’s get started! I think you’ll find this to be a real eye opener as you chart your time for each day in a typical week.

NOTE: In order to get the most out of this task, you’ll want to be as detailed and honest about how you spend your time so you have a very clear cut picture on how you can have more control over it.

You don’t have to share this information with any one – it can be your secret but after next week’s post, you may find that sharing some of it with others (like other members of your household, big and small!) will highly benefit everyone. More on this next week!

I think we can all agree that there are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week. (Somehow the Beatles found 8 – their song, "8 Days a Week" -- who doesn't like the fav four?) Personally, I haven’t uncovered any more (days, not Beatles songs) have you? If so, please share!

24 hours x 7 days = 168 hours in a week – this is our “magic” number. Now, the breakdown begins:

At the top of your paper, jot down 168 and circle it.

This is your starting point.

Now, from that 168, deduct 56 hours right off the top for sleep. (7 days x 8 hours a night) = 56

I can hear many of you saying, “I never sleep 8 hours a night!”

You may get by on less but 8 is the optimal number that you should strive for so you can keep on top of your game and maximize your health.

Jot down whatever is a reasonable number of sleep hours for you.

So, based on 8 hours of sleep, 112 is the remaining amount of hours to spend as you like (in a perfect world). (You may have more or less hours, depending upon your sleep habits).

Now, from that 112 (or your number) deduct another 40 hours for work. You may work more or less so add or deduct the amount of hours that fit your schedule.

If we go with 40, then you now have 72 hours left which works out to a little over 10 hours a day for you to spend as you like – (again, in a perfect world!)

Don’t forget to factor in all the things that encompass your entire day – every little thing you do from the time your feet hit the floor in the morning until you crawl back into bed at night.

No matter how trivial what you do may seem, write it down. It will help you gain the clearest picture of your day.

If you have a family, then incorporate getting everyone else ready for their day along with your own routine.

Now that you have a pretty good idea as to how your time is spent, you’ll need to think about how you can use your time more efficiently.

Schedule Surgery – Implant More Time

You may not have too much say about how parts of your day are spent, however, you can learn how to use your time more effectively and to that end, there’s a very helpful eight-letter word that will really help you to achieve this – and that word would be…………………………………

Look for the answer next week!

(Incidentally, if you’re wondering who Doug Larson is, he’s best known as a columnist for two Wisconsin newspapers who has been widely quoted over the internet and now in my blog post!)