Check the True Value of Everything You do.
Time Management Series (2)
Has there ever been a day in your life when you wondered to yourself what you actually did with your day? Maybe you spent a couple of hours watching a movie and suddenly you discovered that the day has passed in a hurry and that feeling of non-achievement sets in.
Some things we do are four times or even eight times more valuable than other things, though they may take the same number of minutes and hours. The top 20 percent of our activities usually carry 80 percent value and add significant benefits to our lives.
Activities at the bottom of the ladder, though often fun usually carry less value and make a negligible contribution to our overall growth. How we prioritize our activities often determines the quality of our results.
Are you spending more time on the top 20 percent, value-adding activities or are you allocating more time to the bottom-end activities with no significant value?
You can tell the value of something by the amount of time you invest in it. For instance, when two people like each other, they spend a lot of time together, just getting to know themselves. They can chat for hours, talking about nothing in particular. When you buy a new car, you spend hours at the washing bay, just to ensure that it is clean and spotless. A mother spends hours nursing her newborn baby, to ensure the growth and wellbeing of her baby. You give time and attention to what you value, whether it is family, health, academics, finance, career, or sporting activities.
Steps to getting true value out of your time
- Prioritize your activities. Set clear goals and schedule them daily according to a scale of importance.
- Allocate more time to the activities that carry more value. If academic success is important to you, then you cannot watch TV for several hours each day. Some people say that family is important to them but they spend hours relaxing with friends to the detriment of valuable family time.
- Discipline yourself to follow through with your priority list. Focus on the activity at hand and work solely on it. Don’t divert time from studying to watching your favorite TV series.
- Recognize distractions and overcome them. Ensure you finish one activity before you start the next. Bring each activity or project to a conclusive end. If you are easily distracted by noise or family activities, then plan your work environment around a place where there is minimal noise.
- Maintain your health, so you don’t get burnt out or weary. Time has no value to a sick person. In fact, time stands still for a man on the hospital bed. A sick person cannot achieve his or her goals. Invest in your health and invest in your time. You don’t have forever to get things done.
Have a good week and keep achieving.
© Nkese Umofia
(Photo: Jefferson Santos)
Christian Youth Mentoring Initiative provides opportunities for mentorship, leadership training, growth, and development of youths. Our vision is to raise well-balanced youths, high flyers, focused, and capable of standing out in the global world. Email us: info@cymi.org.ng
