Successful People Increase the Value of Their Time…
Successful people put a high value on their time. They don’t waste it. They realise that time is the most valuable asset they have, so they do everything they can to get maximum results.
If you want to get ahead in life, you can’t afford to waste time. You’ve got to get the most out of each day. You’ve got to complete your work, tasks, and projects on time, do them well, and do them right.
Anecdote: Time: It’s the only game we’re playing.
Before every football game, just after the teams ran out , someone on the team would yell: “Hey, this is a really big game, guys.” “Why’s that?” someone else would ask. “Because it’s the only one we’re playing,” a third person would shout. During the months that ritual was followed, the team had the best win-loss record in the premiership.
And so it is with life. This isn’t a practice session. There isn’t another “game” after this one. This is it. Life it as if it’s the only one you’ll ever have…because it is.
Increase the Value of Your Time
We’ve all heard the phrase “Time is money.” But what does that really mean? It means that the things you know; – your skills, talents, knowledge, and experience-have value and that someone is willing to pay you for them. So when you’re not fully utilising your God-given skills, talents, knowledge, and experience, you are indeed wasting money.
Ask yourself: “How much value do I put on my time?
Remember:
Your skills, talents, knowledge, and experience are the most valuable assets you’ve got.
Success Tip:
Make the most of your given talents, and you’ll be compensated beyond your wildest dreams.
The greater the value you put on your time, your skills, and your talents, the more you’re going to accomplish, because you will utilise them better. You’ll reach your goals and achieve your dreams sooner. And when those goals have been reached, you’ll set your sights on even bigger ones.
Give Yourself A Raise.
Put a higher value on your time and you’ll spend it differently. Learn how to use your time more effectively and you’ll accomplish a lot more and make a lot more money.
In order to accomplish more in your life, you’ve got to perform at a higher level. Yes, there are only 24 hours in a day, and you spend somewhere between 8 and 10 of them working. (And if you add commuting time, you’ve probably got a 10-, 12-, or even 14-hour day.)
So we’re not going to ask you to put in any more hours. We just want to ask you a question: “How do you spend those 8 to 10 working hours?” Here’s how to improve the way you spend your time so that you’ll accomplish much more every day, and in the end have more time for your family, your friends, and yourself.
Just for the fun, pretend that someone is willing to pay you £600 an hour for your skills, talents, knowledge, and experience. Multiply that out. Eight hours a day is £4,800. Five days a week is £24,000. And 50 weeks a year (you do get a holiday) is £1,200,000. Now we’re talking real money.
And, since we’re sure you work 10, or even 12 hours a day, and probably Saturdays and parts of Sundays, these figures are on the light side. But the goal isn’t to put in more hours. It’s to get more out of the hours you do work.
£600 an hour conveniently works out to £10 a minute. So, take a £10 note out of your purse or wallet, put it on the table, and look at it for a minute. At £10 a minute you can see time. At £10 a minute your colleagues and co-workers can see time. At £10 a minute, you won’t waste time.
You won’t waste your valuable time sitting on hold for several minutes while you’re waiting for someone to get off the telephone. You’ll leave a message or call back later.
You won’t waste 15 to 30 minutes of your valuable time sitting in a reception area as you wait for the person with whom you’ve scheduled a meeting to complete his/her current meeting. Instead, you’ll make it a point to confirm all your meetings and appointments before you leave your office so you can adjust your schedule if others are running a bit late.
And, speaking of meetings, you’ll insist that they start on time, end on time, and accomplish the things they were supposed to accomplish. At £10 per minute, multiplied by everybody in the meeting, you just can’t afford to waste time. It’s just too expensive.
Once you begin to realise your time is worth this kind of money, you’ll start spending it differently. You’ll do only the things that are really important. You’ll eliminate the things that keep you busy and waste your time. You’ll focus your time and energies on the tasks you must accomplish so that you’ll achieve your goals.
Success Tip:
The decisions that come out of meetings can be worth tens of thousands or tens of millions of pounds to your company. They can affect your raises, bonuses, and promotional opportunities. The benefits of a well-run meeting can greatly exceed the cost of £10 per minute for those in attendance.
Remember:
The way you spend your time is a result of the way you see your time and the way you see your priorities.
Remember:
Give yourself a raise – in your mind – increase your level of performance, and you’ll travel much faster down the road to success. You’ll also make more money than you ever dreamed.
Now, take a moment to think about how you spend your 8 to 10 hours during the workday.
What are your five biggest time-wasters?
How much time is wasted on each of them every day? What can you do to eliminate or reduce this drain on your time, energy, and enthusiasm?
Give Yourself an Extra Hour Each Day
This is a concept, discovered quite by accident. A man was living by an idyllic lake during the summer. He rarely got out of bed before mid-morning…since most of his friends at the lake slept in. One morning he woke up very early…about 4:30 in the morning. He got dressed and wandered down to the lakeshore. The surface of the lake was like a mirror. Schools of fish flashed bright silver in the early morning sun, just below the surface. A solitary bird was still paddling around, occasionally diving for food.
No cars.
No boats,
Nobody.
Just nature…and him.
It was wonderful, to have made this discovery…that there was seemingly ‘another world’ of wonder, beauty, and opportunity…just waiting to be experienced. From that morning on, he promised himself never to waste time in this world by not making the time for what he really wanted to do.
Take this concept to heart. If you want to complete something that is very important, get up at 5:00 A.M. and work for an hour or longer before eating breakfast.
When you have work that is very important to you, get up early and give yourself an extra hour of uninterrupted time each day. You’re bright and alert, you have lots of energy, your concentration level is high and most importantly, you’re highly motivated. You’ll be amazed at how much you’re able to accomplish when you focus your energies on completing a single task.
Time-Saving Tip:
Many of us spend several hours a day commuting to and from work. If you’re one of them, would it be possible to change your schedule so as to avoid the heavy traffic? This would enable you to convert commuting time-to-time you can use more productively and effectively. To go one step further…perhaps you can change your work schedule so you could work from home one or two days a week and eliminate the commute altogether.
Do One More Thing Before You Call it a Day
At the end of each day, look at your daily to-do list and do one more task before you call it a day. Make one more phone call. Write one more letter. Find one more thing you can accomplish and cross off your list before you go home.
Anecdote:
The concept of making one more phone call, or completing one more task before calling it a day will help you further your career in many ways. Doing this, you will reach hundreds of people who are still sitting at their desks at 5:30 P.M. The “gatekeeper” had gone home…so there is no one to screen their calls. Thousands of tasks completed enabled you to stay a couple of steps ahead of the competition.
Think of the impact this will make for you. At the end of your week, you’ll have completed five more items that were on your to-do list. At the end of the month, an additional 20 items will have been completed. And at the end of the year you’ll have completed an extra 200 tasks.
Remember:
Get more things done during the course of the day, and you’ll have more time to chart your course…which means you can really accomplish your goals…the ones you’ve only dreamed of achieving.
Time-Saving Tip:
Don’t put off till tomorrow what can be done today…because tomorrow may never come…right?