Determine Your Priorities To Maximize Time Use
Everyone wishes they had more time. But as we age, our valuable time becomes a scarcer and scarcer commodity. The longer we live, the less free time we are likely to have.
How much time should you spend on your work? How much time should you spend with your family? What about activities like reading the paper or going for a walk in the park?
It's hard to balance all these things in your life when you have so little free time! That's why it's important to divide up what’s important in life into three categories: Must-do items, Nice-to-do items, and Don't do items).
"Must" means that you really need to do it. "Nice-to-do" means it's nice to do, but you don't really need to do it. "Don't do" means you don't have to do it, but there's absolutely no benefit in doing so.
In order to make the most of your time, it's important to decide which activities should be entered into each of these categories on a regular basis.
When Should I Spend My Time?
1. What is one must-do item that will increase my productivity and make me more efficient? Will my life be easier and more pleasurable if I do this?
2. What are the next five nice-to-do items I should do?
3. Which nice-to-do items are so important that I should do them within the next week?
4. What is one nice-to-do item that I can currently decide to cut back on and still be completely satisfied with my life?
5. What activities can I decide to drop and still have all of these important things in my life? That will keep me happy and productive?
6. What are five don't-do activities that I can cut out of my life right now?.
7. What are five don't-do activities that I can quickly drop without depriving myself of anything important?
Now, you have to be careful here and make sure you cut back on things that you really don't need. It's easy to cut out a "nice-to-do" item just because it seems like a good idea and saves a few minutes here and there. But this is cutting into your free time! That's why it's important to put some thought in advance into what you're going to do with your time.
It's important to discover what you're saving. If you're dumping reading the paper, eating junk food, or making a stupid video it is still by choice and not because those activities are "bad for you". That means that you are still free to do them!
If you haven't been doing anything else, now is the time to start. If a week has gone by where you haven't even committed one nice-to-do item and all of your other "don't-do" activities aren't cut out, it's time to stop playing games and get serious about your life.
The biggest mistake people make in life is not putting enough effort into what they have decided they want to do with their life. Instead they look around and see the choices they've made and make the decision that they want to be happy. They decide to do what they think is right, but are really just reacting to circumstances or avoiding taking action.
The hardest thing in life is realizing what you really want and why you want it. It's like trying to pull a plug out of an electrical outlet! Giving up on something once it's no longer working for you was better than making an effort and not getting there. You need a plan in order to make any long-term goals work, otherwise you'll just be constantly frustrated by your life's lack of progress.
Your plan should be simple, but also include a series of smaller goals for you to work through. Make a list of all the must-do items in your life. This is the first step toward making sure that you are always moving forward and not spending your time on anything that doesn't really matter to you.
If the answer to any of these questions is no then there's no reason to start paying attention to it until it becomes important to you!
Now is the time for you to get busy and make decisions about what's important in your life and what you really want!
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Determine Your Priorities To Maximize Time Use [ARTICLE END]
Tags: Life by Derek Sivers "Never forget that, in the end, it is not what happens to you ... it's how you deal with it." This is something I've heard all of my life, but until recently I had never taken to heart what was being said to me. As I got older and closer to the end of my life, I was able to take a long look at myself, who I really was and what kind of person that really meant . . . and I have to admit that I was a bit terrified by what I saw. What happened to the person who was always there for his friends, had a great sense of humor, was the kind of guy everyone wanted to be around? Where did he go? Now, let me be clear - this isn't about some value judgment or anything like that. It's just that as I got older and life got more complicated, it seemed like everything else took precedence over me. I mean, I took myself for granted, and I pretty much thought that was okay. But as I looked back across my life, I couldn't help but notice how many people had let me down or let me down. Was it possible that the problem wasn't simply that "life happens" - but rather, that I didn't really know what was important and what wasn't? After all, the focus of your life - whatever you decide is important to you - will determine your success. The time you keep and the time you waste will both be determined by your goals and dreams. Once you figure out what is important to you, however, things get easier. For example, when I got sick of wasting time and feeling miserable about myself, I decided I wanted to make a change. So I started writing down a list of my personal priorities. And then I made it clear to everyone around me that this is what was important to me - and that for me to do my best work and have the best life possible, these were the things that needed to be in place. Once you decide what is important in your life - whether it's family, friends, love or work - you can then begin to manage your time better so you can get more done. It's really quite simple - all you need are a few manageable strategies, a little discipline and some determination.
Conclusion
Make a list of your personal priorities. Make it clear to everyone around you that this is what's important to you - by taking action and telling them. You can then begin to manage your time better so you can get more done. It's really quite simple - all you need are a few manageable strategies, a little discipline and some determination.