As I start to get older in life and in my career, it is becoming more clear what the true value of time means. You try to create different spaces or sectors of time – time reserved for working, time reserved for family and friends – and time spent doing things you enjoy, such as hobbies or things of interest.
With the value of time being so much more important, it is also clear how to maximize the investment of your time. Do you spend time with someone who gives you the greatest return? Not just a great return in money, but in enjoyment. Do you spend time with someone who doesn’t listen to what you say or what you recommend, and you will probably never be able to help? Do you let other people monopolize your time and run all over it where you never really have control of your time?
One major habit of mine is making a daily list. I wouldn’t say I make it every single day, but with the exception of maybe 2-3 days a month, I make a very detailed list each day as to what I want to accomplish. Usually, my list is all work-related items, although sometimes other things get mixed in there. My list guides me each day, and by the time of day and the number of things I have crossed off, it tells me how much progress is being made by that point in the day. My list allows me to take control of my own time and spend it working on things that I want to work on or think need my attention.
You always have to allow for interruptions in your well-crafted schedule of time – an unplanned phone call or impromptu meeting – but the rest of your plan can really be adhered to if you have a plan for your time.
The other thing that takes bigger-picture thinking is the question of whether you are spending your time where it counts. Meaning, are you working on something that may never happen, or are you spending your time on things that stand to give you the best possible outcomes? There is a book I read a few years ago called “The Energy Bus” that talked a lot about “energy vampires” – these are people who occupy so much of your energy because of their own needs that they end up sucking all your energy away. I have really started to think who around me are “time vampires,” meaning those who you invest a lot of time in that continually waste it.
The difference has to be understood when you mix all your different sectors of time, though. Just because my 3-year-old son Ford doesn’t really understand what I am telling him, it doesn’t mean I feel like I am wasting my time by spending it with him. But being intentional with my time in all aspects of my life is what I have seen more clearly now than ever before.