When 24 Hours in a Day is Not Enough

Time management is discussed a lot, when in fact you can’t manage time… but you can manage yourself.

If you don’t have enough time now it’s because of the choices you’ve made in the past which is great as it means that all you have to do to get more time, is make better choices!

So the first step in Time Mastery is to look at your choices. At Action we use the time target to help you do this. This gives you a useful tool to analysing the things you do by asking is what I’m doing now URGENT and/or is it IMPORTANT?

To understand what is important for you, you first have to identify your purpose, vision and goals.

You then need to ask yourself is what I am doing now helping to work towards my purpose, vision and goals. If it is then it’s important.

To help you identify what’s important in your life here is a great piece of philosophy…

A little modern day philosophy…. When things in your life seems almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar…and the beer.

A professor stood before his philosophy class with some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favourite passions–things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else–the small stuff.” “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

Now get into Action and work on identifying your golf balls and pebbels in your life and let me know how you get on.

About ActionCOACH

Brad Sugars founded the brand Action International in 1993 when he realized there was a disconnect between business advice and implementation. The answer was Action! Brad Sugars created a business coaching company so that business owners throughout the world can realize their goals in business. Today the company is known as ActionCOACH. To learn more about business, visit Brad Sugars Review blog!