The Ability to Manage Your Time

If you are reading this book, you are undoubtedly trying to be more productive by managing your time better. That's a great goal. But you can't really manage time. An hour will always consist of 60 minutes, and a day will have 24 hours. You can't change that. So, if you're lamenting, "I never have enough time!", know that you have the same amount of time as everyone else.

You can't control the weather, but you can control yourself by making better choices every day. With every choice you make, you can either make your life better or make it harder. Setting goals correctly is an important part of time management. However, it is critical not to confuse the end goal (the end result) with the steps designed to get there. For example, let's say your boss has tasked you with finding a new office space. That's the ultimate goal. But the steps you take to achieve that goal will make a big difference. You can research and prepare a list of all available business premises to present to the boss. This will probably take you a few days. And you're not even close to the ultimate goal, which is to find a new office for your particular company. You've started the project, but you've also wasted time.

If you were taking on the task with an eye toward better time management, you would start with a list of necessary information. What neighborhood would be best? What is the monthly budget for rent and utilities? This information can be obtained in minutes (hopefully from the boss himself) and will narrow down the project and save you days of unnecessary searching. Keeping the end goal in mind will always save you time. Have the necessary information at hand before you start the job. It will eliminate many steps along the way.