valuing time
Time is the most valuable type of currency in existence. It has universal value wherever we go, and can be used and spent in similar fashions wherever we are. For centuries, time has been a coveted treasure, and it is often the one thing we wish we had more of.
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Dissimilar to money, time cannot be saved, invested, or traded – in fact, it is constantly being spent whether we choose to spend it or not. However, similar to money, time can be wasted and even lost. Jim Rohn said that “Time is more value than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” This means we need to conscious of how we are spending time, and be respectful of our time and that of others.
Time should be spent wisely, and that can be a subjective determination that depends on the person, their values, and their current situation. Spending time having coffee with a friend or trading stocks on wall street may have the same value to two different people. How we spend our time does not mean choose one thing over another, we can spend our time in many ways as long as we can organize it. You cannot buy more time for yourself, and you cannot get it back once it is spent. All of these are reasons that time is so valuable.
Time should be spent wisely, and that can be a subjective determination that depends on the person, their values, and their current situation. Spending time having coffee with a friend or trading stocks on wall street may have the same value to two different people. How we spend our time does not mean choose one thing over another, we can spend our time in many ways as long as we can organize it. You cannot buy more time for yourself, and you cannot get it back once it is spent. All of these are reasons that time is so valuable.
- Spend your time on things that are important. Time needs to be spent wisely, and you have finite amount of time. If something is important to you or somebody else, then it is likely worth your time. If it is not important, we need to find ways to stop investing our time.
- Schedule time using five-minute increments. Most people schedule time in 30 or 60 minute chunks. While this may be convenient, you can be more productive if you break down your time into smaller chunks. You can accomplish a lot in just 10 minutes of you have that time dedicated to something (i.e. making a phone call or responding to an email). You can also waste a lot of time if you schedule 60 minutes on a topic that only warrants 40 minutes of your attention.
- Start on time, no matter what. If five people are waiting 10 minutes for you to arrive to a meeting that you are leading, you have collectively wasted 60 minutes of productive time. There may be instances in which people question the need for such rigidity, but there are few excuses as to why not.
- Finalize decisions and delegate actions items. Schedule follow-up meetings as needed and share meeting notes/minutes with the group. Do not allow meetings to turn into more meetings.