Maximize in Minutes, Not Hours

People always complain there is never enough time in a day.  I get it.  There are too many errands to run, too many meetings to attend, and too many shows to watch.  You have 10 tasks and by the time you’ve completed five the day is almost over.  And that’s assuming you don’t waste time!

So what’s the solution?  No matter what there are 24 hours in a day.  The fact we talk in terms of hours and not minutes is problematic.  When you think in terms of hours, you likely block one task per hour, maybe two.  Perhaps you block an hour off to submit a report to your lovely boss.  Next thing you know you’ve spent 20 of the 60 minutes on Facebook.  Even if you completed the task (submit report to lovely boss) in the one hour time-frame, a valuable 20 minutes was wasted that could of gone to completing your next task.

Now this is where it gets a bit psychological.  Lets assume you completed your objective of submitting the report within one hour.  Even though the task was completed, there’s a problem.  In your mind if doesn’t matter how much time you wasted as long as the task was completed in the given time frame.  You’re tricking yourself for a job well done.

But what if you think in terms of minutes instead of hours?  If you do the math there are 1,440 minutes in a day.  When we think in terms of minutes our relationship with time changes.  You’re more likely to allocate tasks to the actual amount of time needed for completion.  

Now let’s go back to the submitting report example.  Now that you’re thinking in terms of minutes, you assign the necessary time (40 minutes) to the task.  You’re less likely to waste time knowing you’re on a tighter deadline.  And like magic you got an extra 20 minutes added to your day.  Now imagine if you had that same mentality with all your tasks.  Think about how much time you could add to your day!

In closing, if you want to get the most out of your day, think in terms of minutes, not hours.  This is what highly efficient people do.  It’s been observed CEOs attend 15 minute meetings.  Eight meetings in two hours ain’t too shabby.  Hopefully most of you aren’t that crunched for time, but if you’re looking to get more out of your day remember to plan in terms of minutes, not hours.

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