Too Much To Do and Not Enough Time

So much to get done and not nearly enough time to do them all is the story of many of us. But is that really true?

How much time does Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and a whole host of others have to run the Business empires that they run? How do they get things done when they only have the same 24 hours in any given day?

What are the activities filling my days that make me reach the conclusion that I have way too much to get done and are they the right things to propel me forward?

If we all have the same 24 hours in any given day, then what defines what each person achieves isn’t the amount of time; rather it is what we chose to do in those hours and how we do them that will largely determine our outcomes.

So what can we do to boost our results?

Know your Purpose and use it to define your priorities

Understanding your purpose is key to knowing what you must focus your efforts on. What is your assignment and message to the world? Simple questions about your talents, gifts, passion, skills, and what makes you joyful and fulfilled when you are doing them will provide some clarity.

Once you define your purpose, you can move on to defining your priorities based on what will serve and help you achieve your purpose.

Redeem your days

Redeeming time is something we must all do if we are to save the time to focus on the things that matter. None of us have the power or ability to create time because it is outside of our remit but we can redeem the time that we are given by making the most of it, and saving it for what matters.

Many things that we do or focus on do not serve us on the long run and I think those who have been able to create phenomenal results do so because they manage the time they spend on things that don’t link to their purpose driven goals and dreams.

Any time that we don’t use or redeem is lost because we can’t bank unused time. Redeeming your days starts with taking a critical look at what you spend your time on and assessing the reasons and the results.

Take corrective actions

Every decision to redeem time must end with tangible actions that we can take. There will be things we must stop doing, things we must start doing and things that we must change how we are doing them.

The quote from Victoria Moran puts it succinctly and it says, “When you’re clear about your purpose and your priorities, you can painlessly discard whatever does not support these, whether it’s clutter in your cabinets or commitments on your calendar.”  

There is a price for every corrective actions that we take. Someone asked me this week about how I get things done and I immediately replied, I wake up earlier and go to bed later than many would.

There is a price for waking up early and sleeping later to get some work done whilst still ensuring you get the adequate rest your body needs. You need to make the right compromises which could be the time spent on mindless entertainment.

Entertainment is great but many gadgets that we consume entertainment on are designed to keep us longer than we intend or want. And we have to choose who will be in control of us.

Start your day right

Create habits that will help set the right tone for your day. This could include a decision not to start your day with checking your social media; its amazing how quickly an hour is lost to scrolling because you reached for your phone before you did anything else.

It could include decisions such as starting your day with gratitude and reflection, meditation, exercise and journaling. It could include creating your to-do list every morning or better still reviewing the to-do list created from the night before.

Only you know what needs to change with how your days start and end.

Review and continuously improve

Finally to make the most of our days, we must have a continuous improvement mindset – which means we are constantly taking stock and implementing corrective actions.

We won’t always get it right and that’s not a problem; choosing to keep getting it wrong is. So everyday, taking 5 minutes to dissect your day is enough to know what needs to change the next day.

Here’s to redeeming our days and years because they are limited. Thanks for reading my post. Please share it with others and let’s help each other do this life project together.