Tag Archives: time saving tips

Time Isn’t On Our Side

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Tick…tick…tick, the minutes and hours just seem to roll off the clock and out of our day.

It seems our lives are so crazy with trying to manage our time, our activities and the amount of increased hours we work every year. In fact, in most western European countries, upon getting your first job as a young adult most likely you’ll be given four to five weeks of vacation right off the bat. No waiting 20 years like we do here to get our four or five weeks of paid vacation.

Tick…tick…tick, the minutes and hours just seem to roll off the clock and out of our day.

It seems our lives are so crazy with trying to manage our time, our activities and the amount of increased hours we work every year. In fact, in most western European countries, upon getting your first job as a young adult most likely you’ll be given four to five weeks of vacation right off the bat. No waiting 20 years like we do here to get our four or five weeks of paid vacation.

Do you know how much time we waste every day? The numbers will amaze you. Putting our lives into perspective, assessing what is and isn’t important is an on-going battle. What if you could find a few more minutes in a day, a few more hours in a month and more days over the years? Balance is the key!

So, this got me thinking about our way of life in the United States and how we continue to work more and more hours each year compared to our counterparts in industrialized countries. Now keep in mind there is a sacrifice and reward proposition going on here. The two countries, United States and Japan, who work the most hours each year also, have the world’s strongest and largest economies.

So with all of this said what can we do to find a better balance in our life? The key is our ability to place value on everything we do and then decide if it’s worth the investment of our time. Here are some thoughts:

  1. We are always planning and scheduling our work and major appointments, so what about scheduling our personal life? Like family time, vacation time, exercising or children’s sporting events? Aren’t these major life appointments?
  2. Think in terms of “quality” not “quantity”. This is priceless.
  3. Turn off the TV and “turn on” family conversations around the dinner table.
  4. Spend five minutes a day, just five minutes, to sit and reflect.
  5. When you have that first cup of coffee or tea in the morning, think about how grateful you are for what you have, instead of what didn’t get done yesterday.
  6. Learn to say “no”…don’t over extend yourself; it can lead to undo stress.
  7. If you live within your means, then the need to work more hours is diminished.
  8. The daily choices we make in our life shape and mold our destiny. Choose wisely.
  9. Take lunch breaks or afternoon breaks and see them as a reward for your hard work, not an intrusion.
  10. Don’t feel guilty if one weekend day you don’t feel like doing anything.

TPPTip: If you’re not managing your time; you’re not managing your life! Print off the above article and keep it as a cheat sheet to help you bring your life back into balance.

About the author: Andrew Botieri is the founder of Total Peak Performance®, a coaching and sales training company. Andrew has over 55,000 hours of coaching and training teams around the country. He is also a published author of “A Celebration of Life- A Story of Hope, A Miracle & The Power of Attitude”.