Making the most of time

I meet with a small group of friends every Tuesday night. We would have dinner, discussion and fellowship, and this group of mostly young business people wonders how I could juggle so many activities within the day. This became their topic one time. The insightful one among them, Henry, said, “That is because Francis has not only known the way to pack in activities within the day, he has found the rhythm to do it.”

That’s cute, I thought to myself. I could be the next rap star. But Henry has a point here. Many people lose opportunity simply because they waste time. Money lost can be re-earned but time wasted is irredeemable.

The following are common reasons why most of us end up wasting time:

A. You may have a schedule, but you do not stick to it.

I am blessed with a very reliable associate Rara who organizes my schedule, reminds me about it and negotiates with clients so as to make sure ample time is provided to allow me to shuttle from one venue to the next one. I stick to her schedule. The moment I mess around with it I bring trouble to myself. You need to organize your schedule carefully and stick to it too. The results of your endeavors are very often the output of your schedule. You would not want to allow your goals and dreams to fall victim to unplanned events that surprise you and distract you - and worst, derail you from what you want to achieve.

B. You put too many things on your plate.

You have to categorize your tasks as to what is essential and what is not. In other words, don’t try to be all things to all activities, don’t try to do everything. Determine what things are most important to you, and stick to doing them well. There are so many activities that compete for your very limited time. Make sure you stick to doing only the tasks that would add value to your success goals in life.

Going home to your family and spending time with them will add value to your success goals in life. Spending time with the boys (and girls) in bars may not bring you long-term success.

Reading a book, improving your craft, excelling in what you do may add value to your success goals in life. Rushing to happy hour may not.

Try batching. This is a term I learned recently. Multi-tasking means juggling lots of priorities; it doesn’t mean doing many tasks at once. Don’t do Facebook while doing office work and taking phone calls. It doesn’t work. Focus is still key to doing things well. And so batching means: Family for family time, gym for gym time, paperwork for paperwork time, study for self-study time and doing the mail for email time. You batch activities together, but the focus is still there.  

C. You forget to charge and recharge.

Charge up your energy by going to the gym or doing physical exercise. Don’t buy in to the lie that says, “I am just so tired to do any exercise.” The reason why you tire easily is because you do not exercise. You charge your body by exercising. Work hard on your workout. Don’t just stand on the treadmill without starting the machine. Dry fit is just for your apparel; sweat it out and don’t stay dry.

Recharge by refilling your emotional tank. Read an inspirational book, listen to inspirational audio and, best of all, to meditate on Scriptures daily and pray. This way, you fire up your emotional and spiritual state, and you’ll be ready to do more and become more.

Vince Lombardi said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” If you’re not energized you won’t be efficient. And anyone who is spiritually empty would not be inspired and motivated to enjoy life to the full.

So don’t waste time. Manage it well by managing your tasks well. 

(Develop your leadership skills! Francis Kong will be the lead trainer for the Dr. John Maxwell’s “Developing the Leader Within You” leadership program this May 27-28 at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati. For further inquiries, contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115.)