Maximize Your Time
by Ted McKeown
Ever wondered why the world is the way it is?
Why there are wars and why you were born or even why
anything exists at all. Put that all aside for now and consider this. Right now at this precise moment in time you do exist and an endless lifetime of worrying about those other things will get you nowhere. Just concentrate on the present time your living in.
The here and now is all that really exists in this point in time.
You can't change the past and you can't predict the future with any certanty so make the best of the present and take advantage of this valuable bit of advice.
Those that see the present point in time as the most critical moment and the most important time in there lives are the ones that are most likely to succeed. They are the movers and shakers of the world. They don't predict the future although they may assume a certain set of events will take place and plan a strategy to take advantage of those events they still can not foretell the future. No-one can. The rich and successfull often think very conservatively with respect to change and tend to think in the traditional old fashioned way when it comes to business. So how do they get so rich and famous you ask. I will say it again.
Those that see this present moment in time as the most critical moment and the most important time in there lives are the ones that are most likly to succeed.
You may have heard the phrase never put off until tomorow what you can do today and that is a good point but not as accurate as the lesson I am trying to convey to you here. We all know you can't do everything you want in one day. The days are simply to short and we would exhaust ourselves in a very short time so how do we make the best of every living moment in time.
Make a list of what's important to you and write up a schedule that the will optimize your time. You will be surprised how this little proceedure will maxumize your time and you will be more focused not to mention you will accomplish more that you had ever hoped possible.
Be hard on your self when you draw up your schedule. That is to say, plan as many things to do tomorow as you think possible and then add a few more. If you over shoot your mark the next day that's great and if you don't you just cut back your schedule a little the next time, thats all. It's amazing how much more productive you will be if you write a schedule and have a plan. Now that you have a plan what will you need to be ready for tomorow. Start right now by getting everything together that you will need and you will get even more accomplished. Make sense? It makes absolute sense.
Now is the time you should be making use of the most critical time which is right now, remember? There is a way to optimze you time even futher.
Yes, if you think about it there are probabily several ways to save time and get your task done even faster than you thought, for example, if you are going out tomorow to purchase a washer dryer then you should plan to phone all the suppliers first instead of running all over town and wasting time and gas money. While you were running all around town wasting time you could have called a supplier by telephone, found the perfect deal and had it delivered to your house and installed to boot. This simple time saving shortcut could have saved you a lot valuable time.
What other shortcuts are there? Lots. I can't predict what you've planned for tomorow but lets just say you are job hunting or your a saleman and you need to tell people about your product or service quickly. Think about who needs your product or service first. Find out who they are first. The phone book or yellow pages are a good start and for job hunters the job bank or workopolis would be a good start.
Once you have a list of people that you think might need your service or skill call them and ask if you can speak to the manager.
Narrow that task down some more by asking for the department head of the specific department in that company your interested in.
Wow how many hours did you just save yourself there. See what I mean? If your a good salesman you may have just landed that one big account with one phone call and if you were calling about work maybe you landed that big job you always wanted. Sure it sounds easy you say. No, I never said it was easy but it's a lot easier to use shortcuts than doing it the old fashioned way, tramping the pavement. Of course there are fax's and email and many other time saving devices available out there so why not use them as well.
Have you maximized the use of your time? It's interesting to note that some people are shortcuts too. If you know the right person or just happen to speaking to the right person you can save a lot of time. How do you know who to believe?
That's a tough call but try to talk to people that have the experience and qualifications in the field your interested in and your chances of finding a good lead are far better. Find out when bus schedules, plane schedules, etc and find out what business hours are before traveling long distance. If you don't you could end up going a long way for nothing.
Finally be honest with yourself about what you really want out of life. Set realistic goals for your self so that the energy that you direct into your work will have more meaning and purpose! You may never be rich and maybe being rich is'nt important to you and that's ok too, if that's what you really want. Just remember, try to focus on your goals whatever they may be and perservere.
Good luck! Naaa, who needs luck when you've got a plan!