February 26, 2015
Time Management Reality: We each have 24 hours a day
We each have 24 hours each day. So time management doesn't really exist. Time will keep passing. All the time. So here's what you can do.
This is not a "tips" post. I don't have to write a lot to make my case. I really want to share a couple of simple insights. A short post, if you will.
- Every single person has 24 hours available to them each day. No one gets 26, 28 or 30.
- No one can make that time run faster or slower. So time management is a myth. You don't manage time. You do, however, manage yourself in those 24 hours - your efforts and your energy.
- Life is too short to waste your energy with toxic people.
- Every minute you waste watching TV or getting into drama on Twitter can never be reclaimed.
- Choose to rest, to play, to build relationships and to achieve what is difficult. These things count.
Lately I've been interviewing people for some openings at my job. Tonight, over dinner with a friend, we remarked that if someone was "internet famous" or "huge on Twitter", it was likely because they had invested their time there.
I'm less interested in those internet or social media famous folks. Because I'm more interested in what they've accomplished outside of that realm.
Now, no judgement against social media or twitter or television. They're all fine in their appropriate allocations of time.
But I want to simply ask you to think about how much you could accomplish - at work, in your relationships, and pursuing your own goals - if you spent a little less time on social media, or watching tv, and poured that time and energy into things that matter.
We all have 24 hours a day. What's incredible is what some people do with it.
And what others don't.
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About the Author
Chris Lema has spent twenty-five years in tech leadership, product development, and coaching. He builds AI-powered tools that help experts package what they know, build authority, and create programs people pay for. He writes about AI, leadership, and motivation.