TIME

Time is the most important resource anyone has, because there’s only so much of it for each individual—unlike money—and because when you run out, you’re DONE—forever!

Most people get that at the intellectual—the head—level, but they don’t really get it in their gut. That’s the only rational explanation as to why so many waste so much of it, daily.

"A person who doesn't value his time
doesn't value himself."
Robert J. Ringer

"Ask me for whatever you please, except time;
that is the only thing which is beyond my power."
Napoleon

"Time is the most valuable thing
that a man can spend."
Theophrastus

"Time is the coin of your life.
It is the only coin you have,
and only YOU can determine how it will be spent.
Be careful lest you let
other people spend it for you."
Carl Sandburg

"When time flies it cannot be recalled."
Virgil

NO MINUTE LOST COMES EVER BACK AGAIN
TAKE HEED AND SEE YE NOTHING DO IN VAIN London Clock Tower Motto

"Since time is the one immaterial object
which we cannot influence
—neither speed up nor slow down,
add or diminish—
it is an imponderably valuable gift."
Maya Angelou

"If time really was money, if each second was a dollar, we would certainly spend it a little differently and respect the gift of another person's time in a new way. Giving of your time or saving someone else's time can be the greatest gift you can give. Time is our most valuable resource. Nurturing the respect of others must be measured with a respect of the time that belongs to other people. Find ways to respect another person's time. By respecting other people's time you open the door wide to receive the respect of others."
Vince Poscente

"You are a post-consumption consumer.
You have everything you need, and most everything you want.
Except time."

CARPE DIEM!

All people of ACTION have one thing in common: they understand the limitations of time. Robert Ringer (a genuine "doer") urges people to "Be conscious of the fact that, because of its finiteness, there is an urgency to life." So before I talk more about activity—the topic I want to close with because it’s the key to any success—I want to bring up (again) the subject of time. I know, I know, I’ve talked about the value of time already… Some of you read that page about three hours ago. For others however (who perhaps read only a few pages a day), that could very well be three or four months ago. Nevertheless, it’s a topic that deserves far more than the couple of pages it got in Part "B".

WARNING! If the topic of TIME is of no interest to you, please skip the next few pages as I’m going to really belabor this point, because in my view, NOTHING is more important and valuable than TIME! Everyone says so, like (in order next) Peter F. Drucker, William Penn, Jim Rohn, and Charles Darwin:

"Time is the scarcest resource,
and unless it is managed
nothing else can be managed."

"There is nothing of which we are apt
to be so lavish as of time,
and about which we ought to be solicitous;
since without it we can do nothing in this world."

"Time is the most precious commodity we have.
Therefore, how we manage it
has the most profound effect
on how our lives turn out."

"A man who dares to waste one hour of time
has not discovered the value of life."

You are so right Mr. Darwin! I get really peeved when I hear someone say they’re "killing time." That to me is a capital offense. It should be illegal—like killing a white rhinoceros or any other endangered species. When I hear a guy say that, I’d like to drag his sorry ass to the palliative care unit of the Royal Victoria hospital, in Montreal, where Byrne, my brother-in-law, bless his soul, has been working for nearly thirty years. I’d put that "time-killer" in the presence of Jessica, a 42 year-old mother of three teens, who is struck with terminal cancer of the stomach and of the pancreas.

I’m sure she’d give anything, she’d do anything to have a bit more time. Like Queen Elizabeth I who on her death bed said, "All my possessions for a moment of time." And not that Jessica would be asking for 50 more years. No, five … three …one even. At least six more months so she could see her 16 year-old graduate in May. But she won’t make it. The most optimistic scenario is she’ll be gone by Christmas, maybe New Year if a miracle occurs.

I’d like to see her grab that idiot by the coat lapels and tell him, eyeballs to eyeballs, how precious time is, not to waste a second of it, to use it to the max! Pass time … waste time … kill time … Wake up schmuck!

You know, some people treat time as if it were a "four-letter word"! Ok, it is! But so is Life, Love, Soul, Kids, Pets, Cash … and most folks do their best to take care of those. Why not time?

"The years race by in furious procession, making each hour a priceless possession," someone once wrote. A few months ago, I came across this next line by Jim Bishop that sent shockwaves through my whole being. Read it again, and again, and again until the awesome power of its significance hits you full force.

NOTHING IS AS FAR AWAY AS ONE MINUTE AGO.

WHAT’S YOUR TIME WORTH?

Great question! How much do you REALLY value your time? There is an independent gas-bar near my home that sells gas 1 to 3 cents a litre cheaper than the nearby competition. When it reaches 3 cents, lineups form (they only have two pumps).

One time, for the purpose of making this observation, I got at the end of one line and waited. I had a book to read (as always) so it wouldn’t be a waste of time. I put in 30 litres, thus, saving 90 cents.

Since I waited 20 minutes to get to the pump, it means I "valued" an hour of my time at $2.70! Isn’t that amazing? I have an uncle who’ll drive clear across town and spend an hour (not to mention gas) to go buy 50 rolls of toilet paper on special and save three bucks! Is that what he thinks his time is worth?

To realize the value of ONE YEAR,
ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of ONE MONTH,
ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of ONE WEEK,
ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of ONE HOUR,
ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
(I can vouch for that one!)

To realize the value of ONE MINUTE,
ask a person who missed the train.

To realize the value of ONE SECOND,
ask a person who just avoided an accident.

To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND,
ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

"The only non-renewable resource is time.
When it’s gone, it’s gone.
Life is not fair, but one thing is sure:
Everyone gets only sixty minutes
in an hour, twenty-four hours in a day,
and no more."
Peter Urs Bender

You’re right, Peter! And this last statement brings me to talk about the two "reasons" I hear constantly from people for not doing stuff. The first is, "I don’t have the time." My two-word reply to that is, "FIND IT!" Because believe it or not, you DO have the time. How can I assert that? Simply because what YOU do with YOUR time is a matter of choice, YOUR choice. It’s a matter of "priorities" as Stephen Covey writes over and over in his must-read book First Things First. Now, because there are probably another 5,000 helpful books on time management out there all written by experts in that field, I will not elaborate on that, but I DO want to stress the following point:

"Time management is the
best kept secret of the rich
(and the super-successful …).
Rich people have 24 hours, so do poor people.
What makes a difference is what is
accomplished during each of these hours.
Jim Rohn

I know this sounds like a trite observation, but it’s so true! Tiger Woods, Oprah, Bill Gates, Tom Cruise, Linda, the teller where you do your banking, and Jerry, the homeless man you see most mornings on your way to work ALL have this in common: 60 seconds per minute, 60 minutes per hour! Wow!

You see…

"It’s not the number of hours in our life that makes the difference, (all inhabitants of planet Earth have the same 8,766 hours per year) it’s the life that we put into these hours!"

No time huh? My friend Mike used to spend about 12 hours a week in front of the idiot box. He was always complaining he had no $$$. One time, about three years ago, I told him to quit whining and DO something about it. I suggested he cut off two hours of TV-watching a week, and put all his favorite shows on tape. This way, he could watch them at his convenience, and by fast-forwarding through all the commercials and other crap, he would save 30% of viewing time.

Then I suggested he takes those five "free" hours he used to spend on TV and INVEST them instead in developing skills and acquiring knowledge he could parlay into $$$. He did just that. Now he doesn’t have to be satisfied with watching his beloved Seahawks and Mariners on TV, he can afford to go see them live all he wants, and be part of the ACTION!

The second "reason" I hear often is, "I’m running out of time, I’m too old …" My one-word reply to that is, "Pfuitt!" If you’re over 55, well, for some, over 45, being "up-in-years" is actually the best reason to Carpe Diem, NOW!

Columnist Norman Corwin would have certainly agreed with me on this. At the age of 81, he wrote, "I am aware there may be limited time for me. To the extent that there is less time, my need to create becomes sharper, keener." Being "up-in-years" is a lame excuse, NOT a valid reason to not start working on what it is you were born to do, NOW! As Mark Victor Hansen observed,

"It matters only that you manifest your genius; it doesn’t matter when. It’s never too early or too late."

TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE!

Here’s a poignant observation from Roy Acuff, someone with "experience," to help me introduce this next part of the topic of time: TAKE THE TIME TO LIVE! (make the time if you have to!). At 79, he observed,

"I’m going to be eighty soon, and I guess the one thing that puzzles me most is how quick it got here."

I read the following text years ago and thought then, "Wow! This is just like winning the lotto … EVERY DAY!"

Imagine … There is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day to day. Every evening it deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out ALL OF IT, of course!!!!

Each of us has such a bank.
Its name is TIME.
Every day at midnight,
it credits you with 86,400 seconds.
Every night at midnight it writes off, as lost,
whatever of this you have failed
to invest to good purpose.
It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.

Each day it opens a new account for you.
Each night it burns the remains of the day.
If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.
There is no going back.
There is no drawing against the "tomorrow."
You must live in the present on today’s deposits.
Invest it so as to get from it the utmost
in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

What follows was adapted from a text entitled Every Moment IS a Gift by Oprah Winfrey (O, July 2000).

"Tomorrow is not promised, nor is today. So I choose to celebrate every day I’m alive by being present in it. Living in the moment means letting go of the past and not waiting for the future. It means living your life consciously, aware that each moment you breathe is a gift. Living in the moment brings you a sense of reverence for all of life’s blessings. When you live in the moment, you don’t put off enjoying life."

"… enjoying life." I’m sure it’s what economist John Maynard Keynes wished he had done more. Perhaps then his last words would not have been, "I wish I’d drunk more champagne."

"You have got to own your days and live them, each one of them, every one of them, or else the years go right by and none of them belong to you."
Herb Gardner

Treasure every moment that you have! And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present! Or as Sam Horn writes,

"Each day is a gift. Unwrap it!"

Put into other words—the words of Jack Dawson in the movie Titanic,

"Got to make each day count."

Before Philip Dormer Stanhope closes the topic of time with his famous words, let’s hear Thomas Dreier:

"If we are ever to enjoy life, NOW is the time—not tomorrow, nor next year, nor in some future life after we have died. The best preparation for a better life next year is a full, complete, harmonious, joyous life this year. Our beliefs in a rich future life are of little importance unless we coin them into a rich present life. Today should always be our most wonderful day."

"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can DO today."

TIME MANAGEMENT… on the lighter side

"I’m going to stop putting off things… starting tomorrow."
Sam Levenson


"There cannot be a crisis next week.
My schedule is already full."
Henry Kissinger, January 1977

"The only one who ever got anything done by Friday was Robinson Crusoe."
John Peers

"I’ve been on a calendar, but never on time."
Marilyn Monroe, in 1962

TIME MANAGEMENT… more seriously

"How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time."
Fred Brooks, Chief designer with IBM, in 1987

"I must govern the clock, not be governed by it."
Golda Meir, in 1973

"The first step toward saving time … is to find out how you’ve been spending it."
William Rutchi, in 1963

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10 Time Management Myths

1. We can manage time. We cannot manage time. Nor can we save it. Time ticks away relentlessly in spite of our efforts to control it. We are provided with 24 hours of time each day to use as we like. The key is in how we use that time. We can use it wisely, or we can waste it, but we can never save it. At the end of the day, it's gone.

2. Time management involves getting more done in less time. Some people may believe that, but effective time management refers to getting done fewer things of greater importance. We cannot possibly do everything we want to do, or all the things there are to do. But if we prioritize what there is to do, and focus on completing the priorities to the exclusion of everything else, we will be more effective.

3. "To do" lists help get things done. "To do" lists do nothing to further a project or task. They simply remind us that they are not done yet. Scheduling time in your planner, as appointments with yourself, to work on the tasks helps get them done. "To do" lists are intentions; scheduled blocks of time are commitments.

4. People need a "Personal Organizer" or other time management system to get organized. People are not organized because they use a time management system, they use a time management system because they are organized. Personal organization involves breaking old habits and forming new, effective ones. It is a state of mind as opposed to a state of the office. Some people are more organized using a 65-cent steno pad than others are using a 65-dollar organizer.

5. A "Quiet Hour" is a great time management tool. A "quiet hour" is a figment of time management writers' imaginations. There is no such thing as a "quiet hour". We can reduce interruptions, but never eliminate them. To be effective we must learn to work in spite of the interruptions. Frequently, interruptions are not time wasters, but opportunities arriving at inopportune times.

6. Keeping a time log to determine where your time is going, is the place to start. A time log should be done last, not first. All we need is more paperwork and interruptions when we're already inundated with them! We should get organized first, adopt effective habits, schedule time properly, put into practice time-reducing techniques and procedures, and once we have the time, keep a time log to effect further refinements.

7. The biggest time wasters include telephone interruptions, visitors, meetings and rush jobs. These are not time wasters, they are time obligations—they come with the job. The biggest time wasters are self-imposed, such as procrastination, making mental notes, interrupting ourselves, searching for things, perfectionism, and spending time on trivial tasks. We are our own worst enemies. Being effective involves managing ourselves, not placing the blame on others.

8. It's more efficient to stick to one task until it's completed. It may be more efficient, but it's not more effective, for seldom will you have time to finish it. It's more effective to break large projects into small one or two-hour chunks and work at them for a brief period each day. Working on priorities involves frequent brief sprints, not occasional marathons.

9. We should have one planner for the office, and a separate planner for the home. We should have one planner, period. We are only one person, sharing our lives with people and activities at work, at home, at school, etc. Since we only have one life, we should only have one planner. Both business and personal activities should be scheduled in the same planner so business activities don't take precedence over personal and family activities.

10. Time is money. Time is more than money, it's life. You can always get more money, but you can never get more time. It's an irreplaceable resource. When time's gone, you're gone.

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