How: Volume 2 - Time Engineering

People might budget their income in differing ways, and almost all of us do it.  However, not many people take control of time, which has always baffled me.  Money is not more important than time.  A person can always do a little extra to earn more money, but the day doesn't ever get any longer.  "If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality." -Benjamin Franklin.

Below is my 6 step process to be a Time Engineer

1. Mobilize

For so many people, getting fired up in the morning to attack a fresh day is as simple as a cup of coffee.  I believe there is something within us that is deeper, and more sustaining, that keeps us wanting to move forward.  I also believe that it is different for everyone, like being ticklish.  A button gets pushed just right and the reaction is this stored kinetic energy response, and each person has unique buttons.  A jogger might have specific music that pushes them on the last mile.  A painter might get inspired by some random event, and create a masterpiece.  Its important to know what fires you up, and to use it.


2. Clarity of Plan

{Know Thyself} The reason its so important to frequently practice self reflection, is because the life we're living is our own.  We are the masters of our destiny, and yet, we love to look to others.  We love our heroes, and our celebrities, even our neighbors, (at least some of them).  If we don't keep a close watch on who we are, we might mimic too much.  We jump in the flow of the mainstream, and we leisurely swim with all the others.  Before we know it, we're lost, but comfortable, living everyone else' lives but our own.  Three questions I ask, when analyzing myself to plan my week:

What is the integrity of my character?

What balanced relationships nourish my well being?

What accomplishments must I make to complete my story?


3. Accept the truth

Look.  We all know the story of Aladdin's lamp, so let me just be straight.  You can't have everything, every time you want it; that always leads to humility at best, and disaster at worst.  So, accept the fact that the reason your schedule is cramped is because you are probably trying to do everything.  In entrepreneurial business, a guideline often referred to is the 80/20 rule.  What it means is that 20% of activity generates 80% of results, and vice-versa.  So accept that some of the most important things you need to do, will greatly impact your life, and don't take that much time, and some activities are just crap.  Accept that you need to figure out how to prioritize better.  We all do.


4. Learn to Say, "NO"

Those things that aren't so important, we need to be able to turn away from.  Sometimes its saying 'no' to ourselves by way of self discipline.  Sometimes it means actually saying 'no' to a friend, or loved one, who wants some of our time when we weren't planning on giving it.  Either of these can be very difficult to do.  Personally, I struggle more with the self discipline, but others might have a harder time dealing with others.  Either way, we need to train ourselves to be better at saying 'no' to distractions, and saying 'yes' to living within our own schedule.


5. Ready to Write It Down?

If we've followed the above 4 guidelines we've determined who we are, and what we want, and how to effectively go about getting it, including cutting out the unwanted waste.  Now we need to make sense of our goals and set them as blocks of time.  We need to organize small steps that will lead us to our larger goals.  What do we want to get done this year? month? week? Day?  I do this every late fall.  The plan for the upcoming year starts January 1 and should sustain me until next year.  I plan big too.  I don't always accomplish everything, but I do it anyway.  If I'm going through this process, why would I plan small and boring?  Even if I succeed, I win a mediocre consolation prize?  No.  Plan big.  I plan to make my dreams come true.

I write down everything I want for a year, then I separate it into 12 parts for the months.  Some things are mathematically easy.  For example: if I wanted to save $12K, obviously, I need to sock away 1K per month, 250 per week, 50 per day.  Some things only need to happen once, like clear out the garage.  maybe I'll plug that one into 1/12 and have it be a project for the month of May.  You get the idea.  And I hope you know you should have a big list.  Remember you can fail at some of this, and a lot can get done in a year, so take your time, think it through, and plan an awesome life.

**Don't forget to write down your fun, as a matter of fact, this is first on my list, because no rest and no joy creates burnout.  Plan to take vacation.  Plan to take time for a loved one everyday.  Plan to relax. Plan to get fired up each day. Then plan to work, and after work, don't forget to plan to reflect, so you can plan some more.**

Next, I break the 12 months into 4 weeks each, and so on, breaking those 4 parts into 5 days, keeping in mind the 80/20 rule.  I plan the most effective things first.  Now I have small daily tasks that, when organized into a bigger picture, add up to a really good year.

To answer a nit-picky question, "No, I don't know what I am doing on Wednesday the 14th of July already."  I just know that I have approximately 5 work days, and 2 play days, and projects that need to get done, and goals I want to reach, so that I can build my ultimate life.  I might know that May is intended to be garage cleaning month, but for the most part, the daily chores have some flexibility.  Its planned to accommodate surprises.

A year long goal is too big to focus on in one day, but just one part of a set of building blocks that add up is easy.  And I want my day to be easy.  Its not set in stone, its just a map to stay on course.  So, when I fail to complete the garage clean out in May, I carry the remainder over to June, and then things really get hectic, so I assess the damages, and make a few sacrifices if needed, and I carry on.  The thing is, I remember what is important, and I choose when to work extra, or maybe even dump something until next year if I'm overwhelmed.  What I don't do, is blindly give in to my devices, thus giving control back to the mundane everyman in the mainstream.

Try this for yourself, and you'll be amazed how much you can achieve in a year.  I also think you'll be amazed to find out how much you could have achieved last year, had you already been creating a plan, and how much time you wasted doing the 80% that didn't matter all that much.

So you have a plan written down, and if you're like me, you may have revised it and edited some things.  Now you can put it away until it begins, (in my case January), and when that date arrives...


6. Return to step 1 and Execute Your Plan

Step 1 was mobility.  If you'r going to accomplish the big year, you'll need that coffee, or music, or other inspiration each day.  You have to follow through.  Even if it is imperfect, and falls a little short, like mine does every year, at least you'll know where you stand , and where you're going.  When you don't know where you stand, and you don't remind yourself of your goals, and what you want your year to look like, you'll get lost in the mainstream with all the other numb fish, doing what all the other little fishies do.  That isn't how dreams are made.  Execute. Execute. Execute.  Fail, and execute regardless.