A few peeps have asked me to teach a time management course. I’ve declined. This isn’t because I wouldn’t be happy to take your money for such a course (oh hello, new bedroom furniture and pretty pretty curtains!) but because everything I know about time management is ridiculously simple.
Have priorities and stick to them.
That means waking up to make a list of the things that MUST get done, the things that SHOULD get done, and taking a glance at the things it’d be AWFULLY NICE to get done. Must get done: pay bills, take care of clients, shower. Should get done: work out, make some dinner, plan marketing events. Awfully nice to get done: Have some wine, shave legs, watch a movie, file accounting receipts.
When you say you don’t have time for something, you’re actually saying it isn’t a priority.
Read that again, because it’s pretty much the best advice about time management I’ve ever encountered. If you say you don’t have time for something, you’re just saying it isn’t a priority. I used to say I didn’t have time to work out — when in reality, it wasn’t a priority. (And Lord knows, if I have time to be on Facebook, I have time to do some squats and push-ups.) Same goes for healthy eating and cooking at home (even though Matt loves when I’ve made dinner and left it at the local Italian restaurant…).
‘I don’t have time’ is a convenient excuse to avoid examining the underlying issues surrounding your life choices.
Which business tasks don’t get done? Which tasks do you routinely put off, reschedule, or avoid? Those are the items that have to be prioritized.
I suggest putting icky tasks first on the list, so they’re done right away. No excuses, just check tasks off the list and then move on to tasks you don’t actually enjoy…easy, right? 
If you need a Five Hour Energy boost for your productivity, get out your appointment book/app.
Schedule tasks to make sure they’ve been given priority status.
If I just wanted to ‘pop in’ to CrossFit a ‘few’ times a week, I would never show up and sweat my ass off for my twice-weekly cursing sessions. (I mean, workouts.) Because those sessions are part of my routine and on my calendar, they happen.
Likewise, if you’ve decided that healthy eating or your son’s softball games or your accounting spreadsheets are a priority, pencil them in!
Great post (again). Lord knows I have some time management issues, but what you’ve said about time/priorities is spot on. (And the same can often be said about money.) In the last year and a half I’ve tried to take the phrase, “I didn’t/don’t have time to…” completely out of my phrase book. Whenever I catch myself saying it (or typing it in an email), I stop and rephrase so the accountability is on me…not Father Time.
Awesome! It’s not that I don’t have time to attend your Dungeons and Dragons club meeting, it’s that I just don’t give a damn about it. Much better to be honest…;)
Such great points! I cannot get this one out of my head – “When you say you don’t have time for something, you’re actually saying it isn’t a priority.”
It is so true, in any aspect of life – parenting, friendships, personal, business, etc.
Thank you!
PS – Our phase is “Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy”!
So glad this rang true for you, Jen!
Uh oh. This is pretty convicting.
Thank you! I am so tired of always feeling like I am behind on everything, and feeling overwhelmed at times by everything that needs to get done and isn’t. I am starting this in the morning! No excuses.
Nice post and nice blog i have locked it in my favorities
thanks. I keep forgetting how sometimes the BEST answer is the one that is staring us in the face. HA! yeah… I’m learning to create my TO-DO list by “things I need to do TODAY” and “stuff to do soon-ish.” We’ll see how THAT goes.
It’ll be great!