Host: How can I use time to my advantage?

Sean McArdle: How can I use time to my advantage? Well, first of all, you have to know what advantage means. So, the very first step in time management is to do what we call a Values Sort. In other words, what is important to me in life? What holds value? For instance, if you go through a day at work and do not get much done, then how do you know whether you did not get much done or not? The answer is because somebody has set a value on what you need to do at work and you did not do very many valuable things.

So, one of the very first things we do anytime we get together with people on the whole concept of time management is ask him this question- What is a value to you? Family time, work time, play time, exercise time, spiritual time? We literally, take a look at how people can use their time and then we make decisions about the value of that time.

For instance, we all say we do not have enough time at home these days, but if we were to turn off the television set for just say, 90 days, we would all think that time had slowed down. Why? Because we tend to waste time, so, when we look at the use of time, there are three things you can do with it. You can waste time, you can spend time or you can invest time.

Now, if you waste time, that is an important thing to know about because in essence, the average person and this is after teaching for 15 years, wastes between 15 and 22 hours a week of their time and that is by their own judgment not mine. Now, just imagine how much more you could do with your life, if you got 15 to 20 more hours to work on the things that were important to you?

So, we do not want to waste time. We actually need to identify what wastes our time and that is part of any good time management project is to sit down, make a list of what wastes your time and then make up your mind that for 90 days, you will not do that particular activity. The second thing you can do with time is you can spend time. Now, what does that mean? Well, think about work. Overtime, you accumulate days of vacation. When you go on a vacation, you choose to spend that time and you can do things that would be virtually meaningless usually, but it could be that living on a beach is just the right ticket for what you need now. The third thing you can do is invest your time and that is where that value sort comes in.

If you know what is valuable, you will invest your time in those things a little bit each day. So, that as we get into the time management process, you actually get to take a look and what is the important for me to invest my time in? For salespeople, it is making sales calls. It is not taking people to lunch. We think that is important but that is only part of the process. For mothers, it would be spending time individually with children say for instance or for fathers, it might be investing time with their children when they get home at night in doing their homework with them, so that they get quality time together, to learn from each other and experience each other.

So, you can waste time, you can spend time or you can invest it and the whole goal, the whole game of time management is to do a value sort so that we know when we are doing which one of those.