These days it’s easy to feel like there’s not enough time to get everything done. But the truth is, you always have all the time there is. Here are five foundational truths about time to help you use your time better:
1. Time is precious. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.”
Do you have a mindset right now that time is precious? If you’ve ever had a loved one diagnosed with a terminal illness or gotten a phone call that your family was in a horrible car accident, you probably understand that time is precious. Think about how precious time is the next time you spend an hour with a business partner who is unworthy of your time. Take care and heed Emerson’s advice to, “Guard well your spare moments.”
2. Time is profitable, if used well. William Irwin said, “Learn to use ten minutes intelligently. It will pay you huge dividends.”
If you can learn to use ten minutes intelligently, you can learn to use six 10-minute blocks of time, or one hour, effectively. When you begin to use your hours more effectively, your hourly rate, and your profitability, increase.
3. Time can’t be preserved. Time past is time lost. Benjamin Franklin said, “If time be of all things most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality, since lost time is never found again.”
There’s no such thing as a time bank where you can deposit your time and withdraw it as you need it. You can’t stop time or make it stand still.
4. Time can’t be managed. Lord Chesterfield said, “I recommend you take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves.”
You must get clear on this point: time cannot be managed. Dedicate yourself to mastering time – that’s how you make a difference in your productivity and prosperity.
5. Time can be leveraged to provide income for others and freedom for you. Marcel Proust said, “The time which we have at our disposal every day is elastic; the passions that we feel expand it, those that we inspire contract it; and habit fills up the rest.”
When you delegate tasks that you should not be doing to those who do them better, you not only give yourself more time to do what you are really good at but you also give others a chance to earn a living. This is a win-win situation for everyone.
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