Time is obviously a resource.

It’s a resource which is limited

Therefore it must be carefully managed, so as to get the best return of investment.

 

How do you manage anything?

To manage anything — you must understand how it works — and what you want to achieve in the first place.

Do you even know what you want to achieve with your time?

Or do you just put it wherever you see fit?

 

To manage anything — you must understand how it works

Let’s say you’re a car manufacturer. You have $x resources. You want to build a car. You need some wheels, some engines, some breaks, some seats…

What do you do? You learn what is required for you to build a car, and how can you get it for your $x resources. You look for the best deal you can get. You calculate how much all that will cost you and if your budget covers it.

This is all obvious.

And yet what do we do with our time?

Do you CALCULATE how much time-resource you spend on EACH ACTIVITY in your life? You don’t.

Therefore you basically don’t even know the price of your proclivities. NOR do you know the ROI.

It’s an equivalent to building that car and buying 3 wheels, 6 breaks, 2 steering wheels and 1 door.

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

 

To manage anything — you must understand how it works.

You must be great at accounting.

You must understand each thing that you’re doing — how much it costs you — and what are the expected returns.

You must account all those numbers — so that you make a comprehensive decision for the WHOLE of your TIME-resource (and energy-resource too).

 

To manage anything — you must understand how it works

You must MEASURE EVERYTHING YOU DO

Put it in a SPREADSHEET, like a good accountant.

Do some math — and CALCULATE.

 

Everyone has time

You may not have much of it — but you do have time

It doesn’t matter how much you have — as long as it’s more then 0 then it’s the same puzzle you must solve — how do you EFFECTIVELY USE THAT RESOURCE.

If you ever uttered the insidious, thought-terminating words “I don’t have time” — then it’s the puzzle you must solve.

 

And again: this has NOTHING to do with your efforts or good intentions or hopes…

This is an ACCOUNTING JOB you must first do — and then it’s a MANAGERIAL WORK that must be done.

Your “efforts” and “hard work” and “determination” and “motivation” have nothing to do with it, you fool. Only your COGNIZANCE matters.

You don’t speak of “determination” when you buy yourself a bag of potatoes and a frozen fish. You buy it and you eat it. You pay X and get Y. That’s all there is to it.

Same goes for TIME — you must decide WHERE you spend it — then spend it there.

 

Obviously there may be other hindrances on the way of your time-management-plan.

You may want to devote “X” amount of time to “Y”-thing and get “Z” result, but you run out of “E” energy resource,

Or you fail to get “Z” result in “X” amount of time.

Obviously you must adapt to other variables,

But this MUST be a conscious decision

And since we, humans, are bad at numbers — you must rely on a good old spreadsheet and accounting.

 

“But isn’t it terribly UN-SPONTANEOUS — living such preplanned, contrived, DEAD existence?”

NO it’s not.

You can be AS SPONTANEOUS as you want

Spontaneity is not incompetence.

To be competent you must understand what you’re doing. Understand the returns you’re getting for your investment.

It’s ok to have little expectations. It’s ok to do thing for the thing itself. In truth — it’s the most honest way. It’s the only way you’re doing something WITHOUT deluding yourself with hope and returns that are always tomorrow, never today.

But understand two things:

-When you’re doing something for the thing itself — you’re still getting a return — the THING itself!

-And unless all the outcomes are indeed the same to you, and indeed you’ve all the time in the world — then you will have to make that informed decision where to devote your limited time resource, spontaneously or not, so as to get the outcome that satisfies you

See the thing about spontaneity — it’s not stupid. It’s not random. It’s flexible, but it’s not stupid. If anything is stupid, it’s inflexibility.

You can be as spontaneous as you want — just be COGNIZANT WHY YOU’RE DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING.

And indeed, spontaneity is just that — the superiority of your intelligent adaptation over rigid adherence to artificial plans.

Notice that plan you once undertook might have become obsolete — yet you stuck with it out of habit, you refuse to give up. That behavior is the fucking opposite of COGNIZANT TIME-RESOURCE-MANAGEMENT. You’re mindlessly sticking to a stupid plan which doesn’t yield you returns you truly want.

 

This is all there is to it

MEASURE -> ACCOUNT -> MANAGE

This eliminates all BS, all nonsense, all delusion

This eliminates:

-working for works sake, checking mail 100 times

-procrastination (just start measuring your procrastination and work — that alone will bring clarity which has transformative power)

-“not having time” nonsense

-anxiety over not doing the right things, missing out (once you know where your time-resource goes and what you get in return — you have control. Anxiety is when the control is not)

-confusion over not getting desired results (once you determine you invest sufficient time into the thing, you can now consider adjusting your plan; if you don’t even know if you paid appropriately for your desired results — you can’t know if your procedure is flawed, or just your execution)

-utter ignorance (and thus incompetence) around the whole subject of time management and efficiency — not just regarding you, but everyone you work with and interact

-the fallacy of greater effort (90% of effort is psychological. Your confusion in regard to WHAT YOU WANT TO DO is what causes most effort. Set for a fixed, clear number, that you execute on unwaveringly, and you will see it’s not a matter of effort — just single-mindedness)

 

…and finally: it creates an unrelenting core of clarity and determination around you — once you know what you’re doing, WHY you’re doing it, and how exactly does it work.

The single common denominator of EVERYTHING you’ll do is TIME.

Whether you do it yourself or make someone do it — you’re still managing time… and burning time as you manage.

If you solve this crucial part of the puzzle — you take your clarity and confidence to another level.

 

A few tips on measuring and accounting:

-Use a simple timer. A CLOCK. Obviously don’t distract yourself

-If it’s computer work — get some app which measures your use of each program.

-Use spreadsheet to input measured numbers

-Or get some app or code to do the accounting for you.

-Use notepad. Make notes

-Organize activities.

-Use as many tools as you need. Go as deep as you need. Organize as thoroughly as you need. You can’t over-measure or over-account. The goal is utter clarity.