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We all could take a tip or two from successful people when it comes to time management.
We all have the same 24 hours in a day, yet why is it that some people are more productive than us with their time?
Do they have some sort of magical productivity gene that we are lacking??
While this would really make us feel better if this was the case, it is just not so.
The truth is, about 95% of the things we do in our lives should be done either by someone else or by automation tools. Successful people focus on the five percent of things that only they can do, and they optimize their time so they spend most of it doing the things that they do better than anyone else in the world.
They know that if they try to do it all, they will not get their most important things done, and the things that they are best at that make them the most valuable.
13 Things Successful People Do to Maximize Their Time:
1. They don’t waste decades of their life off course
Most people spend years of their life on an undesired path. They live following social and cultural norms, and eventually find themselves questioning their identity, and wondering why they are unhappy. The goal is to get on the right path in your 20’s and 30’s as opposed to later in life when you have wasted decades.
2. They correct their course quickly
Let’s take airplane pilots for example. Airplanes are off course about 90 percent of the time. Yet, they almost always arrive at their final destination on time. This is because they correct themselves so quickly, and getting back on course is easy. If they were so intense about their course corrections, they’d be late or never make it.
3. They remove garbage from their lives
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
- Leonardo De Vinci
Successful people make the most of their life by living minimally. They remove all the non-essential physical, mental, and emotional baggage that can be weighing them down. And they say NO to almost everything.
4. They focus on results rather than hard work
The majority of the population works 9-5 and they are compensated for the amount of time that they work. However, successful people focus on the few things that generate the most results for them. Everything else is either outsourced, automated or removed. And rather than getting paid for time, they are compensated for the value they produce.
5. They use automation tools
There are easier and quicker ways to do things nowadays, and successful people know that many tasks can be automated. There are certain 30-60 second tasks that we do everyday that are not necessary. There is an app called Zapier that makes automatons between multiple web services. For example, if someone buys something from you on PayPal, they are already put in a customer file.
6. They outsource tasks
“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
– Peter Drucker
Outsourcing is an extremely important task when it comes to time management, and like automation tools, there are many outsourcing options. Fancy Hands is a team of over 3,000 virtual assistants who are available 24 hours a day, and the service starts at $25 per month. Fiverr is another outsourcing tool where you pay $5 to get tasks done like editing your blog posts.
7. They have an unbelievable morning routine
In the morning, successful people practice prayer and meditation and they exercise to get their blood flowing. They eat a healthy breakfast, focusing on proteins, and they listen or read to content that helps and inspires them. They write in a journal, and review their life goals and vision to get perspective on their day. Their routine is completed by 8 a.m.
8. They get 7+ hours of sleep daily
And healthy sleep. Successful people keep their bedrooms cool at night, and they go to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Most wake between 4:30-6:00 a.m.
9. They set short timelines
“How can you achieve your 10 year plan in the next 6 months?”
- Peter Thiel
Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion, according to Parkinson’s law. If you have a lot of time, you’ll be inefficient. If you have a little time, you’ll be extremely productive, because short timelines facilitate flow.
10. They skip steps most people take
Most people climb ladders vertically, but successful people switch ladders laterally. Take the U.S. Presidents for example. They spent less time in politics than the average Congressman. And the most popular Presidents spent the least amount of time in politics, such as Ronald Reagan who, before he was President was an actor, and Dwight Eisenhower who was in the military. They reached the top and skipped the “dues-paying” steps.
11. They create automated income streams
Successful people are not governed by the clock because they have created automated streams of income. There are several approaches to do this, but one would be creating online courses using tools like Infusionsoft and Aweber. Or you can automate marketing using Facebook ads.
12. They have a small to-do list each day
This sounds like heaven doesn’t it? And he reality is, a smaller to-do list is more effective. There is only 1-5 things that really need to get done on a given day, and successful people have those things done before noon so they have the rest of the day to attend to urgent stuff, and anything else that pops up.
13. They check their email and social media at a few specific times each day
Most people wake up and immediately check their email and social media. Doing this puts them in a reactive mental state, and subconsciously, they’ve committed their day to other people’s agendas. However people who check their email and social media at specific times each day don’t obsess over messages, page views, likes, or other statistics.
[Image Credit: Seth Godin- regretfreelife.net]
