How Do You Use a Time Windfall?

clock face nearing 12 o'clock

How do you use a time windfall? ⌚

Today my client appointments all rescheduled for future dates. I find myself with a day free of calendar commitments. There’s a lot on my to-do list.

What’s the best use of the time?

The temptation is to focus on what I call “administrivia.” These are tasks that sorta, kinda, haveta (?) get done. Respond to routine emails, reconcile QuickBooks, enter coaching hours into the log, and so on.

It feels good to check them off the list. Like I’m making progress.

Yes, they may need to get done. But they are not the tasks that are going to move me forward in a big way.

What are better uses of time?

👉 Thinking about business strategy

👉 Connecting with people in a meaningful way

👉 Choosing one of the most important tasks to complete

How do you know if a task is important?

Ask: what’s the ONE thing, if you focused on it today, that would make the biggest difference in your career or business?

Not something that’s urgent or that represents other people’s priorities.

What’s YOUR priority?

Singular, as in ONE priority.

(Fun fact: the word “priority” began only in the singular form. Meaning that only one priority could exist at a time. Not the multiple priorities we now attempt to juggle daily and hourly. As if we ever could.)

My priority for today is creating a new program for our most loyal guests at our family restaurant Pacific Standard Prime. This is a team-focused effort, involving collaboration and iteration. The administrivia will wait until that’s done.

What’s YOUR priority today?

 

Make the Most of Your Minutes

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Part of making the most of what you have is getting the most out of small snippets of time.

In my April adventure to do my daily dozen every day, I’ve not only found that minutes count. I’ve also learned that using these minutes has changed how I think about using time.

First, it focuses me on goals and accomplishments. Those are the priority items I work on each day. If those get done, I’ve made good progress.

Second, it crowds out busy work. Not everything needs to be done. Less essential tasks that might be tension-relieving to complete get squeezed out by more important actions.

Third, I’m becoming more comfortable with the messiness of life. That could be anything from slightly less perfect physical surroundings to a longer response time on non-urgent personal emails.

Fourth, it means leading a more digital life. I’m doing more things on the go. Waiting in line somewhere? My library of books is just a tap away. Appointment delayed? I can squeeze in my Spanish lesson.

Another minute-long activity is adding short tasks to a “power hour” list. This is a great concept by Gretchen Rubin to tackle uncompleted tasks that don’t have a deadline and therefore aren’t getting done.

The first task for my next power hour? Figuring out why Word Press doesn’t always display my personal photos as right side up on mobile devices (which may be why the clock pictured above from a Connecticut holiday visit may be appearing sideways).

It may not have been a coincidence that starting today your Google calendar will automatically find time in your schedule for your goals. While it sounds like there are some bugs to be worked out, the concept is intriguing.

How are you making your minutes count?