Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.

Harvey MacKay

Not too long ago I had a client ask me, quite seriously, if we had a process for eliminating procrastination. Now, this client happened to be an online publisher, so I responded that if I had a solution like that we could both make millions with a book on it! The problem, of course, is that procrastination is more of a symptom than a condition, and while it’s a good thing to overcome, it doesn’t strike at the heart of poor time management.

A quick query in Google for the phrase “overcoming procrastination” returned about 93,000 results. I tried again with “effective time management” and got back 24,000,000 results! While this is certainly not a scientific approach, it supports the idea that managing time effectively is a challenge and a struggle for many, if not most, business owners and other professionals. In fact, an entire industry exists solely to provide plans, methods and tools to help others establish effective time management practices.

At E-Myth Worldwide we recognize that an essential and fundamental aspect of being an effective business leader is the ability to effectively manage their time. In fact, one of the top three frustrations we hear voiced by our clients is the seeming “lack of time” experienced by harried and overworked business owners. The struggle to effectively manage and use our time is common to almost all of us.

Time Waits for No One

Perhaps one of the most sobering aspects of time is that it is an ever-diminishing resource that cannot be replaced. Michael Gerber once said that, “Time is just another word for life.” You can think of life as a bank account with a limited balance of time that is relentlessly being withdrawn moment by moment, day by day, year by year—until the account is empty. And there is no overdraft protection nor are any deposits being made. Consider this: the time that it took you to read this far is time that is now spent and cannot be renewed.

But there is an upside! If you are still reading this then you still have time available to you. In fact, you have 24 hours every day, day in and day out, just like everyone else. The real question we need to ask then is not “How much time do I have?”, but “How will I spend the time I have?” While it’s true that we cannot dictate how we spend every moment of every working day, it’s equally true that how we spend the time is still a matter of choice: we can choose to be disorganized, reactive and ineffective—or we can choose to be organized, discriminating and productive.

Poor time management is largely a matter of habit and a lack of focused attention and intention. But effective time management is also a matter of habit and the result of focused attention and intention. And having some sound, tried-and-true tools and techniques helps, as well!

It’s Time for a Change

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.                     

H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

One of the key processes all of our clients work through focuses on time management. I will say to my clients that while this is not exactly “rocket science” it is absolutely vital to their success as an entrepreneur and business owner. It is true that the way you manage your time corresponds with the way your business operates—if your time management is reactive and unfocused, the general state of your business is likely to be reactive and unfocused. But when you are able to corral and effectively manage that resource we call time… well, you get the picture!

There are multitudes of plans, programs, and prescriptions for effectively organizing and managing your time use. Experts have weighed in for decades on this topic, books have been written and training programs launched—the problem really isn’t a lack of information. The problem is simply in implementation. So here is a brief nuts-and-bolts summarization of the best thinking on the subject:

1. Make it a habit to plan your work day. Don’t listen to those voices that say it doesn’t help or it won’t matter anyway. Plan your work! Make a list. More importantly, make a list of only the top five or six tasks or items you must do that day.
2. Assign a time frame for completing each of those priority tasks. Be realistic, but also be discriminating. Make certain there is enough time in the day for the tasks you want to complete.
3. Plan a time within your day for each of these tasks. Make sure you allow time within your day for unplanned tasks, interruptions, and unavoidable changes. You probably know they are inevitable so allow space in your day to accommodate them.
4. Work your plan! Don’t allow yourself to be distracted or diverted—don’t give in to the temptation to blow off some task that now seems unpalatable. Go through your list, complete your priority tasks, and mark them off your list. The emotional lift and energy boost that comes from this exercise is addictive and has even been found to increase productivity!
5. Be diligent, determined, and deadly serious about your time. No one else will respect your time if you don’t. Be clear and consistent when saying “No” to requests for your time that take you outside of your plan. If you include Step 3 you will be able to make room for others when needed.

More Time Is Really More Life

The bottom line comes down to your willingness and commitment to establish the habits that will give you more control over both the expected and the unexpected things that happen every day. The good news is that learning to manage your time is, in part, like any other skill. All it takes is a little practice and a willingness to develop some new habits.

Just remember, if time is life, then isn’t time management a way to—literally—get more life? How else could you find a better payoff for your efforts?