Some things aren’t worth your time

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst — William Penn

What is time to you?

We are all travelers through this medium called time. We have no choice about it. Time feels relative — it’s fast when you’re having fun, and it’s painfully slow when you’re going through things you don’t want to. In life, we are all dealt a set of cards and each of us have a different set. But time — this is one commonality we all have.

However, we have expiry dates. No one lives forever. The beauty (and wisdom) is no one knows when his or her end is. If you’re in sales, you know this gives you a sense of scarcity, which will increase the value associated with time. Your last breath might be next year, or next decade… but also, there’s no promise you will have tomorrow. Allowing this fact of uncertainty to sink in will give you perspective and even create a sense of urgency. But the one point to hold on to is — do not WASTE time.

Time is to be managed

Time is often intertwined with emotions. How you feel at any given time will affect your perspective of time. When you are overloaded or overwhelmed it will feel like you don’t have enough time. Emotions will mess with your time management. But we are humans, and it’s unnatural to completely block out emotions. However, you can at least be aware when emotions are getting the better of you. Time itself will pass whether you are panicking or going through life with calmness.

It’s wise to remember that every single person on earth has 24 hours per day. Regardless if you are Elon Musk or a homeless person sitting by the sidewalk. There are an uncountable amount of things you cannot control, but time is one resource you can MANAGE.

You can’t control time. You can’t make it go faster or slower. It just passes. So management is the key here. Once you’ve acknowledged and accepted the uncertainty of life and how much time we each have, you can look to plan and manage how you use the time which may or may not be given to you. The past is there to learn from. The future is not promised but must be planned for. The present is what truly matters.

You can ‘buy’ time

I don’t mean more time for you to use, but time that belong to other people. When you hire people for their time, that is what you essentially have. Obviously you hire for their talent and expertise — but the deployment of said value has to be done over time. A master might take a shorter period of time to deliver something of great value, whereas a novice might take much longer to do something sub-par. You get what you pay for. Thus, the time of the master is more valued more than that of the novice — financially speaking at least.

Point is — when you hire people, you have more resources, i.e. their time (used to deploy their expertise).

But here’s the catch: these are INDIVIDUALS with their own unique set of viewpoints, priorities in life and personalities. You have a much larger challenge of ensuring alignment and productivity of your team now. You cannot expect them to be a natural extension of you as a person. Often, you need to spend MORE time upfront to get them to a certain level before they start to save you time.

Once you figured out how to onboard somebody properly, then it becomes something you can scale.

Once this is a norm to you — it is crucial to understand that not every single thing that goes on in the business deserves your time (and attention). You have assembled a team to handle things, so let them handle it. Be aware, monitor, read reports… but your time is to be spent on other things.

What’s next?

Going through these challenges will give you insights to make you a wiser person. With wisdom you will appreciate the value of this finite resource called time. You might realise this is the most precious resource of all and you might understand the responsibility to manage it well — not just your time, but to guide others under your charge to manage theirs as well.

However, as leaders of your respective pursuits, you are responsible for the outcomes of how your choose to utilise your time, and the way your people use theirs. No matter how dynamic the nature of work is, no matter how complicated it is, the consequences of your decisions at the top is yours to bear.

Sounds daunting? But look at the up side — 

You will encounter failures in how you manage and execute on your time, as well as what you want your people to spend their time working on. As long as it doesn’t kill you (or your business) — you will grow wiser and would have acquired experience that is uniquely yours. By not repeating your mistakes, and eventually making better decisions, you will be a force to be reckoned with. Your vision will stir the hearts of your people, and they will follow your leadership. You will be making a difference in the lives of the people you work with, and those you serve. Your sense of purpose will be fulfilled. You will leave a legacy (if that’s your kind of thing).

Time — thank you for spending yours to read this article. I hope it’ll benefit.