Would you describe yourself as extremely busy? Do you often feel tired and stressed out? Sometimes our ambition is our worst enemy. Many of us with big goals try to do way too much. We spread ourselves a mile wide and an inch deep. We are involved in many different things, but aren’t excelling at any one thing. Beware of mediocrity. Most of us want greatness. If that describes you, then you must prioritize your endeavors and adjust your schedule accordingly.
Assess your current schedule. Make a list of everything in your life that takes time. This includes school, work, extracurricular activities, sleeping, eating, studying, exercising, talking on the phone, hanging out with friends, chores, bathing, etc. List EVERYTHING. Then note how many hours per week you need for each item to do it well. Add up the hours. While there are only 168 hours in a week, many of us need two or three times that to accommodate our schedule. This is where the stress and mediocrity come from.
Make your list again, but this time find a way to limit yourself to 168 hours. There’s only two ways to do this: reduce the number of weekly hours per item, or reduce the number of items. I recommend the latter. Cutting activities you enjoy out of your life can be painful, but it’s necessary.
I began my speaking career while still doing work in the entertainment industry. For a long time, both businesses were doing OK – but only OK. OK wasn’t good enough, so I knew what had to happen. I needed to choose. Once I committed myself fully to speaking, my career exploded. I work better at fewer things and so will you.
To learn more about time management, read the article: Time Management: Making The Most of Your Time or check out the Jump Start Leadership Workbooks or The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.
To read more motivation, check the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
