Dealing with a Thief (part 2)

Last week I shared how I dealt with the thief who stole my phone. This week I want to focus on the most valuable commodity we have and who is taking it from us.

We are the biggest thief in our lives.

We steal an expensive, rare, and high demand commodity on daily basis. The thing is that we don’t necessarily see the value in it until it is too late. There are no police to patrol and stop you from doing it.

 

I am talking about TIME.

 

We frivolously spend it, we unconsciously waste it.

 

We only have 24 hours or 1,440 minutes or 86,400 seconds every day. The question is, what are you doing with them? How are they serving you?

 

I was thinking about my phone and realized the thing that bothered me the most is the time they robbed me of. That got me thinking about other things that rob my time.

 

Here is a list of time robbing activities:

Watching meaningless TV:

There are times that TV can be beneficial but rarely. I noticed this a 6 years back when my wife and I canceled our TV for financial reasons. I started reading. That year I read 12 books, which was more than I had read in a long time. Now we still don’t have TV and I read > 24 books per year. Much better use of my time.

 

Getting sucked into the social media (Facebook, Youtube, Twitter) vortex:

There is a great line that says, “Are you using technology or is technology using you?” Social media if not carefully monitored can easily consume your time. I am so guilty of this. I often rationalize that I need to be doing this for my business. The truth is, yes, social media is a great tool to connect and build a closer bond but it can easily turn into a distraction. Set chunks in your day to check and enjoy it but don’t do it at all times.

 

– Email apocalypse:

I don’t get so many emails but I find myself checking it often. I know many of my clients get 50 or more emails daily. Have a plan for dealing with them. Most emails are not that important. Have a secretary screen them, or set filters to screen them. Chunk them and only check it 1-2 times daily. As an example, check them at noon and at 4 pm. Take it off your phone so you wont be tempted.

What ever you do, don’t check your email first thing in the morning. “Email is someone else agenda for you.” Start your day on your terms.

 

– Vampire energy sucking people:

You know who I am talking about. Those people that you dread speaking to, always negative. Those people that leave you drained. Surround yourself with uplifting people that give you energy.

 

– Boredom:

I remember being a kid and making the mistake of telling my dad that I was bored. He started taking me to work (construction) at 5 am. Needless to say I never felt bored again. Even if I was, I’d find something to do. Read more, learn more, have more fun, do something you love. Life is too short to be bored.

*As an aside, boredom leads to overeating.

ย These are just a few things. Guard your time with your life because once it is gone you can’t get it back…Unless you know Doc Brown and have a Delorean. (Yes that is a Back to the Future reference.)

Cheers,

Armando

 

 

 


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2 responses to “Dealing with a Thief (part 2)”

  1. Gaby Dominguez Avatar
    Gaby Dominguez

    This is so true! Just last night I mentioned to Ernie, we need to stop giving excuses as to why we did not do something and make time to do the things we said we were going to do.

    1. admin Avatar

      Gaby glad this could help. The key is to understand your why. Why is it important for you to do this? If your why is compelling enough you will come from a a place of inspiration. Inspiration comes from the inside out and is longer lasting than say, motivation. Motivation is comes from the outside in and is quite fickle.
      Does that make sense?

      Cheers,
      AC

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