462: Do You Have The Time?

My Business On Purpose

Do You Have The Time?

Hey there, Brent Perry with Business on Purpose. Happy Friday. I hope whenever you have stumbled across this video you are doing well.

I ran across a quote from Laura Vanderkam this week, “Do you not have time or do you just not want to do it? There is a difference! Blaming time for what you aren't prioritizing doesn't complete tasks.” I ran across this quote as I was studying because I was having several conversations around time management and weekly schedules this week, and this idea really got me thinking. What kind of time are we prioritizing?

In college, I fell in love with ultimate frisbee. I grew up playing every sport you could think of and played baseball all through high school. So when I got to UT frisbee was something new. Something exciting. Something fresh. I was in. And I remember one night as I was cramming for an accounting exam the next day the text came through…” frisbee at rocky hill tonight?” Now you should also know that up to this point I had procrastinated, and this was the first night I was opening the books to study for this exam. This decision really was a no-brainer. I had put off studying, and now I was going to miss out on something I loved because I hadn’t managed my time. But, alas, I just couldn’t help myself. Ultimate frisbee was calling, and I had to go. So I went and played, for hours. Had a blast. Came home, tried to pull an all-nighter, and got up the next morning went to my exam, and walked out with a C-. It really could have been worse, but not my finest moment as a student.

The truth was, I just didn’t want to study. I had the time. There was nobody or nothing to blame but myself and my lack of time management. Again, Vanderkam’s quote, “blaming time for what you aren’t prioritizing doesn’t complete tasks.” The task at hand wasn’t completed.

In sharing this story, I am sure that most (if not all of you) can relate to this story from some point in your life. And I hope that as we have gotten a little older, maybe a little wiser, that we can learn from these times. Especially when it comes to the businesses you run and work in. How is your time management? How is your schedule?

Are you making the time for all that matters? Are you making time to work on your business and not just in your business?

Our hope is that you have a weekly schedule, an ideal weekly schedule if you will. One that allows you to focus on your business and those tasks that you need to get done.

Do me a favor...look at your week. Monday through Friday. And let’s start filling in some time. Start with the “big rocks.” The non-negotiables. Maybe that's a weekly workout you need in your life. Maybe that’s taking your kids to school. It probably involves specific roles in your work that need to get done. And let’s get those down on paper.

An easy place to start, write out a calendar for next week. Write out the non-negotiables. And then use some space to write in time to work on your business.

Ask yourself, do you have the time? Or do you just not want to do it? This will help you as you move forward, and begin to work on delegation in your business.

Thanks for your time... literally!

Have a good weekend.