How to Find More Time to Do What You Love by Using the “Big Three” | VictorSchueller.com

“Lost time is never found again.” ~Benjamin Franklin

Time management is something that I struggle with on a daily basis.  The problem is that we can’t add more time to the day, and we can’t create more time.  Time is fixed, so we have to cram in as much in the twenty-four hours we have each day.  We can’t really sacrifice sleep, although I am extremely guilty of pushing bedtime off as late as I can!  Mornings come too early for me.  I don’t know what it is, but I am not one of those “get up at 5 AM so you can get more done” types.  While I may have good intentions to do so, 5 AM and I just don’t get along!  For me, squeezing out more time in the evening works well, because I am a bit of a “night owl,” as it were.

Regardless of the attempts to either add more time to the morning or evening, we still have a relatively “fixed” time in the middle that we have to maximize to do what we need to do.  I’ve had more of my fair share of days when I have a long list of things to do, and the next thing you know, a lot of time has passed and not much has gotten done!  I don’t know about you, but it frustrates me when I find that my day was consumed by the minutia of tasks that really don’t do much for getting me past the starting point.

One technique that I have tried, and it has worked well, is implementing what I call the “Big Three” method to my planning, and I wanted to share it with you.

Here’s how it works…Before you do anything, think of the top three activities that possess the greatest “value” in your opinion.  These are the activities that have the potential to provide you with the biggest returns, if you will.

Make a list of those top three items — write them down.  Now, make a list of all the tasks you need to complete for the day.  Determine which tasks on your list align with your “big three.”  If the task on your list is related to one of the “big three,” circle it.  If it doesn’t align with one of the “big three,” leave it uncircled.

Focus on those items which are circled.  You can even prioritize the circled items.  You’ll find that about 80 percent of the items on your list don’t add much value to your day, in that they don’t align with your “big three.”

If you stick to that 20 percent of the items on your list that align with your “big three,” and do those first, you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done.  Once you complete those items, you can then start to chip away at the “smaller,” less important items if you wish.  You can even delegate them or eliminate them.

One other word of advice: when you work, work!  Make sure that everything you do during your dedicated work time is work and not consumed with reading the news, chatting on the phone, taking a walk, or things that are time consumers but don’t hold any value.

In applying the “big three” methodology in my life, I have noticed that I have more time dedicated to doing the work I truly love and getting the most value out of that time.  Not only that, but because I can get so much important work done during that work time, I have more time “outside” of work to enjoy the activities that feed my spirit and soul, like spending time with my family.

If you give this a shot, please let me know what you think.  I’d love to hear about it!