Why Time Management is a Myth and What to Do Differently

“You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” ~ Charles Buxton

By the age of 50, Barbilee Hemmings, B.A., B.Ed. Quality of Life Specialist and owner of QualityOfLifeAssurance.com has earned enough ‘time accomplishments’ to call herself an expert on time. She has completed a 5-year combined degree program in 3.5 years (with a 3.6/4 GPA) while opening and running the school pub, and being a school ambassador and a mentor to an international student.

Every teaching semester, for 12 years, she was responsible for nearly 200 students’ special needs programs and their delivery. She has also coordinated and run live events, 3-5 days in length, for up to 5000 people. She has successfully raised two daughters, stayed married for 25 years and is now running an international network marketing business, all while volunteering for multiple organizations and taking time out for herself. Read on to learn her secret.

Take Time to Pee

When Barbilee became a mother, she realized that even getting the time to use the washroom was a privilege, since doing routine tasks in peace with a child attached to your hip or knocking on your door was difficult. Given her education and training, she knew she could do better for herself, even with two daughters.

Manage your Activities, not your Time

Barbilee says that people are now amazed at how much she does in the time she does it. That’s because she has a system to manage her activities in the limited time she has. Barbilee believes that time management is a myth. Since everyone has the same amount of time in the day, we can only change what we do during the day, not how much time we have. However, if you find yourself saying you don’t have time for something, it only means you are not invested enough to make time for it.

The Daily Grind

Sleeping for 8 hours every night is important for health. That means you have 16 hours left in a day, or 112 hours a week within which you can manage your activities. Deduct two hours to give you some flexibility to sleep in or work late, and you have 110 hours per week in your hands. Having these 110 hours to manage activities allows you to wake up stress-free without running through a to-do list as soon as you open your eyes.

The Activity Management System

There are 6 steps to successful activity management, in the following order:

Pay Yourself First

10% of your time, that is, 11 hours out of the 110 hours a week, are for caring for yourself. If you don’t take care of yourself, who will? People today are losing their health to gain their wealth, then spending their wealth to regain their health. Stop this vicious cycle by spending 11 hours every week doing things that benefit your body, mind and spirit. Go to the gym, do some yoga, take a swim, jog, meditate, prepare healthy meals – these 11 hours are just for you.

“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” – Jim Rohn

Play

10% of your time, that is, 11 hours out of the 110 hours a week, are for play. It is for good reason that people say, ‘All work and no play make Jack a dull boy.’ When you take time out to do what you love, you are more productive. One afternoon a week, Henry Ford put a Do Not Disturb sign on his door and did whatever he wanted to – look how much he accomplished! Play is allowed and encouraged over the age of 10. Have fun – sing, dance, create, build, destroy, rebuild, go out, be alone, stay up, sleep, go for a date – there are endless ways to add joy to your life.

Give

10% of your time, that is, 11 hours out of the 110 hours a week, are for giving. You can give of your time, talent or treasure. You could volunteer for an organization, perform for an underprivileged crowd or donate your money or belongings to the needy. If you’re taking from yourself to give to someone else, that doesn’t count as giving because that is sacrifice. True, heartfelt giving makes you happy every time you do it and it is possible without sacrifice or resentment. If you can’t do it with joy, don’t.

“You can get everything you want in your life simply by helping enough people get everything they want in theirs.” – Zig Ziglar

Education

10% of your time, that is, 11 hours out of the 110 hours a week, are for education. Barbilee believes that dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are on an all-time high because of not investing our minds, in what she calls a ‘Use it or Lose it’ theory. Attend seminars, take or teach classes, read a book, or join Meetup or Eventbrite and learn a new skill to keep your mind active. Reading this article counts too! However, don’t get caught up in the Analysis Paralysis either, which is the affliction of constantly learning new things without applying them in your life. Use your education to live a better life.

Investing for Spending

10% of your time, that is, 11 hours out of the 110 hours a week, are for investing for spending. Handling money is not a natural skill – it must be learned. Everyone knows how to get a job and earn money, but you must learn how to make money work for you and not the other way around. Invest time in learning the skill of handling money – the returns will be worth it! Track your expenses using software like QuickBooks or Xero. Barbilee recommends some great books to get started – The Latte Factor by David Bach, Money by Tony Robbins and The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. Once you have acquired a lot of knowledge in this regard, your 11 hours can be spent looking for better investments.

Necessities

50% of your time, that is, 55 hours out of the 110 hours a week, are for necessities. Divide your time between things you need to do for your home and time you spend at work. However, try to think of the privilege of getting to do these tasks, that you ‘get’ to do them, not ‘have’ to do them. For example, the necessities of caring for an ailing parent can be moved into the hours for giving, if done joyfully. Working can be viewed as having the honour to provide for your family. However, don’t think of work as the be all and end all. “If you die tomorrow, your job would be online before your obituary,” says Barbilee.

No one ever went to their death bed saying, “Gee, I wish I would have worked more”.

Ways to Take Time to ‘ME’

No matter how many activities you need to do in a week, there are easy ways to take time out for yourself and improve the quality of your life.

• Turn off the radio while you drive to just be with yourself
• Spend 3 extra minutes in the shower
• Go for a walk at lunch time
• Play with your kids or pets
• Make a home cooked meal – shop for the ingredients and make it with love!

Loved the advice in this article? Read more in Barbilee’s free e-book, Quality of Life Assurance Made Easy, at www.ThankYouBarbilee.com. You can also get Shift Management’s Digital Planner for 2020 to help you better manage your activities!