T I M E M A N A G E M E N T
five years waiting in line,
three years in meetings,
two years playing telephone tag,
eight months opening junk mail, and
six months sitting at red lights.And on an average day, you’ll get interrupted seventy-three
times a day(!), take an hour of work home, read less than five min-
utes, talk to your spouse for four minutes, exercise less than three
minutes, and play with your kid for two minutes.
Nightmarish. Want to change that picture? Just as with poor
Scrooge, scared into life change by the ghosts of Christmas past,
present, and future, it’s not too late for you to refocus your life.
That’s what time management is really all about.
But no matter what you do, you’re still going to spend a lot of
time idling at red lights, cooling your heels in waiting rooms, and
standing in line.
Some Initial Changes to Get Control of Your Time
You could make large-scale changes. You could quit your job, leave
your family, move to a cabin in the Dakotas and paint landscapes.
You could. But you probably won’t and probably shouldn’t.
You can make tiny changes, without needing anybody’s help or
permission. You can, for example, learn to take four mini-breaks a
day, or adopt any of the other tips, as I’ll suggest in a later chapter.
As you work your way through this book, let yourself explore
as many possibilities as you can. Some won’t be practical. Some
won’t work for you. Some will be beyond your means, for a variety
of reasons. But by applying your creativity, initiative, and energy
to this exploration, you will find ways to create meaningful, life-
affirming change.