283. How can we get better with our time?

Gary Keller talks about the one thing

Which is a productivity tool to achieve massive results

It’s taking the 80/20 principle to the extreme, urging precise focus. 

And after reading that article yesterday – i realized that a relevant theme in my life is all about time management 

An attribute I am constantly trying to improve on is focus. 

I sat down to reflect on the concepts that I’ve been learning about 

Gary keller’s focusing question – the one thing 

Someone who’s getting a side hustle going – the grind 

Ed Mylett the OG  – the 3 days in one 

And Sal Frieslla over at first form – the family man 

Mylett’s three days in one was a short article I read. The one thing I got though is to move with focus and urgency – not in a busy way, but like someone who is on a mission. 

And stay off the phone in the morning – it drains willpower. 

Gary Keller’s focusing question is like the lookout on a ship, looking out into the distance making sure we are on the right path. 

Here are some of his concepts:

• Each week, spend an hour or so time blocking.
• Make sure to timeblock days off like vacations and long weekends, on a yearly and weekly basis
• Review annual goals – What’s the one thing I can do this year to be on track for my 5 year goal?
• Review monthly goals – what’s the one thing I can do this month to be on track for my year goal? 
• Review weekly goals – what’s the one thing I can do this week to be on track for my monthly goals? 

Sal frisella’s broad chunks of time help us break down our daily schedule:

• 5:00 am – 9:00 am is me time
• 9:00 am – 5:00 pm is work time
• 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm is family or queen time
• 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm is me time 

And that medium article gets us drilled down to what we’re doing each day (with a hint of the one thing within the concept too) 

• 5:00 am – 9:00 am is me time 
  • morning routine and reviewing powerlist. 
• 9:00 am – 5:00 pm is work time
  • 9:00 am – 1:00 pm is one thing – maker time – This could be providing value to the audience through writing content, recycling content, and communicating with them. 
  • 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm is manager time, meetings, tying up loose ends, closing out day, and planning for tomorrow.
• 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm is family or queen time 
  • Dinner, laughs 
• 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm is me time 
  • Projects, goals, ideas 
• 10:00 pm to 5:00 am sleep time 
  • Big engines need big rest 

Jesse itzler talks about our life buckets too: how many hours do we want each bucket to have? Here’s the buckets he uses and the time’s dedicated to each using the plan above:

• Work 8 hours 
• Personal 6 hours
• Family 3 hours 
• Sleep 7 hours 

We can tweak these plans accordingly – to fit our life, for what we want to do and where we want to go. 

And it does take some time to reflect on these concepts and actually come up with a plan 

But it may be worth it. 

It sure has been for me.