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A Little Dose of Realism from James – Organized for Success

Please make sure you’ve completed your block schedule which I suggested in the last episode. Taking that first step BEFORE this second step is very important. I can’t over-emphasize the importance of this topic of being organized for success. The tip in this episode is very simple, but it will blow your mind! Find […]

James Shepherd

Mar 22, 2018

Please make sure you’ve completed your block schedule which I suggested in the last episode. Taking that first step BEFORE this second step is very important. I can’t over-emphasize the importance of this topic of being organized for success. The tip in this episode is very simple, but it will blow your mind! Find out how you REALLY spend your time for a week. A dose of realism will help pinpoint decisions of character and good trade-offs in your schedule. You can be organized for success!

Step two in building for success is to track your time to the minute (or as closely as possible) for a week. Use a journal app on your phone. Or even carry around a 3×5 card. But don’t wait until the end of the day. At least three or four times throughout the day, stop and think what you’ve done so far. Make a commitment to account for every minute of your time for a week.

At the end of the week, refer to the number of hours entered for each category of time on your block schedule. Now add the amount of time you actually spent on those things. You’ll discover:

You’re spending an inordinate amount of time on things which aren’t even on your list.
You’re spending more time on urgent things rather than important things.

You may find you’ve spent 20+ hours on activities not even entered on your block schedule! Keep in mind the block schedule includes all the categories of activities which you chose as important. Thus, all those hours spent on items not listed are called wasted time. We all do a lot of wasting time, right? Now you can see that your block schedule looks more like the itinerary for a robot. This will bring some realism to the process of budgeting your time. Perhaps in your “real” time you watched an average two hours of sporting events a day. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. We all need some time for entertainment and fun; we are not robots. In my own block schedule, I have a space for wasting time. You may want to call it “developing relationships with friends” or “social engagements” if that makes you feel better. But know how much time you’re wasting; put that into your schedule. And identify those items which shouldn’t be stealing your time.

A decision of character is necessary to avoid spending more time on urgent things than important things. You must say, “As much as I WANT to do this, I also want to do something more important.” There are trade-offs. One difficulty with scheduling is there is no right or wrong. If you’re like me, I prefer binary things: good – bad, right-wrong. Going to your kids’ soccer game is good. Going prospecting is good. Taking a little time off is good. But you must choose from the good, and there are trade-offs.

Many of you are lying to yourself by believing someday you’ll be a multi-millionaire. However, you go to every single sporting event for your child. Then you watch an hour or two of Netflix every night and surf the web for a while. Every Thursday you take off to hang out with friends. That kind of life is not wrong! If that’s what you want for your life, you are a winner. But you aren’t going to be a multi-millionaire. Don’t kick yourself when you don’t make the big money.

Personally, I’ve chosen different trade-offs. I don’t go to every single sporting event for my kids. Even at six and seven years old I have this conversation with my kids, “Daddy has work he believes is really, really important. I can’t come to every single event, but I will be there if you tell me it’s very important to you. I can’t take you to a practice every night though.” I DO give my children focused time. My wife will tell you when I’m with my kids, I’m WITH my kids. But I can’t spend hours every day with them and accomplish my ambitions. That doesn’t make me right and you wrong. I’m just realistic, and you’re not!

Somehow in our society we’ve lost the idea of sacrifice. George Washington had to leave home for two and three years at a time to win independence. John Adams went overseas for three years to help our country. Those who laid the foundation for our country made sacrifices to do that. To accomplish something for the greater good and attain goals you feel God has for you, sacrifice is required. Sacrifice means doing less of things I WANT to do.

Not everybody wants to sacrifice to accomplish the big things. That is totally fine. But the key is to track your time and be realistic in scheduling and organizing the life you want to live. End the frustration of failing to keep your schedule. A dose of realism will help pinpoint decisions of character and good trade-offs in your schedule. You can be organized for success!