Bryce Jorgensen, PhD Family Resource Managemen Specialis When looking a our lives and why we don accomplish our goals, many give he excuse, I jus don have enough ime. Those of us who have used ha excuse before (mos likely all of us) know in our hear ha he saemen is no rue and ha we are lying o ourselves because we don wan o ake responsibiliy. Now ha we have meaningful goals (for hose who compleed he forms above), how can we beer organize our ime o accomplish more and achieve our perfec life (see sidebar above)? Raher han prioriizing your schedule, ry scheduling your prioriies. If we can decide on wha is mos imporan o us (based on our values, principles, and goals), we can pu hose ino our schedule firs and hen schedule oher less imporan hings around hose key goals. Sephen Covey, auhor of 7 Habis of Highly Effecive People, calls hese key goals big rocks or puing firs hings firs. To see a wonderful example of puing firs hings firs, wach his 6 minue video - hps://www.youube.com/wach?v=cw1_l6okr1s Am I able o say no o he unimporan, no maer how urgen, and yes o he imporan? -Sephen Covey Sephen Covey alks abou four quadrans in his ime managemen marix (see below). Quadrans 1 and 2 are imporan and quadrans 3 and 4 are unimporan. Likewise, quadran 1 and 3 are urgen while quadrans 2 and 4 are no urgen. Covey suggess ha mos of our ime is bes spen in quadran 2, he imporan and no urgen. This is where planning, relaionship building, and personal improvemen happen. If we don ake enough ime in quadran 2, soon we ll be very busy in quadran 1 where he imporan hings have become urgen and urned ino deadlines and crises. We should avoid unimporan aciviies, quadrans 3 and 4, wheher urgen or no. Unforunaely, mos of us spend much of our ime in hese unimporan quadrans. Quadran 4 includes ime wasers, busy work, rivia, much of our inerne surfing or social media, and oo much ime spen on video games, TV, or oher elecronics.
Quadran 3 includes oher peoples prioriies, email, phone calls, exs and oher urgen aciviies bu ha are NOT imporan o us. Once we cu ou mos of quadrans 3 and 4, we ll have he ime we need for our big rocks, and o pu firs hings firs. The key is o beer deermine wha is imporan and wha is no imporan so we don ge bogged down in he hick of hin hings. The ime managemen marix - aciviies Urgen No Urgen I I II m ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES p 0 Crises Prevenion, capabiliy improvemen r Pressing problems Relaionship building a n Deadline-driven projecs Recognising new opporuniies Planning, recreaion N Ill IV 0 ACTIVITIES ACTIVITIES Inerrupions, some callers Trivia, busy wor1< I. Some mail, some repors Some mail m p Some meeings Some phone calls 0 Proximae, pressing maers Time wasers r Popular aciviies Pleasan aciviies a n Ba sed on 7 Habi:: of Highly Effecive People. Se phen Covey Raher han busying ourselves wih he prioriies of ohers, scheduling our big rocks firs will allow us o ake ime o accomplish our prioriies so ha our acions are congruen wih our principles and goals. Some people equae heir level of imporance wih how busy hey are; he busier hey are, he more imporan hey mus be (sound familiar?). How are you oday? one migh ask. We hen respond, Oh, I am so busy. I have... and we coninue wih our lis of how busy we are, which, of course, indicaes our imporance, righ? Bu being busy doesn mean we are imporan or effecive. Few of us sop o hink abou aligning our values, principles, and goals wih our monhly, weekly, and daily planning. We have heard before ha if you fail o plan, you plan o fail. Zig Zigler said, If you aim a nohing, you will hi i every ime.,,-ooaus~\ ~ II YOU aim a nohing, YOU'ii hil i every ime
Good, Beer, Bes Once we have removed he ime wasers and aciviies ha don conribue o our values, principles, and goals, we urn o prioriizing he good hings we do. We need o realize ha some aciviies in our lives are good, some are beer, and ohers are bes. Dallin Oaks said, We don wan o spend so much of our ime on good hings ha we don have ime for he bes hings. Wha is essenial and mos imporan o us? Wha brings us he mos happiness? Wha makes life fulfilling? Wha are simple hings we can do o make a significan meaningful difference? Wha are simple ways we can change how we use our ime so we are engaged in hese fulfilling and meaningful experiences more of he ime? You may wish o use he able below o organize your houghs. Good Beer Bes 168 Hours in a Week Everyone has 168 hours per week. The rick is o use each of he 168 hours o is bes and highes use. The bes and highes use is differen for each of us and is based, or should be based, on our values, principles, and goals. Think abou he following quesion: Can ohers ell wha is mos imporan o me by how I spend my ime? Does wha you do wih your ime align wih wha you say is mos imporan o you? For mos of us, we could use some adjusmens in how we use our ime. For example, for many children he word love is spelled T I M E. Children wan our ime; no jus qualiy ime bu quaniy of ime. In oher words, i is no enough o spend an hour of qualiy ime per week. Wha hey wan is your ime every day, doing chores, helping wih homework, or doing an aciviy. Our children can ell wha is imporan o us by how we use our ime, especially our discreionary ime. If we work a lo and hen come home and work more and wach TV bu spend lile ime wih hem, hey hear us loud and clear ha hey are no ha imporan o us, no maer how ofen or loud we ell hem hey are. Again, adjusmens may be necessary o align our acions o our words and declaraions. Do you know how you spend your 168 hours per week? Wheher your answer is yes or no, I encourage you o complee he aciviy below.
Time Managemen Aciviy 1. Track your ime use for 1 week using a daily or weekly calendar o beer undersand where your ime is being spen. Using he informaion you gahered from racking your ime over 1 week, answer he following quesions: Wha and when are your ime leaks? Are here paerns in how you use your ime? When are he imes during he day and week where you are mos effecive wih your ime? Can you schedule imporan, quadran 2 aciviies during hese producive imes? Can you or ohers ell wha is imporan o you by how you spend your ime? 2. Use a weekly calendar o effecively plan your week. Everyone has 168 hours per week; plan your week by deciding on he number of hours you will spend on your various aciviies (e.g., exercise, work, sleep, eaing, enerainmen, ec.). Remember o plan your big rocks firs o schedule your prioriies. a) Make a lis of aciviies wih he amoun of ime for each for he enire week. The lis should add up o 168 hours oal a. Sleep - 7 nighs x 7 hours = 49 hours b. Work 24 hours c. Courses 15 hours d. Homework 30 hours e. Ec. up o a oal of 168 hours b) Inser hese aciviies ino a new weekly schedule/calendar (remember, his is how you wan your week o look if you effecively planned i). How does his weekly plan differ from how you spen your ime during he week you racked your ime use? 3. Using he informaion you gahered from racking your ime over 1 week, complee he Good, Beer, Bes able. Inser wha you did wih your ime ha was good, was beer, and was bes (according o your principles, life vision, and goals). 1. Wha are some beer and bes hings you wan o do bu canno find ime for? 2. Wha are some good hings you do bu could minimize or do wihou? 3. How can you plan/schedule o make sure you have ime for he beer hings and especially he bes hings? In oher words, wha specific changes will you make so your ime is allocaed o he area s mos imporan in your life?
The Boom Line Be inenional wih your life. Be inenional in each of your roles. Be inenional in your goals and in your relaionships. Raher han wandering hrough life hoping for he bes, ake ime o figure ou wha your values and principles are and hen se goals o accomplish your desires. Zig Ziglar pu i his way, Don become a wandering generaliy. Be a meaningful specific. When our acions and behaviors are congruen wih our values and principles, we creae a meaningful, purposeful life. Don become a wandering generaliy. Be a meaningful specific. -Zig Ziglar Par one on goal seing is abou creaing he blueprin for a meaningful life - he menal creaion. Par wo on ime managemen is abou puing he blueprin ino acion he physical creaion. As we complee boh he menal and physical seps o a purposeful life, we will become he ype of person we wan o be. Becoming, raher han hinking, saying, or doing, will bring more peace ino our lives and ino our relaionships and our qualiy of life will increase. To learn more abou hese opics, visi www.mymoney.nmsu.edu and/or conac your local exension office o alk wih a Family and Consumer Science Exension agen.