STEP 5: Time Management

(Brian Dangerfield's 15 Steps to Greatness #5, 2009)

Because we only have so many weeks to get through my fifteen steps, I’m afraid that we’ve had to skip Step Four: Hair Care. However, I’d like to remind you that if you buy my book (of which there are still plenty of copies available online) you can read the original chapter in all its fully-illustrated glory. Since the first edition was published in 1987, some of the advice on styles and products is a little outdated, but I’m sure you’ll find something in there that will (hair)do the trick! Anyway, moving right along…

What is man’s most precious commodity? Money? People? Diamonds? Close, but not quite. No, the most valuable – and, ironically, the most powerful – resource we have is time. Money, people and diamonds can all be bought and sold, created and destroyed, but time is immortal, immovable – illogical. We each have a limited amount of time on this earth, and time spent watching pornographic movies alone until 2am can never be taken back, no matter how much you may want it. So, we must learn to manage this precious resource, using a little technique I like to call ‘time management’.

Time management is really no different from regular management. Just imagine that you’re managing little time-people: you should put your seconds to work, be sure your hours don’t duck out early, and for god’s sake make sure your days don’t drag you into a messy sexual-harassment case! But how do we put our time-employees to good use? Well, first you find the best time to get the job done. Then, make sure your time is rewarded sufficiently for working hard, i.e. the rewards you yourself receive by putting your own time to good use. (Okay, I’m going to drop the analogy here as I’m getting a little confused myself.) 

Anyway, we each have 24 × 7 = 168 hours in a week, right? But, since we all need eight hours of sleep a night, this really amounts to 168 – (7 × 8) = 112 hours we are actually awake. (Phew! All this maths is pretty tiring, huh? Bear with me!) Since most people work about 40 hours a week, this leaves only 70 hours – ten hours a day – to put towards achieving our goals. Not only that, but if you have a hobby or a family to take care of, the number could get as low as nine hours a day.

But before you start to panic, don’t worry: I have a simple list of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’ that can help you make the most of the little time you have. DO: make priorities and manage your time efficiently. DON’T: procrastinate or waste time. (Visit my website for a printable version of this list to stick up above your workspace.) They say that time has the power to destroy galaxies, or to carve glaciers into mountain stone, but if you manage time properly then you will be the one in control. Take that, time!