By Colin J Campbell

Have you ever wondered why you can’t seem to get everything accomplished in a day? Do you wish if only you had more time? Yet when you look at history you see individuals accomplishing amazing things and they have the same amount of time as you do. Maybe it isn’t so much how much time you have but how you view time.

The best advice ever comes from A.A. Milne’s, Winnie-the-Pooh:

What day is it?” asked Pooh.
It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
My favorite day,” said Pooh.”

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That’s why we call it the present.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

There are only 24 hours in the day and you need to sleep for eight to let your mind and body regenerate, that leaves 16 hours to achieve what you set out to do each day.  A fact that has never changed, the great achievements in history by men like Alexander, Mozart, Beethoven and others have all been accomplished with the same amount of time as you have.  The key difference is that these individuals recognized what A.A. Milne articulated so eloquently with those few simple lines, the only time that matters is right now.  If you can acknowledge this to be true you have made a major step towards living a more fulfilling life, accomplishing more and having more time to enjoy what you achieved.

Here are a few of the simple ideas that allow the theory to be practiced:

Set aside time to think. Do this daily or weekly but do it without fail. Make an appointment with yourself. Go for a walk or a drive or get up earlier each day and don’t schedule anything other than thinking. Get up an hour earlier each day to think, read and prepare for the day.

Johnny Mercer, the great Hollywood composer said, if the idea for a song didn’t come within 10 minutes of sitting down at the piano he would get up and go play golf.  By the time he returned the idea had formed in his subconscious and in no time he would have the piece completed. All too often the problem is we push so hard for a solution we don’t allow our imagination to work creating a roadblock to progress.

Keep a daily journal. Write down what you are thinking about, what you want to accomplish, what plans and goals you have and what you are grateful for. This should be a daily occurrence, before going to bed.

If you have a problem, create a procedure to deal with it. A good example is how to avoid clutter, it is the bane of everyone and slows down the process.  The solution is to put it in a file, label it, put a date on it.  Develop checklists, everything you do daily usually have specific tasks that need to be followed, by creating a checklist you no longer have to remember every step you just check off the list.  Creating procedures for every problem eliminates the problem.

Prioritize your day.   Every day before you leave the office list the six things you want to accomplish the next day. Prioritize the six, the most important is number one and so on. The next day start on number one and work your way to six.  Simple, easy to follow, and effective.  It gets you to focus on what is important, you no longer have to set specific schedules for tasks such as answering emails, you know what needs to be done and get on with it.

There is an added benefit to this method, if there are other items that you think you need to accomplish and they are not on the priority list, delegate this to others. Your priority list helps your staff create their priority list and more effective work is achieved.

Reduce your work week to four days.  Plan to take Monday or Friday off.  It will take some planning to make this work, it requires flexibility on your part and it may not be the most popular idea with your employer, if you are self employed it will be easier to implement. Take three months to reach the goal that way the pressure is off.  This one thing will improve your health, your family relations and you will probably accomplish more. It is a simple fact that work expands to fill the time allotted, by reducing the time you work you can accomplish more.

Collect people.  You may have a specific job title or profession but the reality is that you collect people, you build relationships.  It takes time to achieve results, you won’t do business with everyone you meet right away, you have to be patient, build trust and develop commonality. It’s a lot like farming,  you must cultivate, weed and water and wait for the crop to grow before you harvest.

Have a desire to succeed. This is probably one of the more important character traits to develop. You may have the talent, and the ability, but without a burning desire none of this means anything.  Learn how to cultivate a burning desire.

Pay yourself first. If you are not already saving 1% of your gross annual income every month  now is the time to start.  You strengthen your ability to help others, you will become stronger because of a stable and secure financial future and you reduce your emotional crisis that come from constant financial crisis. This is a simple rule that has existed for centuries, there is no great secret to wealth accumulation if you have the discipline to do this one thing consistently every month.  Don’t wait until you pay off your debts, you will always have debts start paying yourself first, it will improve your self worth and with a greater self worth your debts will be paid even quicker.

Believe in yourself. You do not need anyone else’s approval but your own. Instead of seeking recognition from others, be comfortable with your own. You know when you are at your best and you know when you turn out great work. Trust your instinct to give you the guidance you need to be successful.

Live life to the fullest, enjoy every day, be happy.  Walter Hagen, the great  American golf professional of the 20’s and 30’s, once said, “you are here for a brief period, enjoy every minute of it and don’t worry, it all comes out ok in the end.”  Well said Mr. Hagen and the best advice you can get.

– Colin J. Campbell CFP, CLU, Ch.F.C. is managing partner of Guidance Planning Strategies Ltd in Cranbook, B.C.  “We help people make smart choices about money. Create wealth that will last for generations.”   He can be reached at: [email protected] .

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