What Do You Do With Your 168 Hours?
We each of us have a brand new 168 hours every week to spend as we see fit. How do you spend yours?
Getting the most out of your 168 hours takes discipline in a distracted world.
To be a really exceptional estate agent, you have to put in the hours on marketing.
To thrive in a world where someone else is always cheaper, you have to be distinctive at what you do.
In a typical week, you may sleep 50 hours, and work/commute about the same. So where do the other 68 hours go??
Let’s take off 14 for eating, showering, dressing, and making yourself look beautiful. You still have 54 hours left….
In a typical week, I sleep around 56 hours, and work around 30 hours. I also exercise (walking my dog on the fells and a few reluctant sessions in the gym) about 16 hours a week, and read for at least 10 hours. I recently clocked my tv watching at an average of 3 hours a night, though that’s only when I’m home, which is about half the time, and it’s still less than the average official figure from Ofcom which is 28 hours a week!
I’m reading a great book at the moment, appropriately entitled 168 Hours: You Have More Time than you Think. I was inspired to keep a log for a week to analyse how I spend my time, and it really made me think about my time usage, and whether it is aligned with my priorities.
For example, if you asked me what I’d like to spend more time doing, I’d tell you about my ‘3 Rs’ – reading, writing and research. It’s my me-time and really inspires me to generate creative ideas for me and my clients. I love it.
So I was quite shocked to see that apart from my reading time of 10 hours, I had not really spent any time that week on writing and research. I can’t use the excuse of not having enough time, either, as I had watched tv for around 17 hours that week. So my time spend and my priorities were not aligned. That was a wake-up call for me, and I’m determined to really prioritise my 3 Rs from now on.
I was pleased to see how much time I spent with my family and friends last week – approximately 25 hours. I know when I look back in the future at how I spent my 40s, (and there isn’t much of that decade left for me!) I’ll be happy to remember the time I spent with people I loved the most. I suspect I won’t be able to recall any tv shows…..
So my question to you is, how do you spend your 168 hours? Is it doing something you love? Something you feel passionate about? Do you look back at your last day, week or month and feel proud of what you’ve achieved? Does the way you spend your time accurately reflect your core values and life priorities?
Maybe it’s time to reflect. How about keeping a time log over the next week? See if there are any big surprises, and any subsequent changes you’d like to make?
If for example, you’d like to get fitter, how many of your 168 hours are you dedicating to that goal? Or maybe you’d like to be more successful at gaining market share in your area; how much time did you spend on marketing activities last week?
When what we do on a daily basis is congruent with what we want to achieve in life, we are in alignment with our goals, and everything seems easier and better.
And you deserve to be happy. Don’t you?
What to read next: Is your diary running your business?
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