Me First

Step 2Map

Ask most people what they do all day, and they can’t tell you exactly where their time goes. This isn’t unusual. But how can you expect to invest your time smarter, including getting rid of your time-wasting habits, when you don’t know exactly where you currently spend your time?

The best piece of business advice I ever received was from one of my mentors, Greg, and it was this: ‘Data is King. Always lead with the data.’ You need to collect the data on exactly where you are currently investing your time so you can start making some smarter decisions.

To ensure you get the data you need, step 2 — Map — will help you undertake a personal time investment audit. This can be as extensive as you like, but as a minimum I want you to map one day. If you can map three days, all the better, because obviously all days are not the same. Without exception, people who map their time in detail across a number of days and record every single time they change task, achieve much more impactful results than those who adopt a less rigorous approach. Yes, time mapping can be tedious and irritating, but the data you get is phenomenal and it will change your life.

In short, mapping your time in detail may cause some short-term discomfort, but your long-term gains will be worth it. So, suck it up: you need to invest your time to find your lost time.

At the end of step 2 — Map — you will have a clear idea of what:

• a typical day looks like for you
• a dream day would look like.

 

Alice