So we revealed that everyone has time for everything in our last post. It always depends on the level of our priority. How important is this person or the task for me that I sacrifice my time? And as said, it is our daily struggle to deal with prioritizing. But, what do we do when it seems we have no time at all, even when we prioritize carefully?
What we should do is multiply our time to bring more results to the end of our day. Therefore, in Rory Vaden’s book “Procrastinate on Purpose”, he introduces 5 Permissions to do it. Let’s talk about the first one, Ignore- the power to eliminate.
The first step of multiply your time
Eliminate is our first step and also one of our biggest steps towards multiplying our time. The essential about multiplying time is to finish your work today so that you have time tomorrow.
Think about all the stuff you are doing right now, that you do not need to be doing. All your time-consuming and unproductive tasks can stop right now without explanation, no warning, or no apology. What is the thing you can top doing right now?
Once you put on the Multiplier’s mindset and you give a chance to Eliminate, you might realize that you completing the trivial task just to satisfy your need to feel accomplishment. What are the first activities that we can eliminate? By eliminate your task or your doing, you automatically have more time for the important stuff. Prioritize your life and say no to trivial things.
How to multiply your time by the power of no
Many people, also me included, have problems saying no. It is difficult to say no to friends, no to family. These people like me are afraid that we would disappoint the other side. So we throw an uncommitted “yes”, to satisfy the demand. But in the end, we regret it. That we volunteer to sacrifice our precious time. And these kinds of “yes “, are not strong, let’s do it, yes it is more like a maybe.
And, oh boy I hate that word ” maybe’‘.
”I don’t really want to but I guess I’m going to”, ”I don’t know which burger I want.”, ”Maybe, I will fight for her/him/ my career/ my respect..” – Maybe it is definitely indefinite. This word is unsure, uncertain, uncommitted. And it shows the insecurity of people, and are also judged as weak and unreliable.
Listen up, saying maybe, or a metaphor of it or live the way of maybe keep you stuck forever. You do not move forward, only standing still or moving backward. Do not let yourself or others in the ” maybe”. Do not tell people, ”Maybe I have time for you.” Get rid of it.
Powerful people do not live in maybe. Their life consists of only yes and no’s. Because both of them are absolute. You are always saying no to something. In other words, any time you say yes to one thing, you automatically saying no to something else. Keep it in mind.
Let your yes be yes and your no is no. As a result, a clear yes and no will define what is important to you. And consequently define who you are, which value you treasure the most, and the path you will be heading to. Multiply your time by saying a clear yes and no will also define who you are.
A few things you should immediately eliminate
Re-decision:
Reviewing a decision you have already made up. Because it is a difficult decision you take another time to think about it, falsely thinking it would be easier to make our decision tomorrow than it was today. So, you spend additional time thinking over it again instead of spending your time otherwise more wisely.
Doing other people’s work:
I think that one is clear. Your time > their time.
Sharing your opinion:
I was being raised to always share my opinion. In the end, it makes no sense at all. There is no value in sharing opinions. Either you are weak and live by others’ opinions or you are strong who do not need an opinion from them. Read more.
Watching TV:
Also all kinds of streaming services or Facebook/Youtube videos. I am sorry folks, counting watching series to your hobbies is like: I like surfing on the internet. No value and in the 21st century everyone does that. I do watch series myself, but only on recommendations when they are really good. However, watching all Netflix originals is not something you should be proud of.
Explanations versus experience:
I hate talking about stuff when it does not happen yet, alias theory, or what-if scenarios. It is truly a waste of time. You make an all-night talk session about something you think could happen and in the end, it does not happen at all. A typical case of overthinking. Also, when you explain to yourself what you can do or will do, it is still a waste of time. Prove it. Show it. Likewise, let your friend prove their value or your time. Do not explain everything that they should do. Let them prove it to you. Not only it reduces the time; it will reduce the drama.
Unreasonable people:
You know them. People who only reason to exist in your life is to drain all kinds of positive energy from you. Leave them. Do not tell them and explain why. Most can not quit them because they have an urge of helping others in need. Quit your wanna-be-hero syndrome, you can not rescue all of them and it is not your responsibility.
Summary -How to multiply your time
I hope you understand now the importance of ignoring activities and you feel less uneasy to say no. It is fine to be nice and it is good to be respectful, but to gain peace and perspective in your life is a far more important value to achieve. You have to learn to be okay with just Ignoring certain things.
If the only reason you are doing something is that you feel guilty about not doing it – then do not do it.
Whenever the only reason you are doing something is that you fear what you might miss out then do not do it.
If the only reason you are doing something is that you feel obligated just because someone asked you to do it – do not do it.
Remember, every second you waste on shit, you exchange the time for important things in your life. This is the first step to multiply your time.
The next post in this series is how you automate specific tasks – a technique to invest in. Stay tuned.