The Story and Zen of Getting Things Done
Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed nothing else can be managed.
-Peter Drucker
Is Zen a word that you occasionally use? If you stress the word occasionally, I would answer yes to this question. Especially if we were discussing a topic like getting things done.
Zen teaches that the potential to achieve enlightenment is inherent in everyone but lies dormant because of ignorance. It is best awakened not by the study of scripture or the practice of good deeds, but by breaking through the boundaries of mundane logical thought. To be successful in the battle of getting things done you certainly break through these boundaries.
Related: To do what you love, you must be so good they can’t ignore you.
Nothing else can be managed if time is not managed. Pretty tough quote by Peter Drucker, but if you think about it carefully, you will agree. Getting things done doesn’t come easy and it starts and ends with productive use of time.
Getting things done is all about the ability to plan and control how you spend the hours in your day to effectively accomplish your goals. Poor time management is related to procrastination, as well as problems with self-control. Skills involved in managing your time include planning ahead, setting and prioritizing goals, and paying attention to what you have accomplished.
Before going further in telling you how to be more productive in getting things done, let me tell a story to set the stage. The story is really an effective analogy and here it is:
This story is about a big game prize. Your prize winnings are in the form of a daily deposit by your bank into your account. Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400 in your private account for your use.
However, this prize has rules :
Everything that you didn’t spend during each day would be taken away from you.
You may not simply transfer money into some other account.
You may only spend it.
Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400 for that day.
The bank can end the game without warning; at any time it can say,” Game Over!” It can close the account and you will not receive a new one.
So what would be your plan of action?
You would buy anything and everything you wanted right?
Not only for yourself, but for all the people you love and care for. Even for people, you don’t know, because you couldn’t possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every penny, and use it all, because you knew it would be replenished in the morning, right?
ACTUALLY, This GAME is REAL …..
Each of us is already a winner of this “prize”.
Only instead of money, this prize is TIME.
Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life.
And when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is NOT credited to us.
What we haven’t used up that day is forever lost.
Yesterday is forever gone.
Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank can dissolve your account at any time WITHOUT WARNING …
SO, what is your plan of action for this precious commodity each day? What is your plan of action for getting things done with your time?
Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars. Think about that and enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you think.
Start spending ….. but spend wisely.
It often feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all the things we want to accomplish, let alone find a moment to relax. The demands of work and social life, combined with our basic needs for sleep, food, and exercise, can quickly add up and overflow, producing the sense that time is constantly slipping away.
Time may be limited, but it doesn’t have to always feel that way. New research suggests that our state of mind can change the way we perceive and experience time, and in turn, make us happier and more successful in getting things done.
