Any fool can create profit.
It’s the smart ones that can create time.
So first to create time, you have to want to create time.
Yes, you have to want to create time.
Just moaning and groaning about how busy you are, isn’t going to create time.
You can moan and groan, but nothing’s going to change.
So you create time like you create a vacation
If you wish for a vacation in Japan, you don’t get a vacation in Japan.
You have to create it. You have to decide where you want to go.
Buy tickets. Change currency.
But most important of all, you have to make time for the vacation.
So we decided that we’d take 3 months off way back in the year 2004
We didn’t know how.
Or what we’d have to do.
But first the decision must be made.
And the action must be taken.
So we started with one day off on Sunday. No work on Sunday.
Then we took one more day off on Saturday.
We’d soon reclaimed the entire weekend.
This meant that we had to finish what we needed to do by Friday.
We had to. No choice. So when compression occurs, then you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.
And therefore you find things that make you inefficient.
Pretty soon, we were taking three days off.
Then we’d take three weeks off.
Then slowly but surely, we edged to one month. Then two. Then three.
And here’s the most interesting part of all
What’s interesting is that we made more profit in the years we were away, than the years we stayed home.
What’s interesting is that I got more work done in the years I made time, than in the years I just stayed home.
Compressing time forces you to be smart. Compressing time forces you to be efficient. Compressing time forces you to become more and more talented at what you do.
And suddenly you’re able to learn more about photography, badminton, cartoons, websites, writing, travel (and yes, I’m talking about myself and what I do with my time). And I’m adamant about the fact that putting away fixed time is more important to you, me, and every one. You can’t hope for time. You have to make it.
Most of you will shoot down this idea.
You’re too busy to create time, you’ll argue.
But this post isn’t for most of you. It’s for people who understand that once you create time, you create time.
But you also create greater profit.
You now have time to learn.
You now have time to become skilled in your art.
You now have time to think (when was the last time you did that for a day or more?)
You now have time to not-think. And think of nothing. And help your brain relax.
And from all of the above comes profit.
But I’m sure you have no time for profit.
And so you work harder than before.
You see you don’t need elves to help you out. You can be your own best elf.
If you can make time.
But can you?
We all decide how to spend our time. This weekend I decided to turn the compost pile instead of mowing and raking. That will have to wait until next weekend.
We can decide to write for an hour or two each day. Or not. It’s up to us.
I think you’re saying we need to discipline ourselves to make the correct “time use” decisions, if we want to accomplish our goals.
You’re talking about spending time. I’m talking about making time.
There’s a difference. 🙂
OK. I’ll bite. It seems to me that choosing to spend more time this week finishing a project that would normally take next week too so I can take next week off is spending time to create time.
Feel free to elaborate.
Maybe eliminating time wasting activities creates time?
Making time is like planning a vacation. That vacation time becomes non-negotiable. You can’t work while you’re on the plane, while at the beach, while drinking margaritas.
What you have to create is ‘non-negotiable’ time. Then all activity becomes focused. Now you have to finish every other issue before you go on vacation.
What we have is ‘negotiable time.’ Negotiable-time doesn’t work.
Making time, is when it’s non-negotiable. This forces us to be productive.
So if I go for Badminton for about 3 hours, that’s time made. This means I can’t work for three hours. And if I can’t work, then in the time I have to work, I work really effectively.
Then I get my Badminton and my work too. (The ol’ have your cake & eat it too) 🙂