Procrastination is fatal for someone who wants to manage his time better and take control of his life.  Procrastination is akin to setting fire to your own home, cutting your favourite suit into shreds, and crashing your Porsche onto your neighbour’s hedge.  It is self-sabotage, plain and simple – so why do people do it?

Fear of Failure:  Some procrastinate because they are afraid to fail.  They are too afraid of not living up to their expectations or to other people’s expectations that they’d rather be called lazy than lacking. (more…)

Saying no is perhaps one of the hardest things to do.  Helping other people out is good and pleasing other people is nice, so yes is almost always our default answer.  It becomes even harder to say no when faced with confusing statements.  “Don’t you want to help your friend?”, “Don’t you want to invest some time in building
relationships?”

Saying yes, however, could be one of the most unproductive habits one could have.  When we commit to doing more than we can handle, we have less time to work on our priorities.  Saying yes can also damage your reputation and relationships with other people. (more…)

Human beings, just like any other organism, depend on a cycle of feedback and response, work and rest.  Viewed this way, our highly developed mind can work either for us or against us.  After all, it is our ability to think that has allowed us to adapt to and control our environment to some extent.  Other animals don’t have this privilege – or curse.  Have you ever heard about an overstressed dog or a cat suffering from burn out? (more…)

It would surprise most people to know that the Pareto Principle has applications that go far beyond time management.  In fact Vilfredo Pareto, for whom the principle is named, merely described the income distribution of Italy; he observed that 80% of the total wealth of this country is held by only 20% of its total population.

It is the great business management legend (yes, he is still alive today) Joseph M. Juran, who actually proposed this principle.  He discovered that the 80-20 rule held true for many other things apart from business management. (more…)

The answer is:  It depends on how you use this resource.  As with many other things, time is indeed a double-edged sword.  Some people use it to reach for the stars while others use it to dig their own graves.  Like money, we can invest it, spend it, waste it, or hoard it.  Just like money, what we do with our time can be the cause of success, failure, growth, or decay.

Value and Time
Value in business is intimately tied to success.  This can be seen through market leadership, yearly growth, customer satisfaction, monthly sales, or any other factors that are used to assess business success.  (more…)

The very structure of the above comment stresses need over want – what do you need to do today instead of what do you want to do today?

It’s very easy to go wherever the flow leads us.  An associate dropping by to gossip may be a welcome distraction from the report with which you are currently grappling.  Your son’s need for a Halloween costume may be a good excuse to delay working on an important project. 

These little excuses, however, add up and have a large impact on how well you maximise use of your time.  More often than not, prioritising want over need when it comes to spending time yields adverse financial effects.

So, what must you do today? (more…)