No, this is not a post about making time to watch football, although there’s a good one in that concept. This is a post to drive home a key concept. Offense scores points. If you are sitting there thinking, “yes, but the defense can score too”, then stop reading. That sort of skeptical “need to be right” mindset isn’t going to allow you to understand what I’m about to say.
Time management is just like football. Most people don’t manage their time. They don’t have a calendar, or if they do, they don’t fill it with things that keep them busy. Instead, they spend their days reacting to what’s happening to them. That’s defense. You react to situations as they arise. Can you get things done that way? Yes, but it’s typically under a tremendous amount of stress because you are not in control. You are simply reacting. In addition, far too many things (think about your workout here) slip right through the cracks and don’t get done.
Planning your day is where you can get on offense. Everyday I have the people I work with do something that I’ve been doing for quite some time. I list out 10 things that I’m going to do that day that will push my business forward. Sometimes, that list includes things that need to get done, like taking the car to the mechanic. I don’t wait for things to happen. I create offense by simply planning out my day and giving myself some things to do. I’m in control of that. I’m on offense.
You’ll note the absence of a workout from my list. Tuesday is often a rest day for me because its super busy. Today I have Flow and Hard Core Abs from Les Mills. I can guaranty I’ll fit those into my day. I like working out. It helps me deal with stress and it makes me feel good. If you don’t feel that way about it, I highly suggest you add it to your list to make sure you don’t take a defensive posture about something so important.
So guess what? Sometimes it doesn’t work. Today I have 10 things (one being this blog post and another to follow) to get done. I was gearing up for a tremendous day of offense. We were gonna light up the scoreboard today. I went to drop my son off at camp only to find that he’s not registered this week (we were planning on going out of town). My quarterback just threw an interception on my own 10 yard line. And so my planned day of offensive firepower begins with a goal line stand. Stuff like that is going to happen.
Anyone want to bet against me getting those 10 things done? Let me know. I’ll be happy to take your money. I might have to play some defense today and juggle my schedule the rest of the week to do the same, but that’s not going to stop me from getting on offense and scoring points. Get your schedule in order and make a list of things to get done every day and you’ll find the same thing is true.
