Kevin Ferrara, AFSO21
Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and after pouring a cup of coffee, you sit in front of your computer and log into your bank account. After logging in, you gasp because sometime overnight, $86,400 was deposited in your checking account. You have no idea where the money came from. You see there is a message in your e-mail inbox which upon opening reads, “Congratulations, you’ve been given a gift of $86,400. This money is yours to do as you wish. However, every night at exactly midnight (12:00:00 am), whatever amount you have not spent will be taken back and another $86,400 will be deposited into your account at 12:00:01 am).” You gasp at the message, spitting out your coffee, thinking someone is playing a joke on you, but this is no joke. You’ve been given a gift, a significant gift, and one that will reoccur every day for the rest of your life.
So, what do you do with the $86,400? Do you let it sit in the bank and wait to see what happens next? Do you try and fool the bank by withdrawing it all at once, believing that if you take it out in one lump sum, the bank can’t take it back and you’ll keep adding to the pile? Or do you take out small withdraws here and there spending just what you need knowing that you’re leaving money in the bank that will be taken back but replenished just after midnight?
Now that you’re seriously thinking of what to do with the new-found money, here’s what truly happened while you were sleeping. That $86,400 is not really money, it’s TIME. Every day, we’re given 86,400 seconds to accomplish things in our lives. There is never enough time to do everything we want each day and the truth is while we can’t add time, we can effectively use what time we are given to the best of our abilities and create value in the process. You could ignore time but know that would be a waste. You can’t withdraw time all at once and bank it each day. But you can withdraw time in various amounts and use it as needed until you reach a zero balance. This is called time management and is important to productivity, creating value, and the success of an individual or organization.
Remember what that e-mail message said as you were spitting out your coffee, “whatever amount you have not spent will be taken back.” Does that mean knowing that the clock resets at midnight, we can take our time with completing tasks we’re given, that whatever is not done today will be waiting for us tomorrow? How do you think your employer would feel if they heard you say that or incorporated that way of thinking? What value do you think they would put on your work? What value would their customers put on the product, service, or company? If you’re given a week to complete a task, do you take the entire week, or do you manage your time to complete the task early and work on other tasks that are in the que? Do you think completing a task early creates value? Do you think letting a task drag on reduces value? If value is created or reduced, who is affected?
To understand how tasks are associated with time management, imagine being given a large vase, large rocks, medium rocks, small pebbles, and water. When organized effectively, every item will fill the vase to the rim exactly. The vase becomes valuable because it’s complete. However, if items are placed inside the vase haphazardly, items will remain outside. The vase loses value because it’s not complete. Would you pay full price for something that is missing parts?
We are challenged with using our time wisely, prioritizing tasks in a manner that when well organized, will use all 86,400 seconds effectively. Each item described earlier represents the amount of time we devote to a task. For example, sleeping could be a large rock where brushing your teeth could be several drops of water, one of the many smaller tasks that fill your day. Yes, sleeping is considered a task that gobbles up precious seconds every day. The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults between 18 and 64 should get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each day. That’s 25,200 to 32,400 seconds of sleep each day leaving 61,200 to 54,000 seconds to complete other daily tasks. Would you be able to fill your vase if you slept that long?
Remember, the clock never stops and how we divide the 86,400 seconds given to us each day is entirely our choice. If the rocks, pebbles, and water represent tasks and time, it’s up to you to determine what size represents time to sleep, shower, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, take the dog for a walk, take the kids to daycare, work, play, take the kids to after school activities like soccer, watch television, surf the internet, take classes for professional development, etc. As your head hits the pillow each night, ask yourself, did you fill your vase, or did you leave things out? If you left things out, what could you have adjusted to accommodate them?
