Time: our most precious resource ⏱

that we often underestimate

(4 minutes reading)

🇮🇹 👉 Italian version [LINK HERE]

"When you get older
Your wild heart will live for younger days
Think of me if ever you're afraid"

He said: "One day you'll leave this world behind
So live a life you will remember"
da The Nights - Avicii

The first of December 2014 this song was launched, but it became famous, at least in Italy, in the first months of 2015.
The same year that, in August, my mum passed away.

And that is exactly what it is: one day we will leave this world, so it is important to enjoy every moment, because it is unique, unrepeatable and does not come back.
Time is therefore, in my opinion, the most precious resource we have.

🤌 How often do we stop and think about how precious it is? About how much, perhaps, we are wasting out time?

In my personal experience, not enough.
Traumatic events, such as the loss of a loved one or a bad accident that brings us close to death, often help us to reflect.
When this happens, it can lead to a re-evaluation of our priorities, to changing our approach to life, for enjoying each moment more, to being more positive, because, in the end, time spent negatively does not come back and it's time invested unprofitably.

But some time after the event, that feeling of 'immortality', of infinite time in front of us, returns and everything goes back to the way it was before.

⏱ The flow of time is something we all too often take for granted.
But if we stop for a moment, there are many examples around us that make us realise its importance.
Have you ever used a fire extinguisher? Have you ever wondered how long it lasts?
Between 6 and 15 seconds, depending on how much it weighs, and that time could be the difference between life and death.
Have you ever seen a 25 meter rapid fire pistol competition?
The athletes have 8, then 6 and then 4 seconds to hit 5 targets each time.
And they are playing for an Olympic medal in those few seconds, after year of preparation.
Do you realised that you are investing four minutes to read this e-mail? And it took me about two hours to write it?

📌 I have found over the years that stopping and analyse how we have invested our time it’s useful in both our personal and working lives.
Personally, at least once a week I try to take stock of time, trying to understand
- How did I invest my time: did I respect the priorities I set for myself? Did I manage to do everything or there was something left behind? Was it always worthwhile or did I sometimes waste it?
- Whether I could have done something differently: did I spend the right amount of time on the things I wanted? Did I get too upset about something? Did I let myself get involved in new things that I had not foreseen?
- What would I like to do differently the following week: what are my priorities for the coming week? How can I optimise the time I have available to do everything I set out to do? Is there any tool that can help me to be more efficient?

👉 I would like to share with you some practical tips that I have learnt from some colleagues and from reading books on the topic of time management.
- You can use 30 minutes at the end of the day to plan the next day. You will find that the more you plan, the more flexible you will be in changing your schedule.
- Write down all the different tasks in the diary, even taking half-hour slots in the diary to answer emails or to write that from 18.30 to 19.45 I am going for a walk, as you will find in my diary.
- Allow time for 'decompression' between one thing and another, even if only 5 minutes, better 15 minutes, especially between meetings. It will help you to take notes and, once done, unplug and recharge for the next thing to do.
- Taking time for ourselves. In this frenetic life we sometimes underestimate this aspect.
- Take advantage of the 'Focus Time' possibilities of our devices: my outlook inhibits all calls and chats when I am in this status, so I can really be focus.

📜 👉 Do you agree with this point of view or do you think it is very far from you? What do you think about the resource Time?
Let me know in the comments!
As always, I'm happy to help you learn more. If you'd like to have a sparring partner or have a chat about this or other topics, feel free to leave a comment and I'll be in touch.
And today it is even more important to thank you for the time you are dedicating to this reading.

📖 Two books I recommend on this topic are
- The Tomato Technique: the famous method to better manage your time and become more efficient and organised [LINK HERE].
- First things first: helps to distinguish what is important from what is urgent [LINK HERE].

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#BeCurious #BeFocus

Giuseppe