Albert Einstein was once asked to explain, in layman’s terms, his Theory of Relativity. He replied this way. “If you sit with a beautiful girl, two hours seem like two minutes. If you sit on a hot stove, two minutes seem like two hours. That’s relativity.”
That might be an oversimplification, but it makes a point. What we do and how we feel about what we do is critical to our perception of time. And time IS our most valuable asset. What would you value any more than time? Certainly not material possessions. Even to enjoy our relationships, we require time.
And yet, time seems to be treated as if there was a never-ending supply. It’s rare that someone has a profound regard for this building block of life. Most everyone you know is probably busy. But the question is, “busy with what?” Are we investing our time or just spending it?
How is it that some people seem to get so much done while others accomplish so little? Why are there some times when we’re able to be highly productive and other times when we’re not? There are no easy answers. We all have the same amount of time and if you’ve read this far, you probably want to maximize the time you have. Maximize it so as to do the things you want to do with the greatest enjoyment and the most productivity.
This issue is very much “up” for me. I’m busier than I’ve ever been. I love what I do (at least most of it). There just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to do all the things I want to do. And of course there aren’t. It’s true that we can do anything we want to do, we just can’t do everything.
So what’s the answer? Well, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that we can’t manage time. The good news is that we can manage tasks and projects. It’s a skill that can be learned by anyone, but we have to be willing to invest the time (there it is again) to learn how to make excellent use of this precious commodity. It’s something that will reward us for the rest of our lives—whether we have 1 year or 100.
I have some recommendations. First, two books that will focus your attention on this issue and provide you with insight and ideas as to how to make the most of the days of your life.
The books: How to Get Control of Time and Your Life by Alan Leikin. I read this over twenty years ago and still use many of the techniques today. Also, The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management by Hyrum Smith, the founder of Franklin Quest. This book is filled with wisdom on balancing our core values with our time investments.
I hope this short piece on time has caused you to think a little more about it and will prompt you to take some action in order to enhance your most precious asset.
Best Life Truth: Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.
This post was originally published on SuccessNet.org in 2004.
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