15 Secrets Successful People Know About TIME MANAGEMENT

SPEAKER: How come
some people achieve

so much and some so little?

Being a highly
successful man himself,

Kevin Kruse set out to
interview seven billionaires, 13

Olympic athletes, 29 straight A
students, and 239 entrepreneurs

about their productivity habits.

15 Secrets Successful People
Know About Time Management

is the result of those habits.

Today, I'll share a
summary of the book

and give you the top takeaways.

Let's start by a story from
Kruse himself and secret number

one.

Time is your most valuable
and scarcest resource.

Being plagued by
constant interruptions

when working as a
CEO, Kruse decided

to put a sign on his
door that read, 1440.

Why?

As he saw it, there were
1,440 minutes in a day.

Each minute would either
take him towards success

or towards failure.

How he spent those
minutes were crucial,

and how his employees spent
those minutes was also crucial.

Time was and his employees'
most precious resource.

Therefore, he wanted to alert
anyone knocking on his door.

That time was a finite
and scarce resource,

and once spent, one that
could not be returned.

You only have one shot at
every minute you get in life.

Use it well.

So how do you spend
your minutes well?

Secret number two.

Identify your most important
task and do it first.

You need to figure out
MITs, most important tasks.

Then you start your day
by doing them first.

That way, you're less
likely to be disrupted

by events during the day.

When you have long term
goals, to reach them,

you need to figure out what your
most important tasks are right

now and then complete them.

Keep your eye on
the long term goals

as they will drive you forward
and should be crystal clear,

but focus on the MITs.

You also need to
structure your day.

This is secret number three.

Work from your calendar,
not a to-do list.

A to do list will enable you
to see what needs to get done

but has no order of priority.

If just having a to-do list
while completing one task,

you'll realize you
need to do another,

and it will lead to
a forever growing

to do list that isn't
completed successfully as it

keeps shifting and changing.

Also, on to do lists,
complicated and undesirable

tasks tend to end
up left undone,

and having a lagging
to-do list creates stress.

It's only when you put what
needs to be done in a calendar

and strictly set time aside for
each task that it gets done.

Schedule your MITs
in your calendar

and see them as
important appointments.

Never cancel on yourself
unless absolutely necessary.

If you do, immediately
reschedule.

Tend to always be
dragging your heels.

That leads us on to
secret number four.

To avoid procrastination,
trick yourself.

Do you love to procrastinate
but hate the results it brings?

To beat yourself at this game,
turn what you aim to do later

into something you do now.

Put it in your calendar or MITs.

Remember, you cannot cancel on
yourself once you've scheduled

an appointment with an MIT.

To keep your motivation high and
to remain accountable, imagine

the end results and share
your task or goal with someone

else who does it with you
or keeps you accountable,

such as joining a
gym with someone,

or having someone check
in with you every day

to see what your MITs are and
if the MIT'S from yesterday

have been completed.

You can also give yourself a
treat when completing a task,

be that a walk around the park
or a phone call to a friend.

Likewise, if you complete
all the MITs for the day,

you can treat yourself to
an evening of something fun.

If you don't complete a task,
have a punishment in place,

such as donating money.

You really don't like
donating right now

or doing the washing for a week.

Also, fake it till you make it.

Imagine yourself a highly
effective and successful person

with limited minutes every day.

Treat yourself as if you
were Richard Branson or Oprah

Winfrey.

Lastly, embrace the fact
that you aren't perfect.

Don't get upset if you
don't get everything right.

Settle for good
and aim to improve.

If you like the sound
of this book so far,

you can get it for free
with a trial of Audible

using the link in
the description.

I highly, highly recommend
audible and personally

use it all the time.

Also, if you use the
link in the description,

it helps to support
this channel.

Secret number five
is there will always

be more, so set time
to leave the office

or leave when you get tired.

Andy Grove, author of
High Output Management,

has a rule that
when he gets tired,

his job is done for
the day because if he

keeps looking at what is left
to do, he'll never stop working.

Focus on completing
your MITs every day.

Once that's done,
the job is done.

Hustle smart, not always.

But what if great ideas come
to you after work hours?

That's secret number six.

Always carry a notebook
and write your ideas down.

Studies show that the brain uses
interconnected functions when

processing written information.

Basically, it leads to more
accurate and clearer recall

of information than when typing.

So when you get
your next great idea

or need to remember
something, write it down.

If it's an idea worth keeping,
set time aside later to type

it into your laptop,
so you don't lose it.

Speaking of typing away, you
need to deal with your inbox.

Secret number seven is apply
the 3-2-1-0 rule when checking

your inbox.

Emails become a
huge time waster,

which is ironic because they
should be saving us time.

We no longer have to write
letters that we post,

nor do we have to waste time
on long phone conversations.

We can be precise and
to the point in emails.

Yet, McKinsey Global
Institute found

that office workers, on
average, spend one third

of the day exchanging emails.

To ensure this doesn't
become the case,

unless you are a customer
service representative

or similar, Kruse suggest
to apply the 3-2-1-0 rule.

Spend 21 minutes three times
a day to check your inbox

and reply to emails.

When you read an email, decide
immediately to take action

or delegate it.

Don't save it till later
unless you absolutely have to.

And you only have 21 minutes
to deal with your inbox,

so keep your replies
to the point.

Also, remember to turn
off email notifications,

so that you don't get
distracted during the day

by incoming emails.

Meetings are another
big time waster.

Secret number eight is
to avoid wasting time.

Only schedule meetings
as a last resort.

As a last resort means if all
other ways of communication

fail, emails, phone
calls, et cetera.

If you need to
schedule a meeting,

keep it as short as
possible, such as a huddle

where everyone stands up.

Research shows that
sit-down meetings

last an average of 40% longer
with no significant difference

in the quality of
decisions made.

Also, have a neatly
planned agenda

and set a time limit,
such as keeping it

to 15 minutes maximum.

Of course, make sure everyone
turns off their cell phone

to maximize productivity.

Just as you need to
say no to meetings,

secret number nine is say no
to everything that doesn't

support your top priorities.

Warren Buffett said
that successful people

say no to nearly everything.

Why?

Because they have to decide what
takes them towards their goals

and what doesn't.

They will say no to
everything that doesn't

support their immediate goals.

Think of it as an
opportunity cost.

When you choose to do one thing,
you lose out on everything else.

So choose things that
support your immediate goals.

Of course, you will
have immediate goals

in your private life as well.

That's outside of work
hours, but you can also

still apply the same principle.

Another principle is
the Pareto principle,

and secret number
10 is to follow it.

The Pareto principle states
that 20% of your tasks

bring 80% of your results.

So focus on the 20%
that brings you results.

The other 80% you can
down-prioritize or outsource.

Likewise, you are more
passionate about certain things

than others.

And secret number 11 is to
focus on the things that

utilize your unique
strengths and passions.

If you do things
you love, you tend

to do them better and faster.

A Harvard research
team did some research

and asked employees to ask
themselves three questions when

approaching a task.

One, can the task
be dropped entirely?

Is it really necessary?

If not, drop it.

Two, can the task be delegated?

Three, can you create
a better solution?

They found that a lot of
time was saved this way

because people delegated
what they didn't want to do

or weren't the best
at doing to others

and came up with better
processes for things

they had to do or were
uniquely suited to doing

and passionate about.

Consider, for example, if
you spend 10 hours a week

cleaning the house.

If you set your
own hours working,

this time could be spent
earning $50 per hour instead.

If you hire a cleaner
for $25 per hour,

you're saving $25 per hour.

The cleaner might even be able
to clean your house in less time

than you would because they're a
professional cleaner, saving you

even more money.

Of course, if you
enjoy cleaning and it's

a way you destress, then by all
means, don't hire a cleaner.

Mark Cuban, for example,
enjoys doing the laundry.

But if it isn't your passion,
do your best to delegate.

That way, more things that are
important to you will get done.

Another way to save time
is secret number 12.

Batch your work with
reoccurring themes

for different days
of the week or month.

We all become more productive
when we aren't constantly

changing gear.

For example, every Monday might
be spent dealing with admin,

and every Wednesday spent
on product development,

while Fridays are for meetings.

Dustin Moskowitz, the
co-founder of Facebook,

has a No Meetings
Wednesday theme.

For the average Joe, that
might not sound spectacular.

But when you work at
that level, having

one day of uninterrupted
focus in your office

can make a world of difference.

And if you get to that level,
you need every minute you get.

The next secret,
secret number 13,

is if you can do it in less
than 5 minutes, do it now.

As mentioned previously, when
you look through your inbox,

immediately deal with
replying to an email you open.

Should the email
have a lengthy task

attached to deal with to be able
to respond, immediately schedule

it to your calendar.

The same applies for any
other task you carry out.

If you can do it now, do so.

If not, immediately schedule
it in your calendar.

Also, set time aside
for routine tasks,

such as cleaning your
desk, paying bills.

If you let them pile up, this
will create physical and mental

clutter.

What would take 5 minutes
a day or 20 minutes a week

ends up taking a
whole lot more time.

You also need to set
time aside for yourself.

That's secret number 14.

Schedule time for your
mind, body, and spirit.

Setting a morning routine
where you revive mentally

and physically, eating
a healthy breakfast,

meditating and exercising
energizes you for the day

ahead and allows you
to keep a clear mind.

Lastly, and very importantly,
secret number 15.

Productivity is about
energy and focus, not time.

Ever note as you get more done
in a specific state of mind.

To get more stuff done,
it isn't about time

but about energy and focus.

You're the most
energized in the morning.

That's why you schedule
your MITs then.

In general, the brain works
best focusing in 90-minute time

slots.

After 90 minutes, you need a
break to revive and revitalize.

Having a snack,
going for a walk,

doing a 15-minute exercise
routine, or prepping dinner,

whatever takes your fancy,
can all work to revitalize you

for your next 90 minute
session of focused work.

Don't forget to
check out Audible

using the link in
the description

to get this book for free.

I personally think audiobooks
are the best investment

you can make because just
one book can completely

change your life.

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