Outsourcing

No one has a time-management problem. The playing field is level. We all have the same number of hours in our day. How we use our time is a choice, and it reflects only one thing – what we believe to be our priorities. What you do have is a priority-management challenge. We all do. There are a lot of demands being made of us and we are trying to develop or maintain the discipline to write (exercise, meditate, whatever).

Know now that it is not about time, it is about priorities.

In prioritizing the demands of life, think in terms of outsourcing. It is a simple rule. Could I hire someone to do what I am about to do? If so, then it should not be at the top of my priority-management list. If it is at the top of my list, I am at risk of leaving the wildly important undone.

Here’s the fact. If I drop dead tomorrow, my spouse or kid or realtor, is going to hire a handyman to come in and knock out my entire to-do-list, plus some, in under a week. The house will look great and I’ll be dead. How hard that guy has to work will be a direct measure of my priorities in life. If I die and no handyman is needed, my priorities were jacked up.

The handyman will not take your toddler to get ice cream. He will not fly your wife to Florida for your anniversary. He will not go see your elderly grandfather. And he will not write your novel.

Prioritize accordingly. dm