We all get 1,440 minutes per day, it's how we use those 1440 that matters.
By acknowledging this, we can start to count down the minutes from the moment we wake up. Every minute counts when you are spending time every hour of the day.
Secret #2: Identify Your Most Important Task and then work on it first thing before anything else.
It’s about focusing on your priority tasks, your MITs. As Kevin states, this is a key task-based action plan for defining what is the most important thing, and then getting into it first thing in the morning.
Secret #3: Work from your computer and not a To-Do-List -- Schedule your important tasks using time blocks. You should schedule important items as early in the day as possible.
Secret #4: Procrastination can be beaten when you figure out how to beat your future self.
This chapter delivers great content. Why do we procrastinate? We are fixated on doing things in the future that never get done. By focusing on our present self, we can make choices in the present moment that impacts our future. As Kevin points out, procrastination isn’t about laziness. It is about underestimating the power of the present moment emotions vs. the future emotions.
Secret #5: Accept the fact there will always be more work to do and more that can be done.
So the concept in this chapter is simple. Leave work at 5pm every day. You can work harder but there is always more to do and there will always be something that needs doing.
Secret #6: Always Carry a Notebook.
This chapter talks about the importance of writing down everything in a notebook. This concept isn’t anything knew but, writing ideas down solidifies them in the mind. It makes them more real. Thomas Edison, George Lucas and John Rockefeller all had notebooks where they kept everything.
Secret #7: Email is a great way for other people to put their priorities into your life.
The 321 system is amazing. This chapter is critical in saving time and giving you back a large part of the day that is otherwise wasted. How much time do we spend on email [reading, writing and sending] a day? How about 2.5 hours. That is a lot of time. By getting your email inbox to zero, you can stop wasting time going through email that is redundant.
Secret #8: Schedule and attend meetings as a last resort.
Who doesn’t love [hate] meetings? This chapter gets down to truth about how so much of our time is wasted on useless meeting time and just filling in the day with meetings because that is what we are supposed to do in companies. Here we get good strategies on eliminating the unnecessary meetings, or at the very least, shortening them.
Secret #9: This is all about knowing [and learning] to say NO to most of the things that occupy your time. If it doesn’t support your goals, say NO and move on. I love this concept.
Secret #10: The Powerful Pareto principal. For anyone who is into Time Management this is a principle that cannot be ignored. The author does a great job of showing us how to apply the 80/20 rule to our lifestyle and business. This chapter has other great takeaways such as:
• Develop your skills to be exceptional in a few areas • Do the most important things exceptionally well • You can work less, stress less and enjoy more happiness by figuring out the 20% of things that are most important to you.
Secret #11: the 3 Harvard Questions that Save 8 Hours a Week: In this chapter you can outsource the work you don’t have to do and save time by delegating what you can.
Secret #12: Why Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey Themes His days. This is a great idea…theme your days to target a specific area of your business. The author provides great examples from John Lee Dumas and Dan Sullivan.
Secret #13: Don’t Touch [Until You’re Ready]. When sorting out email or papers, the golden rule is, touch it once. If it needs to be touched more than that you are wasting time. Either take action on it, file it or throw it away.
Secret #14 is waking up early and getting a kick-start in your day by drinking water, doing exercise or reciting incantations. Kevin uses several key examples from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tim Ferris, Anthony Robbins and John Lee Dumos. This is definitely my favourite technique in the book. Waking up early and taking action gives you the best use of your time and clears your mind for the rest of the day.
The last time management principle, that isn’t really about time management at all, is boosting your energy so you feel better and you can accomplish more in the same amount of time. The book wraps up nicely with 20 additional time saving techniques and strategies.
The “1440” method that reminds us we have only 1440 minutes a day.