Episode 883 Top Ten Myths about Time
[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: [00:00:00] Thanks for joining me on episode 883 of the inspired stewardship podcast.
[00:00:07] Matt Ham: [00:00:07] Hey guys, this is Matt ham from you print. I want to encourage you to find your own journey to living your life's calling. And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend Scott Maderer.
[00:00:20]Scott Maderer: [00:00:20] see
[00:00:21] all of these myths boil down to taking the attitude of it's something I can't do anything about. And the minute you abdicate your ability to do anything about it, you've automatically become less productive than you might like. And the best number one way to overcome these. Is to simply recognize that you have more control than you might think.
[00:00:47] Welcome. And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your [00:01:00] treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence.
[00:01:09] So that you can impact the world
[00:01:13]in today's episode about investing in others. By stewarding your time. I talk with you about 10 of the top MIS about time. I also talk about why understanding how you buy into these myths really matters when it comes to your productivity. And I also share some tips on what you can do to overcome them.
[00:01:32] As we talk about stewarding your time. Wouldn't it be great. If you could support this podcast and do it without just taking too long, it turns out you can't. All you have to do is use inspired stewardship.com/amazon. When you're ready to make a purchase via Amazon and a small commission will come back to support the show.
[00:01:50] Just that quick. If you enjoy the show, when you are ready to buy from Amazon, just use inspired [00:02:00] stewardship.com/amazon. So today I wanted to talk about some of the top 10 myths or beliefs that we have about time and time management and how these affect your productivity. So let me go through the ten first and in the spirit of a countdown list, I'm going to start with number 10.
[00:02:18] The first myth is the idea that you need to just get more efficient. In other words, you need to get more stuff done in less time. It's about getting it done quicker. The second one is that you need to finish one thing before you start another, that you should only get one thing done and then work on the next.
[00:02:40] The third is that you just need to find the one perfect system that works in all cases. The seventh is that. You are more efficient if you don't take breaks during the day. And the sixth is very similar, you're more efficient. If you sleep less and just cram more work into the [00:03:00] day, the fifth is the myth that you have no control over your time or your calendar because you're not the boss or you're not the one in control of it.
[00:03:10] The fourth is that you just need better tools. If you could find the ripe app or the right calendar, it will fix everything. And the third is that there are opportunities out there that you just can't say no to. The second myth is the one that says that I am already doing the best I can to manage my time.
[00:03:32] And the number one myth is I just don't have the time at all. Going through these one at a time, the idea that we need to be more efficient, that we just need to cram more stuff into our day. Can't be further from the truth. The truth is most of us need to actually prune some things off of our to-do list.
[00:03:52] And off of our day, we need to get rid of some things. It's not about efficiency. It's also about pruning. [00:04:00] And if you aren't pruning tasks, then you'll never really be fully productive. Number nine has some truth into it. The idea of finishing one thing before you start the next, there is truth that if you focus, you get more done, but there's also the ability to.
[00:04:17] Break up some tasks into other things. There is a time when putting things together and blocking time to do a series of tasks together is good. And there are times we're actually breaking things up and doing little parts are finishing and then break having a break so that you can bounce off to something else.
[00:04:36] And then come back with a news. The set of eyes is actually valuable. The eight, the finding the one perfect system I can tell you that there really isn't one perfect system that works for every single person. It, in truth, you need to recognize that you can take experiments and take pieces from different systems and [00:05:00] put them together.
[00:05:02] The number seven and number six, the idea of not taking breaks and not getting sleep. The truth is we have more efficiency when we break up our day. That's also related to that finishing one thing, the ability to break your task and have breaks and take time off and get rest and take naps and get sleep are very valuable for actually getting enough things done.
[00:05:26] The number five that you have no control over your own day. The truth is even if you're an employee where someone else sets your day and sets your calendar and set your schedule, you have more control over your time than you might think. You have the ability. To divide and set that time. And what you do in particular times often, way more than you think, even in people that are in like sales jobs, where they're responding to requests that are coming in, I've taught them to actually gain more control over their [00:06:00] time by blocking time and doing other things.
[00:06:04] Which brings us to number four, the idea of having better tools, like the one perfect system. There is no one tool. There is no one journal. There's no one app. There's no one tool that is perfect for everyone and we'll dial in and make everything work. Instead it's about developing a suite of systems and experimenting and trying different things.
[00:06:28] Number three that you can't say no, that's very related to that. No control. We think of an opportunity that comes along is something there's no way we can say no to this. This is just too good of an opportunity. I can tell you right now. There's no such thing as too good. There are things that you can say no to.
[00:06:47] And the more you learn to be able to say no to distractions, the more you get the right things done. Number two, I'm already doing my best. This is related to that feeling of no [00:07:00] control. The minute you start thinking this, you've given up all ability to improve. You've given up the ability you have to continue to get better.
[00:07:09] And remember, it's not about getting things perfect. It's about getting things better. And the number one myth I don't have the time. The truth is you have the time to do way more than you might believe. But what happens is the choices that you are making is what really matters. It's what are you putting your time towards that really matter?
[00:07:34] The minute you say I don't have the time, what you should really say is I've chosen not to make time for this. Because that is really the control that you have. See all of these myths boil down to taking the attitude of it's something I can't do anything about. And the minute you abdicate your ability to do anything about it, you've automatically become [00:08:00] less productive than you might like.
[00:08:02] And the best number one way to overcome these is to simply recognize that you have more control than you might think you have more ability to get there. Things done than you might think. And it's an experiment. It's a game. It's something that you want to play with and begin to try little things. And over time, you'll discover ways to improve.
[00:08:27] And if you improve just a little bit each and every day, you would be amazed at what you can accomplish in a year. Thanks for listening.
[00:08:37]Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you like this episode on the stewardship of time, be sure to sign up for our [00:09:00] stewardship of time tips series by going to inspired stewardship.
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