In the first chapter of this book, I compared time to being money – in the sense that you can invest time in different “funds.” The “market analysis” method consists of evaluating what immediate “investments” (activities) will provide you the most growth / return.
In time market analysis, you may also develop certain “investment strategies.” Assuming you are a self-actualized individual, and that you know what you want out of life, you must find an appropriate time “investment strategy” to get you there. Do you have a short term goal, with lots of work that needs to be done quickly? Or, do you have long term goals that require a slower and steadier approach?
Investment goals are similar to life goals. If you need a large amount of money quickly - to buy a new car in a few years, you may invest in a liberal, aggressive growth mutual fund. This would give you what you need in the short term, however may be an unstable fund in the long term. On the other hand, if you are saving for retirement forty years down the road, a conservative, slow growth fund would be more ideal.
Likewise with time, you must determine how far away your goal is, and what sort of investment is needed to reach it. If you are a Senior in high school, and are planning on joining the Marine Corps after graduation, spending a few hours every week reading books on the history of the Corps isn’t going to cut it. You only have a year, and need to liberally invest time in reaching your goal. You would want to develop a physical training routine, along with studying manuals, attending unit functions, etc, to prepare yourself for your final goal: Basic training.
A different example would be if you planned on traveling the world after you retire someday. Aside from saving money for such adventures, you would want to develop your traveling tastes over time, finding locations that interest you, and doing regular research, continuously, until someday you retired and were able to fulfill your dreams. With such a goal being perhaps a few decades away, would it make sense to spend time shopping for the best travel agency around, or to shop for the best deals on airline tickets? Definitely not!
The most important point about prioritization is that priorities are your priorities – do not let others define them for you! You set them in accordance to what is important in life to you. You, and only you can decide that. Your highest priorities should be those things which directly or indirectly bring you closer to what you want in Life.
This excerpt is taken from Ways and Means of Time Management.
Continue to read the entire book for yourself!
|
