Time--Why You Must Take Control of It by Janet Callaway | The Natural Networker

Anyone who has ever spent any time with me, knows that time management is very important to me. It seems that I am always talking with people about why they need to schedule their time and prioritize their tasks.

Planning your day, your week, your month and your years, is not about completing a “to do” list; rather it is about enjoying your life. Too many people run around feeling overwhelmed and frazzled.

Let me share something with you that helped me to learn to manage my time. Once I learned the system and understood the “why” behind the principles, life choices and time management became so much easier.

Because you can read the background in the book, I am not going to go into the details of how Franklin Day Planner, now known as Franklin-Covey, came into existence.

What I will tell you is that I believe everyone needs to read Hyrum Smith's book The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management published in 1994.

The reason I say this is because reading this book will help you to determine your core values. Once you do that, it will be much easier for you to schedule your time and to take control of your life.

The book is divided into two segments. Part I is Managing Your Time and Part II is Managing Your Life.

To inspire you to read this book, I am going to list the 5 Laws of Managing Your Time. It is not enough to read them as they are; you need to understand how you determine your core values which are governing.

Once you determine your core values and take action accordingly, you will be in control of your life. Here are the 5 Laws of Managing Your Time.

Law 1: You control your life by controlling your time.

Law 2: Your governing values are the foundation of personal success and fulfillment.

Law 3: When your daily activities reflect your governing values, you experience inner peace.

Law 4: To reach any significant goal, you must leave your comfort zone.

Law 5: Consistent daily planning leverages time and increases focus.

Please do not let time slip away from you. Do not run around feeling overwhelmed because you can change that. You can be in control of your life.

In closing I am going to quote a popular e-mail on time.

To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.

To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one second, ask the person who just avoided a traffic accident.

Will you take control of your time or will you let it control you?