In economics, the principle of scarcity says we have a limited amount of time and resources. What are you doing with yours?
Consider Person 1 and Person 2. Both work at the same day job that they don’t love. Both claim to want to own their own business some day.
Person 1’s Typical Week Day
- 8-5: Work
- 5-6 PM: Happy Hour
- 6ish-7.30:Catching up on Twitter, Facebook and Gchat
- 7.30-8.30: Gym
- 8.30-10: Favorite shows
- 10.30: Read magazines
- 11.00: Bed
Person 2’s Typical Week Day
- 5.30 AM: Post article you wrote last night, check google alerts, read and comment on relevant articles in your niche, read Peter Shankman’s HARO and respond to relevant PR leads, check and respond to overnight Tweets, update blog’s Facebook fan page, respond to emails you may have missed yesterday, check out search.twitter.com, make sure you are following people back that started following you.
- 7.15 AM: Walk dog.
- Work 8-5 (while monitoring the online world and listening to podcasts in your niche while doing your work)
- 5.30-6: Dog Park.
- 6.30-7.30: Mandatory work out or networking event.
- 7.30: Put favorite show on in background while doing a few things things in bullet point one, schedule weekend consulting/speaking gigs, write a guest posts and/or article for your blog.
- 9.00pm: Have a meeting with another blogger, author or entrepreneur to see how you can collaborate on projects and grow your businesses, via Skype.
- 9.30pm: Get really excited and “work” some more.
- 11pm: Format and schedule posts, send emails, repeat relevant steps in bullet one.
- Midnight: Reluctantly get some zzz’s.
Person 1 is content. Person 2 is really really happy.
Fast foward 5 years. What are your predictions for Person 1 and Person 2?
Time flies- even when you are not having fun. Make the best of yours.
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Fast forward five years and I see Person 2 being extremely successful not just professionally but also personally. So many people wallow and stew over their situation but don’t make the effort to turn it around for the better. I absolutely love how you broke down the different personalities, Nicole – fantastic post and great source of inspiration for us to fit into the Person 2 mold!
Rachel, My guess is that you’re getting after it similiarly to person 2? Passion is contagious, isn’t it?
Nicole
5:30am Shower and dress
6:00am Clean the kitchen from dinner last night and make beds
6:30am Feed the kids while double checking to-do list for the day to make sure I have anything I might need from home
7:00am Put on coats, hats, boots, mittens, scarves, legwarmers – this actually takes a few minutes to do with all of us – and head to school, putting on makeup in the car (not while driving though)
7:30am At school remove coats, hats, boots, mittens, scarves, legwarmers (again, you’d be surprised how long this takes) and get the kids to their classes
8:00am Take the train to work while reading a book or lately, the instruction manual for my new sewing machine
8:30am Begin work which includes (on top of actual work)
• Eating breakfast at work and taking liquid B for energy/focus
• Go over to-do list for the day
• Making doctors and dentists appointments
• Dealing with legal issues – emails, phone calls, etc
• Planning family time
• Planning birthday parties
• Planning social time with friends
• Tracking budget
• Researching DIY projects for home improvement
• Researching DIY craft/sewing projects for home décor and clothing updates
• Planning meals for the week which also entails planning a grocery list, researching and comparing sales and coupons etc which enable me to cut my grocery expense in half
• Posting items on craigslist we are selling/donating
• Various other things like researching schools for when the kids start kindergarten, health and wellness/science/medicine updates, new recipes, shows/bands/movies we might want to see etc
5:00pm Put on coats, hats, boots, mittens, scarves, legwarmers (even just for me it takes a few minutes haha)
5:15pm Take the train to the kids’ school while reading
5:45pm Kids put on coats, hats, boots, mittens, scarves, etc, gather up any papers, coloring projects, arts/crafts etc
6:00pm Head home
6:30pm Cook dinner, wash breakfast dishes, check to-do list for the night
7:00pm Pick up toys, books etc and eat dinner
7:30pm Bathe kids, pajamas, brush teeth, read a story, and put them in bed
8:00pm Start on to-do list which includes
• Cleaning a different part of the house each night
• Putting away and/or washing laundry
• Going over budget, bills, etc
• Swapping out kids art on the fridge for new stuff
• Going through kids old clothes and toys to sell/donate
• Organizing new coupons, put new recipes in my binder
• Occasionally watching tv for 15-20 minutes at most
8:45pm Get ready for bed
9:00pm Read in bed and go to sleep – I have found that if I don’t sleep enough – as in 7 to 8 hours – I don’t have the energy to get the things done that I need to and I feel much better when I do. I also found that if I don’t take certain vitamins and supplements regularly, it makes a HUGE difference in my focus, energy level, and motivation. I’m sure there’s a ton of things I’m forgetting that I do throughout the day…
Isn’t it funny how the tasks of getting the kids bundled up takes up so much time?
Heather is my cousin, and I can definitely say she ROCKS at being a working Mom. You are a great example to all of us! I don’t see any “have panic attacks” in your schedule so it looks like you’re doing great
panic attack? oh that’s somewhere between going over budget and organizing coupons…
hmm that could have been a guest post haha…
I enjoyed the post and like to keep track of my time (not every day!) to remind myself where exactly I am focusing my energy, since I seem to always be asking, “Where does the time go?!” I always look forward to the American Time Use Survey — cool way of looking at how different groups utilize their time: http://bit.ly/EOJ83
Caryn,
I just played around with that graph- pretty cool! I’ve never seen that before, thanks for sharing. The common trend I saw is that work takes up the biggest chunk of our days- so we might as well do something we enjoy!
Nicole
Hi Nicole!
Thanks for these insights! Because they’re SO great – I have included them in my weekly “Wednesday Wisdoms” post – the latest and greatest in blogs, articles and good old fashioned paperbacks!
Check it out: http://createyourgreatlife.wordpress.com/
Your friend,
DeAnna
@DeeLynn
Woo hoo! Thanks for including this article! I really liked the other links on that post as well! I’ll be checking back on Wednesdays- great idea!
Nicole
I really like your post and agree with most of your points, however I think its important to recognize not all people have the ability to remain so scheduled in their daily lives. Most of my days at college are completely scheduled with little spare time, and I do agree that when I am scheduled I am more on focus and driven, but doesn’t it feel great to RELAX sometimes? I fear that person 2 may get a little burnt out over time. In life you have to keep pushing to succeed but you also have to take a moment to stop and smell the roses.
Additionally, I’ve noticed when your doing something you LOVE it feels less like work so time passes by quickly and your still on track. Hence why we should all try to follow our dreams!
Dearest Sister,
Neither example was intended to suggest that Person 1 and Person 2 follow a strict schedule each day. Rather, it was meant to show how different people might choose to spend their time on a given night. It also shows that time can slip out of your hands if you don’t direct it towards something meaningful.
I have a feeling Person 2 would never be able to sustain him or herself unless they were doing something they were crazy in love with. My guess is they don’t even feel like they are working, but may occasionally need to walk away from the passion for a few days to get their head back in the game.
Agreed, doing what you love is ideal and thank GOD for the internet- it’s actually possible now!
Nicole
I love the break down of Person 1 and Person 2. However I am a Person 3:
10AM – Wake up check twitter, facebook, linkedin and post on my blog
11AM – Check calendar to see if it is a bi-weekly Monday in which it is time to ask Obama for money
11:30AM -Eat something. Anything. Usually peanut butter
12:00 – Go back to blogging, sweet beautiful twitter, commenting on other blogs, and responding to comments.
3:00 – Stand up and stretch
3:05 – Sit down and go back to “work”
5:00 – Gym Time
7:00 – Eat again. Be tempted by peanut butter. Eat chicken. Always chicken.
8:00 – Start forming ideas for new posts or watch a hockey game if on or take a shower.
9:00 – Write blog post but get interrupted by twitter and other random shit
This continues till 3AM when finally deciding to write
5AM – finish post, say goodnight to twitter and try to sleep
5:15AM – can’t sleep so go downstairs and eat Peanut Butter.
5:30AM – sleep
Thanks for this post, Nicole. I just literally sat at my couch staring at the wall for a solid 10 minutes after reading it, just thinking about it, the meaning and how I spend my time. I am one of those crazy people who schedule out my day — it’s become my way to make sure I hold myself accountable for the things I want to be doing like working out, blogging and running errands. I agree with Ashley though — people who schedule every minute of every day do burn out, and sometimes you just need to light a match to the schedule and RELAX. Do whatever your heart feels at that moment.
Yes good point. I bounce between person 1 and 2 which is probably terrible. I burn myself out on being person 2 for a few weeks, then I am like a vegetable for a few days. Moderation is key and scheduling every minute of your day is annoying and unrealistic!
I am not sure I agree with this. It seems as if person 2 may not actually be doing anything 100% but rather just getting stretched extremely thin and sleep deprived. Also, checking the internet continually at work will get you fired in many places… and it’s kind of dishonest given that they’re paying you for your time, unless it’s on your lunch break. I think there’s a successful medium between these two scenarios.
Tania- I agree. Person 2 is stretched. I know this because sometimes I am person 2. The problem is that you spend a lot time doing a whole lto of nothing!
And yes- IT policies at companies are extremley strict. I even know a few people who have been fired for IMing at work/internet use.
So in conculsion, yes, a mixture of person 1 and 2 is probably ideal!
When I first saw this, I thought, oh no, I’m Person 2! Some of the more casual people I know on Twitter have called me “a full-timer” lately. Glad to know the prognosis of being a full-timer is good!
Hey Jill, I recently started following you on Twitter!
On person 2- that schedule was inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk’s book CRUSH IT! and a bit of my own life.
There is obviously no right or wrong way to manage your time, it just depends on what your five year plan is and what your career goals are.
I too am a social media addict. This is partially because I’m trying to position myself in order to grow my own business. Spending so much time on social media can be great, but it it can become like a treadmill to no where if you don’t focus!