With every “tic toc” of the clock, a moment of our life cycle becomes the past. When I was young, a mentor said to me, “You can tell what’s important to a person by how they spend their money.” I would conjecture one could apply the same principle to time. How do we spend our time? In my youth, I squandered my time without much thought. Now, well into middle age, I’m far more conscious of how I allocate my time.

One great way to find the answer to this question is to start tracking your time. From the moment you awaken, until the time you go to sleep, keep a log of how you spend your time. Do this for at least a week. This way you can evaluate how much time you’re spending on each aspect of your life.

You may find that you’re spending valuable time in one area that may wisely be diverted to another. For example: If you’re spending too much time watching television, you may want to redirect some of that time to reading business or personal development books. If you’re spending too much time working on your business, you may want to reallocate some of that time to family. You get the point!

The important thing is to make sure that the time we use is well spent. At some point, the clock of our lives will make its final tic. Make sure that you don’t have regrets for how you spent it.

Eric L. Lipsey