How the Most Successful People Manage Their Time
"Where does the time go?" I say it. I'm sure you say it a lot. We seek work-life balance but it seems there's never enough time to get it all done. And yet we all know there are people who accomplish a lot more than we do in a day  and they don't have magic powers. How do the most successful people manage their time?, Laura Vanderkam talked to a number of those people including productivity expert David Allen and the former CEO of Pepsi and found out their secrets. She's written about what she learned in a series of books, I gave Laura a call and we discussed what she learned from successful people about managing time and getting things done. Here's how you can get tons of stuff accomplished during the week, feel less stressed and even have more fun on the weekend. Interviewing so many successful people, what did she hear some version of over and over? They all seem obsessed with one question, They plan their time, track their time and are always thinking about the opportunity cost of their time. The first question you need to ask is "Where is my time actually going?" Not where you think it's going, where is it actually going. This does not involve leaning back in your chair and kinda sorta guessing about what you vaguely remember doing. Write down what you do for every hour of the day. Let's just say seeing clearly in black and white how you spend your time can be sobering. Or, in some cases, downright depressing. But it works. You can't trust your head when it comes to time. You need to be accountable. Dieters who wrote down everything they ate lost an extra six pounds. Via What the Most Successful People Do at Work, There are other benefits to doing a time log. It helps you figure out how long things really take versus your optimistic underestimates. Here's what Laura told me, The other benefit that comes from doing a time log is you can see the optimal windows for you to accomplish certain tasks. Are you sharper in the morning? Most people are. Then you can schedule "deep work" for that time. For more on the six things the most productive people do every day click here., So you've started a time log and you've probably spent some time crying after reading it and now you're ready to spend your hours better. What's the next step? You need a plan. And not some little one either. In a study of CEO's what correlated with an increase in sales? Not how much time they had, but how much time had been planned out. Via What the Most Successful People Do at Work A Short Guide to Making Over Your Career, Georgetown professor and super-organizer Cal Newport agrees To-do lists aren't enough. Things need to be assigned hours to really get done. How do you create your plan? Think about two things what are you good at and what makes you happy?, Successful people spend as much time as possible on their "core competency" and ignore, minimize or outsource everything else. They spend time on that thing they're best at which produces meaningful results. Writers need to be writing. Accountants need to be working with numbers. And everything else like email and meetings just gets in the way. Laura also suggests creating a long list of things that bring you joy. Yes, you need to write them down. Might sound silly but by having an actual list it's easier to remember them and slot them into your schedule vs waiting for serendipity. For an example of the type of schedule very successful people follow every day, click here., So you're putting your plan together. What's another secret of successful people that delivers results over the long haul?, Morning rituals are for those things that are important but not urgent. Long term planning. Exercise. The stuff we know we should do but perpetually put off. These things don't have a hard deadline and nobody will shout at us if they don't happen.1, Via What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, Research shows we have more willpower in the morning. One of the successful people Laura spoke to said "Every day I have a job but in the morning, I think I have a career.", Mornings are the time to make progress on those vital long term goals. For more on how the most organized people structure their time, click here., Time log check. Weekly plan check. Morning ritual check. What else requires some forethought? Fun. Here's where people freak out. They don't want to plan their free time. But if you're serious about your leisure time, then take it seriously. I'm not talking about planning work or chores. I'm talking about planning fun  as in making sure you have some. How many weekends have blown by where you didn't get off the couch and, frankly, it wasn't all that memorable? Exactly. Research shows we're happier when we plan our free time and that "doing nothing" doesn't make us happy. More importantly, studies have shown that you often don't do what makes you happiest  you do what is easy. So you need to plan if you want to have fun. What's a weekend plan look like? Nothing draconian. Laura says you just want 3-5 "anchor events" to make sure you're having a good time. Here's Laura, Looking to be happier? By planning fun stuff ahead of time you get to anticipate it. And research shows anticipation makes us very happy. Best part is even if you don't follow through and do the anchor event, you already got the anticipatory happiness. Happiness and laziness!, Via What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend, For more research based tips on how to make your weekends more awesome, click here., Weekend fun is locked in. What's the most vital part of insuring you're ready for the workweek to start again?, You know the weekend is over and tomorrow it's back to work. Instead of being filled with dread, plan something awesome for Sunday night. Here's Laura, Research shows Sunday is the saddest day of the week. Plan something fun ahead of time and that doesn't have to be the case. For more on how to achieve work-life balance, click here., Okay, we've got some great tips. Let's pull this together. Here's what you can learn about time management from very successful people, 168  that's how many hours we all have every week. We need to get out of the mindset of "I don't have time.", We all have the same number of hours. Period. It's what you choose to do with those hours that will shape your entire life. To quote a video game franchise I worked on a while back, This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Join over 100,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. 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