Time is the only commodity we can never get back.  When it’s gone, it is really gone.  As I look back on my own life there are so many things I wish I done.  Some I’ll never get done because I just waited too long.  Other’s I will get done but should have done years ago.

1.       Laziness.  It just seemed like too much work at the time so I just didn’t bother.  Become less lazy.  Simple but true.  Get off your butt and get to work.

2.       TV.  I love to watch a good movie.  The time I spend watching movies may not be bad but too many movies a week and that adds up to a lot of time on the sofa.  Limit yourself on a weekly basis.  Random TV or movies can capture you and such an hour or two out of life quicker than you can say “Back in a moment, but first…”

3.       Fear.  What if I fail?  What if I screw up?  What if it doesn’t work out?  What if I stub my toe?  Whatever.  Face your fear and you’ll soon realize that most of what you feared would happen didn’t.

4.       Too many of the little things.  The little things are easy.  They’re comfortable.  They’re familiar.  So we do them over and over and over again thinking we’re accomplishing something.  But the bigger, more satisfying projects are still out there waiting to be done while we do the little thing one more time.

5.       Too much planning.  I’m a great planner.  I can detail with the best of them.  But you can plan so much that you make the task seem bigger than it is.  You can only sort the clothes so much before you just have to put them in the washer.

6.       Not planning.  Some things require planning.  There are times when a job or project looks too big to tackle when all you have to do is a little planning to break the big job down into steps a little less intimidating.

7.       Misplaced stuff.  Understanding that some people have their own organized clutter that works for them, their clutter is their sense of order.   Then there are people who have clutter that hinders them.  They have everything organized to a fault.  Yet for either one, misplaced stuff robs you of time when you can’t find whatever it is that’s not where you thought it’d be.

8.       A good book.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a good book.  But avid readers will tell you they just couldn’t put it down.  They were at such a crucial point in the plot, or whatever.  Set a time limit on your reading.  One hour, or three chapters.  Something like that.  Enjoy this time immensely but when your time is up, put the book down and move on to something else.

9.       The hungry elephant.  How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.  But if you ignore the elephant, he’ll keep eating and growing.  Some things get bigger the more you ignore them.  Don’t ignore them.  Start eating.

10.   The next project.  I’ve started too many projects that never really got done because the next project started to demand my interest and pull me away from the current project.  Make the next project the reward for getting the current project completed.  Order your projects well.

11.   The last 20 percent.  The Pareto Principle or the 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many (80 percent) are trivial.  We can spend so much time on the huge trivial stuff that the vital few things are left undone.  Some of us are masters of the trivial things of life.  Let’s shift focus from the many trivial to the few vital.

12.     Long lists.  They can be very overwhelming at times.  So, make two shorter lists.  Priorty, or order of importance would help.  Put one aside for later tackling and concentrate on the more direct or important one.

13.   Phones, email and Facebook.  You really only have to check them once a day.  Twice at best.  Voice mail works.  Take advantage of it.

14.   The urgent that isn’t important.  Then why is it urgent?  Because the urgent gets in our face and demands to be taken care of.  Learn to discern what is truly urgent and what is truly important.  Act accordingly.

What’s the downside? Some of these things you just can’t avoid.  You just have to deal with them.  But realize dealing with them is a step to conquering them.

What’s the upside? Little things do get done.  Bigger things get started.  Bigger things will get done.  Fewer things to say in your final days than “I wish I’d just had the time to…”

What’s the payoff? Less regrets.  Believe it or not, less stress as well.  More stuff done.  Just feeling better about yourself.  Shorter bucket list, or room for more on it.

The list is hardly exhaustive, but again it is a start to getting some things done by avoiding some things that suck away our time.  As for me, I’m on to the next thing on my list.  Good day.