The First 2 Hours summary

It’s doubtful that you’ve made it this far in life without hearing the adage that “time is money.” But how often have you stopped to consider the implications of that? While you can’t put time in a bank, your time is surely valuable to you. Isn’t that why you’re here? Every minute of your work life has a dollar value. It’s about time you learned how to manage it.

The key message here is: Time is your most valuable asset, so invest it wisely.

So now that you’ve learned why it’s so important to manage your time, how do you do it? Let’s start with the first two hours of the working day. 

Your morning is the most valuable time of your day – your focus is sharp and your energy is high. Studies show that as the day goes on, people get more irritable and have more trouble making decisions. So the morning is a great time to handle all the tasks that require effort and concentration. This is the time for you to be proactive, choosing what you do rather than reacting to whatever drama greets you when you come into the office.

So you’ve come in with a game plan, put your head down, and taken care of the most important business. Now, it’s time to pop back into the world and see what’s come up since you’ve come into work and what your co-workers might need from you.

Since your energy and creativity are still high, feel free to make yourself available to your colleagues. Because it’s still early in the day, you can be flexible and react to things that come up. And though these issues may not be high-impact for you, they’re probably quite important for your team members.

Now we come to the hardest part of the day: the post-lunch blues. You probably wish you could crawl under the desk and take a nap. Unfortunately, you still have to work, even if you feel drained. That’s why this part of the day is reserved for all your low-intensity, low-impact tasks.

The key message here is: After lunch, focus on small, low-priority tasks.

During the last two hours of the working day, most people catch their second wind, on which they can coast until it’s time to go home. This little boost of energy is what makes the last two hours almost as important as the first two. This is the time when you get to be preactive – planning more than doing, reflecting on the day, and thinking about tomorrow.

The key message here is: Use the end of each working day to plan for the next.