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Name: 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management
Rating: 4.5 (887 reviews)
Author: Kevin Kruse

Kevin Kruse

The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs.

4.5 (887 ratings)

20 mins

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Focus

Table of Contents

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management
Summary of 8 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Up your time management skills.

Modern life is full of time thieves. Whether it’s your phone buzzing in your pocket with the latest tweet, a colleague interrupting you in the middle of an important task or the daily barrage of emails, your time is constantly being stolen from you, minute by minute, hour by hour. And once you’ve lost that time, you can never get it back again.

To remain focused and make sure these time thieves don’t get the upper hand, you need to keep a few tricks up your sleeve. These blinks will get you started.

In these blinks, you’ll learn

why the number 1,440 is so important;
about the 321-Zero system; and
how many books George W. Bush read throughout his presidency.

Time is your greatest asset and should be spent wisely.

Do you ever wish you could have an extra hour in the day to read, exercise or hang out with the people you love? Well, you can and there’s no magic required! But first, you need to understand how precious time is.

That’s why the first secret of time management is learning that time is your most valuable asset and that, once it’s lost, you can never get it back. A good way to monitor this precious resource is by breaking it down. For instance, there are 1,440 minutes in a day, each of which should be invested wisely.

To remind himself of this fact, the author taped a “1,440” poster to his office door. It reminds him of the limited time in each day.

But why use minutes? Why not think about the 86,400 seconds that every day offers?

Well, there are a bunch of daily tasks that you can actually do in a minute, like knocking out 30 sit-ups, reading a poem or watering a plant. This fact makes minutes key to monitoring your time.

Okay, now that you appreciate how valuable time is, it’s time to start prioritizing it. This is where the second secret comes in: determine and prioritize your most important task, or your MIT. This is the single task that will have the biggest impact on your life or work.

Just take Therese Macan, a professor at the University of Missouri-St Louis. She found that one of the most important productivity determinants is the ability to identify priorities. So pinpointing an MIT is central to time management.

For instance, if a senior executive sets a goal of developing a new app, her MIT might be to hire a new programmer. Or the MIT for a start-up CEO could be to prepare a great presentation to land a major investment. Research has shown that having a daily MIT, whatever it is, results in greater levels of happiness and improved focus.

Ditch your to-do list for a calendar to accomplish more while stressing less.

Lots of people are weighed down by never-ending to-do lists. Take a look at yours. How many of the tasks have been lingering there for weeks, unnecessarily stressing you out?

You probably have at least a few such tasks, and the best way to deal with them is by pulling out a good old fashioned calendar. Here’s where the third secret comes into play: ditch your to-do list and pick up your calendar to de-stress your day.

Overcome procrastination by anticipating how you’ll act in the future and accepting that there’ll always be more to do.

Everyone’s been there: an important deadline is creeping up and, instead of working on the project at hand, you’re planted in front of a screen – scrolling through Facebook, texting a friend or watching your favorite TV show. Procrastination is a tough one, but, luckily, there are strategies to break free from it and start getting things done.

This is where the fourth secret comes in: procrastination can be overcome by imagining your future self.

Writing down your ideas and limiting trips to your inbox will clear your mind and boost your productivity.

Have you ever had an incredible idea while shopping for groceries or walking the dog? Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of straining to remember it later, you could just jot it down right then and there?

That’s why the sixth secret is to always have a notebook handy. After all, writing down your thoughts helps you hold onto them. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson says he never would have built his business empire without his trusty notebook.

Regain control over your time by avoiding meetings and saying no.

If you’ve ever had an office job, you know how incredibly boring meetings can be. But that’s not the only problem with meetings. The eighth secret is that most meetings are inefficient and you should only schedule them as a last resort.

In fact, a 2015 survey found that 35 percent of respondents considered weekly status meetings to be a waste of time, for these two primary reasons:

The 80/20 rule and a few self-reflective questions will increase your efficiency and satisfaction.

By now you know that it’s essential to spend your limited time on tasks that will have the greatest impact. The tenth secret can help you do that. It says that by applying the Pareto Principle you can uncover shortcuts to success. Here’s what that means:

In the 1890s, the Italian philosopher and economist Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto found that 20 percent of the pea plants in his garden produced 80 percent of his healthy peapods. He extrapolated this 80/20 rule into the general principle that now bears his name. It can be applied to a number of areas.

Theming each day and immediately completing short tasks will boost your efficiency.

On a normal day in the office, do you ever have difficulty focusing? Most people do and a little bit of advice here can go a long way. This is the twelfth secret, which says that grouping your work into recurring themes each week will make you more effective.

A great example comes from Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter and founder of Square. He says that the secret to running both his companies was to have a theme for each day. For instance, on Mondays, he would focus on management; Wednesdays would be dedicated to marketing; and Sunday would be reserved for reflection, feedback and strategy for the next week.

Increase your energy level and attention with a morning ritual and a simple technique.

Imagine waking up at six in the morning, working out for 45 minutes and then whipping together a delicious, high-protein breakfast. It might sound difficult but the fourteenth secret shows why it’s essential.

It says that dedicating the first hour of each day to a morning routine will enhance your health – mind, body and soul. In fact, starting the day with a workout is a great way to get your creative juices flowing.

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What is 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management about?

15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management (2015) reveals the secrets of time management used by billionaires, Olympic athletes, honor students and entrepreneurs. These blinks are a guide to extreme productivity that won’t wear you out.

Best quote from 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management

To do two things at once is to do neither – Publius Syrus

—Kevin Kruse

Who should read 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management?

High achievers who want to spend more time to exercising, reading or with their family
Procrastinators everywhere
Employees who feel overworked or overwhelmed at the end of each day

About the Author

Kevin Kruse is a New York Times best-selling author. His first failed business venture occurred at 22, but instead of giving up, he went on to build several multimillion-dollar companies. He’s now a Forbes leadership columnist and keynote speaker on time management.

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