How to Live on 24 Hours a Day

by David John Marotta | 05-24-2004

In 1910, Arnold Bennett wrote one of the firs t s elf-help time management books , "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day." In my teenage years it was my favorite nonfiction book, and I s till live by s ome of its les s ons .
From Bennett's book I learned even though they s ay, "time is money," it is n't true. Time is s o much more than money. If you have time, you can acquire more
money. But money can't buy you more time. Time is a great equalizer. You can't go into time debt. Every day the rich and the poor alike are given twenty-four
hours to s pend.
As a pres idential candidate I can deliver more money to one group or another through tax cuts or government hand outs , but I can't give anyone more time.
Us ing your time wis ely is important for everyone, and critical for thos e s mall bus ines s owners who have greater control over how their time is s pent.
In 1910, Arnold Bennett wrote one of the firs t s elf-help time management books , "How to Live on 24
Hours a Day." In my teenage years it was my favorite non-fiction book, and I s till live by s ome of its
les s ons .
From Bennett's book I learned even though they s ay, "time is money," it is n't true. Time is s o much

Don't put off the things that truly matter

to you until you have more time. You will
never have any more time than what you
are given each day.

more than money. If you have time, you can acquire more money. But money can't buy you more
time. Time is a great equalizer. You can't go into time debt. Every day the rich and the poor alike are given twenty-four hours to s pend.
As a pres idential candidate I can deliver more money to one group or another through tax cuts or government hand outs , but I can't give anyone more time.
Us ing your time wis ely is important for everyone, and critical for thos e s mall bus ines s owners who have greater control over how their time is s pent.
The firs t s tep is lis ting all the goals you would like to accomplis h. Jus t putting your goals down on paper doubles the chance of achieving them. You will find
that the way you are currently s pending mos t of your time does not working toward your goals .
Don't put off the things that truly matter to you until you have more time. You will never have any more time than what you are given each day. Ins tead, you
have to learn how to s pend your time on the things that matter mos t.
When budgeting your time you need to take your whole life into account. Start by lis ting all the regular activities that are important to your wellbeing. Include
your family, chores , recreation, and exercis e as well as work related tas ks . Then add in the tas ks that will help you achieve your goals . Then allocate a portion
of your time to each important activity.
It is bes t to make habits of the mos t important us es of our time. Habits work bes t when they fit into a routine in the normal cycle of time. Routines can be daily,
weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly. If every tas k has its own time, you won't feel as conflicted with multiple tas ks .
For example, s et as ide Saturdays for hous ehold chores and Sunday as a day of res t. Schedule your mos t important work for Monday mornings . If it can't be
finis hed on Monday, the remainder of the work is s till available. Each res pons ibility has a day and time when it receives top priority. As s uming the weekly work
is done, s et as ide time on Fridays for reviewing your goals and how to us e your time more effectively. Many tas ks can be s treamlined, automated, or
eliminated entirely.
It is a s mall portion of what we do that accounts for the majority of what we accomplis h. Time management involves taking each tas k and making the decis ion
to do it, delegate it, or dump it. Wis dom in bus ines s lies in finding thos e activities where our time is the mos t effective, and then s tructuring our work around
thos e activities . As our bus ines s matures , everything els e s hould ultimately be delegated or dumped.
Daily routines provide a chance to balance work with pers onal life. When you are in bus ines s for yours elf you can take the afternoon off to coach your
daughter's s occer team, but you can als o work until two in the morning. Projects can eas ily s wamp whatever time you allow them to take. Succes s ful s mall
bus ines s owners learn to finis h projects quickly. Make it your habit to do the bes t you can in the moment you are in with what you have available. Learn the
principle of "good enough" and you will learn how to finis h projects in a timely way.
In addition to daily and weekly routines s chedule occas ions for tas ks that s pan longer times . Determine the frequency of a tas k and then put in on your
s chedule. Annual events s hould be given a s pecific time of the year when they are to be accomplis hed.
Arnold Bennett would have made a good Vice Pres idential running mate. He believed that the power to live ins tead of jus t "muddle through" is in our own
hands . He wrote, "You can turn over a new leaf every hour if your choos e." For thos e of you interes ted in reading his book, "How to Live on 24 Hours a Day", a
free vers ion is available through the Project Gutenberg athttp://www.gutenberg.net/etext/2274.

Marotta Wealth Mangagement, Inc. of Charlottes ville provides fee-only financial planning and as s et management. Vis it www.emarotta.com for more
information. Ques tions to be ans wered in the column s hould be s ent to ques tions @emarotta.com or Marotta Wealth Management, Inc., One Village Green
Circle, Suite 100, Charlottes ville, VA 22903-4619.