This One Concept Changed How I Think About Time

I recently finished “The Science of Scaling” by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Blake Erickson. It is written for entrepreneurs trying to grow their businesses. The book has a lot of good ideas, but one stuck with me more than the rest: using time as a tool.

Stop dragging tasks

We let tasks drag on far longer than they need to. The book offers a fix: give a task your full focus, then put a hard time limit on it. When you do this, you naturally cut out the busywork and focus only on what actually produces results.

The one-year exercise

Think of a big goal you have been sitting on. Now tell yourself it will get done in one year, no matter how unrealistic it sounds. From there, break it down:

• What must you accomplish each quarter?
• What needs to happen every month?
• What does week-to-week progress look like?
• What are your daily tasks?

Seen from that angle, the big goal starts to look a lot more achievable. A firm deadline forces you to decide what actually matters and what does not.

This kind of focus reminds me of something I picked up from Miyamoto Musashi, who only ever focused on the opponent right in front of him. I wrote about his approach in The Book of Five Rings.

Try it

Pick one goal and run through the exercise this week. Use time as a tool, break your goal into layers, and focus on what actually moves things forward.