Want to get more time? Start using the magic number 168

How many times have you recently thought “I wish the day had more than 24 hours”. Well, that simple idea may be just the root cause of your time problems!

Think of the typical day of an executive: 8-10 hours working, 1-2 commuting, 1-2 feeding, 1-2 household and hygiene, 1-2 for family, friends, and personal activities and 6-8-hour sleep. The day is over. Wake up and repeat!

If you see yourself reflected in the previous description, don’t worry, you are no alone!

And do not think it is your fault. Most (probably all) of us have been grown that way. And it means that our thought process is extremely biased in this direction since we were kids.

However, the good news is you can change it by simply using the magic number 168. Instead of thinking in a 24-hour daily window, start thinking of a 168-hour weekly window.

What a change that will create in your life!

Follow these 5 simple steps:

1. Write down ALL your activities, including both what you already do and what you would love to get started. You can use the building blocks mentioned above or add other ones.
2. Plan your full next week, including the weekend, and allocate time for every activity. How long do you plan to dedicate to each item?
3. Check how much time you have left – there should still be hours available in your “wallet of time”
4. If you are in negative credit, go back to step 2 and revisit the time allocation. Where can you cut? Please do not do it in the usual suspects!
5. Stick to your plan. Of course, there must be room for flexibility, but for the most part you must be able to keep your commitments.

The benefits of 168 are many, here my two favorites:

• You will find out where you are losing or even wasting time in non-productive activities or “time suckers” and reallocate that time to what you really love to do.
• You will reduce your stress level in times of high workload or long business trips by simply thinking that you have it all under control and will compensate it later with the pre-allocated time.

Thanks for reading and let me know how you manage your time in the comments section.