GeekMBA360

Jim Collins is one of my favorite management authors. In this New York Times article, Mr. Collins talked about how he kept a running tally of how he’s spending his time.

“That, he explains, is a running tally of how he’s spending his time, and whether he’s sticking to a big goal he set for himself years ago: to spend 50 percent of his workdays on creative pursuits like research and writing books, 30 percent on teaching-related activities, and 20 percent on all the other things he has to do.

These aren’t ballpark guesstimates. Mr. Collins, who is 51, keeps a stopwatch with three separate timers in his pocket at all times, stopping and starting them as he switches activities. Then he regularly logs the times into a spreadsheet. “

This article really made me think: how am I spending my time? Am I spending time on things that is my calling and I can really make a unique contribution?

I have to say that I have a tendency to be very emotionally invested in my work. Very often when I get home, although I’m physically home I am still thinking about work.

As I’m getting a little bit older (I’m in my mid 30s), more and more I feel a sense of urgency – I want to work on things that really matters. Time is precious – why spend time on things that are not meaningful to me? why spend time with people who you don’t enjoy working with? Warren Buffet said that he chose to work himself because he wanted to choose whom he worked with.

I recently came back from two-week vacation. During the vacation I thought a lot about the importance to consciously knowing and managing how I spent my time everyday.

I’m actually very excited because I feel that a lot of exciting things are in the horizon, but I need to make it happen. I’ll share with you my learning and doing along the way

How are you spending your time everyday? Do you feel fulfilled and enjoyable? I’d love to hear from you.