What time is it?

In business today, it’s about meetings, working with people you have to and not always who you chose to, time poor projects and accomplishing long work lists while cramming everything into longer and longer days.

So did you spend the last 10 minutes or the last hour, or the last day with the right people, working on what makes you happy? Were you productive in the sense that you got a feeling of satisfaction working with people of integrity and credibility? Did you deliver in the last week, to the people that matter the most?

Time was, and didn’t it go slowly at first, you had plenty to spare and the future offered only opportunities. It soon became apparent distractions, people who didn’t believe in you, money to be earnt, relationships squandered and parties got in the way of that future. So the time you spent at work, and it’s been significant, went by in a blur and you wonder if anyone noticed?

With hindsight we look back and see not much has changed. There are still distractions but they seem larger in the form of mortgages, car payments and gas bills. People in general still don’t care or believe in you but unlike in your youth, it’s more difficult to walk away as they likely sit next to you at work. You still work hard on increasing the dollars while parties have long since morphed into work BBQs and long dinners with colleagues.

Yet aren’t you in control of your life? Don’t you make decisions to suit yourself? Isn’t time more important now?

There will always be work parameters that constrict your imagination and complicate plans you have for the future. There will always be incidents and accidents that distract you from your goals. In fact a multitude of happenings can distract and take your focus from things that matter.

So before the hours turn into days, turn into weeks and time slips by, consider the importance of working with only the right people, using time wisely to spend with them and delivering what you are passionate about. You can always earn another dollar but you can’t get back your last 10 minutes especially if they weren’t spent well. Just like you can fire a negative and high maintenance client, think about doing the same to the people who block you at every turn.

Spend your time delivering on promises to yourself and most importantly to the people that matter. You know who they are in your office, the ones ready to support your ideas and do the favours without agendas. The people outside of your work circle, who matter most, are just as important for you to deliver without distraction of politics and negativity. The days of putting up with scathing negativity, scorn and aggression towards your thinking have to be behind you.

Find your supporters, it may be a small group to begin with but they have the capacity to motivate, energise and push you higher than you think possible. Spend those valuable 10 minutes with people who get you, who want to work with you and who believe in you.

Take a minute, take 10, to think about the last hour, the last day and ask yourself was it worth it and did I spend it with the right people. Don’t compromise your time, it can’t be replaced.

What time is it?