168
Priorities
168. It is something we all have, yes everyone of us.
Not one person or other living thing has any more or any less. And yet what we do with our 168 varies greatly from person to person.
Some of us are extremely busy. We want to make due with every moment that we can. We fill ourselves with every activity imaginable or focus on one particular thing like reading, writing, playing golf or whatever and do it as though if we miss one second it could be catastrophic to us.
Others fritter away their 168. They are content to just lounge around and do little if anything. That makes them happy, except for some who then wonder and complain that nothing is getting done even as they have a long list of to dos.
Regardless of which spectrum we are on or even if we are in the middle of the two and work like crazy for periods of time and then do nothing while we recoup, we all have 168.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, 168 are the number of hours we each have every week of our lives.
What we do with it is ours and ours alone. We can choose to do lots, some, or nothing at all. And each week that passes, so does the 168 hours we have lived. And when our time on this earth is over, hopefully we have no regrets as to how we spent our 168. If we do, we have no one to blame but ourselves.
“Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.”
Margaret Peters
It has always fascinated me that when certain people are asked to do something, they tell the asker that they do not have the time to do whatever is being requested.
Some people are extremely busy and do have limited time.
That doesn’t mean that everything they are doing is important or necessary. It is just that they are pretty busy and have decided that what they have been asked to do doesn’t much matter to them, or they have other priorities.
Others are not so busy and are happy in doing nothing. To honor the request for help would violate that and the asker may even think that they can ask again at another time for another favor. Horrors.
And then there are the people who are happy to oblige. They may be busy at the moment, but as soon as they are done with whatever it is they are doing, they pitch right in.
The late Elbert Hubbard an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher(June 19, 1856 — May 7, 1915).once wrote: “If you want anything done, ask a busy man to do it. “By a like token the store that is the busiest is always striving for more whilst the dull store marks times”.
When you spend time worrying about the future or complaining about how stressed-out you are, you’re not only wasting valuable time, you’re also creating a powerful headwind that makes it harder for you to succeed. … Some people work hard to make their lives harder. If you want to get more stuff done, you can!
So, what are you doing with your 168?
If you have a full time job, that accounts for at least 40 hours per week. Some work places expect more so let’s say that is 45 hours. If you commute figure an hour’s travel every day so that is another 5 hours.
You typically eat 3 meals per day. If that averages 30 minutes per meal and you eat 21 meals per week, that is another 6.3 hours. According to the medical community you should average 8 hours sleep per night. That is another 56 hours.
And then there are the personal things you do daily like bathing, shaving, going to the toilet, dressing and such. At 90 minutes per day, you rack up another 10.5 hours.
In total that accounts for 122.5 hours per week, leaving you 43.5 hours of time to do whatever. It is your decision whether to do anything or just relax. The choice is yours.
“You always have time for things you put first.” Anonymous
So, when you tell someone that you do not have any time to spare, you are saying that in the 43.5 hours of useable time that you cannot spare any time for them.
And you are telling yourself that those hours are yours to do whatever you wish, even if that is nothing at all.
Just remember that just like everyone else, you have 168 hours per week. You cannot borrow anyone else’s, nor can you give them any of yours. You can help out by spending some of your time to help out, but they themselves have 168 hours just like you to spend on whatever it is they need or want to do.
And when your time on this earth is just about over, do not wish that you could have more time. You had 168 hours per week. If you used it wisely and productively you probably did and accomplished everything you wanted to. And if not, you have only one person to blame. The person who did not use their 168 to the fullest.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter H. Christian was a founding partner and president of espi, a business consulting firm in Northeastern PA. Previously he was an Executive at Crayola Corporation. He has worked with 300+ clients in business development, profit improvement, operations, IS selection and implementation, and Project Management. He has 40+ years of experience in strategic and facility planning, CI, lean, and supply chain. He has helped companies to realize millions of dollars in cost reductions and profit improvements adding and retaining thousands of jobs. He has authored the Amazon bestselling business books, “What About the Vermin Problem?” and “Influences and Influencers” and is published in a variety of professional magazines. He is most appreciative of Dr. Rodney Ridley and Donald Schalk of the O’Pake Institute, Alvernia University for their support in allowing him to teach this important course.
