Today on the Academy we’re going to do another segment that’s quick and direct, but hopefully helpful to those who are working hard to start, manage, market, survive and grow in the world of business. This week is a short holiday week, and because of that, I think my advice today will resonate. It’s all about using your limited time wisely.
Before we get started, I wanted to just say how thankful I am for everyone that’s been a regular listener of our podcast. If you like what you’re hearing, please subscribe and provide us with a review wherever you enjoy listening to podcasts. It really helps us to spread the word and help more people to grow their businesses.
“You know when you make a copy of a copy… it’s not as sharp as the original.” – Michael Keaton, from the Movie Multiplicity
As I was preparing the podcast today, I was reminded of the movie Multiplicity. If you haven’t seen the movie, it’s silly, but a classic flick in my mind. The premise is that Doug Kinney, who’s played by Michael Keaton, is just too damn busy. He can’t keep up with all the demands of his crazy life, so he devises a plan to duplicate himself. He successfully makes a copy, and this helps him immensely. But then the copy makes a copy of himself because he thinks he’s too busy. The responsibilities and work just expand to fill. From there it goes south as more copies are made and they become lesser versions of the previous copies and hilarity ensues.
It’s a fun movie. And ever since I saw the movie for the first time, I’ve occasionally kidded with people that sometimes I feel like I need to duplicate myself when I get busy. I could easily use a couple duplicates of myself for work, several for my kids and home life, several for my hobbies… on and on.
But, unfortunately, we can’t duplicate ourselves. When it comes down to it, we have 24 hours in a day. Ideally, we need to sleep 6-8 hours of the day, which is a full 1/3 of our available time right out of the gate. That leaves us with 16 hours a day to live life, and as we all know, life happens, and that available time quickly disappears.
Many of us feel that there is never enough time. We have constant pressure to be all things to all people – especially at work, especially if you’re a small business owner. You are constantly stretched thin and overwhelmed by the demands as you simply try to keep things afloat every day. This pressure leaves less time for family, and for many people, there is zero time left for themselves. You end up falling into bed with the challenge of simply shutting down your busy mind so you can fall asleep and start it all over again the next day.
This is what many people call the rat race. It’s a never-ending cycle that can be hard to get out of, and if you’re not careful, it can begin to weigh on you with serious negative effects. It can affect your important relationships at work and at home, and it can even impact your mental health. It can even keep you from being able to make good decisions at work because you’re simply unable to rise above the work and stay ahead of the constant, incoming tide of demands on your time.
Is there a solution? Yes, I think there is… if you’re willing to consider and explore a couple simple principles.
About Sanctuary:
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Sanctuary, a digital marketing agency based in North Canton, Ohio, helps companies grow their businesses by developing and executing end-to-end marketing strategies. We believe in partnering with purpose to create and execute powerful marketing strategies accountable to measurable results.
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