Living In Prime Time

by Dr. Denis Waitley

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Prime time is that period between 6 and 10 p.m. during which most of the general public watches television. Commercials in prime time are the most expensive, approaching a million dollars per minute. My real success in life took a quantum leap when I stopped watching other people making money in their professions -- performing in prime time -- and started living my own dreams and goals in prime time.

Time is the ultimate equal opportunity employer. Time never stops to rest, never hesitates, never looks forward or backward. Life's raw material spends itself in the now, this moment, which is why how you spend your time is far more important than all the material possessions you may own or positions you may obtain. Positions change, possessions come and go, you can earn more money. You can renew your supply of many things, but like good health, that other most precious resource, time spent is gone forever.

Each yesterday, and all of them together, are beyond your control. Literally all the money in the world can't undo or redo a single act you performed. You cannot erase a single word you said; can't add an "I love you," "I'm sorry", or "I forgive you", not even a "thank you" you forgot to say.

Each human being in every hemisphere and time zone has precisely 168 hours a week to spend. And some of the most precious hours occur in Prime Time.

Consider this: most of your daytime hours are spent helping other people solve their problems. The little time you have in the evenings and on weekends is all you have to spend on yourself, on your own dreams and goals, and personal development. To me, that's why I prefer to live in Prime Time rather than watch TV in Prime Time.

Some thoughts to ponder:

• Have supper with your loved ones at least two to three times per week. It's the best time for casual conversation to listen to what those close to you feel is important in their lives. Meal time is a time to dialogue. Tape the shows that interfere with supper together. Make dinner time, family and significant others' intimate networking time.
• A television set is an appliance. It should be used, at most, for two hours at a time. It should be off, unless specific programs of interest are selected. It should not be used as a one-eyed baby sitter. For the most part, TV exposes us to negative role models, and serves as a tension-relieving rather than a goal-achieving tool.
• Instead of watching television why not read a good fiction or non-fiction book, write a letter, engage in a hobby or craft, call a friend or someone in need of encouragement on the phone; network on your computer; go out to an ethnic restaurant, a home show, an entrepreneurial show, a musical recital, a play, a fitness class, or cultural event. Take an art or photography class.

Use prime time to live the kind of life others put on layaway. As for me, I'm tired of watching life go by as a spectator doing the wave in the stands. In turning off the TV, I'm able to turn on to actual experiences I can touch, feel, smell and in which I can engage all my senses. Instead of virtual reality, I want the real thing.

An action step which fits into the concept of living in "prime time" is to balance your workload with a generous number of what I call mini-vacations for maximum productivity.

By re-energizing and renewing yourself frequently, you will avoid burnout and become much more motivated and productive. Don't keep your nose to the grindstone for years and wait for retirement to travel. Balance and consistency are the keys. Enjoy the process, not just the result. Don't fight the passing of time. Don't fear it, chase it, squander it, or try to hide from it under a superficial cosmetic veil of fads and indulgences. Life and time go together.

Do enjoy each phase of life. Do make the most of each day, and draw maximum joy from each moment.

Many people today are concerned with quality time - time generally defined in part at that spent on recreation, personal pursuits, time with children, spouses and friends. While I certainly believe quality time is important, I believe two other aspects of time are equally important:

First, one must also spend a generous quantity of time on high priority activities. The average father spends less than 30 minutes each week in direct one-on-one communication with each of his children. How can we possibly expect good family relationships with so little communication?

Second, one must spend regular time. Many supervisors and company presidents go for weeks, even months, without seeing many of their employees. There's no substitute for regular meetings and open forums in which managers and team members can share ideas.

Time has a dual structure. On one hand, we live our daily routines meeting present contingencies as they arise. On the other hand, our most ambitious goals and desires need time so that they can be assembled and cemented.

A long-term goal connects pieces of time into one block. These blocks can be imagined and projected into the future as we do when we set goals for ourselves.

Or these blocks of times can be created in retrospect as we do when we look back at what we've accomplished.

It's not in the image of our big dreams that we run the risk of losing our focus and motivation. It's the drudgery and routine of our daily lives that present the greatest danger to our hopes for achievement. Good time management means that you maximize the daily return on the energy and mental effort you expend.

Here are some ways to maximize your time:

• Write down in one place all the important contacts you have and all of your goals and priorities. Make a back up copy, preferably on disc. Write down every commitment you make at the time you make it.
• Stop wasting the first hour of your workday. Having the chat and first cup of coffee, reading the paper, and socializing are the three costliest opening exercises that lower productivity.
• Do one thing well at a time. It takes time to start and stop work on each activity. Stay with a task until it is completed.
• Don't open unimportant mail. More than a fourth of the mail you receive can be tossed before you open or read it, and that includes e-mail.
• Handle each piece of paper only once and never more than twice. Don't set aside anything without taking action. Carry work, reading material, audiotapes and your laptop computer with you everywhere you go. Convert down time into uplink time.
• Spend twenty minutes at the beginning of each week and ten minutes at the beginning of each day planning your to do list.
• Set aside personal relaxation time during the day. Don't work during lunch. It's neither noble nor nutritional to skip important energy input and stress-relieving time. Throughout the day, ask yourself "What's the best use of my time right now?" As the day grows short, focus on projects you can least afford to leave undone.
• And as we said earlier, take vacations often, mini-vacations of two or three days, and leave your work at home. The harder you work, the more you need to balance your exercise and leisure time. Make the time of your life PRIME TIME!

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