Don’t Count the days. Count instructional time/time you will be working & make it count!

Levi Nelson
Jul 24, 2017 · 2 min read

I serve as a high school football coach and in our weight room we have a “countdown” clock that counts down the days, hours and seconds until we kickoff to each opponent.

The clock might count down how much time is left before 7:00p.m. on August 25, 2017 however, it does not state how much time the players will actually be in the classroom or on the practice field learning football and fine tuning their skills. While the clock might state we have 35 days and change (depending on when you read this article) we only have 82 hours of instructional time!

Are you counting down the days until your next meeting, presentation or event? Remember you might have so many days, but we all only have 86,000 seconds each day. How much of that time are we actually working towards our goals?

Make a list of how you spend each day. My bet is you’re amazed at how much time you spend on social media, entertaining yourself (watching TV, etc.) or simply on your daily responsibilities (chores, family obligations, etc.).

Time is the most precious resource of all time. Tomorrow is gone forever and we can never get that time back. Kenny Chesney sings that, “Once the hour glass runs out of sand, you can’t tip it over and start again.” However, the great news for the Rittman Football team is we can actually extend our 82 hours by spending time outside of practice studying our playbook, running drills on our own, watching film, etc. If each player spent only 10 mins per day outside of practice learning this great game that would add close to 6 hours to our instructional time. Would the player be better if he had 6 more hours of learning? Yes! He simply needs to do it!

How about yourself? Would you be better off if you spent 10 mins per day learning or working on your craft outside of work? Yes! Everyone has 10 mins. Look at your schedule and find the time. You may have to avoid binge watching Netflix or avoid hitting the snooze button but I believe that people make time for what they feel is important. Let’s get after it today friends!


Coach Nelson serves as a high school football coach who is pursuing his doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology. He has worked for division 1 athletic departments, professional sport franchises, a Fortune 100 Company and has won numerous awards for his LEADership abilities.

His mission is to positively influence the world through Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline (#LEAD). To learn more about the LEAD philosophy follow him on Twitter Levi Nelson or reach out via email at rln10@zips.uakron.edu He’d love to learn about or help you in your journey!

Levi Nelson

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My mission is to positively influence the world through Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline. #LEAD

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