Why Time Management Is a Scam: What You Should Be Focusing on Instead
Stop chasing the wrong bus.
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Let’s get it out of the way. Time management, in itself, isn’t that bad of an idea. But it loses its charm (and utility) when coupled with the most addictive poison of our time: the hype!
Yes, when you fine-tune your day-to-day activities well, you can work more in a day. That’s that.
Unlike what most self-improvement junkies would want you to believe. Time management isn’t the miracle cure to all your life problems.
If you want to be successful or even more productive with your life, it’s not all about how hard you work in a day.
Sure. You can work around your schedule and get yourself two minimum wedge jobs instead of one. But that wouldn’t be the best use of your time. Would it?
It’s Not About How Much You Do at Any Given Time. It’s About What You Do With That Said Time
Here’s a quote from Vicki Robin’s Your Money or Your Life that might help you put this into perspective.
“Money is something you trade your life energy for. You sell your time for money. It doesn’t matter that Ned over there sells his time for a hundred dollars and you sell yours for twenty dollars an hour.”
If you earn $20/hr from your job and work 40 hours a week, it will take you about 24 years to make $1 million.
Which, on the surface, might not sound all that bad. Plus, there could be increments and bonuses too.
Is that what you think? If so, you are missing some key details:
- The actual value of the money you are making= {Your gross income -(Living cost + Taxes + Loans)} / Inflation
- The actual time you are trading in= Duty hours + Overtimes + Years of studying + Recovery time from the burnout
So essentially, you are living by the “Hard work × Time = Money” equation. In it, you trade all your time for instant yet smaller rewards.
Which, again, loses its value over time thanks to inflation.
