Analyzing How You Spend Your Time Activities Breakdown: Fill & Download for Free

Last year I read 30+ books, this year I’m on track to read 40+ books.Here are 3 steps to help you find time for reading:1) Record Your TimeBefore you can ‘find time’ you must first find out where all your time is going. As the legendary management writer Peter Drucker says in his book The Effective Executive, “The effective executive therefore knows that to manage his time, he first has to know where it actually goes” (Page 27).I’d recommend drawing out your day in a 24-hour time frame and breaking it down in 1 hour or 30-minute intervals. The more detailed your breakdown, the more you’ll benefit from this exercise.2) Analyze Your TimeAn average day consists of sleeping for 7 hours and working from 9 am to 5 pm. Here’s a breakdown of my day:7 am – 8 am: Wake up and prepare the day8 am – 9 am: Commute to work9 am – 1 pm: Work1 pm – 2 pm: Lunch2 pm – 5 pm: Work5 pm – 6 pm: Commute home6 pm – 7 pm: Dinner7 pm – 12 am: Leisure time12 am – 7 am: SleepThe ideal day would have 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work and 8 hours of free time. However, the truth is most people sleep less than 8 hours, work more than 8 hours and have less than 8 hours of free time.After accounting for commuting and dinner, I have 5 hours left of free time. It’s recommended that everyone exercise daily for 30 minutes, plus traveling to and from the gym also takes up time. That leaves about 4 hours of leisure time that could be spent reading books. However, most people spend this time watching Netflix, playing video games, or hanging out with friends.It isn’t the lack of time that is a problem, it’s the lack of priority. People watching Netflix tend to binge-watch, and playing video games whether it’s on your Xbox or iPhone tend to be extremely addictive.One tip that’s helped me get more reading done is forcing myself to read for at least an hour before engaging in other leisure activities. Also, keep devices such as your phone and laptop in another room so you aren’t distracted by texts or tempted to check social media.3) Look For Hidden Pockets of TimeAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes. That means a round trip is approximately 50 minutes long. My commute is about an hour-long trip. Thus, I usually spend two hours on the train every day.It may be hard sometimes to read a book on a train if you aren’t sitting down, but there's also the option of reading a book on your phone or kindle since it requires only one hand. This allowed me to get an extra hour of reading in every day.Most employers give an hour lunch break but no one needs an hour to eat a sandwich. Instead, have a 30-minute lunch and spend the remainder of the time reading. This adds an extra 30 minutes of reading into your day.Try to find pockets of time in your daily schedule for extra reading time.Everyone should be exercising for physical and mental benefits. The Mayo Clinic says that as a general goal, adults should aim for 30 minutes of physical activity each day. However, this time could also be used for reading. Listen to an audio book while running or lifting weights.Lastly, create a bedtime ritual of reading before going to bed. The National Sleep Foundation points out that scientists have found evidence that suggests light from electronics have the potential to disrupt sleep. They recommend turning off all devices for at least an hour before bed. Instead, spend time winding down with a good book. You’ll get some reading done and sleep better!Hopefully by following these 3 steps you’ll be able to find plenty of time for reading.Hope this helped! -Alex W.You can find book summaries & lessons here: HomeIf you’re looking for a new book to read, here are my favorite books of all time: Recommended Books

The American Enterprise Institute has (albeit, a skosh simplistically) listed the biggest reasons people end up poor in life:they didn’t graduate high school (esp. didn’t pursue meaningful job training after school),they made babies before they were financially ready,they abused drugs and alcohol,they didn’t get a job and keep it (show up, work hard, have a good attitude, deliver good results).I’d go so far as to say that the biggest factor in determining YOUR (not your cohort’s) future success is mostly in your hands. That does not mean society hasn’t shirked in its responsibility in some way. It means that society has always sucked to one degree or other, feel free to fight for that better society, but are you going to live the life of a loser because “waaah … it’s not my fault!” Not gonna help you get to the top! Nor is fighting for justice mutually exclusive with refusing to quit. You can do both at the same time.But does luck or random chance have no part? Of course, luck matters. My entire life’s success is because of luck. But hard work and dedication allowed me to be there and ready when luck finally struck. Luck will struggle finding you if you’re hiding at home, high on the couch or whining about your terrible life online. Obsessing over the “luck” part and not the “sticktoitiveness” part, misses the most important part of the equation. That equation looks like this:graduate school & continue on to some post-secondary education program to refine your skills WITH an eye towards stuff that’s in demand vs. “just following your heart”;get a job (if that is your course) and sticking with it, working hard, showing up every day, pursuing promotion;get married and/or make babies ONLY after you’ve been in the world a bit and have secured a decent career trajectory;avoid using/abusing chemical substances (from tobacco to alcohol, marijuana to cocaine, doesn’t matter — some chemicals can help your life, but just as well, most of them are subject to abuse);learn to cook and make most of your food yourself;avoid people who are toxic (romantic relationships, friendships, etc.);say “no” more often especias to requests that consume your time and energy;prioritize sleep;find meaningful hobbies and physical activity to occupy your spare time instead of stuff like partying or vegging on your couch;Learn how money works (banking, balancing a budget). “But Dan, that costs money.” Nope. Yale and Princeton, for example, give the education to you FOR FREE (you pay for the diploma). You can go to YouTube to any number of universities and take their “Ivy League” lessons mostly for free … but you have to stick with it for a bit. (And those are two examples amongst a near infinite set of options for self-education in money/finance.)I think that your individual story is all yours. I know for a fact that nobody invites failure intentionally, they simply refuse to select the right path in life. Simplifying choices helps. In my life, the biggest success mechanism—A success mechanism which has seen me go from homeless meth addict, later as a middling retail HR manager, to what might reasonably called a happy, productive, reasonably well-off life…—was one thing. I know it’s really hard to do because I watch people get angry with me when I spell this out. Our brain is addicted to our own sense of innocence and we will point fingers, scream, shout and cry until we are dead to avoid blame, but sorry charlie. It’s all on you.You think I wanted to be born gay, to have two of my cousins beat me up in the woods when I was 15 for being gay? You think I wanted to watch my mother nearly decapitated (and killed) with her own fucking blood on my face? You think I wanted to be a meth addict and homeless? No. I didn’t but those things happened. I didn’t ask to be born into a super-conservative, born-again Christian family that struggled with a smarmy, snarky, faux intellectual gay guy?No.My life turned around on a Friday in July, 2011. It didn’t turn around (okay, it sort of did) after I got clean. But not really. I remained a wallowing, self-pitying addict until July 2011. I was working late at Kohl’s in Sandusky Ohio. I had been accused and investigated for fraud (and was cleared). I had a full on breakdown after my DM called to say that no action was being taken against me. I thought, “But … but I didn’t do this.”Yes. I. Fucking. Did.Yes you do. Yes you are fat because of you. Yes you are a drug addict because of you. Yes you are a single parent of X number of children because of your poor choices. Yes you are stuck in that shitty job because of you. Yes you are homeless because of consequences of choices you chose to make or did not make. You may not have asked for each of those, but you made poor choices in your life that got you there. Is there possibly one exception to this rule? Fine, yes. Whatever. But in your obsession to quibble with me and find that one exception, what you really are doing, is finding an exception for you. Don’t do that.Just accept —for you— that you are 100% responsible for your life and the more time you spend looking for ways to prove me wrong are ways you’re sabotaging yourself from accepting that you are the single biggest decider in your life about what course it takes. It’s all on you and no amount of finger pointing, whining about your lot in life or excuse making will suddenly change society and re-shuffle the facts of your life. “Oh, Suzy Chapstick … your excuses are sound. The patriarchy is at fault. Here are your 10,000 sympathy bucks. Have fun being homeless!”Nobody asked to be born. You have a choice in what you do with it. My life turned around that July in 2011 as I sobbed my eyes shut in the cash office of that fucking retail outlet. I suddenly realized, “Wait. I did this to myself. I’ve had an opportunity to go to night school. I don’t have kids. I could have done a lot different over the last 10 years since drug rehab to end up in a different place.”I made a plan. I went back to school. I finished my degree. I refused to accept my own excuses. I changed my mind’s eye from looking at ways to defend me, to looking for ways in which I was guilty of not taking care of my life. I quit my job. I got a crappy recruiting job. I went back to school for five years. I gave up weekends. I gave up vacation. I stuck with my jobs. I worked hard. I finished that degree. Nine years later, I’m right on track to retire by 60 with more than enough in the bank to live on for the next 30 years of my life.I’m in this place because I decided in that July, that I would no longer accept excuses. I drew up a plan. Every time I caught myself making an excuse, I wrote it down, I inspected it and I always invalidated it.You always have a choice. The first step in understanding your choices today is to admit you had a choice all along. It starts with —yes— examining all the times you failed and admitting to it. You’ll be surprised by how much you suck. I was stunned — it’s almost like I was intentionally sabotaging myself without knowing it. I woke up and said out loud, “I’m a fucking loser. I chose to be a loser. Today I will take one small step into NOT being a loser.” Since then, I’ve adopted strict rules on what it takes to be a friend and I’ve stuck with them. I’ve kicked 90% of all my relationships to the curb (this in the last two years) and I’ve noticed, I’m happier and I do better at work.Stop drinking your own bullshit koolaid. Stop accepting excuses. I don’t accept them from me and I do not accept them from others. I demand that all the people in my life have maturity and motivation. I have zero space for people who refuse to try. That doesn’t mean they always win, but it means something I tell people all the time: you were there for every failure and every mistake. You and only you are the one unbending, consistent factor involved in every failure you’ve made in life and it’s you who are responsible for all but a tiny fraction of them. You bear the burden of making something of your life. Attempting to socialize your risk and thus socializing your blame will always end in failure, you don’t find winners on the podium complaining about how it’s not their fault. They chose to make it their responsibility come victory or failure.Yes, I’m wealthy today. My husband and I make easily 10x the base GDP PC in the US. I have a happy, uncluttered life. I take my mistakes seriously, I write them down and I analyze them. I look for ways to celebrate being wrong so that I can share my victory with others. I’ve desensitized myself from fear of changing my mind and I quickly make changes on the fly that are always focused on making my life better.Don’t. Swallow. Your. Own. Bullshit.You cannot change your sex or your race. You certainly can fight for better treatment of those groups FROM THE TOP. (Don’t climb over people to get there, duh.) Shrieking all the way there gets you unemployed. Learn to be selfish with your career because it’s only after you have something to give that you can really change the world.See:Dan Holliday's answer to What thing secretly destroys people's career?Dan Holliday's answer to How do I talk up my weaknesses in a job interview? Is there any good way to answer the "what is your greatest weakness" question?Dan Holliday's answer to How long does it take to realize that you are in the wrong job?Best self-help books?Unfuck Yourself — Gary John Bishop (likely the best “self help” book I’ve ever read … to the point that I’d almost make it required reading for American high school and college students)Three Signs of a Miserable Job — Patrick LencioniTotal Money Makeover — Dave RamseyHow to be Miserable — Randy J. PatersonGetting things Done — David Allen

Here are 3 steps to help you find time for reading:1) Record Your TimeBefore you can ‘find time’ you must first find out where all your time is going. As the legendary management writer Peter Drucker says in his book The Effective Executive, “The effective executive therefore knows that to manage his time, he first has to know where it actually goes” (Page 27).I’d recommend drawing out your day in a 24-hour time frame and breaking it down in 1 hour or 30-minute intervals. The more detailed your breakdown, the more you’ll benefit from this exercise.2) Analyze Your TimeAn average day consists of sleeping for 7 hours and working from 9 am to 5 pm. Here’s a breakdown of my day:7 am – 8 am: Wake up and prepare the day8 am – 9 am: Commute to work9 am – 1 pm: Work1 pm – 2 pm: Lunch2 pm – 5 pm: Work5 pm – 6 pm: Commute home6 pm – 7 pm: Dinner7 pm – 12 am: Leisure time12 am – 7 am: SleepThe ideal day would have 8 hours of sleep, 8 hours of work and 8 hours of free time. However, the truth is most people sleep less than 8 hours, work more than 8 hours and have less than 8 hours of free time.After accounting for commuting and dinner, I have 5 hours left of free time. It’s recommended that everyone exercise daily for 30 minutes, plus traveling to and from the gym also takes up time. That leaves about 4 hours of leisure time that could be spent reading books. However, most people spend this time watching Netflix, playing video games, or hanging out with friends.It isn’t the lack of time that is a problem, it’s the lack of priority. People watching Netflix tend to binge-watch, and playing video games whether it’s on your Xbox or iPhone tend to be extremely addictive.One tip that’s helped me get more reading done is forcing myself to read for at least an hour before engaging in other leisure activities. Also, keep devices such as your phone and laptop in another room so you aren’t distracted by texts or tempted to check social media.3) Look For Hidden Pockets of TimeAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average travel time to work in the United States is 25.4 minutes. That means a round trip is approximately 50 minutes long. My commute is about an hour-long trip. Thus, I usually spend two hours on the train every day.It may be hard sometimes to read a book on a train if you aren’t sitting down, but there's also the option of reading a book on your phone or kindle since it requires only one hand. This allowed me to get an extra hour of reading in every day.Most employers give an hour lunch break but no one needs an hour to eat a sandwich. Instead, have a 30-minute lunch and spend the remainder of the time reading. This adds an extra 30 minutes of reading into your day.Try to find pockets of time in your daily schedule for extra reading time.Everyone should be exercising for physical and mental benefits. The Mayo Clinic says that as a general goal, adults should aim for 30 minutes of physical activity each day. However, this time could also be used for reading. Listen to an audio book while running or lifting weights.Lastly, create a bedtime ritual of reading before going to bed. The National Sleep Foundation points out that scientists have found evidence that suggests light from electronics have the potential to disrupt sleep. They recommend turning off all devices for at least an hour before bed. Instead, spend time winding down with a good book. You’ll get some reading done and sleep better!Hopefully by following these 3 steps you’ll be able to find plenty of time for reading.Hope this helped! -Alex W.You can find book summaries & lessons here: HomeIf you’re looking for a new book to read, here are my favorite books of all time: Recommended Books