Devin Bull on Time Management

If you are the type of person who finds yourself running from one crisis or
project to another or juggling three or four tasks at once, then it's time
you started to take control. Instead of letting the circumstances and
events going on around you dictate what you do and when you do it, turn the
process around! Time management means that, as much as practically
possible, a person dictates what to do and when to do it by having an
overview of different jobs and projects that need to be accomplished and by
prioritizing them.

Before we go any deeper into the subject of time management or time control,
it may be important to clarify exactly what we mean by this terminology. In
the literal sense, it's not really possible to control or manage time. Time
passes and none of us really has any control over it. You can't make it
pass faster or slower or more efficiently. What you can do, however, is
manage or control what you do while time passes. In other words, although
you cannot directly exert control over time, you can exert control over
events that occur within time.

It would be both foolish and naive to state that a person can control all
events. Although there are some so-called positive thinking courses or
so-called mind control courses where the individual is supposed to believe
that he can control all events, or cause things to happen exactly as he or
she wants them to happen, we not only don't subscribe to this philosophy, we
think it's a load of bunk. In summary, there are two kinds of events:

1. Those you can control.
2. Those you can't control.

Events you can control

The events that you can control can be broken down into two categories: (1)
events that you think you can control and you can, and (2) events that you
think you can't control but you can. The time of day that you arise in the
morning is an example of an event that you can control. So too is the time
that you go to bed at night. Interruptions by colleagues and co-workers are
examples of events that many people think they can't control but they
actually can.

We can teach you how to better organize your life and your time so that you
can accomplish more by being better disciplined and organized.

In our book we teach you how to control those controllable events which you
are now having difficulty controlling, which are consequently affecting your
efficiency and productivity.

Events you can't control

There are two kinds of uncontrollable events: (1) the ones that you can't
control, and that you know you can't control, and (2) those events that you
can't control, but which you mistakenly believe you can. Uncontrollable
events which we can't control include the rising and setting of the sun, the
changing of the tides, our own imminent death, and so forth. So far as
examples of events we cannot control although we think we can, there are
many examples: we cannot control another person's thoughts or feelings, for
example. Nor can we always control what time we arrive at work, although we
think we can. If there is an accident on the freeway resulting in a traffic
jam, for example, although you thought you would arrive at work by 8:30, the
reality of the situation is you may not get there until 9:30 because you
have no control over the traffic jam.


- Devin Bull