10 Ways Successful People Manage Time and Their Lives

I am fortunate to coach some very smart, successful people. They have high native intelligence and excellent educations, and they have trained themselves to work effectively and efficiently in everything they do.

Here are some tips from successful people who know how to be creative, innovative, and productive with less stress and more satisfaction than most.

Successful people all:

1. Do the highest value task first or during their most alert times. They rank by importance what they have in front of them and do those when they are their sharpest. For many this is first thing in the morning. They are not tempted to clear away easy or simple tasks knowing full well they are often more time-consuming and distracting than expected, and with very low value. They’re okay with not wiping everything off their TO DO list if the big obligations get attention.
2. Use schedule gaps to prepare, not catch up. Go to the next meeting unprepared and you have just added more to your TO DO list and repairing your reputation. Prepare and you look smart, contribute more, and get more done.
3. Ask themselves, “What do I want to get from this?” when tackling a project or attending a meeting. Using a little sports psychology, they imagine racing down the slope without missing a turn or flagpole because they have envisioned the track.
4. See themselves as human beings, not human doers. They contribute to their work as a full person, not a machine. Successful people have lives, interests, and dedication to things outside of work. They plan activities, nurture hobbies, and stay fit. Their family is of high importance and they give time to the ones they love.
5. Sleep is the beginning of their day. Successful people see bedtime as re-energizing and repairing their body, not something they do if they have the time at the end of the day. They build-up, not catch-up. Most get at least seven hours of sleep a night.
6. They take time off. This is not a group who hasn’t taken a vacation in years or who doesn’t leave their smartphone for a minute. They plan their downtime as carefully as their work schedule and are pretty inflexible when it comes to changing it.
7. Food is brain nourishment. Productive people don’t brag that they ate cookies, skipped lunch, or survive on energy drinks. They see eating as fortification and they plan for it, are strict with themselves about what they consume, and follow a fairly tight eating regime.
8. They always exercise. I don’t know a highly productive person who doesn’t have a master plan when it comes to exercise. What and when they do it varies but it is always present. It’s right up there with sleeping and eating.
9. They understand the concept of time poverty. Successful people know income brings convenience, making for an easier and less stressed life. They appreciate most people do not have this luxury because of low income. This is why they know they must hire people or buy devices to help them do things they either don’t want to do or don’t know how to do. They are all capable of filing their own income taxes but why would they waste the time learning the tax code when they can hire a competent accountant? Many have virtual or on-site assistants who make their lives easier and focused. They understand their value and don’t perform jobs that someone else would happily do for a fraction of the cost and probably deliver better results. They are grateful for this position in life.
10. They block thought time. At the start of the day, and beginning and end of the week, they take a bird’s eye view of the job at hand and envision the future. They have a master plan and audit themselves to make sure they are on track or make the corrections the evidence calls for. They decide if they should say no to participating in a project, helping a colleague, even may choose to walk away from their present employment should they realize things aren’t conforming to their master career plan. They might have impulsive thoughts but rarely do they make impulsive moves. Nothing happens without deep thought.

Smart, successful people are disciplined, directed and, in a good way, selfish. They know what works for them so they can help others and make significant contributions. They take their sleeping, eating, exercising, and downtime seriously. They have a 360 perspective as to how they approach their most important obligations and work. They appreciate thought time is not wasted time but actually where they find the big ideas and solutions. And finally, they admit when things are not working and either change them, delegate, or step aside.