Make Every Minute Count: The Time Management & Decision-Making Game

Two doors and a melting clock inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat

In today's fast-paced world, time often feels like a scarce resource slipping through our fingers. We juggle work, relationships, personal goals, and a constant stream of distractions. Yet, no matter how rich, how famous, how smart, everyone gets the same 24 hours each day. There is no stopping, slowing, or accelerating time.  

The key to maximizing our potential lies not in wishing for more time, but in understanding time as an investment. Every minute spent is a choice with consequences. By becoming intentional with our time management, we can make better decisions, achieve our goals, and ultimately, live a more fulfilling life. 

The first step is ruthless prioritization. A study by Our World in Data reveals that the average person spends over 7 hours a day on leisure and personal care activities. While leisure is important, it's crucial to ensure these activities align with your values. Don't get caught up in the daily grind and lose sight of what truly matters to you. Focus on activities that align with your goals and values. Are you spending hours scrolling through social media that doesn't bring you joy? Are there work tasks you can delegate to free up space for learning a new skill that excites you? Ruthlessly eliminate timewasters and activities that don't contribute to your big picture. This is where reclaiming control of your minutes and investing them in what truly matters begins. 

Successful people like Bill Gates understand the power of maximizing their minutes. Gates, as spotted in the Netflix mini-serie “Decoding Bill Gates”, famously always carries a "portable library" with him. This is not just a display of intellectual prowess; it is a strategic use of dead time. Stuck in traffic? Gates utilizes that time to learn and grow by diving into a book. Imagine the wasted potential of countless commutes, waiting rooms, and even lunch breaks if left unfilled. By being intentional with these insignificant pockets of time, Gates accumulates hours of learning and growth throughout the year. This is the essence of time management mastery: identifying and capitalizing on opportunities to be productive, even when circumstances seem out of your control. 

The second step is an efficient decision-making process. Every choice we make, big or small, impacts how we spend our minutes and shapes our lives. Do not rush into every decision, but also do not waste time on every one of them: Learn to spend the adequate amount of time on a decision.  
In this interview where he appoints himself “Chief Slow Down Officer” of one of the world’s most relentless organization, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, explains the framework of "One-Way Doors" vs. "Two-Way Doors". One-Way Doors represent crucial choices with lasting consequences. These are the career moves, relationship milestones, or life-altering decisions that deserve careful consideration. Take time to weigh these One-Way Doors carefully, seeking advice, gathering information, and trusting your gut. 
Two-Way Doors, on the other hand, are less impactful decisions that can be adjusted later. These choices should not paralyze you, and these decisions should be made quicker. This framework requires some awareness to recognize we took a wrong turn and be comfortable back tracking.  
 
As stated in this Harvard Business Review article, an adult makes an average of 35,000 decisions each day; and the vast majority of them won't even matter in the long run. Why spend a month deciding on something that will not matter next year? Why spend fifteen minutes picking a meal that will be digested by tomorrow?  

For those decisions that matter, though, make sure to Embrace calculated risks and trust your ability to course-correct if needed. 

Leading by example, Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, has spoken openly about the challenges of navigating complex decisions. He acknowledged that he quickly learnt in his first weeks in the Oval Office that “every tough decision came down to a probability” and that “certainty was an impossibility”.  When there is no clear answer, and the choice is an irrevocable one, learning to be comfortable with some level of unknown and trusting your process is crucial. President Obama’s process involved consulting expert; hearing everyone in the room, and weighing their advice against his own principles; which allowed him to reach conclusions and assume the tough choices he had to make.  
 

Learning to manage your time effectively is a journey, not a destination. By adopting these strategies and learning from successful individuals, you can transform your relationship with time. Time management is not about efficiency, it is about empowerment. By taking control of your minutes, you take control of your life. You will have more time for what truly matters, achieve your goals with greater focus, and live a life rich with purpose and fulfillment.