Mastering the Clock: How to Make Time Work for You

I'm Mati Wexler, and I'm here to help you turn your week into exactly the kind of week you want it to be. My goal is that by the end of it you’ll be able to say: “I made the most of this week- I accomplished so much. I'm proud of myself!”

The journey ahead won’t be easy. Time is one of the most elusive concepts, and we often fool ourselves about it. But those who persevere and develop a realistic approach to time will gain true freedom and the ability to achieve almost anything they desire.

It wasn’t until my thirties that I began to delve into this topic. When you have a wife, six kids, and a full-time business, you eventually discover that not everything fits into your schedule.

Indeed, we have more desires than we have time to fulfill them. As semi-spiritual beings, we constantly want to do more, and we can imagine an endless list of things to accomplish. And yet, G-d created a finite, material world, and the most rigid concept in our lives is time: you can’t get more than what you’re given, and you can’t save time for later.

After about ten years of experimenting with various methods and internal work regarding my time management, I want to share some insights and tools with you.

How much time do I really have?

Every long journey begins with a small step, and the first step is accepting reality as it is, in this case, accepting time as it is, without illusions.

A common example of unrealistic time perception is the to-do list we make for our day at work or at home. Let’s take a closer look at what really happens when we write that list.

We begin with the obvious tasks and then continue adding more items that all seem very important to us. “Today, I want to meet with my wife, play soccer with my son, wash the dishes, finish a small work task in the evening, return two phone calls and an email, study with my chavruta (study partner), and maybe call my parents.” Oh, and also pick up a few groceries and fix the showerhead if there's time…

Most people I’ve met create task lists that seem more like long wish lists that have no realistic chance of being completed in one day. Often, they include tasks that have already been postponed for weeks or months, and continue to be pushed off.

(Photo: shutterstock)

Why does this happen?

We treat our to-do list like a list of what’s important to us, and if we remove something, we feel like we’re betraying that commitment.

We also tend to get overly excited about how much we’ll accomplish- in our imagination. When we write our list, we’re optimistic overachievers but forget that we’ll be tired in the afternoon, and that writing a task requires a very different energy than actually getting it done.

Because of our commitment to the list and our desire to do it all, we develop a habit of not completing our tasks, and we then feel the sting of disappointment.

A simple challenge for one week that can transform your life:

Create two separate lists:

1. A dream list of all the things you’d like to do eventually.

2. A realistic list of what you will actually do tomorrow.

The challenge is to accept the constraints of reality and fill your schedule with tasks that truly fit into your actual time.

At first, it may be painful to cut things out, but if we don’t say “no” to some things when writing the list, reality will say it for us later. Why fool ourselves?

Take a deep breath and start trimming down the list to what can realistically be done. Imagine what will happen after a week of writing only achievable tasks, and actually completing them.

I suspect you’ll feel more freedom and confidence. But beyond the good feelings, a new sense of satisfaction will emerge from accepting reality as it is.

If this is the time I truly have:

• It’s easier to say no to things I don’t want.

• It’s easier to make decisions.

• It’s easier to stand my ground.

For one week, write down only what realistically fits into your schedule, and pay attention to the changes in your life.

Mati Weksler, Founder of Kavannah College