Only thing better than money?

Money is not the most valuable resource. I think we all know what is. Time.

Time is the one resource we can’t create more of. We can always earn more money, but we can’t get more than 24 hours in a day. It’s just not possible. Since time is so valuable, how you spend it should be a great indicator of what you value. Money indicates how much you value things you buy. And how you spend your time does shows how much you value the things you do.

If you looked at your monthly bills they should perfectly indicate how much you value certain things. Rent is probably pretty high because you value having shelter. Food will be there too obviously. This is probably pretty standard for most people and in theory we could trace a lot of what you value by tracing the things you buy.

The problem with this theory is that it is assuming we are very conscious of and responsible with what we spend our money on. In reality, people spend a lot of money on things that they don’t really value. This is either due to being irresponsible, lazy, or unaware. And the same can be said about time.

In theory, what we spend our time doing indicates what we value. But just like with money, we usually spend our time irresponsibly. We spend time scrolling on social media. We spend time listening to music. We spend time doing things we don’t even enjoy. Or spend time with people we don’t even like. There are a thousand different ways we could be spending our time that aren’t helpful.

And actually, I’ll now refer to it as wasting time. Because spending and wasting time are two different things. We spend time with friends and family. We waste time with people we don’t enjoy being around. We spend time cooking or cleaning or doing other chores. We waste time scrolling on social media. And this “spend vs waste” idea is subjective. Something that is spending time for me may be wasting time for you. But in my eyes wasting time is doing anything that you are not reasonably required/expected to do, don’t want to do, and don’t feel is making a positive impact on your life. If it falls into all 3 of those categories, it is most likely a time wasting activity.

Over the next few days as you go through your day ask yourself if what you are doing is spending time or wasting time. Being aware of this will show you how much time you are probably actually wasting.

I feel comfortable saying all of this because I myself am someone who knows they waste far too much time. I still have a lot to improve on in this regard despite making a lot of progress during my CPA studies.

While I was studying I felt like I was not dedicating enough time to my studies. I started thinking about ways I could create more time in my day. Maybe wake up earlier, or maybe try to sneak in some more studying during my lunch break at work. These were strategies that may have worked, but what I realized was even more helpful. I already had enough time available. I was just wasting a lot of it.

I’d sit down to study and get good amount of work done. But I had my phone right next to me and would check it so much. Sometimes it would be every few minutes me picking up my phone to text someone or do something quick. This was not helping me stay productive and focused. But what was even worse is when I’d pick up my phone to check something quickly, and next thing I know I’ve been on tiktok or Instagram for 10-15 minutes. Waste of time.

And obviously if you have been studying hard and need a little study break feel free to take 10-15 minutes to refresh your brain. And if TikTok is how you do that then fair enough (I would recommend getting up and leaving your desk at least). But if you just have a bad habit of checking your phone and getting distracted by it (like I did) then you need to change something.

My recommendations are the following:

1. Put your phone in another room. It’s a simple but effective solution. You can’t use it if you don’t have it. And not being able to see or hear it will help you forget the temptation.

1.5) Little bonus tip of the phone: Delete the apps that distract you. In my case, it was TikTok and Instagram. I wasted so much time on there and I would get so annoyed with myself for doing it. But then, I delete the apps and its not a problem. The urge to check those apps is gone because the apps are gone. If you can’t control yourself (like me) then just remove the temptation.

2. Take breaks every 30mins- 1hr. Very few people can focus for longer than 60 minutes at a time. Accept the fact that you probably can’t either and you’ll need some breaks. Make sure to get up and leave your desk, walk around a bit, get the blood pumping, and then come back ready to refocus.

3. Set goals and tasks. Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fill the time allotted for its completion. This means if you give yourself a small task that you could do in 20 minutes, but you tell yourself you need it done in 40 minutes, you will somehow spend more time on it and end up getting it done in 40. Doesn’t sound very effective, does it?

   But you can work this in your favor by always giving yourself clear time allotments that you need to get something done in. If you’re clear and disciplined with yourself, you can trick your mind into getting 20-minute tasks done in 20 minutes. They key is holding yourself accountable and being clear about your time allotments.

4. White noise. Studies have shown listening to white noises allows you to more easily get into and stay in a state of focus.

5. Create a great study habit and environment. Your environment is so important. If you’re really trying to stay focused maybe don’t go to a café with friends (or maybe do it, you know yourself best). And if you always decide to study from 10pm-2am you might be too tired and not have the most success with staying focused. Create a habit and environment that is conducive to focusing.

I hope I have been able to help you avoid the way of thinking that I fell into. The thinking that I needed more time to study, when in reality I just needed to stay more focused in my already sufficient study time. Remember: PHONE KILLS FOCUS!

Notes/Reminders:

• A course on all the basics you need to know about becoming a and having a career as a CPA was just released on cpaexamplanners.com (for free)

• Use code: “newsletter” for 20% off your order on CPAexamplanners.com

• I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving!