Are you Majoring in the Minors? It is one of the questions I ask in my Time Management classes. I see this focus on the minors all the time and emphasize how important it is to understand this concept. Understanding priorities and goals are important and most know what these are for themselves and their business, however they sometimes lose perspective and get wrapped up and involved doing things, in the name of getting them done, focusing on the unimportant. Thus squandering their time.

Time is the one thing we never get back. Once it is gone, it is gone forever. Money and most everything else we can get back once it is gone. But time is gone forever. If we live to be 80, we will live approximately 4,000 weeks. How many weeks do you have left? We need to make the most of them by Majoring in the Majors, not the minors. Majoring in the Majors is critical to managing your time.

What are the majors? Health, Family, providing for ourselves and those we care about – wealth creation are some of that stand out. There are others, based on your beliefs and values, but these are the three I choose to consider majors. Of course, I toss education and hobbies in under health and can be included under family and if you are lucky even in wealth creation. Majors are what you choose them to be.

Majoring in Majors is about choices—focusing on and the discipline to do what is truly important. It makes you more productive because you are majoring in the items you choose to be important and produce the greatest results in your pursuit of your goals and priorities.

Understanding the difference between effectiveness and efficiency is a major part of this. Effectiveness is doing things that take you toward your goals. Efficiency is doing something better, more economical, more quickly. Doing a minor well does not make it important. What you do is much more important than how you do it.

Quite often I hear people complain about not having enough time for their family, their selves, enough hours in the day. Yet they continue to NOT do anything about it. They continue to major in minors.

Education does not end with high school or college. Education is a life pursuit. If you need help in controlling your time, improving your effectiveness in achieving your goals invest in it. Maybe it is attending a seminar, or reading a book, or listening to a cd while you drive instead of listening to music or a talk show, about your goals or priorities. Again, Major in the Majors.

How much is your time worth? Do the math. Think about the tasks you are doing—if it is something that is not generating you the income of what you time is worth, leverage it—delegate it, outsource it, systemize it, get it off your plate so you can focus on the Majors! Many are reluctant to invest in a full time, part time, or virtual assistant, spending countless hours doing things that could be done more effectively and more efficiently by someone else. Investing in help will free you to focus on what you do best—generate business for yourself and help free you up to spend more time on your Majors.

One of the most telling stories I know is about a man or woman that comes home from work and after dinner is working on more work and his/her child comes up to him/her and asks him/her to see what they did. Instead of stopping and spending time with their child and celebrating what the child has done their response was— “I need to finish this, I will look at it in a few minutes.” They keep working and the child goes to bed. The time that could have been spent with the child and cherished for many years is gone. Are you Majoring in the Majors? Or are you Majoring in the Minors?