After taking on a new project or agreeing to serve on yet another committee or task force that you’ll fit it into your schedule, stop and count the cost. Why? Because you can’t just fit it in…..without squeezing something else out. Your 24 hours per day is already allocated to other things. And – if you add something new – you have to take away time on something else.
For example, if you spend less time watching TV, lessen time spent on aimless socializing, or shrink time on other unimportant things – that sounds like a positive exchange. But, if it is less time for your family, your sleep, your exercise, or an important work item – squeezing time from those things doesn’t sound like a good tradeoff, does it?
The point: think carefully before agreeing to a new commitment by counting the cost of what you’ll do less of and if it is worth it.