A Lesson In Time Management

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I'm sitting at a weight scale in Saskatchewan, Canada right now, writing this blog post....

You may be asking yourself, why the heck do I need to know that piece of information?

Good question, let me explain!

So over the past few weeks, I've been getting trained on how to drive a truck for the company that I was hired by. These guys have been a wealth of knowledge and I'm truly grateful for all the help I've received.

One of the main tips they tried to hammer home is how important it is for a long haul trucker to manage their time. I kind of brushed it off, because I'm Mr. Time Management! I've read countless books on the topic and it's been a big part of my businesses over the years.

I like structure, and when I can plan my day, I find myself to be much more efficient. So time management was supposed to be a breeze for this guy....

The way trucking works in North America, is that we have a certain amount of hours we can 'work' which combines, lunch time, driving time, rest time....It's all under one big slice of a 24 hour period.

It's pretty confusing how it all works out, I'm still learning it right now, but today was a huge wake up call for me on how to properly manage my time.

I started my day super early way down in Weyburn, Saskatchewan. That's currently about a 7 hour drive from where I'm currently parked. I can drive / work for a total of 14 hours a day. Of that, I can only drive 11, and the remaining hours must be spent on rests, lunch etc.

Guess who forgot that part and just went off my 'drive time'?

Now here's where the story gets kind of sad. You see, today is my kid's 6th birthday. When I left on Wednesday, he thought he wasn't going to see me until next week. And that's what I thought as well.

Well I looked at my clock this morning and thought I could make it make home to surprise him for his birthday. Unfortunately because of 'un-seen delays' that I never would have anticipated and not properly managing my time....I'm about 2 hours from home and cannot drive anymore.

So I'm stuck lol In a weight scale, and need to wait a full 8 hours before my day can start again.

Good thing is, my kid will still be surprised tomorrow morning when I show up in the truck :)

(I can't wait to see his face when he sees me roll up!)

But also, I learned a valuable lesson today.

Time management is critical for all aspects of life. Being an entrepreneur taught me a lot, but being a truck driver for a few days has taught me so much more about it! You see, you must always account for....The unexpected!

And then how you deal with it, determines the kind of day / success you will get out of it.

Hey, in a perfect world, I would have been home tonight...But in an even 'more perfect' world...I got taught a huge lesson which will help my journey going forward!


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30 comments
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Time is a very important factor in our lives and quality time even more, we must use it wisely and doing productive things

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I used to believe in time management until I switched jobs. I realized each job has different time management specs and what works in IT may not work for delivery jobs which I used to do. And I also did the recent job change to the consulting work which was specific to the advice based on the time allotted to people. All jobs have their own rules and the time skills.:)

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Time management looks simple but in today's busy life it's not an easy task. Time is money and how wanna waste money so planning is crucial.
I am sorry to know that you stuck and not able to reach on time.... but surely you will enjoy the moment in the morning when you meet you kid.

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Yeah we had a great today regardless. It all worked out :)

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As we age and our life gets more complicated, time management becomes more important for an individual, at least for me.

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Time management is tough and it's definitely tough when dealing with long drives. Traffic and other things can always delay things. I hope you get back early tomorrow and spend that time with your son for his birthday.

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Yeah we had a great day today, plenty of fun!

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This is a great aspect of time management that we often miss to account for. Managing our time in all aspects of life is quite important to make the best of out each day. I definitely learnt something new from reading this post :)

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Thanks for saying that, makes it so much better when people say they learned something!

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It is proof you always learn something even if you have read countless books on the subject.

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Yup yup. Books are great. Experience is better lol

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If you don't apply what is in the books, it is useless information. In the case of experiences, you feel it and you know what to do next time.

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Time and tide waits for no man. Or so the saying goes.

It does bear to compartmentalize it!

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Time management is critical for all aspects of life. Being an entrepreneur taught me a lot, but being a truck driver for a few days has taught me so much more about it! You see, you must always account for....The unexpected!

That's great to hear. It's always interesting to learn from different experiences and apply them to various aspects of life. Being an entrepreneur definitely provides valuable insights, but trying out different roles like being a truck driver can offer unique perspectives on time management. I'm glad you had the opportunity to gain additional knowledge from that experience.

!PIMP

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Absolutely. And I think you need to learn how to adjust and manage it for different situations.

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I shared this with the My1440 account as well. Those are very stringent guidelines but I guess they're for everyone's safety and well-being on the road and off.
Be safe and glad you get to spend some time with Isaiah for his birthday!

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