Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in.

— Henry David Thoreau —

Thoreau's a-fishing was pretty good as it yielded him some a-writing and some a-protesting. I like this quote as it shows a yin-yang approach to time where we have to live with the ever present state of time, yet there can be a relaxed approach to it.

We all have differing views of Time and we all have differing habits when it comes to Time. Time Management to one guy will be detailed lists in 15 minute segments, penciled in over the next year. Of course, he has these segments directed by his 200 year plan. (Don’t laugh – Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank, does 300 year plans for his company and 50 year plans for himself.) The next guy in line lets time manage him – always behind in projects, always late for appointments, feeling too tired, and life seems to be a cycle of never-ending tasks. What most of us want is a happy balance between the two where we have the time to accomplish tasks in a reasonable time, while working towards our overall goals, and feeling physically good while doing it.

As you Design Your Great Life, you will need to develop the skill of estimating the length of time a task will take. So many people will start at the artificial point of picking the time length of a project, then working backwards. This is the deadline process. I understand that if you are part of a group effort, you may be required to work this way, but unless it is a reasonable deadline, quality suffers. If the proper amount of time is not given to a task, it will not be completed correctly. On the flip side, some people spend an inordinate amount of time on a task, trying for perfection, and get stuck in the mire. They become the true time-wasters, as they can not complete projects.

Sometimes a project seems so vast (like your life!), that it seems almost impossible to get things done. The good news is all projects can be broken down to tasks that take one hour or less. That is how you will measure your progress, complete your project in a timely manner, and keep your Spirit up by seeing your progress.

All of the elements have three main areas of design. Here are main phases of Time allocation.

1. At the Beginning of a Project.
   As mentioned before, the best way to work your time is to know the tasks involved, evaluate that time needed, then set your project deadline. So on The STARS System Design Overview SheetThis file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can get from the Third Party Downloads panel at your left., when you first are looking at the amount of time a stage will take, just fill in a very rough number. After you have completed your Stage Task List This file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can get from the Third Party Downloads panel at your left., then you can go back and change the time. The actual process is discussed in Applying the Stars System.
   
   
2. During each task.
   The most critical Time Skill will come into play when you work on The STARS System Stage Task ListThis file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can get from the Third Party Downloads panel at your left.. As you list your tasks, you will make an estimate of the time each task takes. If the task takes more than an hour, break it down into smaller tasks. For example, if you need to write a five page report and you think it will take two hours, you should break it down to five tasks of writing each page in 20 minutes, then another task of fine-tuning the whole report for 20 minutes.
   
   As you complete the task, you will then note the actual time it took to finish. This is the feedback to let you know how accurate you are in estimating time. As you continue to work in the Estimated / Actual time mode, you will get better and better at it.
   
   
3. At the end of a Stage or Project.
   At the end of a Stage or Project, you will make a note about Time in The STARS System Stage and Project Evaluation Sheet. This file requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you can get from the Third Party Downloads panel at your left. Here you should note how close you were between your Estimated and Actual time frames. Also look at if you felt hectic, or there was too much time, or if you need to work on breaking your tasks down even further.
   
   

   — Shelly —