Today's TQ

Daily Lessons in Intentional Excellence
Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Where Are You Spinning Your Wheels?

If you think you may be wasting time, try keeping a time log. Once you know where your time is wasted, you can start working to get it back.

To make every hour payoff, find out exactly where you are spending each of your minutes.

Today's TQ Challenge: Keep Your Time Log Current.

Choose to be ACCOUNTABLE! How can you make every minute count if you don't know where it's going?
Choose to be MINDFUL! Do you have any idea how much time you waste in a day?
Choose to be VIGILANT! What would you do with any new time you found?

It's hard to think back and determine if you used your time well or not. Your evaluation may be too fuzzy and subjective to be reliable. However, an accurately kept time log will show you exactly how you invested your time -- and if it was a profitable investment. You can count the hours, review your results and see what you really got in trade. Once you know where you receive the greatest return, you can invest your time more wisely. Once you see where your time is wasted, you can learn to be more efficient.

"We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Think about it. How well and how often do you actually DO Optimize Factor 9J?

"I periodically record my time and activities to review and improve the use of my time."

A high commitment (9J rated 8 or better) suggests you value your time so much that you invest a little of it tracking where it goes. Since you can't create more hours in a day, your conclusion is to learn how to make better use of the time you do have. By habitually recording the use of your time, you can review your activities to see where you are currently being productive -- and where improvements can be made. This takes almost no time to complete, and provides a wealth of information for how to increase your productivity over time.

On the other hand...

A lack of commitment suggests you are someone who has no idea where your time goes. As you look back on your week, it's all a blur. You may have been running so hard you had no extra time to write down what you just did. Days pass and weeks get marked off your calendar. Unfortunately, the progress toward your goals is not nearly as certain as the marking of time, and you look back wondering where it all went. You know you have to become more productive with the use of your time, but have no idea what to change.

What happens when you CHOOSE to do Factor 9J a bit more frequently?

You have the specific information you need to gain more rewards in return for your time spent. You accumulate performance positives like "Accountable, Mindful and Informed" -- immediately moving you towards the results you expect.

What happens when you FAIL to consistently do Factor 9J?

You can't improve the use of your time when you have no idea of how it was originally spent. Negatives like "Unaccountable, Heedless and Uninformed" start to take their toll on your performance -- quickly moving you away from the success you want.

Now Ask Yourself This...
Is Factor 9J Causing You Problems?

If you believe this factor is a key performance obstacle -- and that it's preventing you from realizing your personal dreams and goals -- then you need to improve it.

* * *

This PDA version of Today's TQ is provided by ThinkTQ.com, the leader in personal perfomance and intentional excellence.