In the past 2 months, I’ve talked to dozens of strangers and friends of friends asking how I do it.

“How do you do things so quickly?”

“What’s your system?”

True enough. I have systems, but what I do might not work for you.

But here’s the problem with seeking a system.

That’s step 2.

Assigning a system before you know the lay of the land is a fatal error. And if you don’t inventory the issue first, you’re doomed to failure.

It sounds simple as hell (and it is), but taking stock is your first step.

We’ll take today’s post from the lens of time.

Everybody wishes they could manage it better. No matter what system you need, this one step applies to them all.

So, how do you take inventory to manage your time better?

“Yes” items.

Read on to learn more.

You’re saying “yes” too much

The principle is simple. If you want to manage your time better, you must understand how you’re managing it now.

The best way to do this without feeling overwhelmed is to approach it from a point of curiosity.

Let’s build a table together to get this done easily.

The first column in the table? The “Yes” items.

List everything that you’re currently saying “yes” to. Emphasis on everything.

You’re saying “yes” to sleep, working out, social media, etc.

Put it on the list. Be generic, be specific. It doesn’t really matter. Do what works for you.

I created my table in Notion. Here’re some of my “yes” items for a point of reference.

Include work items, personal items, just-for-fun items, and mundane items.

Include as much as you can.

Now let’s assign some hours to each one.

Whatcha doin’?

You’ve gotta be really honest with yourself in this exercise. You skimp on effort here, you’ll be left wondering why the system you applied doesn’t work.

You’re not impressing anybody. You’re not seeking a report card. Do the work. Be honest.

With that in mind, assign how many hours you dedicate to the “yes” items every week.

No pressure. Give your best guess. Put it in the second column.

It’s gonna look like this.

If you use Notion, you can calculate the sum at the bottom automatically.

For reference, I say “yes” to 39 items totaling 190.75 hours/week.

Regardless of your result, it’s got to feel a little bit better to know what you’re saying “yes” to.

See? That wasn’t so hard.

Now that you’ve got your inventory, time to make it work for you.

Turning impossible into possible

There are 168 hours in a week.

If you’re near or above that number (like me), guess what that means?

It means you’re saying “yes” to more than you’re capable of.

Face palm

But hey, we can fix this. Time to be ruthless again.

Now that you’ve listed your “yes” items with the number of hours you think you’re currently dedicating to them, let’s start parsing it down.

Time to kill our darlings by being ruthless on these items. And you do that with a straightforward question.

“How many hours is possible?”

This doesn’t mean just lowering the hours you dedicate to it. You can:

• Add

• Lower

• Eliminate

If you hate it, is it possible to lower or eliminate it?

If you love it, is it possible to dedicate more time to it?

Again, no pressure here. But have these in mind. You’re not thinking about what’s ideal right now. You’re thinking about what’s possible.

This goes in your third column.

You should be making some headway.

After going through it, I could eliminate 30 hours from my first column.

That got me to 160 hours/week. Not a lot of wiggle room. And that’s where your next column comes in.

It’s all gravy baby

There’s possible. And then there’s ideal. You’re going to figure out what that is.

Go through the list one more time and ask yourself:

“I know what’s possible now. What about in a perfect world?”

That’s the lens where you attack the next column.

There’s no emotion attached to this.

In my case? Client meetings.

I love chatting with clients. I’d add more hours if I could, but the truth is that it’s time for my team to take up the torch and run client meetings.

If I were emotional about it, I’d keep it going. If I’m honest about it, it’s time to change my priorities.

In other words, changing something to ZERO in your ideal week doesn’t mean you should feel bad.

It means you're being realistic.

Now let’s bring it home.

Keep // Kill

This part of the exercise is optional but highly recommended.

You’re this close to adding a system. Time to decide if items you’re currently saying “yes” to make the cut.

Check it out. 👇

You decide what you WANT to keep, not what you think you need to keep.

I got 39 items down to 16.

Whatever you decide to keep, that’s what you build your system around.

Anything that isn’t checked is added to your system as well. But each of those items is in the system for one reason: to plan ways to eliminate them for good.

That’s the beauty of starting with inventory.

• You give yourself a crystal clear lay of the land.

• You think critically on what you like and don’t like.

• You decide what’s possible and what’s ideal.

• You prioritize what’s ideal and eliminate what isn’t.

• You start getting time back.

Plug this into any system that appeals to you. Remember, this is just step one.

Now the real work begins. HMU if you want to know what I did next to actually execute this.

A final word

Inventory = intent

You’ve tried systems in the past, and they haven’t worked. Is it because you skipped step one?

Maybe you tried to inventory, but you didn’t re-evaluate what’s possible and then re-evaluate on what’s ideal.

Regardless of whether you have a system, are seeking a system, or think, “It wouldn’t suck to have a few hours back,” inventory your “yes” items and go through the table.

You’ll actually know what to do next.

What I’m working on

In the last month, dozens of people I’ve talked to have said how difficult hiring is.

So I’m creating a video course to make it easy (and quick).

It’ll be 100% free. Want to get notified when it goes live? Reply “Hiring Playbook” to this email or head to my site.

Here’s a preview of the process.

This system helped me navigate over 500 applications, 30+ interviews, and make a bangin’ hire in <30 days. The time investment? <1 hour per day.

You’re not struggling to hire because there aren’t good people out there. You’re struggling to hire because your system sucks.

Stay tuned! I’m over 50% done with this. LFG!

Here’s how I’m being intentional right now

I’m a big fan of Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s work. Earlier this year, I read “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” and I knew right away that this would be one of those books I read every year.

As a book nerd, I give them as gifts all the time. Recently I was buying “Atomic Habits” for my twin nieces and saw another of Covey’s work hanging out on the shelf.

And with my own twins on the way, I had to pick it up.

If you’re seeking to increase the effectiveness of your family, give me a shout. I’ll pay my copy forward to the first person who requests it.

I'm using systems and resources to improve 1% every day.

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I’ve been active on LinkedIn every day since March. In the beginning, I had no clue what to post. Luckily, my pal Steven has created an entire year’s worth of content frameworks. All you have to do is fill ‘em in.