20 B4 60

 

 

"Lost time is never found again"

Benjamin Franklin

 

 

Many years ago, in another time, at another place, I was very fortunate to have been working at the right job during the right era. Quite simply, I was working as a contractor for the Defense Department during the presidency of Ronald Wilson Reagan. We had just come off four years of malaise and national floundering under Jimmy Carter. Our Navy was in such poor shape that ships were only able to put to sea if other ships were "cannibalized" for parts. President Reagan campaigned on a robust 600 ship Navy, and he was good to his word.

 

At the company I was employed with during the 1980's, things became very busy. I had mostly Navy Programs, however, as we were short staffed, I also picked up some Army, Air Force and NASA programs as well. We sold a product which many major contractors either wanted or were mandated to use as part of their product solution. Most days I received at least one solicitation or invitation for bid from another company or the government. It was nuts.

 

One day, I was at wit's end. I went into the office of the man who was in charge of the Navy programs. He was an absolute workaholic. Not only a workaholic, but a happy one to boot. If he worked 60, 70 or ever 80 hours a week, that was fine with him. He was in his sweet spot. I told him this - "I am fully maxed out. I cannot take one more program, not one more minute of work. I have no band with left". He put his pen down and looked at me. He said "There is always more time that you can use. For example, there is always 20 minutes before 60 Minutes on Sunday night." I was stunned. I expected to get a wee bit of sympathy, a small measure of concern. Nope. Twenty minutes before 60 Minutes on Sunday night. I walked out of his office with a dark cloud hanging over my head.

 

Walking back to my office, it hit me. He was right. My time management, as good as I thought it was, was not good enough. I needed to find "pockets of time" where I could squeeze more in. I wrote down in my daily planner "20 B4 60". That became my motto, my creed. Every time I thought I had run out of time, I would think of "20 B4 60" and look for one additional pocket of time. It worked for me not only at that company, but every company I was at until I retired.

 

One of the truly profound thoughts I had years ago was the importance of balance. People I knew which really seemed on top of their games and enjoyed it, had good balance in their lives. Step one to good balance was time management - finding the pockets of time to fit everything from work, to home to self into your day. Without proper time management the balance would suffer leading to stress and reduced or sub-par productivity.

 

I often think back on the man who gave me the advise on my time management. He might have just offered a flip answer or something he profoundly believed in. In any event, it changed my work life helped me to balance a high octane job, kids, house and a 40 mile commute. For that, I will always be grateful.