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The biggest and most destructive myth in time management is that you can get everything done if only you follow the right system, use the right to-do list, or process your tasks in the right way.

That’s a mistake.

We live in a time when the uninterrupted stream of information and communication, combined with our unceasing accessibility, means that we could work every single hour of the day and night and still not keep up. For that reason, choosing what we are going to ignore may well represent the most important, most strategic time-management decision of all.

There has been a vast amount of scientific and professional literature out there.

One of the best practices though is having a do-not-do list. This comes down to you specifying not only what your goals and objectives are, but also what are the time-wasting activities, what can be delegated to an assistant and what is not paying you enough.

Part of this is valuing your own time. You can see your time as certain amount of dollars per hour.

If you can easily make $100 per hour, then it won’t be difficult for you to say “No” to projects that are paying less.

When it comes down to making decisions of whether you should do something you should know what time is worth. Sometimes you will get some very good opportunities what many businessmen would be happy to take, but ask yourself – is this what you need?

Furthermore, what will the time you spend on additional work take away from you? You have to think of the opportunity costs associated with spending time on different tasks.

Why do a project that pays $50 when you can spend the same amount of time writing an article, for example, that will pay you $150.

If you have a family, perhaps spending time with them will be more valuable than working on every single opportunity out there, even if it makes you money. This is the reason why you need to prioritize. Know which tasks bring you the most value in the long and short-run and focus on them.

At the same time delegate everything that doesn’t need your personal expertise to your assistant, given that you have spent the time to train them. This is where the training starts to pay dividends.