In our fast-paced world, time is our most valuable resource. But too often, we waste our precious time on things that don't add value to our lives. On the latest episode of the Pursuing Uncomfortable podcast hosted by Melissa, Brian Nelson-Palmer, founder of Productivity Gladiator, discussed the importance of pursuing our value and making the most of our time.
Brian started Productivity Gladiator to teach life balance and practical productivity skills to overworked project managers and people in office jobs. His workshops called Productivity Gladiator Training help people handle overwhelm, figure out their life balance, and live it. Brian's philosophy is to live like you're worth the value of your time.
One of the key concepts Brian discussed in the podcast was the importance of knowing the value of your time. He has created a free calculator on his website, PredictivityGladiator.com, which helps people determine the value of their personal and work time. Brian has a personal value of time of $30 per hour, but it's not a universal number. Everyone has their own value of time, and it's essential to know yours.
The calculator is easy to use, and once you've determined the value of your time, it can help you make better daily decisions and lead to progress. Knowing the value of your time can be an eye-opener and a catalyst for change. By making conscious choices about how we use our time, we can prioritize valuable experiences and moments, such as spending quality time with loved ones or being there for someone in need, regardless of the cost or time involved.
Brian believes that pursuing uncomfortable ideas that may be transformative in our lives is essential. He's obsessed with the "how" of achieving goals such as losing weight and becoming more productive. He acknowledges that he, like many people, knows what to do but struggles with implementing it. His goal is to keep things simple and help people make better decisions and manage tasks such as email and to-do lists, ultimately helping them become more productive.
Brian also highlighted the importance of changing our environment and decision-making habits to achieve our goals. For example, he has a weakness for Oreos and can't keep them in the house because he eats the whole package. By changing his environment and removing Oreos from his house, he makes progress towards his goal of losing weight. Small changes, like these, can have a significant impact over time.
Brian's TEDx talk on re-imagining the value of one's time gained tens of thousands of views in a few days and was chosen as an editor's pick by the TED team. In the talk, he assigns a value to personal time outside of work, which can help us make better daily choices. He believes that by living like we're worth the value of our time, we can lead happier and more fulfilling lives.
During the podcast, Melissa and Brian discussed a range of topics related to productivity, including the problem of waiting for family members to get ready. Melissa has a teenager who takes a long time to get ready and moves slowly, which causes her stress. Brian suggested that Melissa should focus on the valuable experiences and moments with her loved ones, rather than the time it takes for them to get ready. 😳
Brian also pointed out that social media is a common time waster, and many people spend hours on platforms like TikTok and Instagram without realizing it. He recommends that listeners calculate how much money they could be making during the time spent on social media, in order to understand the cost of their usage. Brian suggests that listeners set time limits on social media usage on their phones and recommends putting limits on the apps that take up the most time.
In conclusion, as Brian highlighted in the podcast, knowing the value of your time is essential to making the most of it. By focusing on valuable experiences and moments, changing our environment and decision-making habits, and setting limits on time wasters like social media, we can pursue our value and live happier and more fulfilling lives. With the guidance of experts like Brian Nelson-Palmer, we can become productivity gladiators and make the most of our most valuable resource: time.
