Latest Posts  •  April 15, 2020

In order to live a fulfilled life, I need to focus on the things that are really important and that help me move forward in my life. And I have to spend less time on things that slow me down or distract me.

In order to achieve this, we need an honest evaluation of what we spend our time with every day. One of the best methods for this evaluation are Tony Robbins’ Time Targets. 

The Time Targets by Tony Robbins – An Evaluation for Improved Time Management

1. The Dimension of Distraction – not important and not urgent

The outer dimension of the target stands for everything that is not important and not urgent – everything that just distracts us. This includes trivial activities such as watching television or sending and answering meaningless messages or posts.

2. The Dimension of Delusion – urgent but not important

The second dimension represents the things that are urgent but not important. In most cases we think that urgent things also have to be important. But if we look closely, this is by no means always the case. The best example is social media news. News items pop up on our phones and we feel as if we have to react immediately. We do not have to. Most of these messages only seem to be important but they are actually not. I usually mute my smartphone, get back to answering messages when I have some spare time and I don’t let my phone interrupt the really important things and most importantly: my business is running very well anyway, or rather, precisely because of this. 

3. The Dimension of Demand – urgent and important

The second last dimension includes all activities that suddenly become urgent because they have not been planned ahead. These include, for example, the accounting for the tax declaration which you did not take care of and that is now demanded. Sudden events that are beyond our control also fall within this area, for example when a family member falls ill and we have to look after this person. Stressed people spend most of their time in this area. They are reacting instead of acting. They have endless to-do lists. The problem is that they believe they have a plan which they in fact do not.

4. The Dimension of Fulfillment – really important but not urgent

The black field of the target, the dimension we should always aim for, includes activities that are extremely important but do not need to be done urgently. This includes everything that helps us (personally), such as planning projects, any further education, sports, healthy eating, meeting friends or spending time with the family. First of all, I recommend to go a step (or a blog post) back to see, with the help of the Wheel of Life described there, where the wheel is not running smoothly yet and which areas of life I want to improve. 

Because all the measures I have to take to achieve this belong to activities in the Dimension of Fulfillment. The central question is: Which activities are necessary to become better in the areas of the Wheel of Life – e.g. reading books about nutrition, learning to cook a healthy diet, learning a project management software to plan and carry out future projects more efficiently…

Activities in the Dimension of Fulfillment often aim at a long-term outcome of greater importance and lead to greater well-being after achieving the goals you have set yourself. 

This is why the center of the target is also called the Dimension of Fulfillment.

To live a fulfilled life, we should strive to spend 40 to 70 percent of our time in the area of fulfillment.

Working with the Time Targets – Focus on the Goal

For an effective evaluation with the help of Time Targets, you should take some time, write down all your daily activities and assign them to areas I to IV (to check what I spend my time with every day, there are even helpful time tracking apps available).

Many people will now be shocked about how much time they spend in areas I to III. Time to change something! 

Hit the Mark As Often As Possible

But what can you do to live more in the Dimension of Fulfillment? 

If, for example, I have found out that I am still dissatisfied with the area of health, one measure I need to take could be a healthy diet. Up to now, I have perhaps always gone shopping spontaneously, without a shopping list or even a weekly meal plan, and in the end I usually quickly cooked a pot of spaghetti, allowed myself a chocolate bar between two meetings or ordered a pizza in the evening.

In order to change something regarding your diet, make a meal plan for the week, write a corresponding shopping list and then prepare the meals freshly. It sounds like it takes a lot of time but it is worth it in the long run. Because instead of making many small purchases, I now only have one big shop. Instead of watching TV and waiting an hour for the delivery service, I have prepared a healthy meal in half an hour in the kitchen with the right recipes and the right organization system and maybe even listened to an interesting podcast or a good audio book. 

I am now in the Dimension of Fulfillment because I am doing something that is not urgent but very important.

Because: As time passes, I feel fitter due to the healthy diet, I have more energy, my concentration has improved and I complete tasks faster and better. I even spend less time sick in bed or at the doctor’s office because of my healthy lifestyle. This empties areas I to III of my Time Target and I have more time for the things in the area of fulfillment. Instead of being in a hamster wheel or a vicious circle, I find myself in an upward spiral.

This is, of course, only one example from one area of the Wheel of Life. But the procedure can be applied to all other areas as well.

Further examples for efficient planning would be:

Those who think and plan ahead live more in the Dimension of Fulfillment.

Once again, I would like to point out that any activity without a specific reason stands in the way of a fulfilled life. Therefore, in the next blog post, we will dive deeper into the topic of self-management and I will explain how to become more effective and efficient.