Reading time: 10 minutes
Processing time: 30 minutes

Previous assignments have usually not taken up much more than 60 minutes per day, even though you have probably thought a lot and repeatedly about the topic and/or talked to someone about it. During the 90-Day Program, you will need more time, later on, so you’ll start to free up or take this time now.

Anyone who says, “I don’t have time,” is actually expressing, “I don’t care enough.” So, you will have to “take your time” to reach your goal.

Your surrender for today:

Identify your time-eaters and make them harmless. To do this, go through your typical everyday life in your mind and list in your notebook all the things that eat up your time, energy, or attention:

  • What things cost me time (whether useful or not)?
  • What things draw my attention (e.g., seeing/listening to the news, TV running – possibly in the background, notifications that “pop up,” etc.)
  • What costs me a lot of energy (e.g., conversations with certain people, unfinished business that gnaws at me, commitments that I don’t even want, etc.)?
  • What hidden benefits, if any, do I get from these things (e.g., when I see social media news or likes, does it make me feel “good” and “in demand”)?
  • What could I do to eliminate all or at least part of the time-eaters?

Please read on only after you have answered the five questions for each one.

This week we will first concentrate on the time-eaters, which were sold to us as useful helpers for work and diversion: smartphones, social media, computers, television, video games, etc.

Today, you’re going to start with the first important step: your smartphone. Let’s face it: in modern life, it’s the scourge of our time!

Second part of the task:

Take 20 minutes today and implement the following steps:

  • Uninstall the app you use most often to distract yourself (often this is Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) Don’t worry; you can install it again in a few days/weeks if you really feel like it.
  • Deactivate the “notifications” for all apps and activate the notifications again in the next few days selectively only for those apps that are of practical use to you in everyday life.
    • For Android: “Applications” or “Apps” settings. Select the app you want to disable notifications from and follow the instructions.
    • For Apple: “Messages” or “Notifications” settings. There, switch off the settings for the desired apps.

Third part of the task:

In addition, do the following exercises every day as a weekly task:

  • Consciously leave your smartphone at home when you meet people and enjoy the new freedom. You arrange a time and place beforehand, and then it’s off. If you really need your smartphone, for example, for your public transport ticket, set it to flight mode throughout.
  • In case you actually take your smartphone with you when you leave the house:
    • Don’t take pictures with your smartphone but enjoy the moment as it is.
    • Don’t show your friends photos/videos on your phone, but rather tell them about what you want to show them.
    • Attention! You must leave your comfort zone here: If someone wants to show you something on your smartphone, tell him or her that you’re incorporating less screen time into your life and that they should instead tell you about the experience. Many people will be amazed and impressed and ask themselves why they haven’t done that before …

With this exercise (and the following days), you will achieve three critical goals:

  1. You create the time you need to develop and implement your ideas without losing the efficiency in your current job. On the contrary: Your productivity should increase during the 90-Day Program!
  2. You withdraw yourself from many influences and information that distract you from yourself and are not good for you.
  3. You regain control of your life, which will give you the strength and stamina to realize your idea.