Today’s guest blog comes from Joseph Leff.  It’s short and to the point, but I love the message.

When I was in graduate school I had a notecard with “112” written on it taped above my desk. If people asked what it meant (and they usually did) I was happy to explain.  112 is simply 16 x 7, or the number of waking hours available for someone sleeping eight hours a night to get done what they need to do. Do you really “not have enough time” or is it you? I’m betting it’s you. Or, of course, me as well more than I’d like to admit.

Three quick things to think about regarding “112”:

1. Get enough sleep. There are 112 hours for you to do what you need to do after sleeping eight hours a night.  If you feel you do best on nine hours of sleep, that still leaves 105 hours. That’s a lot of time.
There are a very few people who legitimately have a right to be sleep-deprived. Soldiers. New parents. (If you have a new baby and blissfully sleep through the night every night you should be a better husband.) But probably not you.

2. Don’t multitask. It’s a silly word and a silly idea. By this I don’t mean texting, watching Sportscenter, and eating at the same time. That’s multirelaxing, not multitasking. It’s okay to do, as long as you never use the word multirelaxing. But don’t try to set up the refinancing on your condo while you’re making a business call. Do each separately and perfectly rather than at the same time and, at best, adequately. Oh, and speaking of multitasking, stop using your phone while you’re driving. Keep it up and eventually you’re going to hurt somebody.

3. Train. Hard and regularly. You can make decent gains training two hours a week.  If you say you can’t do everything else you need to do in the remaining 110 hours I’m going to have my doubts. Training a more-optimal six hours a week leaves you 106 hours. You get the point.

That’s enough for now. I’m going to make a notecard, put it over my desk, and then start planning the remaining 111 hours and 59 minutes left in the week.

Joseph Leff lives and writes in Santa Monica, CA.  He has competed in powerlifting and strongman and trains at the Weight Pit at Venice Beach.  If you’ve never lifted heavy things outside with a view of the ocean and a cool Pacific breeze blowing, give it a try as soon as you can…