The Time Boss Principles

By Andrew Hartman, Founder of Time Boss

The ideas behind the Time Boss framework, in Andrew Hartman's words. Each one is a belief we teach leaders and teams so they can work at their Highest Sustainable Pace: more PROGRESS on what matters most, with more PEACE along the way.

Reality is your friend
Time is cash, not credit
Your calendar is the real-time expression of your goals and values
Personal priorities are lifelines, not luxuries
The chaos is here to stay
Peace is the engine of progress
Peaceful progress
You'll get the life you choose, or the life you'll tolerate

Reality is your friend

Reality is your friend means the facts about your time, your capacity and your commitments are where you begin, even when they are uncomfortable. You must be honest with yourself in order to course correct and make change. When you take 100% responsibility for your time, you can do something about it.

In practice: open your calendar, count the hours you actually have, and plan from that number, not from the number you wish you had.

Time is cash, not credit

Time is cash, not credit means you can only spend the time you actually have. There is enough time, but there is only so much time. If you say “yes” to anything, you must immediately answer the question “when?”, allocating your finite time the way you would allocate finite capital.

In practice: no new commitment goes on your list until it has a place on your calendar. If it doesn't fit, something else has to move.

Your calendar is the real-time expression of your goals and values

I should be able to look at your calendar and understand your explicit and implicit goals and values. Every hour is a choice you are responsible for. If your goals and values are not on your calendar, they are wishes.

In practice: look at last week's calendar and ask whether a stranger could guess your goals and values.

Personal priorities are lifelines, not luxuries

Personal priorities are lifelines, not luxuries. Your workout, your lunch break, your family dinner are the fuel that keeps you effective, not rewards for when the work is done. Leaders skip them because they feel like luxuries they can’t afford. That is backwards. They are what fuel you and set you up to operate at your Highest Sustainable Pace.

In practice: put your personal priorities on your calendar first, and protect them like a client meeting.

The chaos is here to stay

The chaos is here to stay means your week will never go exactly as planned, so a good plan budgets for the unexpected instead of hoping it won't come. Planning doesn't give you certainty. It gives you the tools to navigate whatever gets thrown at you.

In practice: leave Whirlwind time in your week for the urgent things you can't predict, and run a short Daily Review Meeting to adjust.

Peace is the engine of progress

Peace is the engine of progress means calm is not the reward you get after the work is done. It is the condition that produces your best work. Peace lets you be fully present to the thing in front of you. The most productive leaders start with peace instead of earning it, and get incredible results.

In practice: treat PEACE and PROGRESS as co-equal goals for your week, and measure both.

Peaceful progress

Peaceful progress is real progress on your most important goals, made from a place of peace rather than stress. It is what working at your Highest Sustainable Pace feels like: you get the results you want with the experience of life you want.

In practice: at the end of each week, ask two questions. Did I move my top priorities forward? Did I do it without sacrificing what matters most?

You'll get the life you choose, or the life you'll tolerate

You'll get the life you choose, or the life you'll tolerate. Life keeps moving whether you decide how to spend your time or not. If you don't choose, you default to tolerating the stress that comes from other people coming for your time, and you watch your health, relationships and eventually your results suffer. Choosing means deciding what matters and building your week around it.

In practice: name one thing you have been tolerating, and decide this week what you will choose instead.

Want to put these into practice? Watch the free Time Boss Masterclass or book a call.