Opportunity Cost

A practical definition of opportunity cost:

If you spend too much time working on good things, then you don’t have much time left to work on great things.

Understanding opportunity cost means eliminating good uses of time. And that's what makes it hard.

— James Clear (@JamesClear) February 1, 2020

I would venture to guess that most of us have too many commitments. By that I mean that we are involved in too many good things to the point that we don't have enough opportunity to focus on things that are the most important in our lives. It's an easy trap to fall into and one that can be difficult to climb out of. Here's a simple exercise that can help you eliminate the less great uses of your time. Write down each of your commitments on a Post-it Note. Stick the notes up somewhere where you can see them all. Then examine each commitment and decide whether it is truly the best use of your time. My guess is that you will end up eliminating a number of things that you are doing right now. Those things might truly be good things but not necessarily the best use of your time. It's hard to say no particularly when there can be a wealth of good opportunities available to you. But by being willing to say no to good things you open yourself up to having the opportunity to pursuing great things. Recommended related reading: Essentialism - The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Gregory McKeown.