How many investing related emails are in your inbox right now?
How many tabs on your browser do you have opened to an investing article that you really want to read?
I have a subscriptions to the WSJ and as a result have a rain forest worth of paper piled on my office floor. Add to that The Economist and Bloomberg/Businessweek. I subscribe to all these because in my opinion they are some of the best sources of news available. But what’s the goal?
(I don’t read any of these papers either.)
What am I trying to keep up with? Secretly, I want to believe that if I’m “fully” informed I’ll make better decisions and be a better investor. There’s surely truth to that, but what if all my time is spend skimming content just trying to get through it all. My eyes are running across paper and screens like Usain Bolt (obligatory Olympics reference).
One of my favorite books of all time is The 7 Habits of Effective People by Stephen Covey. One of the most helpful parts of the book is when he talks about the four quadrants of time management.
- Quadrant 1: Things that are urgent and important
- Quadrant 2: Things that are not urgent but important
- Quadrant 3: Things that are urgent but not important
- Quadrant 4: Things that are not urgent and not important
We want to spend as much time as possible in quadrants 1 and 2. The problem is that quadrants 1 and 3 typically dominate our lives.
What’s the answer?
Fire a time management WMD at the quadrant 3 things in your life.
You will never get ahead and stop treading water as an investor (or in life) if you don’t focus time and energy on quadrant 2 things.
Quadrant 2 things are activities like deep study, planning, strategic thinking, rest, etc. They’re things you always feel like you can put off for when you have “more time.” Next thing you know a decade has passed and you’re still spinning your wheels.
Don’t be that guy.
(Doing something like this may be the best thing you can do for your investing right now.)
Instead of spinning my wheels the last few weeks, I’ve been reading The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham in preparation for the Investor in the Family Reading Club starting soon. I’ve had more sobering, “aha!” investing moments in the last few weeks than in quite a while. If interested, sign-up to be first in line to learn about my next reading group.
So, what now?
Pick something you want to become at as investor or pick a classic investing book that you want to read. Then, actually plan the reading into your schedule. Identify quadrant 3 activities in your day and over rule them with life-giving quadrant 2 activities.
Glad to help in any way, just reach out and let me know.
Best,
Brian
I’d like to see more content like this!
Don’t forget to sign up for the Online Investing Conference, access is free for a limited time (price then jumps to $99). Find out what Bret Jensen (and other top investors) consider to be their two highest conviction investments right now.
Content You’ll Also Like
Should You Pay $1000 for an Investing Newsletter?
Income Inequality and the Upward Crashing Market
Disclosure: This article is for information purposes only. Comments made by my guests do not necessarily represent the views of Brian or Investor in the Family. There are risks involved with investing including loss of principal. Brian and Investor in the Family makes no explicit or implicit guarantee with respect to performance or the outcome of any investment or projections made. There is no guarantee that the goals of the strategies discussed by Brian and Investor in the Family will be met.