
NET TIME
As I sit here at the airport waiting to board a flight, I decided to write a quick article on the importance of NET Time. Lately I’ve been doing lots of traveling and waiting for flights, flying, checking in, traveling and more and it’s really made me look at the importance of utilizing your time well.
After all, if we don’t manage our time well, we can miss our appointments, miss a flight, miss an important opportunity and so forth. However, this article is not about saving time, it’s about using the small bits of time that we usually have that all add up to a large amount of time. It’s about time investment.
What is your NET time?
These small bits of time make up NET time and it usually comprises of:
- Waiting to board a flight.
- Waiting for the train or bus.
- Time it takes to go somewhere.
- Extra time you have while waiting for someone.
These small bits of extra time that we have can be used in a positive way.
NET Time Example
I’ll give you an example.
Let’s say that it takes you 30 minutes to drive to work and 30 minutes to drive home. Each day, you spend 1 hour driving to work and back. If you work 5 days a week, that’s 5 hours a week you spend driving to and from work.
1 hour per day x 5 days = 5 hours per week
5 hours per week x 4 weeks = 20 hours a month
12 hours per month x 12 months = 240 hours a year
You would spend 240 hours a year simply driving to and from work.
What people normally do when they drive to and from work is listen to the radio or music. So that’s 240 hours a year listening to music.
So how can you turn this around and make use of your NET time?
It’s simple, Brian Tracy calls this “turning your car into a mobile university”. What you can do is purchase educational and motivational cds that help your life in someway.
What if you spent 240 hours of your time listening to the best educational programs that shows you how to increase your income part time? What if you spent that time learning the best strategies that show you how to lose 5 – 10 kilos in one year? What about buying your first home? Would that be of use to you?
Would investing 240 hours into your career, health, business, finances give you an advantage over someone who didn’t do that? You bet it would.
My story of NET Time
I’ve certainly done this in the past. I used to drive to work and I would be listening to the best speakers in the world talking about how they turned their lives around from rags to riches. I became so inspired by the stories and knowledge they have imparted and till this day, I still use the information I learnt all those years ago while driving my car.
Why listening to inspirational and educational cds in the car, you build your skills and yourself instead of participating in road rage or listening to the news which is normally negative which will influence your day.
Imagine if you woke up one morning with the best attitude in the world, you drive your car to work and you listen to the radio and on the news, you hear stories of murder, rape, disease, war and famine. You hear the news of economic doom where thousands of employees are sacked every day and how your career could be at risk.
Would that influence your day? Of course it would.
I once read an article that said that when Bill Gates was growing his business, if he would park his car in his garage, while the engine was turning off, he would look at a picture that resembled something of benefit. He used whatever time he had and invested it into something.
How to maximize your airport time
Most people think of airports as a complete waste of time. However, airport time is one of the best opportunities to work on yourself and catch up on your work. You’re given a huge block of time that you can use at your disposal.
I personally enjoy waiting at the airport, I always have something to do and something to work on. I enjoy waiting at airports, sitting in a plane (which is what I’m doing right now) and doing some sort of work or reading a good book that improves my life in someway.
Most people who wait at airports tend to do the following:
- People reading the paper
- People on their laptops looking at Facebook
- People reading their book
- People sleeping on the bench
- People staring at a wall
- People working
- People chatting with each other
So next time you have that extra bit of time, instead of watching the TV, listening to the radio to work, why don’t you try listening or watching an educational program instead. It will change your life in so ways you can’t imagine.
Let’s all use NET time in our lives.
Share your thoughts and send me your ideas on time that can be better spent somewhere else.
Khoa Bui
Here’s a video I recorded of NET Time


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I have actually been learning through audiobooks in my car for the past 5 months or so. With the kind of traffic Manila has, you could just imagine how much I learned from it.
It came to an extent that I was looking forward to the traffic because I sometimes get frustrated when I get to my destination and haven’t finished my audiobook yet. Crazy right?
You could also do that while waiting for your doctor’s appointment.
Great point on replacing negative mood with inspirational material, it gives you that extra bump of energy and positive outlook that would fuel the rest of your day.
Great post, Khoa!
Thanks for sharing Allan
True, the traffic in Manila is terrible but great for learning lol! Yep, doctors appointment is a good one, at least 1-1.5 hours waiting time. Just hook up your iPod and go!
Great article Khoa!
Thank you for sharing these ideas on how to use our extra time in a more positive way.
I also realized that maximizing one’s time is one of the common traits of very successful people.
Here’s how I use NET time:
• Praying short personal prayers, also for family, friends and strangers
• Helping somebody smile
• Deep breathing
• Visualizing; Imagining; Planning
• Remembering a childhood experience
• Looking for good things inside me and around me that I will appreciate and/or I will thank for
• Celebrating the present moment
• Observing and Reflecting: Trying to answer questions such as how and why certain things happen or what success principle can be applied to something that happens
• Reading a good physical book; or an e-book on my Kindle
• Reading Kerygma Magazine
• One round of driving to bring my wife to work and come back home = 45 minutes of listening to audio books / audio seminars
• Another round of driving to fetch my wife from work and come back home = 45 minutes of listening to audio books / audio seminars
• Saying affirmations
• Writing ideas or reflections on my journal; writing my thank you list
• Reading Khoa Bui’s blog posts
Just for fun, here are my favorite and recommended Authors, Speakers, and Trainers whom you can check:
o Jim Rohn
o John Earl Schoaff
o Darren Hardy
o W. Clement Stone
o Brian Tracy
o Anthony Robbins
o Bo Sanchez
o Jomar Hilario
o Chinkee Tan
o Francis Kong
o Rick Warren
o Lydia de Duque
o Val Austria
o Jo-ar Herrera
o Dean Pax Lapid
o Ping Sotto
o Joel Osteen
o Norman Vincent Peale
o Robert Schuller
o James Allen
o Russell Conwell
o George Clayson
o Dan Kennedy
o Jay Abraham
o Jay Conrad Levinson
o Brendon Burchard
o Jack Canfield
o Joe Vitale
o Mike Dillard
o Kelly Howell
o Rodolfo Torres
o Leo Babauta
o Les Brown
o Og Mandino
o Dale Carnegie
o Mark Victor Hansen
o Dr Spencer Johnson
o John Gray
o Josiah Go
o Sark
o Ed Lapiz
o Ximo Ramos
o Alexander Lacson
o Danny Dreyer
o Richard Templar
o Rhonda Byrne
o Peter Guber
o John Assaraf
o Robert Greene
o Leil Lowndes
o Dennis Waitley
o James K. Van Fleet
o David Schwartz
o John Maxwell
o Dani Johnson
o Jeffrey Gitomer
o T. Harv Eker
o Tim Ferris
o Jeff Kinnney
o Tony Buzan
o Paul McKenna
o Steve Jones
o Paul Mascetta
o Igor Ledowchowski
o Michael Lee
o Earl Nightingale
o Charles Haanel
o Wallace Wattles
o Napoleon Hill
o Robert Allen
o Tom Hopkins
o Andrew Matthews
o Richard Templar
o Nicholas Boothman
o Robert Kiyosaki
o Adam Khoo
o John Calub
o Tim Bennett
o Glenn Avendano
o Cookey Bronoso
o Ronald Clemente
o Edwin Cendana
o Warren Domantay
o Henry Hernia
o Patrick Esmundo
o Jerson Frange
o Edison and Jocel Victorino
o Angelica Rondolo
o Eireen Diokno
o Robertino Jesus Cruz
o Chris Dao-Anis
o Richmond Madayag
o Hyatt Rocillo
o Jay Castillo
o Louis Delos Angeles
o Allan Ngo
o Ermie Rivera
o MJ Mercado
o Sha Nacino
o And of course… Khoa Bui
I believe in the principle that says: In order to use our time wisely, let us plan and choose what we want to do and what we need to do during the day.
I also like to share to you what Jim Rohn said: “We can no more afford to spend major time on minor things than we can to spend minor time on major things.”
Very informative and useful Khoa.
I have my Kindle with so when I am not in a rush,since there is no traffic here in Guam and I usually leave the house at 6:45(that is a 10-15 minute drive) I open the e-book I am reading and use the Text-To-Speech capability. At times I really don’t get the idea since I have a divided attention but it sure helps in my reading time…. some good bits of it get stuck in my mind and I go back to it and reread it to re-enforce that idea.
Khoa pinned your blog at Pinterest as well
Wow, thanks for sharing the list of speakers and trainers Mannix!
You always deliver great value to your audience mate! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Louis! Wow, 10 minutes drive! Nice!
Good idea about the audio for your kindle, didn’t know you could do that, I’ll check it out. I normally listen to my iPod and yes, it can be distracting sometimes BUT something always sinks in. It’s like putting your hand in a jar of honey, you’ll eventually get something stuck
Thanks for sharing buddy!
I only notice it now
thanks Mannix for including me in the list, I hope to live up to it
hehehe
Thanks Khoa for this NET time reminder. Though most of us are aware of the wasted time spent in let’s say -waiting…still we are not doing something. But, realizing the importance of the time wasted based on the sample NET time computation, Ooooh now, it’s an eye opener to see how much sooo huge time are being wasted. (My apologies to note this typo error here, hahaha — under the NET Time example: Should be 20 hours per month, as you have already written on top (not 12) to come up with the result of 240 hrs)
Time flies so fast. And those “TIME” will never go back again. I myself have wasted so many “HOURS”. Yes, and if I were just able to maximize those hours, it could have been more fruitful. It’s never too late.
Woow, thanks Mannix for including me in your fave and recommended lists. What an inspiration!
Good luck everyone! I am with you in making a difference.
Nice and very useful post here Khoa!
Great reminder how to spend time wisely (which could have been lost if not used) and benefit from it.
Thanks Lani!
every words i read is really turning me a different person and im so lucky to change my life for betterment.thank you khoa
Thanks Prince