Dealing with the pile of work in front of me
Aren't you putting off something really important?

From resetting priorities to improving deadline completion.
A practical guide to turning the Treasure Map, which helped a million people find their dreams, into reality.

Why do we keep procrastinating, missing deadlines, and letting our efforts go unnoticed? What if we don't want to waste precious time? What if we're missing out on the things we want to do because there are too many "must-dos"? What if we want to achieve both happiness and success? What is the ultimate know-how that transcends all time management methods?

Here, I introduce the book that will get you to your desired destination the fastest.
《Time Map》 is a book compiled by the author of the best-selling 《Treasure Map》, which helped one million readers around the world find their dreams, for those who have found their dreams but have not been able to achieve them.
The author has compiled his experience from personally coaching 740,000 people over 30 years, insights gained from investing 1.5 billion won, and techniques for designing his own time management method based on the most extensive research and literature.

In 1918, Charles R., then the American steel magnate,
Schwab received the following advice from productivity consultant Ivy Lee:

1.
At the end of each day, write down the six most important things you need to do tomorrow.
2.
Prioritize six tasks.
3.
The next day, after going to work, focus on your top priority task.
Never touch another task until it is finished.

4.
Tackle tasks in order of priority and move any unfinished work to tomorrow's to-do list.

It's much simpler than you think.
Schwab faithfully implemented this, and the company grew rapidly.
Three months later, Schwab paid Lee $25,000 (approximately 600 million won in 2025 dollars).
Focusing on what prioritizes your own purpose has this much value.
And this principle has been passed down for over 100 years, considered the royal road to time management.
--- p.28, from “Don’t be fooled by urgency and miss importance”

Participants wrote down their worries at the time, following a set of cues, over a 10-day period.
The average number of concerns collected over the 10 days was 34.3 per person, with some people recording over 100.
They were plagued by anxiety at least three times a day.
Afterwards, the researchers asked them to write down every night for a month whether the worries they had written down actually happened.
Then, the surprising result came out.

1.
91.4 percent of worries never actually happen.
2.
Of the concerns that actually occurred, 30.1 percent were less serious than expected.

Even among participants who tested for anxiety every night, students tended to report less anxiety on tests taken during that period than usual.
How did my anxiety decrease? It's because by facing my anxiety, I was able to focus on reducing it (studying for the exam).
--- p.45, from “Most of the time wasted is due to oneself”

A 2001 study conducted by Sarah Milne at the University of Bath found that when participants who were trying to make exercise a habit planned out when and where they would exercise, 91 percent of them continued to exercise as planned the following week.
This was a 6.2 times higher execution rate than participants who simply heard an explanation of the exercise's benefits.
Especially when setting a time, it is more effective to be clear not only about the date but also about the time and minute of the day.
For example, rather than saying, "I exercise when I wake up in the morning," a plan like, "I wake up at 6:30 in the morning and stretch right in bed" is more likely to achieve a higher execution rate.
--- p.72, from “When you set a goal, you begin to see the direction”

In 2008, Wendy Liu's research team at the University of California published some very interesting research results.
They asked 193 participants to participate in charity activities and make donations.
The research team encouraged people to participate in two patterns:

A: First, we talk about 'spending time on charity work' and ask how interested they are in 'giving'.
B: First, talk about 'giving' and ask how interested they are in 'spending time on charity work'.

Group A, who were first asked about time, donated twice as much as Group B, who were first asked about money, and were 4.3 times more likely to actually participate in charity work.
In other words, when thinking about time, emotional well-being becomes the standard, and when thinking about money, maximizing value becomes the standard.
--- p.81, from “When making a plan, first consider the value of investing time”

The human body has about 11 million sensory receptors, of which about 10 million are used for 'seeing'.
More than 90 percent of the decisions we make rely on visual information.
In other words, if you consciously change what you see all the time, you can naturally move in the direction you want.
By using this principle to change your everyday choices, your behavior will naturally change, which can ultimately change the direction of your life and even your destiny.
--- p.111, from “If what you see every day changes, the direction of your life changes”

Cognitive neuroscientist David E.
According to Meyer, multitasking reduces a person's productivity by up to 40 percent compared to focusing on a single task.
Furthermore, a 1975 University of Toronto experiment that first brought this issue to light found that continuous task switching due to multitasking increased both task completion time and the frequency of mistakes by up to 50 percent.

Meanwhile, an experiment at the University of Utah found that only 2.5 percent of participants who were asked to multitask successfully performed multiple tasks simultaneously.
Furthermore, it is said that people who are not suited to multitasking in the first place due to low attention span tend to prefer multitasking.

--- p.125, from “Focus on one thing that is certain rather than ten ambiguous things”

When I exercise, there are days when I feel particularly good, and on those days, I even feel like exercising the next day.
However, it is also better to stick to the closing time.
Psychologist Robert Boies studied the writing habits of prominent scholars for years and discovered three things:

First, the daily writing time is quite short.
(10 minutes to 4 hours)
Second, write consistently every day.
But, get plenty of rest on weekends.
Third, when the deadline approaches, make sure to finish it.

The most important thing here is number 3.
Once the time you've set aside for the day is up, no matter how good your condition is or how impatient you are with slow progress, stop working.
This is not just a habit, but a secret to improving the quality and quantity of your work in the long term.
--- p.146, from “No matter what happens, strictly observe the start and end times”

If your to-do list gets too long, it can actually feel like a burden.
When things seem too much to do, you may feel exhausted before you even start or tend to tackle the simple tasks before the important ones.
To avoid this, prioritize your list and be realistic about how much you can handle in a day.
It's also important to focus on what you've accomplished and give and receive positive feedback, even if you haven't completed every item perfectly.
The important thing is to control the list, not be led around by it.
--- p.157, from “Four To-Do Lists Are Enough”

Participants were then asked to solve as many of the 50 cumbersome calculation problems as possible in five minutes.
Group A, which imagined the best possible future, had an average problem-solving rate about 31 percent higher than Group B, which recalled memories of the best possible past.
In other words, specifically imagining your future self has a positive effect on motivation and behavior change.
Recalling past accomplishments can help build confidence, but past experiences can be less motivating.
--- p.221, from “A Dazzling Future Can Be Helped by Just Imagining It”

In 2014, a research team at San Francisco State University announced a groundbreaking process for turning failure into success.

Step 1: Think of a past behavior that caused you regret or conflict.
Step 2: Accept your past self by thinking, "It was the best choice I could make within the scope of my abilities and circumstances at the time, and I had no choice but to act that way."
Step 3: Ask yourself, "If I were a little older and wiser now, what different methods could I have used?"
Step 4: Imagine yourself going back to a past situation and using the wisdom you have now to do something you couldn't do then.
The key is to use all five senses to immerse yourself deeper into the image.
Step 5: Rewrite the past and smile and congratulate yourself for overcoming it.

The research team asked some of the 70 students to try this process for several weeks.
As a result, students who tried this process reported more than three times more self-perceived productivity and energy than those who didn't, and their procrastination was cut in half.
The majority of participants in the experiment reported that the more they turned failure into success, the more empowered they became and the more motivated they were to try again.

--- p.226, from “Think of the things you should have done rather than the things you shouldn’t have done”