Have you got a minute?
Managing time to really make a difference
What could you be, do and have if you had the time? Research shows that most people believe they would be able to fulfil their potential, live happier lives and be much more productive – if only they had the time.
How we use our time is one of life’s great differentiators. After all, we all have the same amount of it, but the gulf between those who actively manage their time to achieve their goals and those who use it as an excuse for why they’re never able to, is huge.
If you feel that lack of time prevents you from achieving maximum performance you might like to take a few minutes to consider where the problem lies. Perhaps you share some of these extremely common attitudes?
- We believe that time controls us, when ultimately it is always under our control
- We act as if we haven’t any choices in the way we use our time
- We use ‘lack of time’ as a reason when really it is an excuse
- We use ‘too busy’ as a comfort blanket to avoid tackling change
In addition, a number of other factors are strongly influential, for example:
- Personality – whether from nature or nurture, everyone has different behavioural approaches towards time; for example, we all know people who are slowed down by an obsession with detail, or who are overly-controlling and unable to delegate.
- Habit – most of us, out of familiarity and a sense of security, ‘always do what we’ve always done’ in the way we’ve always done it unless there is a powerful reason to change.
- Image - especially in working life, it’s easy to use ‘being busy’ as a way of underlining our importance, regardless of the quality or validity of the contribution we make.
In the workplace, people generally pay lip service to ‘time management’. If we, or others, feel we’re not managing our time as effectively and efficiently as we might, then the usual response is to seek some training. Unfortunately this means we often end up treating the symptoms rather than the cause. Time management training is great for giving you the theory and practice of ‘how’ to change your use of time, but often ignores the fundamental issues. In order to apply time management principles effectively you first have to:
- Accept that time management is your personal responsibility – no one else can do it for you
- Have a strong and motivating vision of what your ideal life would be like
- Have clear and specific goals relating to what you want to achieve
- Devise a strategy and tactics in order to make this happen – and stick to your plan
- Realise that you (and probably other people) will have to change the way you do things, often dramatically.
If these issues are not dealt with, then very quickly the good time management practices received through training will fade away and you will revert to your original bad habits. The reason is simple – you can have all the training in the world, but none of it is effective unless you have taken on board the number one rule of time management – you have to passionately want to change.
Once you do, that’s the time for time management training. If you’d like to start right now, you can use these tips as a framework:
- Use the Pareto Principle (the 80/20 rule) to analyse your activities. What exactly is the 20% of what you do that generates 80% of your results?
- Take a long hard look at your working life and personal life. Where can you start to make changes to move towards your vision?
- Make time to create time – consciously stop for as often and as long as you need to analyse what you are doing and why, rather than mindlessly slogging on.
- Constantly prioritise everything you have to do in terms of its Urgency and Importance. If it’s neither urgent nor important, why are you doing it?
- Plan your use of time and don’t get derailed unless it’s absolutely necessary.
- Curtail your knee-jerk reactions to what others do and want. Concentrate on your own productivity and what’s best for you.
- Delegate or share what needs doing – just because you could do it all, doesn’t mean you have to.
- Realise that good enough can be good enough – things don’t always have to be perfect.
- Enlist the help and support of others as you make changes –friends, colleagues and even a coach or mentor can help support you in your new habits.
- Don’t try and change everything all at once – take one step at a time and reward yourself for every small success.
(c) Dianne Bown-Wilson, The M3 Consultancy
www.m3consultancy.co.uk