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Do you have time? Or does time have you?
"You don't need time management skills, you need a backhoe", I said to the Vice President of Operations. She laughed and whisked me out of her office and into a conference room.
She'd been using the "filing by piling" method for years. Both desks, the table and most of her office floor were a foot deep in important papers, trade magazines, and junk mail. Yet somehow she managed to function. Hundreds of people depended on her.
She asked me to coach her on time management skills, but she seemed to be doing everything right. She aced the time management quiz I gave her, answering yes to all the questions. Except one. "Can you find any paper in your office in less than two minutes?"
"Oh
no, sometimes I spend half a day looking for something." She seemed
painfully aware that her office caused people to think of her as inefficient
or incompetent. She'd been trying for years to straighten up her office,
but had given up saying, "I just don't have enough time!" Whenever
I hear that familiar lament, my from-the-hip reaction is-surely you have
24 hours a day, just like everyone else. Lots of time. Having enough time
to do the things you wish is all about making enough time.
Your days may be filled with activities, but are you spending time on things that truly matter? As you rush from the planning meeting to solving the latest crisis, notice how full your day is. Then take the time to notice what fills your days. Keeping a journal can be very revealing.
If your plate looks way too full, consider scraping it off completely. I'm not talking about just the desserts; I'm talking everything. When you go to the banquet table choose only what you are truly hungry for, one thing at a time. Look at all the things on the table you can say ianols to and celebrate your choices.
Before you can manage your time, you have to know what your priorities and goals are, which direction you're headed, and your ultimate destination. In a world where on a good night, dinner is pizza, you can get caught up in how fast you're going, confusing urgency with what is really important. Nothing wastes time (or life) like becoming more efficient at doing things that don't matter.
Procrastination can be the biggest time killer of all. Like a snowflake, time melts away while you decide what to do with it. On the other end of the spectrum, you must learn to pause, or you miss all that is worthwhile. Consider posting a gentle reminder in the form of a note at your desk, "What is the best use I can make of my time right now?"
Time Management Quiz
Want to find out how effective your time management skills are? Click the button to assess your skills!
Martha Lasley is the author of this column and a business coach at Leadership that Works, a firm that offers training and coaching for individuals and companies.
E-mail or call her at 570-297-2270. She specializes in enhancing performance to reach business and career goals.
© 1999 Leadership that Works