Entire courses, textbooks, and seminars are available on time management.
I encourage you to research and read more on this subject; however, if you would like a place to start, that will only cost you about 5 minutes and will make a difference for you right now; keep reading.
I am a workaholic. At different points in my career, I have worked upwards of 70 hours per week with tremendous cost to my personal life as well as professionally. I thought if I were the hardest worker, made the biggest contribution, and started first and locked up last, I would be the most successful and most valuable person in an organization.
I was wrong.
Had I worked even a few hours less using the following points, I would have been happier, no doubt wealthier, and I would have made more of a positive difference.
Take a deep breath and take a moment to think. Much of the pressure we feel in our lives happens because we don’t take the time to “stop the dominos from falling.” Under pressure, we should consciously step back for a moment and examine what we are and what we should be doing. Otherwise, our anxiety will only continue to build and make us less effective than we could be.
Understand and acknowledge we can’t do everything and/or be everything. Managing your time is managing your life, YOU have to decide what is important whether right now, next week, next month, or next year. While in your moments of stress is not the time to do this planning but do it as soon as you can. When under stress, the best advice is to decide which tasks MUST BE DONE right now and defer tasks can wait. We will come back to this.
Don’t allow yourself to become paralyzed. It is easy to become overwhelmed when stressed by time and the demands people put on you. When you find yourself in this position, do something, anything. I have seen many capable people literally moving in circles because this has happened to them. When this occurs, you cannot plan and cannot function. The path out of paralysis starts with picking a task, usually the simplest, easiest task, and then doing “something,” rather than being frozen in action.
When you have a moment, write down all of your tasks. I use Post-it notes with one task per slip. I then divide all of my into “SHORT TERM (things that have to be done right now) MEDIUM TERM (things that have to be done in the next two weeks) and LONG TERM (things that have to be done in the next 2 to 6 months).” Consider a Kanban chart to help keep everything organized. I use color-coded Post-it notes to reflect these categories. Next, I affix them on a wall or whiteboard, and then I prioritize all the slips; these become my “to-do list” or “work reservoir.” Next, I choose 4 or 5 slips with the highest priority and move them to my “In-progress” space on the wall/whiteboard, and I work on them. When one of these tasks is finished, I move it to a “completed” column reprioritize the work reservoir and choose the next priority item. The completed column can help visibly demonstrate your progress for you and your supervisors.
Multi-tasking is a myth. You may be able to work on 4-6 tasks effectively throughout your day but can only focus on one thing at any given moment. I believe, multi-tasking isn’t the ability to do several things at the same time, but rather, is the ability to do one task, get interrupted, and then be able to return and resume the original task without any loss of efficiency.
Image an arc of about 25 degrees and attempt to keep all your short/medium/and long-term goals within that arc. When new opportunities are presented to you that do not fall within that arc, seriously consider whether or not you are prepared to accept the divergence or let the opportunity pass this time. Remember time management is about making decisions, the more your decisions align your short/medium/and long-term tasks and goals, the more likely you can accomplish them.
You cannot do everything. I am repeating this because of its importance. You have all the time that there is and it is never enough, you have to prioritize and decide. I am not saying it will be easy and I am not saying you are always going to make the right choices, but that is exactly what you must do. I know many good people who work punishing hours, that allow their health and personal life to suffer because they try to do everything … I know because I have been that person.
Make the best decisions possible with the facts, information, and time available. In addition, build connectivity with those around you, cultivate and encourage people to develop new skills; and delegate and share workloads. Seek guidance and advice before making your decisions, but never abdicate your decisions to others. Make choices, make decisions; the more you do this, the better you will become and the better you will be at spending time. Don’t forget to apply the lessons you learn at each step of this process.
Make a daily list of your goals for that day. Make your list for tomorrow before leaving work today. Review and reprioritize your list at the beginning of the day and again halfway through the day. As tasks are completed, stroke them off your list.
Have ground rules for yourself. You work to live; this is true whether you are a student or working in your career. Success requires a balance between work and life. A few common examples:
- Students don’t allow your part-time jobs to affect your academic work and ability to participate in school sports and clubs.
- Students try to avoid “pulling an all-nighter” to study or complete an assignment.
- For working people, try to avoid bringing your work home after hours.
- For working people, turn your work cell phone off after hours if possible.
- For everyone, take care of yourself, eat properly, and get enough rest each day; being worn out only makes even the simplest task harder.
Do the best you can all of the time. Care about your reputation and your integrity. If you always do the very best that your skills, experience, and attitude allow; there is nothing more you can or could do. We all have regrets, all have made wrong choices, and we all experience the consequences, but if you always do the best you can; you will have fewer regrets than people who didn’t consistently use their “A” game.
Learn new skills. Consider a person digging a hole; by hand, it will take a long time; however, with a tool like a shovel, it will be easier; apply the same logic to everything you do. You can constantly learn and adopt new and better tools. Keep an open mind, look to people successfully completing similar tasks, and ask and learn from what they do. Embrace new ideas and concepts.
It’s okay to admit you can’t do something or to decide to change careers. I used to believe there was nothing hard work and determination couldn’t overcome. I was wrong again because I did not factor “cost” into my equation, the cost in time, money, and lost opportunities. I have learned, almost too late, that sometimes there are “no-win” situations.
Learn to say “NO.” Remember the “goal/task” arc I mentioned. If you are presented with an opportunity, you decide if it fits within your arc. If you decide it doesn’t then say “no.” If your supervisor asks you to complete a task and you are already overloaded, ask which current task can be deferred to allow you to take on the new responsibility. I appreciate this can be difficult but done with respect, this is critical for your ability to manage your time.
Involve people who are willing to help. I have known supervisors, managers, entrepreneurs, leaders, and executive directors; all of whom were smart people who would try to “shoulder” too many tasks by themselves when other people were able, willing, and wanting to help. A person who can successfully use time also relies on everyone to help, this is not a sign of weakness, it is rather a sign of strength.
“Sometimes it is not how fast you go; it’s how far backward you don’t go that matters.” To truly use the time we have well, we should try to ensure we don’t repeatedly waste time on systems, processes and procedures requiring modifications so they cause less headaches. Be proactive and less reactive in anticipating problems and solutions, to avoid spending your precious time and saving frustration.
Start your day early. As a leader, I know problems accumulate during each day and this is true for almost everyone. Every successful person I know is always early. Having quiet time before everyone arrives can be very therapeutic to get certain tasks finished before the onslaught of the inevitable issues that can occur.
There is never enough time.
Yet you have all the time available for you and for everyone else. In itself this statement isn’t very helpful; however, in this very short beginning guide, you now have some very low-cost, but effective tools to begin using your oxygen and time more effectively. Remember, your success and happiness balance on your ability to spend time well. None of us are born with the skills of time management; they must be learned, they must be practiced, and just like our ability to prioritize and decide, the more you do, the better at it you will be.
Good luck,
Paul.