Time Management
Time management. The very phrase gives us the illusion that we can actually manage time. As if it’s a resource we can stop, start and modify at will.
You and I know that we have absolutely no control whatsoever on time.
The twenty four hours in a day pass exactly the same regardless of whether you are a gardener, a toddler, a supermodel or a CEO.
Think of time as a river that’s flowing – right past you. You can choose what to equip yourself with to take advantage of it before it rushes on.
Some of us grab a barrel and, in a concentrated effort of will and power, fill it to the brim in one awesome shot.
Others will use a regular-sized pail, and make frequent trips back to shore.
Yet others will use an expresso cup and make a thousand trips back and forth, exhausting themselves in the process and have very little to show for all the frenzied activity.
The barrel group are the focused types who know what they want, and go after it with everything they’ve got. They don’t get distracted by scenery or take baby steps. They just go for gold. These are guys that finish projects on time and people refer to as being “hyper organized”. They’re not. They just make different decisions on how to invest their time.
The middle group is probably where most of us are at. We have periods of taking good advantage of time, and investing it in fair-sized chunks. In between though, we battle with procrastination and distractions before finally going for the next pail.
The last group, the ones that never stop the flurry of crazy activity, feel and look as though they are accomplishing things. In reality, they get very little done as the multitask themselves into oblivion, needing an army of project managers, tools and gadgets to remind them to go fill the next tiny cup with useful stuff.
Yes, I realize it’s a bit of a stretch as far as analogies go, but I think you understand the point. Use your time wisely.
If you’re committing the next hour to “spending quality time with the kids”, then do that. Leave your Blackberry alone and get on the floor with them. Holding on to BBM while trying to play Monopoly will only cheat you of both activities as you’re neither here nor there.
If you’ve decided your best investment of the next hour is to watch the Survivor finale, then put down the iPad and give yourself permission to enjoy it without giving your pending homework / project / laundry another thought. Decide that you will deal them after you’ve enjoyed your TV show.
You see, this hour will NEVER come back. It’s gone.
Will you choose how to invest it and look after your investment, or will you squander it, one tiny expresso cup at a time?
Being conscious of time as an investment is your best time management strategy.
So, how will you spend the next hour?
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