WHAT TIME WOULD IT BE
IF ALL THE CLOCKS WERE STOPPED?
Odd thought isn’t it? Actually, it’s an old Zen saying. (Are there new Zen sayings?) I’m using it here to set up the more prosaic question –
How do you
think about time?
If you’ve been to
any event I have been involved with that touches on Time Management you have
probably seen a visual that has the number 168
on it.
That represents
the number of hours each of us has every week.
Why a week? In the context of how you feel about the way you
invest your time, a week is probably the best standard unit of time to consider
because it encompasses all the challenges to how you satisfactorily allocate
this finite resource.
Stuff happens, of course. The occasional hectic day or overbooked morning
happens. You can’t judge or run your
life by that.
But how you feel
about your 168 is a pretty good
benchmark for how you manage the bulk of your time and how that management
might be improved.
Time management with a difference. Unlike most teachers of time management, we
are not going to burden you with the task of keeping a time log; you know, one
of those “note everything you do for a week in quarter an hour increments”
lists.
We feel, as you
probably do, that it’s largely a waste of time.
You know where the time goes. If
you don’t, and you’re not happy with the way you feel about how you spend your
time, simply rewind one recent mental movie of the time you feel dissatisfied
about.
Then play it back. It doesn’t take a detailed Time Log to recall the
business meeting you never should have committed to … that started late and
rambled on without an agenda or the facts needed to make decisions … wrecked
your plans to finish your budget tasks on office time … made you late for your
kids’ play date pick up and team practice … put you in the doghouse with your
spouse … and kept you up way past midnight doing office work that should easily
have been completed when that idiot meeting
was going on!
Got it? Good. So let’s be honest about your time allocation
and -- wasting no more time covering familiar ground -- move on.
As this New Year
gets rolling, have you been wondering how you can fit it all in?
It’s not uncommon. We all
have a tendency to get caught up in the busy-ness of life and in the moments
that seem, in afterthought or hindsight, to have stolen our time.
People tell us
all the time that they are “Busy 24/7.”
Oh, yeah? Then answer this:
Busy doing what?
It’s frustrating, isn’t it?
Time flies. You start the week with a “To Do” List and the best
intentions. And before you know it, the 168 hours have gone by.
In a way that might seem like a good thing, right? It
is –
- If …
- Make that a Big “If” …
- In fact, HUGE “IF”
-- IF you're accomplishing your objectives and moving toward your goals.
Oh yeah: Goals. Didn’t you end 2011 and begin 2012 with
resolutions and goal setting as a priority?
And although maybe you were not fully aware of how the process would
proceed, now that we’ve begun to talk about it, perhaps you realize –
Your Goals
needed to
be in place
so that you
can
Prioritize
Your Time Activities
around
them.
We’re 30 days into 2012. This is a
wake-up call.
If you are
committed to having your Best Year Ever,
this is the time to evaluate your activities, your schedule, and your
priorities to make sure that your Goals and your Time Management Strategies are
properly aligned.
TGIM ACTION IDEA: It’s
when you are acting without purpose that you waste the most time. Fight to link
everything to your goals.
TGIM IDEA IN ACTION: Ask,
“Is what I’m doing this minute moving me measurably
closer to my goals?”
Do The Right
Thing. You must have
the courage, integrity, and character to “do the right thing” for yourself and
your goals, in spite of time pressure you feel to do other things.
What’s right? Often
you’ll sense when “the right thing” is or isn’t happening. Usually a “gut feeling” tips you off to the
rightness of how you’re investing your time and your actions.
Still, if you
feel pressured to use your time one way -- and you don’t want to rely solely on
instinct -- use of these –
Empowering
Time Questions
Get in the habit
of asking the following 4 Key Questions. While they may seem familiar in some
respects, they encompass subtly significant differences in how you think about
using your time. They can effectively
direct and focus your thinking toward your top priorities and away from
distractions.
Key Question #1:
What is the most valuable use of my time RIGHT NOW?
This is the
perfect question to ask whenever you’re unsure about what to work on next … or
if you are challenged by an unexpected interruption … or when your “gut
feeling” suggests you are not making good use of your time.
Key Question #2:
What – ULTIMATELY – am I trying to achieve?
Ask this in order
to bring your thinking back to your real objective and goals. It’s a reminder to not get sidetracked or
caught up in trivial pursuits or bogged down striving for an unnecessarily
perfect outcome.
Key Question #3:
What am I giving up in order to do what I’m doing?
Acknowledge the
often-overlooked Universal Law of
Decision Making: When you choose to DO
something, you also automatically choose to
NOT DO everything else you could have done at the time. Make the conscious choice – or make the
necessary changes – to invest your time in what really matters.
Key Question #4:
Should I continue to do this?
What
distinguishes this question from the earlier ones that may seem like it is
that, at its core, it’s focusing on what to STOP
DOING rather than what to start.
This is the Q for you if you suspect you’re wasting time on something
that should be finished by now or stuck and spinning your wheels in a time
stealer that no longer serves your long-term goals.
Make it a habit. At first,
you may have to frequent remind yourself to ask these questions about how your
time is being used. So it might even be
useful to write them on a 3x5 card. Then put it in your pocket with your goals
(you do have your goals there, right?) … or sticking out from under your phone …
or in your desk drawer where you’ll come across it at the appropriate
moment. Eventually, if you keep asking
consistently, the questions will become a habit that serves you for the rest of
your life.
Uh oh. Look at the time. (No Zen clocks around here.) Thanks for investing
some of your time today in this TGIM.
Looking forward
to next time.
Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing
8 Depot Square
Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
201-569-5373
P.S. “The
thief to be most wary of is the thief who steals your time.” Source
unknown.
