Thank Goodness It's Monday #447

IT’S TIME TO “BUT…” IN

AND CHALLENGE

SOME TIME-MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS

Wasn’t one of your 2014 resolutions to get more value from your time?



Albert Einstein told us,
“All of science is nothing more than
the refinement of everyday thinking.”

Today TGIM takes its cue from Uncle Albert
(see especially #3, below)
 
 

Good!

So I can save a big hunk of our time from the get-go and simply make the observation that, if we would start by applying some of the better time management principles that we’ve read and heard about from the beginning of time, we might have a solid foundation to build on.

 

Or maybe not.

Here’s a big catch: We’re all human, and with that “humanness” comes fallibility.

And a great deal of the “classic” time management advice doesn’t seem to take that into account. It doesn’t allow room to be reasonable with our expectations for ourselves or others.

Human beings are not automatons – mindless, emotionless mechanical beings who perfectly carry out every task or order like clockwork. And we don’t perform at our best when we’re treated that way.

 

So let’s invest the rest of our TGIM time together today reviewing and challenging golden-oldie time management thinking and investigating some strategic alternatives.

Time Challenge #1:

Fast action pays off

We’re reminded time and again that it’s important to be decisive … keep meetings short … keep the ball rolling. Doing things quickly supposedly saves time.

But …

Let me tell you a story: An executive in one of our client firms, desperate to do all these things, trained himself to be as brief as possible in meetings and abruptly cut through discussions with curt remarks like, “Get to the point” and “What’s your problem?”

 

By doing so he apparently saved time. But, as it turned out, he and his coworkers often had differing ideas of what had been decided and what would be done after a particular meeting.

Result: Fast action can slow results. Because of miscommunication, resolutions would inevitably become garbled and confused down the line. In the end the exec would spend twice the time that had been “saved” straightening out the mess.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Be clear about being clear. Stay alert for times when rushing the decision-making process might backfire. Be more intent on reaching sound decisions than with quickly dispatching meetings and the like. Take a little extra time, even when you’re sure you’ve reached the end and everyone concurs, to recap -- and hear others recap -- for the benefit of all, “Who will do what, when.”

Time Challenge #2:

Priority vs. Interest

Many time-management experts place great emphasis on doing things in order of priority. And, as a rule we would all agree it makes sense. Between watering the garden or putting out a raging fire, the right “priority” choice for the person with a hose in their hand is clear.

But …

Sometimes it’s better for people to do what they’re psychologically ready to do, even if it’s not the highest priority item. People are more interested in doing better, and therefore actually do better, when they’re able to follow their own “normal” routines rather than always being or feeling forced to do things strictly in some prioritized order of importance.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: All things being equal (or almost equal), don’t force priorities onto the daily routine. Do what’s most interesting when it attracts you. 

Added point: If you have the power to lay out the agenda for others, allow them as much set-your-own-order leeway as possible, unless you can give them a compelling, high-priority reason to do otherwise. 

TGIM Time Challenge #3:

Efficiency isn’t always “efficient”

Stopwatch toting time/motion study champions – the so-called efficiency experts – extol doing things in the most time-economic manner possible.

But …

Sometimes doing things a little less efficiently is far more enjoyable and more beneficial in the long run.

Let’s take another “meeting” example: One exec we know could easily cut the time he spends in meetings, probably by half. But he usually doesn’t want to. He enjoys talking and listening. Although it seems less efficient, he feels he gets a more nuanced sense of what’s going on with his staff and in his company and that he’s a better leader and decision maker for that. 

Added benefit: His employees like the relaxed atmosphere too. And without “this meeting will end in a half-hour, precisely” pressure, they feel free to raise issues that might otherwise go unaddressed.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Enjoy your time. And use more of your time for the things you enjoy. As Albert Einstein pointed out –

It’s relative. He actually said, “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute.”

I may not comprehend the math and the physics of Einstein’s Theories of General and Special Relativity but that the “hot stove/pretty girl” stuff makes sense to me.

TGIM Takeaway: Good time management principles are not immutable Laws of the Universe that apply equally to every situation and every person. As a group we are all so varied that few prescriptions can cover everyone at all times. So, in the quest to maximize the value of your time, realize that principles are neither absolute nor infallible and apply them with common sense and tact.

The only true test is to find what works for you over time. Experiment, then – providing it doesn’t waste the time of the others you interact with -- go with what works for you. 

So now it’s time to test that Einstein wisdom. I’ve no doubt about the stove part, so I’ll skip that.

It’s on to part two.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. “I believe that misconceptions about oneself that one does not correct where possible act as a bad magic.” Poet, critic and essayist Laura Riding (1901 – 1991) shared that observation.

Thank Goodness It's Monday #391

30 SUPER BOWL SECONDS

FOR $4 MILLION!

 

CAN YOU SPARE A MINUTE OF YOUR TIME?
 



 

The “official” SuperBowl logo

 has been a bit derivative

over the past three outings.

 

Take a trip down Memory Lane
and see each of the primary logos
going back to the
“First World
Championship
Game AFL vs NFL”
HERE.

Put away your checkbooks.
I’ve got bad news:

All the commercials for the NFL Championship on February 3 in New Orleans are --

 

SOLD OUT! 

And, according to Associated Press reporting, some of those ads have sold for more than $4 million for a 30-second spot. 

Talk about “Time is money.”  More than $4 million for a half minute is –

►   an hourly rate of about Half-A-Billion – “B” BILLION -- bucks

►   an 8-hour workday of $4 Billion

►   a weekly payday (before taxes) equal to the Facebook IPO

►   an annual wage of …

Enough of that nonsense. The primary reason some advertisers are willing to pony up that much moola for such a fleeting bit of time is, of course, exposure. 

Well over 50 Super Bowl commercials aired in 2012. Companies paid an average of $3.5 million for a 30-second spot at TV’s biggest event. And that event averaged more than 111.3 million viewers, peaking at 117.7 million late in the final quarter of the Giants dramatic win over the Patriots.
 

Point is: How do YOU value 30-seconds?

Too often too cheaply, I bet. 

Me, too. So let’s take the complete sellout of the available SuperBowl ad time as a clue to reevaluate how we use even the minutest segments of our time.

Here’s a very obvious one:

● How’s your personal 30-second “commercial” … elevator speech … whatever you call it, however briefly you get to deliver it. 

Can you trace $4 million in business to it? Do you expect to? 

No doubt, if you’re a friend of TGIM, you’ve got a 30-second commercial down cold.

But only one? 

This is not a one-size-fits-all world. Your 30-second opportunity to pitch in the elevator at the annual 3-day industry conference in Vegas requires something entirely different from … 

… what you’ll say at the weekly Friday morning pancake house meet-up

… the pitch to the formal, structured business referral group you pay to belong to

… the cocktail party response to “Nice to meet you. What is it you do?”

… the small talk with the new golfing partner assigned to round out the foursome when Charlie’s a no show. 

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Give each version of your 30-second presentation $4 million potential.

Most SuperBowl ads are created especially for SuperBowl Sunday. Then, often, the season of commercials that follow key off that $4 million best effort.

Follow that lead. Plan ahead and at least think through how you’ll tweak your best at-your-fingertips 30-second pitch to make the most of the various opportunities you’ll have to make an impressive impression.

● Got a minute? By SuperBowl standards investing a minute should yield $8 million, at least. I suppose, unless you’re Warren Buffett, that level of payback for a minute of your attention is unlikely. Still, that kind of millions/billions thinking suggests you --

Get your money’s worth. People talk about time in ways they don’t mean. They say they want “a minute” but they really want much more. So “just a minute” never is. Likewise, “a 15-minute meeting” never is. “Over lunch” = Kiss half the afternoon goodbye.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: When you are consistently aware of this you won’t be fooled into letting them apply their standards to your time. Set a SuperBowl standard. Value your time like a billionaire.

And the same base thinking applies to requests to --

● Wait a minute. Similarly -- by SuperBowl standards -- waiting a minute should also yield $8 million, at least. But inconsiderate people or unavoidable incidents that make you wait seldom value your time at all. So realize waiting inevitably happens and become Buffett-like and apply billionaire thinking. 

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Allow for it. Don’t sit idly by while the seconds tick away (unless the “doing nothing” break is very valuable or invigorating for you). Be prepared for time-consuming “waits” with worthwhile time fillers. Today’s easily connected, digital world can keep you actively and gainfully engaged.

In a related vein, one minute-savvy way to reduce and maybe eliminate time-sucking low-return waits can be to –

● Shift time by the minute. If you want to be more aware of where your valuable minutes go, and want to raise awareness of others in the process, try thinking slightly off center.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Schedule a meeting to begin at 9:05 and end at 9:20. That’s the same quarter hour gathering alluded to above but, with off-center timing, people intrinsically understand that you’ll begin at 9:05 precisely and bring things to a close at 9:20 because that’s precisely what you said.

● Think, “Half a mo’…” That kinda Cockney Brit sounding expression suggests a momentary pause – let’s say no longer than a minute -- when you reconsider something potentially major that you’re about to undertake.

TGIM ACTION IDEA: Before you leap, count to 10 (or 30 or 60) and decide what NOT to do. One of the worst ways to waste your time is to very efficiently decide to do that which does not need to be done by you at all. Use “half a mo …” to sort the wheat from the chaff. Choose the path that leads to the dough (or bread).

 

Is time up? In the headline I asked for a minute of your valuable time and, even if you read this at the “High Level Executive” reading speed I would guesstimate TGIM readers are capable of achieving, I’ve exceeded my request. 

So here’s a wrap-up –

Q: Would you invest $4 million of your enterprise’s hard-gained treasure in a 30-second SuperBowl commercial?

A: Not without some pretty carefully projected and tracked ROI, I hope. 

TGIM Challenge: Although time is not actual money, act as if you are the Chief Financial Officer of your time. Be the strategic business manager rather than passive caretaker of the minutes in your day. Approach your clock with an eye toward producing the best outcomes with the prudent investment of even the most piddling time resources.

Until next time.

Geoff Steck
Chief Catalyst
Alexander Publishing & Marketing

8 Depot Square

Englewood, NJ 07631
201-569-5373
tgimguy@gmail.com

P.S. I recommend to you that you take care of the minutes; for the hours will take care of themselves. Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) advised that, long before the idea of Super Bowl.