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What comes to your mind when you hear “Time Management?”
To-do list? Post its? Plans in Excel? Keeping the clock ten minutes ahead????
Most of us associate time management to planning, scheduling, and prioritising a to-do list, etc. Of course, all these are necessary. But, if it is so simple that a plan or a priority to-do list will make us manage our time better, then why so much of buzz around Time Management?
Time Management sounds like an oxymoron, since nobody can actually manage time in the real sense. Whether you like it or not, none of us can have a hold on time – a second gone is gone and you only have a finite amount of time in a day.
REFLECT ON YESTERDAY FOR A BETTER TOMMOROW
I now encourage you to pause for a moment, and think about the days that went good for you, days that you felt you were in control and your productivity was to your satisfaction.
What do you think worked for you on your perfect day?
If you are thinking that it was your planning or a schedule or the way you managed time, think twice. How many times you made those plans or schedules and how many times it worked for you?
To manage your day better or get the best out of your time, we need to master two important things.
- Think deep and think in detail when planning or allocating time to tasks.
- Manage your energy levels.
I am not listing “stress” here – another important thing – since that is a different subject altogether, and since there is no one size-fits-all solution.
LET’S SEE HOW TO MAKE THIS WORK IN REAL LIFE
Let us imagine that you are planning your work day, you made a task list, and now putting in a plan – say you are allocating time for travelling to work and do a task for one hour once you reach your workplace.
Now look at the plans below and think which has the high probability to succeed.
Person A’s Plan:
Travelling to work: 8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.; Task 1: 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Person B’s Plan:
Preparation to travel to work: 7:45 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.; Easy time of 15 minutes;
Travelling to work: 8:15 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.; setting up desk: 9:00 a.m. to 9:05 a.m.
Greeting colleagues: 9:05 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.;
Clearing off priority emails: 9:15 a.m. to 9:25 a.m.
Task 1: 9:25 a.m. to 10:25 a.m.
You can see it for yourself the nuances that are thought through in person B’s plan.
Unless you think through all details and factor in the time that these otherwise unseen nuances will take, there is a high probability that the plan might not work, and most importantly the stress of missing that out will eat into the second task, making the whole day go for a toss.
You need not put in all these details in the plan if you don’t like to, but at least allocate time in such a way that it covers the nuances.
Key here is to think through the details – run a full picture in your mind including the smallest of the details and be realistic about the time each micro task takes, so that you can estimate and allocate right amount of time.
Imagine this – you thought through well, put in all support, micro, sub, and main tasks in the plan, and allocated right amount but ended up overshooting the time allocated. Why?
Now, think about the energy that you had on a good day, think about your mood on a successful work day – be aware that energy level affects mood. Most of us will not notice changes in our energy levels unless one is self-observant and is self-aware.
Yes, you have a great plan, detailing to the lowest level possible, and neatly allocated time slots. But, if you lack the energy to meticulously follow that plan, it is of no use. No time management technique or hacks will work.
For us to have a good productive day, we need to focus on managing our energy, not just time. When I say energy, both physical and mental energies.
ENERGIZE YOUR PLANS
After putting in a beautiful, well-made plan, you start your work without a breakfast or a poorly eaten breakfast, how much time you think you can really concentrate? And if you have made your plan thinking that you will have the same energy levels all through and you don’t take care of your energy needs, you are only setting it up for a failure.
If you are not able to focus on a task for more than 30 minutes continuously and if you are not able to sit continuously without any body pain or aches, how are you going to execute the plan you made? How are you going to complete the work items within the time frame you planned?
Ensure that you eat right, and you eat at regular intervals. If you have to walk away from your work desk to eat, do not hesitate as it also serves you a physical break.
IN CONCLUSION:
As Randy Pausch says in his the famous Last Lecture, it is about how good you schedule it outside and how well you manage it inside.
It is not the time that you need to manage, it is “your own self” that you need to manage – it is about your InnerFuel – think about how good are you managing your Physical, Emotional, and Mental aspects, and you will know the answers to your time management challenges.
If you look at the things we discussed, they are simple and just common sense – mind you, life is simple and it is all about following simple things but consistently.
A good day for you = your physical energy + your mental energy + your flow of emotions.
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