Nothing else can be managed if time is not managed. Pretty tough quote by Peter Drucker, but if you think about it carefully, you will agree. One’s success doesn’t come easy and it starts with productive use of time.
Time management is the ability to plan and control how you spend the hours in your day to effectively accomplish your goals. Poor time management is related to procrastination, as well as problems with self-control. Skills involved in managing your time include planning ahead, setting and prioritizing goals, and paying attention to where your time actually goes.
It often feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish all the things we want to accomplish, let alone find a moment to relax. The demands of work and social life, combined with our basic needs for sleep, food, and exercise, can quickly add up and overflow, producing the sense that time is constantly slipping away. Time may be limited, but it doesn’t have to always feel that way. New research suggests that our state of mind can change the way we perceive and experience time, and in turn, make us happier and more giving.
Have you read Stephen Covey’s book “7 Habits of Highly Successful People”? The figure below is Covey’s now quite famous “time management matrix” from this book. If you have read the book, it will be familiar to you.
His focus on the time-management matrix is part of Habit #3 – Put first things first. Here he argues that we need to spend our time and effort on the type of tasks listed in the second quadrant (Important and Not Urgent), as these are truly important to us and are not done, ineffectively, at the last minute.
Most importantly, this habit, as with many “step-like” programs, will only be successful if you first achieve the earlier habits. In this case, both Habit #1 – Be Proactive, and Habit #2 – Begin with the end in mind, must be established.
Habit 1 and Habit 2 build a base of necessity and purpose, respectively. First, by acknowledging our responsibility in life to make and own our choices, Habit #1 establishes us as responsible, active people world. With this established, Habit #2 provides the focus for this type of action. With Habit 2, we answer the question, “What is my purpose?” We establish our mission and vision for our lives.
Once these habits are established, the Time-Management Matrix becomes much easier to manage. We now know we must choose to be proactive with the type of activities listed in Quadrant #2.
It’s easy to know when we haven’t established Habits 1 & 2. If you look at the matrix and lament the fact that you’re always caught up in the activities in the other Quadrants, particularly 3 and 4, you haven’t developed your own vision of what’s important. And, you’re probably not taking responsibility for your choices.
So in addition to Covey’s time management matrix, follow these additional 10 tips to help make more productive use of your time.
Organize the night before
In order to have your priorities lined up for each workday, make a list of things that you have to do the night before and evaluate the importance of those projects. By committing your priorities to paper, you psychologically enter into a contract with yourself because it creates a greater responsibility in your mind to get these things done.
Start the day early
Coming up short on time toward the end of the day? Go into the office 30 minutes early. It will give you some breathing room in the day and start the day with important alone time. There’s nothing better than starting the day fully organized and ready to go. It could also give you some time to catch up on early morning e-mails and re-think about today’s priorities.
Know your priorities
Plan to spend at least 50 percent of your time engaged in the thoughts, activities, and conversations that produce most of your results … quadrant 2 tasks.
Take 2-3 minutes before every call and task to decide what result in you want to attain. This will help you know what success looks like before you start. And it will also slow time down. Take the same time after each call and activity to determine whether your desired result was achieved. If not, what was missing? How do you put what’s missing in your next call or activity?
Keep the focus on quadrant 2 tasks
Oftentimes, we don’t do the essential things that need to be done because we get sidetracked — in many cases by tasks we’d rather be doing. In order to avoid this trap, it’s important to keep the focus on the plan of attack on quadrant 2. If you notice more than an occasional task in quadrant 1, it is important to put better effort into planning.
Work to the plan
When you can visualize how you plan your day to go, you can cut back the downtime. Got enough work done? Put some time in the gym or talk to your family. If you can schedule and plan accordingly, you’ll never run out of time.
Any activity or conversation that’s important to your success should have time assigned to it. To-do lists get longer and longer to the point where they’re unworkable. Appointment books work. Schedule appointments with yourself and create time blocks for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions. Schedule when they will begin and end. Have the discipline to keep these appointments.
Be realistic
When you’ve created a plan and a schedule, it’s important to be realistic about what you can actually accomplish in a workday and prioritize accordingly. And don’t forget to leave yourself some wiggle room in your schedule in case something unexpected comes up, as it frequently will.
Stay organized
Keeping up with an organizer that holds every appointment you have will cut down on any wasted time. Most people think they can get away with just creating mental notes, but that’s not good planning. Keeping your life in order with something concrete will aid in cutting down stress. Tidying your desk and workspace can also keep your work consistent. Plan time to be pulled away from what you’re doing.
Avoid Distractions
Easily the hardest thing to do all day at work is to be able to focus at all times. We all struggle with distraction, but being able to get back on the horse and stay focused is a great talent. Especially in our world of social media and growing communication technology, it’s easy to get off the working path. Strive to stay off Facebook, Twitter, or anything else that will keep you glued to a screen. There are more important things to be done at work. Put up a “Do not disturb” sign when you absolutely have to get work done.
Practice not answering the phone just because it’s ringing and e-mails just because they show up. Disconnect instant messaging. Don’t instantly give people your attention unless it’s absolutely crucial in your business to offer an immediate human response. Instead, schedule a time to answer emails and return phone calls.
Meditate
Being able to calm yourself down when things get too hectic is the perfect way to get back into time management. If there’s too much going on, and you’re losing track of what needs to get done, just excuse yourself to a quiet place and bring yourself some peace. Use meditation and calming techniques to keep your head straight. This will in turn make you happier as well.
Rest when you’re a success
Young people seem to have boundless energy, and so must you, for your own success. Yes they are 20 years old and you’re probably not, but it is not just their youth that keeps them in constant motion, it is their sense of time and place.
They instinctively recognize that goals are a short period of time in their lives. They know they need to take advantage of every second and they do. “Don’t you ever rest?” I ask, and the answer that comes back the most is “I’ll rest after I get to the goal.”
It’s the same with your goals. Rest once you are a success. You must recognize that this is a special time in your life. You have a goal that can change things forever; so you need to find the energy and time to devote to it now. Kick your life into high gear and rest after you’re across the finish line. You won’t burn out.
Remember this: everyone in the time-management consulting business will tell you the same thing – “learn to say no.”It is very difficult to say no until you have established your own sense of priority and purpose.
Procrastination is NOT a time management problem. However, if you’re procrastinating, chances are you’re managing your time very poorly. Why? It’s because you haven’t clearly established the priorities important in your life – your purpose and meaning.
Do you want to procrastinate less? Spend time working on Covey’s first two habits. The rest will flow from this very authentic base of being in the world.