From time to time, I have clients ask me if I can do anything to help them with personal time management. Typically, they have put too much on their plate and they can't figure out how to get everything done. Here’s what I’ve learned over the years as I transitioned from a poor time manager to a more effective time manager: There's a big difference between time management and effective time management.
For many of us, time management boils down to managing our to-do lists – trying to get more done and checking it off our lists within prescribed deadlines. But doing more doesn't mean we are achieving what we want. Many of us are caught in the hamster wheel, running as fast as we can and not really getting anywhere. Entrepreneurial leaders are faced with an endless supply of possible things to do. Every day, life will hand you a hundred more things you could add to your list.
Effective time management is about prioritizing. It's deciding what we want, what we will do towards that end, and even more important, what we will not do.
Most of us will never experience effective time management because we won't stop running. We convince ourselves that the only answer is to run faster and longer. "It has to get done," we think, "and I have to do it." The tyranny of the urgent ensnares all of us, so the first and most effective time management step is to pause. Stop voluntarily. Don't wait for the heart attack to stop you and force you to re-prioritize. Break from the reactive, mechanical doer mode.
Now that you have stopped “doing” – ask yourself two questions:
The process is simple – but it's not easy, and it’s absolutely impossible without the pauses. The tough part is choosing between all the things we can do to isolate the few things we must do to achieve the outcomes that matter most. Follow the process regularly – pause and answer the two questions – and I promise it will get easier and you will become an effective time manager.