Maximise your time - don't manage it!
Time's Too Tight To Mention
Time management theories have been around for centuries. Seneca, the Roman philosopher wrote in his Moral Epistles in AD62 "gather and save your time." Organisational psychologists who have researched different time management have concluded that they aren't helpful in the least. We all say that we don't have enough time and that we're time-poor yet time is all we have. It's the only thing that is equal amongst us. Education, background, race, gender, sexual preference, opportunities etc certainly aren't equal but having 24 hours day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year is.
So what to do? A new way of thinking about maximizing your time is needed. The number one way for you to maximise your time is to be very clear on the hierarchy of your values. Once you know what's more important to you, you can focus your attention on these things and feel okay letting the not-so-important things fall by the wayside. A helpful thing to remember is that you don't have to have it all in life - just what's important to you.
The Pareto Principle, aka the 80:20 rule, states that 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. So make sure that you focus your attention on your core 20%. When it comes to making decisions about where to spend your time, going back to your values and what's important to you makes the decision so much easier. Having this strong yes, makes it easier to say no to other things that will split your focus.
A myth we need to kill once and for all is the whole 'multi-tasking myth', that you get better results by doing lots of things at once. You don't. Your conscious mind, ie: the things that you're aware of, as opposed to your unconscious mind, has a wonderful ability to think up and imagine different things but can only effectively think one thought at a time. Ever tried to watch and TV and hold a conversation with someone? What happens? You have to flick between one and the other and you don't do either one of them very well. Your mind is like a radio station, it can only be tuned into one station at a time but can flick quickly between stations.
Even computers, where the term multi-tasking comes from don't do to things at once but switch between tasks at a rapid rate. Our working memory isn't able to hold the information of different tasks at the same time and when we switch back again, we lose all the details we need to be productive. It takes time for us to focus our attention and by constantly changing and interrupting ourselves we never allow ourselves to build up the momentum required to enter the flow state and be at our most productive best. So it's important that in order to get more done and feel on top of things, that you create time in your work day to focus your attention one task at a time and do what you can to minimize interruptions.
Having control over your time is a key way to reduce stress so rather than try and find time in your life for everything - make time! Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. If you have a task where you have four hours to do it in, you'll do it in four hours. However, if you have to leave an hour early to get to a doctor's appointment, you'll get it done in the three hours available to you. Einstein proved that time is relative so you need to make time to do the important things.
Another way to maximise your time is to schedule in time off. This may sound counter-intuitive but being constantly on the go means we end up functioning below our best. We all need to time to rejuvenate, to sharpen the saw, and find our balance so we can give fully to our career, our relationships and ourselves. You're not supposed to have an empty to do list, so accept that you'll always have things to do and don't let it stop you from taking that time out to refresh and play. You'll live better, be more productive and enjoy life so much more.
Wade Jackson
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