Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, states that “Time management is a misnomer, the challenge is manage ourselves,” yet we have this obsession to learn “time management strategies.” Time is a commodity. How do you spend time? Can you make time? When the day is done, what have you accomplished? We can’t get it back and that ship has sailed. Did you feel good about what you do did today?
We often hear ourselves, or others, say, “I don’t have time” so then, what do we have?
Too many commitments, too many choices, too much food, substances and distractions make decision making difficult. Saying no and dieting seem impossible. We can’t quit habits that aren’t good for us and accomplishing tasks and goals is futile.
Self Management vs. Time Management Strategies
Maybe we can’t manage time, but we can work at managing all the components of our lives and manage ourselves. We can plan ahead, budget our time, set a target and commit to a schedule like you would a vacation. Select a task, set a timer and accomplish a small assignment. Break down a large project into small pieces, and little by little, whittle away at it.
Manage our expectations, set boundaries, and learn about planning and estimating, Examine our schedules, write down our priorities and schedule them.
How do you handle interruptions? Do you get caught up in major distractions, try to start too many things at once, and end up finishing nothing? Is your day absorbed by others’ priorities? Have you examined ways to make your life easier or delegate a task to someone able, willing and mutually accountable?
Learn about how you approach new things. Do you instinctively jump in like a bull in a china closet, or procrastinate until you find the perfect way to do it? Linda Sapadin’s book, It’s About Time: The 6 Styles of Procrastination and How to Overcome Them is eye opening and life changing.
Stuff happens….emergencies, illness, demands of others, but we can’t abandon our dreams. We must get back on track, and schedule our priorities.
Let’s recap how we can manage ourselves by learning about:
- How we spend time and handle interruptions
- Setting boundaries: physical, mental and emotional
- Focusing
- Budgeting
- Planning
- Estimating
- Scheduling
- Setting goals and priorities
- Delegating
- Avoiding multitasking
- Managing distractions
- Managing expectations
- Managing lists
Plato said “the beginning is the most important part of the work” then let’s begin.
Do you want to learn more about time and managing yourself, contact me.