Is There Any Such Thing as Time Management?

We can’t pause, rewind, fast forward or change time in any way.  Since it ignores us completely and inevitably plods forward, what do we really mean by time management?

We mean, “How do I manage myself to get more done…in less time?” and “How do I manage myself to do the most important things for my life instead of defaulting to lower priorities?”  When we are late for an appointment, aren’t prepared for meeting or don’t get a project done on schedule it is not a time management problem; it is a self management problem.

When you are tempted to say, “I didn’t have enough time for that” the more accurate phrase is “I didn’t manage myself to get that done.”  If you consciously decided to blow off a low priority item in favor of something more important that’s fine.

But when things that are important to a relationship or your career or income don’t get done it is rarely because you didn’t have enough time.  Instead it is because you chose to direct your efforts towards something less vital rather than managing yourself to complete your more important objective.

So if you want to become better at doing the most valuable things for your life in a more timely way you don’t need to become better at time management.  You need to get better at self management; better at pausing, rewinding, redirecting and sometimes fast forwarding yourself…your actions, your thoughts…priorities and aspirations.

You know you can do it.  Think of the early and extra effort you’ll put forth to do things you are excited about…like planning for a vacation.  I recently went on a 4 day fishing trip and some of the friends that joined me started buying equipment and preparing their tackle four months in advance.

And you probably have managed yourself to work late in a very focused and productive way when a FINAL-FINAL deadline is on you for some critical commitment.  When you “want to” and when you perceive you “have to” you can make things happen early and quick.

How can you manage yourself to do that more consistently?  How do you accomplish more of your A priorities sooner rather than consistently escaping to less important, more routine C priorities. Below are a few of many simple tips that help…but recognize them not as methods to manage your time but as methods to manage your self.

Hit the Pause Button…and Think – Self-Managing the Big Things

The clearer you are on what you want from life the higher the probability that you will get it. It takes self-management though to distill what is often a mental fog into a clear view of what you want from life; what is most important for you today, for this month and for your entire future.

To do this create your A-List.  Expand your self discipline horizon over the next 30 days by writing down what are the must do’s for the upcoming month – your “have to hit deadlines”.  This is the “if I don’t do this I’ll get fired or people might hate me” part of the list. Put an A by each of those items.

Now write down what are the most valuable things to your career or personal life that don’t have a deadline and as a result just keep getting put off.  Put an A by each of those as well.  Now you have your A-List of the deadline critical and life critical priorities for you to either finish or at least start this month.  If you can self-manage yourself to just do this – to simply take out a piece of paper and do your thirty day A-List now, the next tip is easy.

Fast Forward to The Good Parts

Take at least two things from your A List and fast forward them to the present.  Decide what is needed to just start (not finish) each of those A to dos.  It probably will be as simple as making a phone call, setting an appointment or outlining an initial draft for the page, project or conversation. Write that specific for each of your two A’s in your calendar on a SPECIFIC DAY this upcoming week to start on.

Hit the Play Button

Starting is the key.  Once you get started it is so much easier to self-manage to finish or continue your top priorities.  Once you hit the Play button the probability is you’ll watch the rest of the movie.  This sounds very simple, and it is.  That’s why it works to positively change your life, if you elect to self manage yourself to do it – like now.

Keep in mind that your A Priorities for the next 30 days are not just about work and finances.  They also include self priorities, relationship priorities and play priorities.  What makes life worthwhile is meaningful achievement and enjoyment with all the important people in your life, self included.

Don’t Unplug from Your A’s

Self-manage yourself not to abandon your A objectives for C or lower priorities.  A typical example of unplugging from your most important objectives is the seductive, seemingly justifiable escape to email.  Unless your job requires it, checking and answering emails more than three or four times a day indicates a costly self management lapse.  For most people email provides an easy diversion of their attention from the more demanding mental task of starting or staying with an important A project.

There are lots of other similarly distracting, easy to engage C’s that offer themselves up to you every day.  Self-manage yourself to avoid unplugging from your A’s to pursue those mostly unproductive C’s.  And don’t over stress about the B’s; you’ll get to them on your schedule and will adjust for new A’s as they pop up.

I’m Going to Manage Myself Today!

So don’t worry about managing time today.  Instead say to yourself, “I’m going to manage myself to take the first step on the tread mill…today”, or “to create a personal budget” or “to do one thing to start the key project due at the end of the month.”

And in the future, when you are baffled by why you are not getting enough things done on time, or at all, don’t look at the clock…look in the mirror.  Then smile.  You have met your solution.  Manage it well today.