Great News Time Management is Impossible
Great News Time Management is Impossible
Why impossible? Although you've heard people say "I don't have enough time," not only do we all have equal amounts of time, we all have all the time there is. So there's nothing we can do about managing time itself. Which leads us right to the
Bad News! Time Management is a sneaky substitution for "You Management!" Managing yourself in time is a real handful. Almost everyone I know struggles with it, is displeased with the results.
If you're one of those amazing people who have mastered the issue of getting the right things done at the right time, this newsletter is not for you. However, if you think you're not performing as well as you should, you're probably right – so read on! In the interests of time, I'll keep this brief!
Whichever we're managing, Time or You, what we want to see is that we got Task #1 done on Monday, Task #2 done on Tuesday, and by the end of the week, the whole thing is wrapped up. What most of us see instead–
We forget what we were going to do on Monday and just handle what comes up. or...
Something far more urgent than what we'd planned appears. By Wednesday, Task #1 doesn't have the same appeal it did on Monday morning, even if it's two days delayed! And there are still more urgent things to do.
Maybe we get Task #1 done by Friday. And perhaps the whole package has now been downshifted to a once-a-week process rather than a once-a-day process. Or it may have been "temporarily" set aside until a "better time."
Is this familiar? What's going on?
Covey has written about the triumph of the urgent over the important, and he was not the first. Is that what happened? Did we allow urgency to set our priorities for us, ignoring that which is important? I don't know about you, but I do it all the time!
Others have spoken about "the path of least resistance." Do we just do the easiest thing? How about those calls where you might encounter rejection. You made them high priority. Do you do them first?
In any case, it isn't time that's the enemy. Charles Schultz put some amazing words in Pogo's mouth: "We have met the enemy, and they is us!" Joseph Campbell, the myth-maven wrote: "If I swallow my demon, I gain his power" Call it enemy, call it demon, call it a moment of weakness, but many of us discover that some process keeps us from acting in what seems to be our best interests. You could call it resistance. Pretty amazing, when you stop and think about it. We're resisting what's in our best interests!
Not only that, but many of us have a list of tricks we play on ourselves (I'm not the only one here, am I?) to avoid tasks and effort which are not all that difficult. Sleazing out? Ducking, dodging, avoiding?
What's going on here? Why can't we manage our time, ourselves, the enemy, our demons, satisfactorily?
One point of view, from The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield, is that resistance springs from fear – fear of the consequences of following our heart, fear of not looking good, fear of not pleasing others, of madness, death, etc. And of course, the mother of all fears, the Fear That We Will Succeed!
Is it possible that this is what's going on for you and me? But this newsletter is not about remaking yourself and removing your fears, however desirable that might be. It's about getting stuff done, no matter what.
So, here's a procedure you can use if you want to improve your results.
Step 1. Create an attractive possibility/result and commit to it.
Step 2. Build a fire and hold the demon's feet to it.
Step 3. Keep score. Us – XX, Demon, YY
Explanation of the steps.
Invent a result. What would be possible if such and thus actually happened, and then, what else would be possible? Paint yourself pictures of success and its outcomes. Spend a minute in the future. Get your subconscious working for you. Imagine until you can see, feel and taste the result you want. Describe the impact of this accomplishment. Answer the question, What's in it for me? Actually do this each time you have something you want to accomplish. It may take 60 seconds. Can you imagine what would be possible if you simply said you were going to do something, and then you did it! .
Hold the demon's feet to the fire! Describe the new success and commit to it. Write it down. Speak it to someone else. Put it up on the wall. Get a performance partner to work with. Create a plan with no wiggle-room or escape. Then act! Notice what happens – wiggling and escaping, or results? Hint: Start out with just 1 assignment a day – make yourself just one promise of success.
Keeping score. Somebody at IBM once said, "The way to change behavior is to measure it." As you begin to recognize and identify your demon, you'll win some and lose some. Create a scorecard. Post it on the wall, the bulletin board, in your wallet, etc. If you keep score, Us – XX, Demon, YY, you'll find that the balance begins to shift in a positive direction over time.
Is this reality, or fantasy?
You have the last word on this subject, because this is all totally within your control. (After all this confusing behavior, that should be a relief!)
Fantasy: You decide that this is interesting and you file it for future use; or you decide that it's "just not you," and you click it into oblivion. No constructive action, no results.
Reality: You decide to try it on. Now? Yes, now! Go ahead, find yourself a task – a relatively easy one for starters. Run the three steps on it. It'll take 2-3 minutes at first, and get faster later.
Did you just try it? And the score is: ___ ?
A win for you. It takes place when you know that you can identify any task and get it done.
Great News Time Management is Impossible - To learn more about this author, visit Craig Jennings's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
No wonder most of us are dissatisfied with our efforts!
Why impossible? Although you've heard people say "I don't have enough time," not only do we all have equal amounts of time, we all have all the time there is. So there's nothing we can do about managing time itself. Which leads us right to the
Bad News! Time Management is a sneaky substitution for "You Management!" Managing yourself in time is a real handful. Almost everyone I know struggles with it, is displeased with the results.
If you're one of those amazing people who have mastered the issue of getting the right things done at the right time, this newsletter is not for you. However, if you think you're not performing as well as you should, you're probably right – so read on! In the interests of time, I'll keep this brief!
Whichever we're managing, Time or You, what we want to see is that we got Task #1 done on Monday, Task #2 done on Tuesday, and by the end of the week, the whole thing is wrapped up. What most of us see instead–
We forget what we were going to do on Monday and just handle what comes up. or...
Something far more urgent than what we'd planned appears. By Wednesday, Task #1 doesn't have the same appeal it did on Monday morning, even if it's two days delayed! And there are still more urgent things to do.
Maybe we get Task #1 done by Friday. And perhaps the whole package has now been downshifted to a once-a-week process rather than a once-a-day process. Or it may have been "temporarily" set aside until a "better time."
Is this familiar? What's going on?
Covey has written about the triumph of the urgent over the important, and he was not the first. Is that what happened? Did we allow urgency to set our priorities for us, ignoring that which is important? I don't know about you, but I do it all the time!
Others have spoken about "the path of least resistance." Do we just do the easiest thing? How about those calls where you might encounter rejection. You made them high priority. Do you do them first?
In any case, it isn't time that's the enemy. Charles Schultz put some amazing words in Pogo's mouth: "We have met the enemy, and they is us!" Joseph Campbell, the myth-maven wrote: "If I swallow my demon, I gain his power" Call it enemy, call it demon, call it a moment of weakness, but many of us discover that some process keeps us from acting in what seems to be our best interests. You could call it resistance. Pretty amazing, when you stop and think about it. We're resisting what's in our best interests!
Not only that, but many of us have a list of tricks we play on ourselves (I'm not the only one here, am I?) to avoid tasks and effort which are not all that difficult. Sleazing out? Ducking, dodging, avoiding?
What's going on here? Why can't we manage our time, ourselves, the enemy, our demons, satisfactorily?
One point of view, from The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield, is that resistance springs from fear – fear of the consequences of following our heart, fear of not looking good, fear of not pleasing others, of madness, death, etc. And of course, the mother of all fears, the Fear That We Will Succeed!
Is it possible that this is what's going on for you and me? But this newsletter is not about remaking yourself and removing your fears, however desirable that might be. It's about getting stuff done, no matter what.
So, here's a procedure you can use if you want to improve your results.
Step 1. Create an attractive possibility/result and commit to it.
Step 2. Build a fire and hold the demon's feet to it.
Step 3. Keep score. Us – XX, Demon, YY
Explanation of the steps.
Invent a result. What would be possible if such and thus actually happened, and then, what else would be possible? Paint yourself pictures of success and its outcomes. Spend a minute in the future. Get your subconscious working for you. Imagine until you can see, feel and taste the result you want. Describe the impact of this accomplishment. Answer the question, What's in it for me? Actually do this each time you have something you want to accomplish. It may take 60 seconds. Can you imagine what would be possible if you simply said you were going to do something, and then you did it! .
Hold the demon's feet to the fire! Describe the new success and commit to it. Write it down. Speak it to someone else. Put it up on the wall. Get a performance partner to work with. Create a plan with no wiggle-room or escape. Then act! Notice what happens – wiggling and escaping, or results? Hint: Start out with just 1 assignment a day – make yourself just one promise of success.
Keeping score. Somebody at IBM once said, "The way to change behavior is to measure it." As you begin to recognize and identify your demon, you'll win some and lose some. Create a scorecard. Post it on the wall, the bulletin board, in your wallet, etc. If you keep score, Us – XX, Demon, YY, you'll find that the balance begins to shift in a positive direction over time.
Is this reality, or fantasy?
You have the last word on this subject, because this is all totally within your control. (After all this confusing behavior, that should be a relief!)
Fantasy: You decide that this is interesting and you file it for future use; or you decide that it's "just not you," and you click it into oblivion. No constructive action, no results.
Reality: You decide to try it on. Now? Yes, now! Go ahead, find yourself a task – a relatively easy one for starters. Run the three steps on it. It'll take 2-3 minutes at first, and get faster later.
Did you just try it? And the score is: ___ ?
A win for you. It takes place when you know that you can identify any task and get it done.
Great News Time Management is Impossible - To learn more about this author, visit Craig Jennings's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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