Time Management is Bogus
Time Management is Bogus
You don’t have enough time. Or,
You have all the time there is.
In fact, time is unmanageable – it just keeps tickin’ along. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Time should be manageable, but it’s not!
Thousands and thousands of pages have been written about “time management.” The trick, of course, is not reading but doing. We think that this comparatively short little piece includes all the direction necessary.
The problem: We can’t manage time. We can manage ourselves, providing we agree that “we have met the enemy, and they is us!” Have a look at this “enemy.” And focus on answer #2 above.
When we look at how we manage our own time, most of us see a mess.
Endless do-lists
Broken agreements with others
Broken agreements with ourselves.
Frustration, anger and a sense of helplessness.
Quotation: “Time is the currency of our lives. How we spend it tells much about us!”
One answer -. Consideration vs. action.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet points this out as a dilemma in his famous soliloquy. I was struck by its pointedness when I revisited it today.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them.”
And, from more modern times, this quote from Conrad Hilton:
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
So, what can we do to stop thinking and get into action?
Bag the endless do-list. We construct them with the best of intentions, but they’re hugely disempowering. What does a do-list really mean? To me, it means that I’m giving myself permission to put it off until later! Can you smell the BS? Here’s a rule: INCLUDE ON A DO-LIST ONLY WHAT YOU PROMISED – TO SOMEONE ELSE OR TO YOURSELF - TO ACCOMPLISH TODAY. DO THAT ONLY. DO IT RIGHT NOW.
Surprise! When we follow this TODAY rule, we’ve now solved problems a, b, and c. above and maybe d.
Identify one thing which is important but not urgent in your world – around your business, your relationships, whatever. You might call it an opportunity, and you know how many times opportunity knocks! Make a space for this opportunity, in time, in your day, on your calendar. One hour a day, 5 days a week, is outstanding.
Give up detailed prioritizing if you’ve been having self-management problems. Just make a commitment to yourself and the world that you will keep your promises and tackle one “Important, not urgent” opportunity item each day.
Be like steel about this. The whole world will try to keep you from managing this! Watch this happen. Your own demons, and the forces of disorganization will attack. Here’s how you strike back.
· Don’t answer the phone(s).
· Close your door or take your laptop to Starbucks.
· Promise yourself you will not end the day without completing this process and the actions associated with it.
· Keep that promise.
· Give yourself an Attaboy when you do.
· Tell someone else how you kept your promise.
· Discover how great you feel about your business and yourself.
When you discover that you’ve put something off, just slot it in tomorrow’s “Important But Not Urgent” time slot, and tackle it a second time with renewed energy.
We’ve addressed “how to do it.” But we haven’t addressed “what to do.”
In the next newsletter, we’ll tackle Goal Setting. Here’s a preview.
Imagine you’re riding a bicycle. You’re sitting on the seat, pedaling like mad. But no-one has control of the handlebars! And no-one is looking down the road ahead.
Many small business owners will tell you that they’d like to spend more time guiding the business, but they just don’t have the time. They just try to pedal faster.
If you’re an entrepreneur, you need a strategy – one which runs over years, not day by day.
For a more powerful focus, I offer classes on running a business, about starting it, about keeping it going, about making it work. Check out my business bootcamp which meets in April and May. Click on this URL http://www.craigjennings.com/classes.html and have a look at the options – some free and some not.
Suggestion: Do It Now!
Time Management is Bogus - To learn more about this author, visit Craig Jennings's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
We really don’t understand the problem.
You don’t have enough time. Or,
You have all the time there is.
In fact, time is unmanageable – it just keeps tickin’ along. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Time should be manageable, but it’s not!
Thousands and thousands of pages have been written about “time management.” The trick, of course, is not reading but doing. We think that this comparatively short little piece includes all the direction necessary.
The problem: We can’t manage time. We can manage ourselves, providing we agree that “we have met the enemy, and they is us!” Have a look at this “enemy.” And focus on answer #2 above.
When we look at how we manage our own time, most of us see a mess.
Endless do-lists
Broken agreements with others
Broken agreements with ourselves.
Frustration, anger and a sense of helplessness.
Quotation: “Time is the currency of our lives. How we spend it tells much about us!”
One answer -. Consideration vs. action.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet points this out as a dilemma in his famous soliloquy. I was struck by its pointedness when I revisited it today.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and, by opposing, end them.”
And, from more modern times, this quote from Conrad Hilton:
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.”
So, what can we do to stop thinking and get into action?
Bag the endless do-list. We construct them with the best of intentions, but they’re hugely disempowering. What does a do-list really mean? To me, it means that I’m giving myself permission to put it off until later! Can you smell the BS? Here’s a rule: INCLUDE ON A DO-LIST ONLY WHAT YOU PROMISED – TO SOMEONE ELSE OR TO YOURSELF - TO ACCOMPLISH TODAY. DO THAT ONLY. DO IT RIGHT NOW.
Surprise! When we follow this TODAY rule, we’ve now solved problems a, b, and c. above and maybe d.
Identify one thing which is important but not urgent in your world – around your business, your relationships, whatever. You might call it an opportunity, and you know how many times opportunity knocks! Make a space for this opportunity, in time, in your day, on your calendar. One hour a day, 5 days a week, is outstanding.
Give up detailed prioritizing if you’ve been having self-management problems. Just make a commitment to yourself and the world that you will keep your promises and tackle one “Important, not urgent” opportunity item each day.
Be like steel about this. The whole world will try to keep you from managing this! Watch this happen. Your own demons, and the forces of disorganization will attack. Here’s how you strike back.
· Don’t answer the phone(s).
· Close your door or take your laptop to Starbucks.
· Promise yourself you will not end the day without completing this process and the actions associated with it.
· Keep that promise.
· Give yourself an Attaboy when you do.
· Tell someone else how you kept your promise.
· Discover how great you feel about your business and yourself.
When you discover that you’ve put something off, just slot it in tomorrow’s “Important But Not Urgent” time slot, and tackle it a second time with renewed energy.
We’ve addressed “how to do it.” But we haven’t addressed “what to do.”
In the next newsletter, we’ll tackle Goal Setting. Here’s a preview.
Imagine you’re riding a bicycle. You’re sitting on the seat, pedaling like mad. But no-one has control of the handlebars! And no-one is looking down the road ahead.
Many small business owners will tell you that they’d like to spend more time guiding the business, but they just don’t have the time. They just try to pedal faster.
If you’re an entrepreneur, you need a strategy – one which runs over years, not day by day.
For a more powerful focus, I offer classes on running a business, about starting it, about keeping it going, about making it work. Check out my business bootcamp which meets in April and May. Click on this URL http://www.craigjennings.com/classes.html and have a look at the options – some free and some not.
Suggestion: Do It Now!
Time Management is Bogus - To learn more about this author, visit Craig Jennings'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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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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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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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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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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