Why Time Management Is Overrated
Why Time Management Is Overrated
With the exception of meetings and conferences that really need to happen when all the participants are expecting them to, most "scheduling" is not only unnecessary, but can be damaging to your ability to really be effective at work and in your personal life.
This is not to say that you should not plan what you want and need to be done. You should definitely be aware of what you need to accomplish and how you plan to accomplish that. If you've made commitments, they need to be written down and remembered.
But many people spend so much time with task lists (whatever happened to the "to-do" list?), calendars, and planning, that they're not really planning anything anymore. They're just scheduling everything without giving thought to what really matters behind all those tasks.
When we try to manage our time, what we really mean is that we want to manage our own actions, so that we accomplish what needs to be accomplished in a given period of time.
There's nothing wrong with that; it's a very laudable goal. What we miss is the "what needs to be accomplished" part. We get so focused, sometimes, on the tasks and the meetings, that we don't think about what we really need to be doing, where we really need to focus our energy.
For instance, assume you're writing a book on herb gardening. You're a gardener, you raise a lot of herbs, and you've written other books. You have the experience and the resources to write a book on herb gardening, so you start scheduling your writing.
If you schedule yourself so that you write Chapter 1 on Monday and Chapter 2 on Tuesday, and then schedule the rest of your work around that writing, you may miss some of the most important time you could be spending on this book.
Because you've scheduled three hours of writing, you may find that you don't have time to spend in your garden on Monday or Tuesday. You don't get the ideas and inspiration you would get from actually working with the plants, and you don't get as much writing done because you're actively trying to "think" about what to write.
Time management is about getting things done, but that's not all there is to life. What really matters is getting the things done that are important to the purpose of what you're working on.
If you're working on a book, spending time around the subject of the book is important. If you're working on raising a child, going to the park is important and may overrun the time allotted on your schedule.
It's not time to toss out your planner, but it is time to think more deeply about the actual planning and spend less time just scheduling.
This week, try:
• Before you write anything on your calendar, try to think of at least five related things that need to be planned for, or at least thought about, during the week.
• Analyze the way you use your planner. Is the planner working with the way you need to plan?
• Study some of the planning systems available and think about what a planner you designed would look like. If yours isn't working, consider buying or creating a new one.
Why Time Management Is Overrated - To learn more about this author, visit David Bohl's Website.
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If you visit any library or bookstore, you'll see shelves full of books on time management. It seems we all want to "manage" our time, "get control" of our time, and start doing "what we're supposed to, when we're supposed to."
With the exception of meetings and conferences that really need to happen when all the participants are expecting them to, most "scheduling" is not only unnecessary, but can be damaging to your ability to really be effective at work and in your personal life.
This is not to say that you should not plan what you want and need to be done. You should definitely be aware of what you need to accomplish and how you plan to accomplish that. If you've made commitments, they need to be written down and remembered.
But many people spend so much time with task lists (whatever happened to the "to-do" list?), calendars, and planning, that they're not really planning anything anymore. They're just scheduling everything without giving thought to what really matters behind all those tasks.
When we try to manage our time, what we really mean is that we want to manage our own actions, so that we accomplish what needs to be accomplished in a given period of time.
There's nothing wrong with that; it's a very laudable goal. What we miss is the "what needs to be accomplished" part. We get so focused, sometimes, on the tasks and the meetings, that we don't think about what we really need to be doing, where we really need to focus our energy.
For instance, assume you're writing a book on herb gardening. You're a gardener, you raise a lot of herbs, and you've written other books. You have the experience and the resources to write a book on herb gardening, so you start scheduling your writing.
If you schedule yourself so that you write Chapter 1 on Monday and Chapter 2 on Tuesday, and then schedule the rest of your work around that writing, you may miss some of the most important time you could be spending on this book.
Because you've scheduled three hours of writing, you may find that you don't have time to spend in your garden on Monday or Tuesday. You don't get the ideas and inspiration you would get from actually working with the plants, and you don't get as much writing done because you're actively trying to "think" about what to write.
Time management is about getting things done, but that's not all there is to life. What really matters is getting the things done that are important to the purpose of what you're working on.
If you're working on a book, spending time around the subject of the book is important. If you're working on raising a child, going to the park is important and may overrun the time allotted on your schedule.
It's not time to toss out your planner, but it is time to think more deeply about the actual planning and spend less time just scheduling.
This week, try:
• Before you write anything on your calendar, try to think of at least five related things that need to be planned for, or at least thought about, during the week.
• Analyze the way you use your planner. Is the planner working with the way you need to plan?
• Study some of the planning systems available and think about what a planner you designed would look like. If yours isn't working, consider buying or creating a new one.
Why Time Management Is Overrated - To learn more about this author, visit David Bohl'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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