The Myth of Time Management

When you ask someone what is the one thing they need to improve to perform better both at work and at home I guarantee that time management is right up there fighting for first place. So why, if so many people have identified that this is something they need to improve, don't they? Or if they try to improve their "time management" why does it generally not work?

The number one reason for this, I believe, is that the title of "time management" and the idea behind that is completely flawed. But hang on, if you are managing something you are careful about how you use it so that none of it goes to waste, right? You're correct, but tell me how you would manage money? Or that nice bottle of scotch? You would be frugal with these commodities, carefully doling them out as you needed them, stretching out your limited supply for as long as possible; not wasting any, keeping some stashed away for that rainy day.

Now tell me how you would save time? How would you squirrel some away so that when you needed that extra 30 minutes you could pull it out of the time bank?

Time ticks by. It never stops. You can't dam it up, stick it in a bank, or stuff it under the mattress. You can't speed it up or slow it down. Time simply is, and there is nothing we can do about it. You are better off tilting at windmills.

So it's hopeless then? Nothing can be done and I will die always wanting more time? Well, you probably will want more time when the end comes but there are ways we can be more productive during the time we have in which to work. The key word here is productive. You can swap in 'efficient' if you like, but the core concept doesn't change. You can't manage time but you CAN manage what you do as that time flows by.

Bit of a tangent here. I have one truly massive bug bear that can wreck a supplier's chance of working with me, and it even puts me in a bad mood when this happens in social circumstances. People being late. The reason this upsets me as much as it does is not so much the time I have spent waiting, but because it tells me quite clearly that I have been prioritised lower than whatever the reason is for being late. Sure, things happen. Traffic jams, road works, acts of God, and clothing crises. I understand and can accept that things happen and, if it is for good reason, a phone call to tell me what is happening makes everything okay (within reason). But the main point is that keeping the appointment with me has been prioritised below something else, and when you think like that it makes being late personal.

So why do I think like that? Simply I have too much to get done in any given day - every day. So at the start of each day I prioritise each task that I must complete using a simple two part measure. Firstly is it important, secondly is it urgent? This makes me identify what I should do first and what I should do last. It also means that if things take longer than expected the things that don't get done (and there always will be some) are by default the least important to me. So when someone is late to an appointment with me, they have prioritised me lower than something else.

Okay - back on track! I would now like you to put to bed the concept of time management, and move to the concept of task prioritisation. You can't change time but you can change what you are doing right now. If you do the next few steps I promise at the end of each day you will have achieved as many of your key tasks as it was possible to do.

1. Firstly take a step back and get a grip on what you have to do today. I don't care how big a pile it seems - you can break it down into bite sized pieces.
2. Now put every item into one of these four piles:

• Urgent & Important
• Urgent
• Important
• Neither

3. Start on the Urgent & Important and don't do anything else till they are done.
4. Move to the Urgent pile. Did you get this pile done?!?!
5. Move to Important. Are you saying you got to all of these as well?
6. Do the other stuff. Have that drink to celebrate.

Now if you got to the end of step 6 you don't need to read this next bit. Pat yourself on the back, because you have mastered prioritisation and you can go home and enjoy yourself. If you're like me though, and you are really happy if you get to the end of step 2, by the end of the day you need to step back and reprioritise you tasks. Naturally through the passage of time tasks that were once just "important" will become "important and urgent" as tasks that were once only "urgent" will become "urgent and important" and the most challenging part of managing your prioritisation is keeping on top of reviewing your task list.

So, in summary, forget about managing time as that is impossible and start managing your priorities. If you do all the most urgent and important things first then at the end of the day you will be able to go home knowing that it was impossible to do more and you have done the key things. If you are still going under then you are under resourced and you need to delegate some of your duties.