The Secret of Time Management

The secret to time management isn’t more time management hacks at all.  Here’s the keys I’ve found:

• Manage energy not time.
• Make room for your big rocks.
• Use anticipation to drive versus react.

I often here the argument, “if I had more time for this or that, I could …”  Well, unfortunately, having more time doesn’t always mean getting more done.  It doesn’t guarantee getting the right things done either. 

Sometimes I get more done in an hour than I can sometimes get done in a week. 

Why is that? 

For me, it’s actually about energy. 

There’s only so many hours in a day.  While I can’t make more hours in a day, I can use my energy better.  Sure there’s lots of interesting little time savers, but there’s plenty of time wasters too.  I find the force that makes the most measurable difference is the energy and engagement I bring to the table.

Assuming I have all my energy ready to tackle my day, I need to distinguish between urgent and important.  If I’m only reacting to urgent, then I’m missing out on opportunity to deal with important, whether that’s job impact or personal growth. 

The moral of the story is, if I don’t make time for the big rocks, the fillers in my day won’t leave room.  I like Steven Covey’s perspective on urgent vs. important in his First Thing’s First book.

Anticipation is a actually a skill that I haven’t worked on as much as I should.  I actually plan to do a 30 Day Sprint, when the time is right.  It’s funny how many recurring things happen each year, that take me by surprise.  Birthdays.  Holidays.  Reviews.  Events.  Geeze!  You’d think I’d see the patterns

Well, I do.  I’ve seen the pattern of me reacting to events I don’t anticipate. 

While the corporate ninja expects the unexpected, I also find that with a little anticipation, a stitch in time saves nine.  If I make project plans, and there’s a major event I didn’t account for, I shouldn’t be surprised when suddenly nobody’s around. 

At the same time, I’m sure I can find a way to leverage the sudden spurt of energy some folks have right after mid-year discussion.