Quiddity Higher Purpose Business, help for entrepreneurs, women in business, David Solomon

What Is Time Management?

Or perhaps more to the point, what isn’t it?    

Is it poor time management or wasted time?

Is it poor time management or procrastination?

Is it poor time management or lack of productivity?

Is it poor time management or lack of achievement?

Is it poor time management or poor time choices?

“Time equals money.”

You’ve heard that expression a thousand times or more. So if it is true, what are you doing with yours? Are you spending it, or investing it? And how are your time investments working for you?

Are you frustrated because there are “not enough hours in the day”?  I certainly am. Groucho Marx wanted a 36-hour day - that way he could work 24 hours, and still get a good night’s sleep. Great idea!

Spending time or investing time is a choice. Here are some examples:

SPENDING TIME                                                                         

1. watching TV
2. drinking in a bar
3. reading a newspaper about the local news

INVESTING TIME

1. reading a book
2. writing or reviewing a business plan
3. talking to your kids

NOTE: Invested time spent with your family pays the best dividends i.e. love.

Is this time management? It’s fair to argue that this is time allocation. It’s how you choose to use your time right now. How are you spending or investing your 16-18 hours a day?

New pressures are being placed on the immediacy of your time - and for many people it is hours (not minutes) a day that are being consumed (whether you view it a spent or invested doesn’t matter – it is still consumed).

And there are plenty of other time demands that have crept into the fabric of work and daily life:

• iPhone / Blackberry / smart phone - people are addicted. They can’t sit down without looking at it, and responding to it. 
•  Email. How many a day? Ten? A hundred? More?
•  Texting. Instant and unavoidable.
• Mobile phone. After emailing, searching and texting, then you start talking. How much time? Well just over 700 minutes a month is 12 hours. Most people spend much more.  This isn’t necessarily spent time or wasted time, but do measure its value.
• Add to the list social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and Wikipedia.
• Then add blogs, e-zines and websites.

Let’s be conservative and say that these things combined take up 2 hours a day. That is 700+ hours a year or 30 x 24 hour days.

So here is the big opportunity - in this allocation or re-allocation of time, it is critical to be sure you are addressing the really important goals, whatever they may be for you.

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…into the future

Recently I sent out an email asking people what their top business issues are. I got quite a variety of responses but one issue kept coming up consistently – How can I get more time to do all the things I need to do?

I wish I had the answer to that one!

Well actually I do…sort of.

At first I was tempted to start a discourse about the nature of time, reality, consciousness and “the matrix” – but although fascinating and worthy of discussion – it is a bit beyond the scope of this quick newsletter.

Instead I decided to give you some “instant pudding” - something that you can use straight away. It is the best (ever) tool I have found to focus your thinking and actions, so that you are getting the best results in line with your vision and with the time you have available.

I have searched for years and never found more than 168 hours in a week.

Time can’t be accumulated. You can’t turn it on or off. It can’t be replaced. It has to be spent at the rate of sixty seconds every minute.

Furthermore, in business today we are expected to produce more with less - better services, quicker response times, more products to market, increased sales, and better value for money. Managers and leaders in particular, are expected not just to plan and prioritise their own work but to be responsible for what their team do.

And then there is the Catch 22 –

“The harder (or more) I work, the more money I make.

And the more money I make, the less time I have to enjoy it.”

This is the world that we live in today. The only way out of this loop is to stop being busy and start being productive. And there is a lot that can be done in regard to how we handle the challenges of our time challenged life.

In about 1986 I read a book by Alan Lakein called How to Manage Your Time and Your Life. Why can I remember this so clearly? Because it was from this book that I learned the best time management / time allocation tool I had ever seen – bar none.

Lakein suggested that you should always ask yourself 2 questions:

What is the best use of my time right now?

Is this contributing to my progress?

This literally became my mantra and allowed me to always be working on my highest priorities. In fact, I had them written in every day of my diary (I used paper back then!) so I saw them possibly a hundred times a day. As a result I became incredibly productive and achieved a great deal.

Over time, as my vision has become broader and more holistic, I have added some key additional questions:

What is the one key thing I will complete today that will move my world forward?

If this is the ONLY thing I get done today, will that make me happy?

Is this serving my highest values?

Is this contributing to my higher purpose?

Am I doing what I want to do, or am I just being busy?

Am I avoiding what I know is important by creating new stuff to do?

These questions have taken me about 20 years to learn (I know, I know - I’m a slow learner!). But, now I use them all day, every day. They are programmed into my phone to remind me (hourly). They are printed out on a sign right above my  computer screen.

As a result, I now focus on the things that are meaningful to me and uplift me, rather than responding to other people’s agendas. In other words, I am spending my time the way I want to.

I know this strategy sounds almost too simple, but why not try it for just one week and see how you go?

What would you rather be doing? Make a conscious choice now…

How are you spending your time?

Here is the untold secret to time management…

Actually, that’s wrong.

You see, I think the discipline isn’t time “management”, but really time “allocation”.

 How many times have you heard that “time equals money”? A thousand? More?

So if it is true, what are you doing with yours? Are you spending it, or investing it? And how are your time investments working for you?

Are you frustrated because there are “not enough hours in the day”? I certainly am. Groucho Marx wanted a 36-hour day - that way he could work 24 hours, and still get a good night’s sleep. Great idea!

Spending time or investing time is a choice. For instance you could watch TV and read a newspaper about the local news (spending time), or you could read a book and talk to your kids (investing time).

Is this time management? It’s fair to argue that this is time allocation. It’s how you choose to use your time right now - how you are spending or investing your 16-18 hours a day.

Even worse than having only 24 hours in a day are the increasing pressures being placed on the immediacy of your time and for its consumption - time demands that have crept into the fabric of work and daily life such as iPhone / Blackberry / smartphone, email, texting, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube,  Wikipedia, blogs, e-zines etc.

This isn’t necessarily all spent time or wasted time, but it’s worth measuring its value.

Let’s be conservative and say that these things combined take up 2 hours a day. That is 700+ hours a year or 60 x 12 hour days.

So here is the big opportunity - in this allocation or re-allocation of time, it is critical to be sure you are addressing the really important goals, whatever they may be for you.

www.quidditybusiness.com.au

The BEST EVER focussing questions you will ever ask yourself

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’…into the future 

Recently I sent out an email asking people what their top business issues are. I got quite a variety of responses but one issue kept coming up consistently – How can I get more time to do all the things I need to do?

 I wish I had the answer to that one! 

Well actually I do…sort of.

 At first I was tempted to start a discourse about the nature of time, reality, consciousness and “the matrix” – but although fascinating and worthy of discussion – it is a bit beyond the scope of this quick newsletter.

 Instead I decided to give you some “instant pudding” - something that you can use straight away. It is the best (ever) tool I have found to focus your thinking and actions, so that you are getting the best results in line with your vision and with the time you have available.

 I have searched for years and never found more than 168 hours in a week.

 Time can’t be accumulated. You can’t turn it on or off. It can’t be replaced. It has to be spent at the rate of sixty seconds every minute.

 Furthermore, in business today we are expected to produce more with less - better services, quicker response times, more products to market, increased sales, and better value for money. Managers and leaders in particular, are expected not just to plan and prioritise their own work but to be responsible for what their team do.

 And then there is the Catch 22 –

“The harder (or more) I work, the more money I make.

 And the more money I make, the less time I have to enjoy it.”

This is the world that we live in today. The only way out of this loop is to stop being busy and start being productive. And there is a lot that can be done in regard to how we handle the challenges of our time challenged life.

In about 1986 I read a book by Alan Lakein called How to Manage Your Time and Your Life. Why can I remember this so clearly? Because it was from this book that I learned the best time management / time allocation tool I had ever seen – bar none.

Lakein suggested that you should always ask yourself 2 questions:

What is the best use of my time right now?

Is this contributing to my progress?

This literally became my mantra and allowed me to always be working on my highest priorities. In fact, I had them written in every day of my diary (I used paper back then!) so I saw them possibly a hundred times a day. As a result I became incredibly productive and achieved a great deal.

 Over time, as my vision has become broader and more holistic, I have added some key additional questions:

What is the one key thing I will complete today that will move my world forward?

If this is the ONLY thing I get done today, will that make me happy?

Is this serving my highest values?

Is this contributing to my higher purpose?

Am I doing what I want to do, or am I just being busy?

Am I avoiding what I know is important by creating new stuff to do?

These questions have taken me about 20 years to learn (I know, I know - I’m a slow learner!). But, now I use them all day, every day. They are programmed into my phone to remind me (hourly). They are printed out on a sign right above my computer screen.

As a result, I now focus on the things that are meaningful to me and uplift me, rather than responding to other people’s agendas. In other words, I am spending my time the way I want to.

 I know this strategy sounds almost too simple, but why not try it for just one week and see how you go?

 What would you rather be doing? Make a conscious choice now…

By the way, did you recognize the line at the top of this post? It’s from the song “Fly Like An Eagle” by Steve Miller and the Steve Miller Band (1976).  You can check it out here – be warned though – it’s hard to get the song out of your head!

If you like these questions it might also be worth checking out the Business DNA In-Depth How-To Guide on time management here: http://quidditybusiness.com.au/business-dna-in-depth-guides.html

Time management or time allocation? How to get in “the flow”.

An acquaintance of mine called me to account the other day for not blogging for a while. He’s right of course, but I have been writing, just not the blog. Which all begs the question, “How important is it to blog?”

Well I think it is vital and I’m a bit embarrassed not to have put my fingers on the keyboard in this format for a while. However, it really is a matter of focus and priority. And that is why I have been silent.

We all have too much to do and there are never enough hours in the day. As a result it is easy to stress yourself out and feel major guilt. But to what purpose?

In about 1986 I read a book by Alan Lakein called How to Manage Your Time and Your Life. Why can I remember this so clearly? Because it was from this book that I learned the best time management / time allocation tool I have ever seen – bar none.

Lakein suggested that you should always ask yourself 2 questions:

What is the best use of my time right now?

Is this contributing to my progress?

This literally became my mantra and allowed me to always be working on my highest priorities. In fact, I had them written in every day of my diary so I saw them possibly a hundred times a day. As a result I became incredibly productive and achieved a great deal.

Over time, as my vision has become broader and more holistic, I have added an additional 3 questions of my own:

What is the one key thing I will complete today that will move my world forward?

Is this serving my highest values?

Is this contributing to my higher purpose?

I know this “time management” strategy sounds almost too simple, but from my experience, it really works.

So over the Christmas break I sat down and wrote a very long To Do List. I then set some priorities and ranked everything on the list 1, 2, 3, etc.  Then I started working on the No.1 priorities and left all the other priorities alone. (OK, I cheated a bit because I looked at them occasionally, but I didn’t do any work on them!)

The result? I became very focused and very productive. Now I’m through the No.1’s and have started on the No.2’s.

And yes, blogging is now one of my priorities :)