Time Management Expert, Event Speaker: Mark Lamendola
 

Time Tips: Be On Time to Save Time

What happens when you are late for an appointment? Usually, nothing good. Here are some possible scenarios:
  • The (dentist, doctor, mechanic, etc.) is seeing the next person and you now have to wait.
  • Your (customer, client, prospect) sees you as unprofessional, and your meeting is already off on the wrong foot--which might make the whole thing a waste of time.
  • You spend 5 minutes apologizing and explaining why you are late.
  • You rush to catch up, making your (customer, client, prospect) feel uncomfortable.
  • You rush to catch up, and consequently make a mistake that costs you in a major way.
  • You run into an old friend you haven't seen in ages, but you can't stop to say hello because you are already late.
  • You step in something stinky and don't have time to clean your shoe because you are already late. During your meeting, the other party notices.
  • The above things could happen to anybody. But suppose it gets really bad. You rush to get there 5 minutes late instead of 10 minutes late, and broadside a van--killing all 9 passengers inside.

You can think of all kinds of embarrassing, costly, counterproductive things that can easily happen if you are late. And you can think of some horrific things that can also happen, though they are less likely. Can you think of any good things that would happen? Let's try some:

  • Your customer is delighted you are late. Like that's going to happen....
  • The timing is providential, and you win $ 1 million for being the 1 millionth person to enter the building. Sure, this happens all the time....
  • You arrived at the World Trade Center at 10 AM on September 11. OK, so that was a good thing for you....

Now, you can see that it's generally preferable to be on time. Doing so saves you time. So, what's the trick to doing this?

Very simple. Spend the time upfront rather than later. Prepare. If you have to be somewhere at 0700 and it's half an hour away, don't start getting read at 0630. Make an appointment to be ready no later than 0610. Leave no later than 0615, so you have a buffer. If you get there early, you have time to relax. Bring a book or magazine to read, or just get the lay of the land.

You seldom waste time by being early. But you nearly always waste time by being late. Simple planning and disciplined execution will allow you to be on time, every time.
 
A great way many businesses are managing time is using software. There are many forms of time and attendance software which allows managers to track and monitor employees time usage.
 

More thoughts on time management

The phrase "time management" is an unfortunate language quirk. You can't really manage time. It just is. You can't gain time, create time, or even lose time. Time is what it is, regardless of what we do.

It would be better to say "time allocation" or "activity management" "time usage" or some other phraseology to indicate that it's not time itself you're managing but how you use the time that exists. But we'll use the common terminology here to avoid confusion.

Some things time management is not:

  • Being more efficient. Suppose you become very efficient at making buggy whips. Does this fact mean you are managing your time well?
  • Getting more done in a given amount of time. Getting more done of what? And to what degree of quality? If you rake the leaves on a lawn from one side to the other all day long, does that mean you are a good time manager?
  • Being able to juggle multiple priorities. Instead of juggling priorities, assign priorities. First tend to the urgent things, then the most important things.
  • Mastering multi-tasking. This concept conflicts with what we know about the human brain. If you buy into this self-defeating, time-wasting, quality-killing ideology, you might also be interested in practicing solo flight by flapping your arms frantically.
  • Working faster. No, this mode is how you make mistakes that you subsequently have to spend more time fixing.

Some things good time management involves:

  • Deciding what to do. This is trickier than it sounds. Which is why there are time management experts.
  • Deciding what not to do. This is even trickier than deciding what to do. Which is why there are time managers and why discipline is a huge, huge factor in accomplishing this.
  • Deciding what to do when, and in what order. In essence, prioritization.
  • Determining the scope, goals, and metrics for each activity you undertake. In this area, we the find most room for improvement. Precision here allows you to avoid waste on the one hand, and falling short on the other.
  • Planning out the work, task, project, or activity such that you determine the necessary steps to quality completion. That is, what must you do to meet the intended goal and quality metrics?
  • Identifying unnecessary steps. Get this right, and you can cut your wasted hours significantly.
  • Figuring out what resources to use. Not all resources applicable to a task are equal. Picking the right tool for the job saves time, improves quality, and makes life less stressful.

We've highlighted only some of the factors involved in good time management. We actually teach extreme time management, which is a methodology that allows you to make effective use of your time almost second nature. You don't need a complicated system. Our system puts many of the variables on autopilot, so you have more time to do what you need to do. Our system goes way beyond most other systems in results, yet is far simpler.

Contact us for a presentation to your organization: comments @ mindconnection.com (remove the spaces after pasting into your e-mail client's "to" box.