Time Management Expert, Event Speaker: Mark Lamendola
 

Time Tips: Search and Destroy Unneeded Tasks

Just as many people acquire detritus--once useful things that now simply take up space-- in their closets, so many people continue to possess habits and rituals that no longer serve a useful purpose and now simply take up space in their schedules. And, likewise, many of us perform tasks that simply aren't needed. We could use the time thus consumed for other things.

How can you identify these parasitic vestiges of times past? One way is to keep a four-hour diary. Just pick a four-hour chunk of your day--for example, decide that you will track 0600 to 1000 next Wednesday. Carry a little pocket notebook and pen everywhere you go for that four hour period. Then, simply jot down the name of each task you do and how long it took you. The next day, look through the list. You may be amazed at how much time you could free up by making a few small adjustments. Here are some ideas:

  • Simply eliminate some tasks outright. For example, reading the newspaper is pointless (in my opinion, since they rarely get their facts right).
  • Scaling back some tasks. For example, that morning meeting that takes an hour can be reduced to 15 minutes if the meeting has an advance agenda, a purpose, and resultant assignments. Meeting reform can save huge amounts of time. Scale back and save! 
  • Adjusting some  tasks. For example, do you make your lunch each AM? Consider making batches weekly and refrigerating and freezing them. This gives you economies of scale.
  • Redesigning some tasks. For example, do you stop at the convenience store for coffee on your way to work? Save time by brewing your own while you're getting dressed.

You can think through most tasks in this manner to free up time in small chunks that add up. Work this four hour period thoroughly for a month, then pick a new four hour period to optimize. 

 

 
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.