Are You Running Your Life - Or Is Time Running You?

I love this scene out of Anger Management, with Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler. Sandler's character is running late for work and Nicholson forces him to stop (in the middle of a bridge of course) and sing I Feel Pretty from West Side Story.

You can feel the waves of frustration coming off of Sandler's character, as he is forced to sit still - for even the two minutes it takes to sing the song - whilst running late for work.

And I think it quite acurately depicts how we all feel sometimes. We're running late for a meeting, deadlines are looming, our kids are expecting us to pick them up shortly, and the list goes on ... it can be a very overwhelming feeling. Mark Sanborn poignantly describes how many executives spend their time in his article 12 Keys To Increasing Productivity And Balance:

"One executive explained that most of the senior managers he knew had allocated their time each day as follows:

• Work - 16 hours
  
• Family - 1 1/2 hours
  
• Exercise - 0
  
• Education - 0
  
• Meals - 1 hour
  
• Sleep - 5 1/2 hours

The question asked is, "How does one get more done - and more results - out of each day?". But there's an even more important question, and that is "Why should we get more things done?". There are two answers to that question.

First, we need to increase our productivity so that ultimately we can have more time to spend with the people who really matter to us. Second, the better we get at managing our time and increasing our results, the more time we have to do the things that we want to do."

This is further reinforced in this Brian Tracy video. He suggests that we need to spend more and more time doing fewer and fewer things. This is only achievable of course, if we prioritise what is truly important to us - and delegate, eliminate or let go of everything else.

From all that I've read about time management, this seems to be a recurring theme to gaining control over time - working out what really matters and then prioritising activities to focus on that.

Changing your mindset about time

Mark Hereema says: "If there is one point that you take from this over any other it is this: maximising time must be a mindset before it will ever become a habit. I can't count how many people I have heard say, "I want to be better with my time!". But, I can count just how many people have been able to do it. What is the difference between the two?

MINDSET first, habit second. Most people try and create the habit of being more efficient with their time before they have convinced themselves as to why." - Becoming A Master Of Time

A good point. Jenny Stilwell challenges us to ask these questions about deciding where best to spend our time:

• What activity would you be doing that you love so much you'd do it for free? If I left you alone for the day, uninterrupted, and came back to find you immersed in that activity completely unaware that a day had gone by, what would you have been doing?
  
• Do you have a chance to do that through your business, or is the business structured in such a way that it enables you to leave it and pursue your ‘immersion' activity?
  
• Where and how do you ideally like to work?
  
• Would you like more free time and if so, how would you spend it?
  
• What needs to change in your business to enable you to live and work with more enjoyment, satisfaction and better personal results?
  
• Is the vision for your business based on your personal goals? Are they in alignment?

Read the full article here: Does Your Business Enable You Or Tether You?

Practical steps

Assuming that we have a good focus for our efforts, the next step is to get down to basics. Here's some tips from Harlan Goerger, Author of The Sales Gap from Five Keys To Controlling Time:

"Focus

It has been proven time and again that we are most efficient when we focus on one task or item at a time. I do not care what they say about "multi-tasking"! Our brain works like a car. If all four wheels are turning in the same direction, we reach our destination in the most efficient way and on time.

Now consider that same car with each of its four wheels going in different directions! Is this going to be a fun drive? A productive drive? How about efficient?

In the second example we use up a tremendous amount of energy and time with very little results! Thus, more hours and exhaustion are the real results. 

Priorities

This ties into Focus but many will say, "I have so many priorities and demands!" Yes, we all do, the difference is not all are top priorities, they only seem to be.

Gene was a mentor of mine in the 80's and had a unique way of prioritising things. He had three locations in his office where he put things:

1. A - A "do it today" place for those items he needed to do today and they had importance and impact on the outcomes he needed
   
   
2. B - A "do it this week" place for those items he needed to do but had time or needed to get information or input on. Again, these had an impact on his required outcomes
   
   
3. C - A drawer that was very large where he put things that were interesting or he thought might have value but did not have an immediate impact on his outcomes

Each day he first grabbed the A location and put them in order of importance and then went to work. When he was done with that pile, he went to the B group, prioritised them, and got to work until the day ended or he completed all the tasks. As to the large drawer, on the 30^th of the month he pulled the drawer out and dumped it in the garbage without looking through it. Whatever was in the drawer had not become important and had no immediate value.

The results of Gene's system, he had time to be creative, always seemed to have time for his employees and friends and attended most of his children's activities. (By the way, he was running six companies at this same time)

Can you set up some type of system to help you prioritise what is the most important in accomplishing your outcomes! Of course, you have to define those outcomes or goals and give them focus.

Schedule dates

If there is one thing I hear from almost everyone, it is more time for family or self. The guilt associated with not being with family or having self-time is a strong internal distraction. So how do you combat this distraction and guilt?

A psychologist I knew took a calendar and put all the family activities on it, including dates with her spouse and friends. Then she put in all the projects and business appointments she had to do in the open spaces. There were some compromises and yes, she did some evening and weekend work.

What she found out is she easily got her 40-50 hours of work in and the majority of her family events as well. She also found she was far more productive during her work time and far more relaxed during family events. When asked what changed, the response was "no guilt"! She had eliminated the internal guilt and distraction.

Now you may not have the flexibility the psychologist has, but setting "dates" with those important to you can go a long way to eliminating the guilt feelings that can occur and distract us."

What works for you?

Many of the above you've no doubt heard before - and some you may have even implemented. What's worked for you? What tips would you share? 

Have a fabulous week!

Kristine Szitovszky
CEO Online