How To Create Time
Creating time is altogether different to saving time or managing time. When we focus on time management we usually lose whatever we gain by completing another project or fulfilling another obligation. It’s the original merry-go-round.
If you want something done, ask a busy person. They are so efficient in managing time that they’ll somehow squeeze it in. It’s more than ironic that the more successful we get, the less time we have to enjoy that success; it’s perverse. It should be the other way around. Ever stared at your microwave and thought to yourself, ‘come on, come on, I haven’t got a minute’? It’s no wonder we search for unrealistic coping strategies from books like, ‘199 Ways to Simplify Your Life’. If you’re not put off by that title, you really do need help.
Time creation is different. Time creation means manufacturing time for you, time that you guard as jealously as you would a prized possession, time that no one else can take away from you. There are only three ways to create time and all are related to the tasks and duties you face on a daily basis.
The first is when ‘
someone else does it for me’. In business it’s called outsourcing or delegating, at home it’s called ‘Jim’s Mowing’ or the chores the kids do for pocket money. Three cheers to those of you who outsource and delegate every possible task you neither enjoy nor realistically need to do. Do it yourself is dead. Long live DIFM (do it for me). Of course, if you enjoy doing the ironing or handling the office catering yourself, go ahead.
The second time creation method comes under the heading of ‘
I still do it, but I do it as efficiently as possible’. It’s a technique that’s embraced by the British SAS who invented the seven P’s method. The seven P’s remind us that ‘Prior Planning & Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance'. The SAS plan their missions with consideration of every possible contingency to minimize the chances of things going wrong. We can emulate this military precision in our day to day lives by making our medical appointments first thing in the morning so there is less chance of having to wait. We can look up the street directory before we go rather than spending an extra 10 minutes trying to read the maps while heading exactly 180 degrees in the opposite direction. We can leave detailed phone messages about when to call us back, we can use ‘to do’ lists and we can adopt a jealous defense of our time so that daily life doesn’t steal it away from us.
The third method, my personal favorite is, ‘
it just doesn’t get done’. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your company, your relationships and for yourself is to just not do it. This is a tough call if your hooked on adrenaline, but a great way to create time and boost your self esteem. If you are strong enough not to have your feeling of self worth totally determined by what you do and the things you achieve, you will learn to enjoy saying no. It’s like leaping from a diving board for the first time. There is trepidation and an uncertain fear of the unknown, but once you’ve broken through the inertia you find that it’s great fun and you just can’t wait to do it again. Have you ever really tried saying no?
While it’s not advisable for everyone, there is one other way to create time.
It’s to sleep less. We can’t turn 24 hours a day into 25, however you can turn 16 hours of consciousness into 17 if you cut your current sleep from 8 hours each night down to 7 hours. While I’d never advise anyone to sleep less than 7 hours a night and I accept that some people function better on 8 hours or more, you can’t deny that an extra hour a day equates to an additional 2 weeks of life each year. If you are using that hour a day for you, it can be a very positive and balanced investment.
Mohammed Ali is credited with the shortest poem in the world. While addressing a multi racial group of students about the brotherhood of man, he opened his arms in an all embracing gesture and simply said, “Me:We”. My poem is about being good to yourself and is 4 letters longer. Here it is: “
Time:Mine”. When you think about creating time that no one else can have, you’ll be amazed just how quickly you’ll free up your life.
Are you hooked on adrenaline? Being frantically busy makes us feel worthy and needed. It also makes us run on adrenaline, which should be reserved for times when we’re really scared or really angry. After a while adrenaline becomes addictive. You’ve probably experienced feeling flat or anti-climactic after a major event like a sporting final or a family wedding? That’s because your adrenaline has dissipated. It’s what being physically drained really means. People who are hooked on adrenaline subconsciously look for ways to get another hit. They take on another project, manufacture a confrontation or leave it all to the last minute in order to recreate the need for urgency. Sound familiar. Too much adrenaline thickens your blood, making it harder for the blood to circulate. In the long run, that’s not good news. Don’t let yourself get hooked on adrenaline. Who are you trying to impress anyway?
Visit the CEO Online e-Learning Audio Seminar Library,
and listen to the audio seminar by Mark McKeon:
How To Create Time
Duration: 28 minutes, 16 seconds
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How To Create Time
Mark McKeon, Mark McKeon & Associates; Eltham, Victoria; Ph: (03) 9439 2828; Email: info@mckeon.com.au; Web Site: www.mckeon.com.au. Mark McKeon is Australia’s leading work life balance author and speaker.
First published: 18 December 2001.
Last updated: 30 March 2006.