Setting Yourself Up for Success
Time is the great equaliser — everyone has the same amount in a day.
No matter who you are, where you live, and what you do, you clock the
same 24-hour cycle as the next person. One person may be wealthier than
another, but that doesn’t earn him a minute more than the poorest people on
the planet.
If that simple fact seems a bit discouraging, think of it this way: You may
not have the power to get yourself more time, but you do have the power to
make the most of it. You can take your 365 days a year, seven days a week,
and 1,440 minutes in a day and invest them in such a way that you reap a
return that fullfills your life and attracts the success you dream of.
That’s what this book is about: taking control of how you spend your time to
make sure you’re using it how you really want to. You really are in control of
your time, even though you don’t always feel like it — even if you have a job
that demands overtime; even if you have kids who keep you in the carpool
loop; even if you have dreams and goals that involve developing new skills or
furthering your education.
All in all, discovering how to manage your time well is part mental restructur-
ing and part creating a system. Effective time management requires a little
introspection, some good habits and organizational skills, and more than a
few logistical and tactical tools. But all are achievable, and all are covered
in this book. So if you have the time — and I assure you that you do — get
ready for a journey that’s certain to, if not buy you more time, show you how
to make the absolute most of the 24 hours in your day.
Getting to Know Yourself
Although everyone gets the same number of hours to work with each day,
what people don’t have in equal amounts are other valuable assets: skill,
intelligence, money, ambition, energy, passion, attitude, even looks. All these
unique reserves play into your best use of time. So the better you understand
yourself — your strengths, weaknesses, goals, values, and motivations — the
easier it is to manage your time effectively. In this section, you look at your
strengths and goals, think about how much your time is worth, and observe per-
sonal energy and behavior patterns that affect your focus throughout the day.
Assessing your strengths and weaknesses
As a young man, I thought I was good — okay, I admit it; I thought I was
great — at a much larger group of skills, tasks, and jobs than I do today. In
fact, the older I get, the more I realize the list of what I’m not good at dwarfs
the lists of things I am good at. Being consciously competent at those few,
however, gets me a lot further than being unconsciously incompetent, as
I once was. Despite my poor academic record in high school, as a young
adult, I was a quick study at what I needed to do to be as successful in life
as I wanted to be. At some point, I saw the light and realized I needed to
face up to what I had to do to get where I wanted to go.
First,
I took stock of my assets: I tallied up my strengths, skills, and even my
weaknesses. And I identified things I needed to work on and things I needed to
leverage. That’s when I realized that although some people were smarter, were
more educated, had more money, and knew more influential people than I did,
I had the same amount of time as anyone else. And if I wanted to get ahead, it
was up to me to harness my time and invest it in such a way to get a greater
return. My willingness to invest more time to gain the edge helped equalize the
playing field for me and help me achieve the success I enjoy today.
Chances are that by this point in your life, you’ve discovered some skills that
you come to naturally or perhaps have worked hard to acquire. Maybe you’re
a master negotiator. Or a whiz with numbers. You may be a good writer. Or
you may have a silver tongue. Whatever your strengths, developing the handful
that brings you the most return on your efforts, propelling you forward
to attain your goals, is a more productive course of action than trying to be
the best at everything. For most people, these strengths typically number no
more than a half-dozen.
Naming goals to give you direction
You know how it is: When you’re working toward something, keeping your
focus is much easier. A woman may want to lose weight, for example, but per-
haps she struggles to stick to a diet or exercise plan. But if her son’s wedding
is looming three months away on her calendar, she may be more inspired to
stay on track, cutting back on second helpings and getting in workouts.
Your goals can serve as inspiration in adopting good time-management skills.
After all, managing your time isn’t really a benefit in and of itself, but manag-
ing your time so you can spend more of it doing what’s important to you is —
whether you’re saving for a retirement of travel and adventure or buying the
house in the perfect neighborhood.
Using your aspirations to fire up your time management success means you
have to identify your goals and keep them in the front of your mind. Pinning
down what’s most important to you may require some soul searching. Write
down your goals — all of them — and follow these guidelines:
- Cast a wide net. Go for the big goals, such as joining the Peace Corps, aswell as the not-so-big ones, such as getting an energy-efficient car next year.
- Think big. Don’t rein in your dreams because they seem unrealistic.
- Be as descriptive as possible. Instead of “build my dream house,” flesh it out: Where is this house? How big? What features does it have? What does it look like? When do you want to move in?
- Don’t limit goals to a single category. Think about goals for your career, your personal life, your social situation, your financial status, and any other facet of life that’s important to you.
Assigning your time a monetary worth to guide your priorities
Most people think about the value of their time as it relates to on-the-job
activity. The fast-food worker knows he earns a minimum wage per hour. The
freelance artist advertises a per-hour rate. The massage therapist charges
for her services in half-hour and hour increments. But to be truly aware of
the value of your time, you need to carry this concept into your personal life
as well. The value of time in your personal life is at least as valuable as your
work life time. In some cases, personal time is priceless
.
One of the most important points to remember as you work through this book
is that it’s okay not to get everything done. What’s critical is making sure that
the important things are getting done. By assigning value to your time and using
the skills you acquire from this book, you can clearly identify what’s important
and make conscious, wise choices. For example, if you need to save another
$200 per month because you want to start an account for your children’s col-
lege education, you may determine that putting in an extra shift at work may
not be worth the loss of time with your family, even at time-and-a-half pay. Or
if you really detest yard work, then paying someone else $50 to cut your grass
may be a fair trade for the extra two hours of time watching the game.
Identifying your rhythm to get in the zone
Athletes talk about being in the zone, a place where positive results seem to
stick like a magnet. Well, I’m here to tell you that the zone isn’t some magical
place where wishes come true. Anybody can get there, without a lucky token
or fairy dust. What it takes is focus, singular focus.
As an ex-professional athlete in racquetball in the 1980s, I can say I’ve been
in the zone a number of times. And I’ve experienced that same distillation of
focus and electric energy on work projects as well — times when my volume
and quality of work was bordering on unbelievable. If you can get your focus
under control, you can visit the zone every day and make great things happen.
If you know your rhythms — when you’re most on, what times of day you’re
best equipped to undertake certain tasks — you can perform your most
important activities when you’re in the zone. Everyone works to a unique
pace, and recognizing that rhythm is one of the most valuable personal
discoveries you can make.
Scheduling your time and creating a routine
Sticking to a time-scheduling system can’t guarantee the return of your long-
lost vacation days, but by regularly tracking your meetings, appointments,
and obligations, you reduce your odds of double-booking and scheduling
appointments too close. And by planning ahead, you make sure to make time
for all the important things first.
For years, I’ve followed the time-blocking system, The system ensures that you put your priorities first (starting with routines
and then moving to individual tasks/activities) before scheduling in commit-
ments and activities of lesser importance.
Such time-management techniques are just as applicable to the other spheres
of your life. There’s a reason why I advise you to plug in your personal com-
mitments first when filling in your time-blocking schedule: Your personal
time is worthy of protection, and you can further enhance that time by apply-
ing time-management principles.
Organizing your surroundings
A good system of time management requires order and organization. Creating
order in your world saves time wasted searching for stuff, from important
phone numbers to your shoes. But even more, physical order creates mental
order and helps you perform more efficiently.
Yes, your workspace should be clean and orderly, with papers and folders
arranged in some sort of sequence that makes items easy and quick to find.
Your desk should be cleared off, providing space to work. Your important
tools — phone, computer, calculator — ought to be within reach. And your
day planner, of course, should be at your fingertips. Your briefcase, your
meeting planner, even your closet has an impact on your time management
success.
Using time-saving technology
Organization extends beyond your work area: Not only should your com-
puter be nearby, but the files, documents, and contact information on that
computer should be ordered for quick access. The computer stores your
address list, tracks your correspondence, and contains your calendar and
upcoming appointments.
But that’s just the beginning. Today’s teleconferencing and videoconferenc-
ing equipment means you can hold weekly meetings with your colleagues
who live on the other side of the globe without anyone having to turn in a
travel expense report. Cellphones and PDAs mean you can conduct business
on the road without having to pull off to find a phone booth.
Overcoming Time-Management Obstacles
Anyone can conquer time management, but it’s not always easy. If your
experience is anything like mine, sometimes your days feel like a video game,
where you’re in constant threat of being gobbled up on your course to the
finish line.
But instead of cartoon threats, your obstacles are your own short-
comings (poor communication skills, procrastination, and the inability to
make wise and quick decisions), time-wasting co-workers and bosses, phone
and people interruptions, and unproductive meetings.
Communicating effectively
Communicating effectively is one of the best ways to maximize your time.
One of the biggest time-wasters on company time is, no surprise, talking
with co-workers.
But what may be a surprise is that the abuse isn’t a func-tion of weekend catch-up discussions that take place at the water cooler orthe gossip circle at the copy machine. Rather, it’s the banter at the weeklystaff status reports, the drawn-out updates of projects that never seem to conclude, the sales presentations that get off-track. It’s all the meetings thatcould be as brief as 10 minutes but somehow take an hour or more.
At your disposal, however, is an amazing weapon for taming these misbehav-ing encounters: your words. With a few deft remarks, you have the power to bring these meetings to a productive close.
Streamlining interactions with co-workers and customers
Most people find themselves in a work environment in which they regularly
interact with others, whether co-workers, business associations, or custom-
ers. The workday is rife with opportunities for interruption, distraction, and
time-wasting.
In addition to the phone calls and cubicle pop-ins, you have
business appointments, associates who keep you waiting, or meetings that
are unfocused and poorly run.
Maintaining control of your time at work requires you to develop some ways
to manage meetings, appointments, and other work interactions so they’re
as efficient and productive as possible.
I explore tac-tics for planning, setting, leading, or just plain attending such gatherings.
Whether you initiate the interaction or you’re merely a participant, you can
have some control over the meeting.
Ah,
but what if you’re in sales or a customer service capacity? In such posi-
tions, taking control of your time is a little more challenging. To make the
sale, you want to take as much time as your prospect wants. And when
addressing a service issue, your most important objective is to make the
customer happy. But you can be successful in sales and serve your clients
well and still keep control of your time.
