The Secret of Time Management
The secret to time management isn't more time management hacks at all. Here's the keys I've found:
- Manage energy not time.
- Make room for your big rocks.
- Use anticipation to drive versus react.
I often here the argument, "if I had more time for this or that, I could ..." Well, unfortunately, having more time doesn't always mean getting more done. It doesn't guarantee getting the right things done either. Sometimes I get more done in an hour than I can sometimes get done in a week. Why is that? For me, it's actually about energy. There's only so many hours in a day. While I can't make more hours in a day, I can use my energy better. Sure there's lots of interesting little time savers, but there's plenty of time wasters too. I find the force that makes the most measurable difference is the energy and engagement I bring to the table.
Assuming I have all my energy ready to tackle my day, I need to distinguish between urgent and important. If I'm only reacting to urgent, then I'm missing out on opportunity to deal with important, whether that's job impact or personal growth. The moral of the story is, if I don't make time for the big rocks, the fillers in my day won't leave room. I like Steven Covey's perspective on urgent vs. important in his First Thing's First book. Here's a nice summary of the popular Make Room for the Big Rocks story.
Anticipation is a actually a skill that I haven't worked on as much as I should. I actually plan to do a 30 Day Improvement Sprint, when the time is right. It's funny how many recurring things happen each year, that take me by surprise. Birthdays. Holidays. Reviews. Events. Geeze! You'd think I'd see the patterns ;)
Well, I do. I've seen the pattern of me reacting to events I don't anticipate. While the corporate ninja expects the unexpected, I also find that with a little anticipation, a stitch in time saves nine. If I make project plans, and there's a major event I didn't account for, I shouldn't be surprised when suddenly nobody's around. At the same time, I'm sure I can find a way to leverage the sudden spurt of energy some folks have right after mid-year discussion.
Comments
Anonymous
March 21, 2007
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March 21, 2007
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March 21, 2007
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March 22, 2007
JD, I usually only schedule about 50-75% of my office hours because of the unexpected. When the unexpected happens it usually adds to stress levels and reduces productivity. My scheduling for it I can make it fit me and get out of stress zone.Anonymous
April 03, 2007
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May 28, 2007
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June 02, 2007
Grigori Melnik joined our team recently. He's new to Microsoft so I shared some tips for effectiveness.Anonymous
July 09, 2007
Looking for a video showing the "Big Rocks" time management story demonstrated. Any help you can provide is appreciated.Anonymous
September 27, 2007
I've been looking for a video on that too!Anonymous
December 26, 2007
Routines help build efficiency and effectiveness. Consistent action over time is the key to real results.Anonymous
December 26, 2007
Routines help build efficiency and effectiveness. Consistent action over time is the key to real resultsAnonymous
May 31, 2008
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June 04, 2008
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October 27, 2008
导读今天发现了这篇非常精彩的，内容超级丰富的文章，实在忍不住，转载于此。 原文地址：http://blogs.msdn.com/jmeier/archive/2008/10/13/effective...Anonymous
June 03, 2016
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