There is one resource that you can easily lose and never buy back, time. Time has been an existential question for human being for ever, as we cannot control it, stop it, rewind it and slow it down. Human kind has got control over pretty much everything, but time is still out of reach. Einstein's theories don't change anything to the fact, the clock is ticking whatever we do. Tic-Tac!
For an executive usually overwhelmed and under pressure, that means that time is not his friend. He cannot control time, but he have to control how he uses his time. That is a must have and one of the corner stones of success. Controlling time, easy to say but hard to do! What are the key principles of managing your time?
The key word is priority. Yes, quite simple, you just have to establish your priorities... Okay, but how to do it right? It is exactly what is not easy to do if you don't ask your-self the right questions.
A priority is based it-self on two criteria: urgency and importance.
Combining those two criteria together, you get a matrix with four quadrants:
1- What is both urgent and important
2- What is important but not urgent
3- What is urgent but not important
4- What is neither urgent, nor important
The question is then, what should be done first, second... in order to be as effective as possible?
This answer is close to common sense with a little tweak.
1- Obviously what is both important and urgent comes first. Big stack and no much time to do it, rather start now!
2- This one is counter intuitive for most people and it is why they fail achieving at the executive level. The pressure comes from what is urgent, and it is not unusual that people push hard on you to get it done, including your boss! Just resist! Learn to say "NO!". Why? If you waste your resource time on what is urgent, what is important is going to pretty quickly become blood red in the top right quadrant. Not only important, but now urgent! It is why your second priority is what is important, not what is urgent.
3- So then you have to expedite what is only urgent.
4- And simply drop what is neither important nor urgent.
But remember, be careful non confusing two notions: priority and time allocation. The solution to deliver on results while keeping your stress level to a minimum is actually a little more complex.
It is not because something is "important" that you have to allocate 100% of your remaining time (after having completed what is both "urgent and important") to it! You have to allocate the right amount of time (number of hours) at the right time in your schedule (when are your going to work on it).
Everybody is different, certain people can only focus in the morning and lose their attention in the afternoon. Others like to get up early or at the contrary go to bed late. A few prefer to work from home to get stuffs done while others need their office environment to really be productive. Based on your own bio-rhythm and your preferences, you have to make the right decision.
A good tip to acquire the discipline and the skills to properly manage your time is the following approach:
1- Create 3 task lists: "Urgent & Important", "Important", and "Urgent", or 1, 2 and 3 (no need to create a list for a fourth category, you are not going to do it!)
2- Sort and note everything your have to do in one of the lists along the course of your day.
3- Every single day in the morning or in the evening to get ready for the next day, review your lists. Challenge your rating and balance them against each other (new priorities might fundamentally change the landscape).
4-Then consider your schedule and the time available between meetings and appointments that are mandatory (challenging the value to attend a meeting is a very good technique to save time; too many meetings are too long and useless. You often can just stop by, give directions at the beginning or come for the conclusion and review the action plan, or both). Plug some formal time in your schedule to work on the topics you want to work on, keeping buffer for managing emails and unexpected interruptions.
5- When working on a given high priority, close your door. You are in a meeting with your-self, not available. Your team will learn to rule.
If you practice this method for a while, you will see a dramatic improvement in your productivity and a spectacular drop of your stress level. At the end of the day you can check what you have achieved vs. what you had decided to do today (not "everything you have to do"... this list is still long!). But this is a significant change vs. looking at your endless lists and thinking that you have not done much and more importantly, not the stuff that are high priority. Over the time you will get better and better in forecasting the time you need to get stuff done.
That's it. Now you are managing how you spend your time. Big difference on your results and your life balance with just a few smart decisions and easy to use tools. From getting frustrated not getting anything done to controlling the use your most important resource.
We will discuss in another post what are the tools that can help you to do it. A while ago, I was doing it with hand written lists, but we have now a new generation of online applications that you should know and use!
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