Well, then this is for you...
Time Management, believe it or not, is a myth. There's no such thing. No matter how hard we try we simply cannot control how many hours there are in the day. What we CAN control, however, is HOW we spend our time during those hours.
This is what we call Self-Management, and it's characterised by, as the name suggests, YOU.
Let's take a closer look at Time/Self-Management and see what it's all about…
Time Management can be split up into three parts, namely Goal Setting, Urgency and Deadlines, and Self Discipline.
Goal Setting
Do you know what your goals are? Do you know what it is that you need to achieve? Without knowing exactly what our goals are it's impossible to achieve them, and we'll end up going nowhere at all.
We also need to ensure that the goals we set are realistic; there's no use writing a great list of jobs that we just know we don't have the patience or inclination for. In fact when it comes to setting goals we'd recommend you look at how to set SMART Goals…
Time (Urgency and Deadlines)
We often find that we focus on doing the things we like or the things that are important to us and decide to just let the other stuff happen when it happens, which of course it never does….
This often leads to a mad scramble at the end of the day/month where finishing these tasks has become a matter of urgency which we can no longer afford to put off, and the results tend to show it.
This is where we split the Time Matrix (see image below) into top and bottom, or Urgent and Less Urgent.
By using the Time Matrix we can see at a glance what tasks need to be done, how urgent they are, what can be delegated etc., which makes the whole idea of Time Management far more concrete and doable.
Self-Discipline
All of the above is absolutely useless if you aren't going to stick to it. Without being disciplined about how we spend our time there's no point in planning out our goals because they simply aren't going to happen.
This is where split the Time Matrix into left and right, or Important and Less Important.
At the end of the day you need to realise that you're deciding to manage your time for you, and not anyone else. You're the one that's being cheated if you don't stick to your plan and you're the one who will be disadvantaged by not sticking to it.
Watch Standard Bank's The Business Coach - Episode 7
Want to know more? Visit our Time Management page…