We all have the same amount of time in each day – twenty-four hours. How we use that time will have considerable impact on our ability to accomplish our goals, to be productive, and to maintain our physical and mental health. Effective time management is a form of self-discipline. Ask almost anyone how they are doing, and the most likely answer is, “I’m busy” or
“Staying busy”. Why do we all feel so busy and yet often so far behind? Are we trying to do too much, or are we doing too much of the wrong thing?
How we spend our time and energy has much to do with how much we are able to accomplish and how successful we are at realizing our goals.
Since we only have so much time and energy to use each day, it makes sense to focus on those items that are of high importance. It is often easier, however, to get caught up tending to other peoples’ priorities or choosing to do the easier, more pleasant tasks first because we enjoy them more. Starting each day with our most important tasks, even when they are difficult or time-consuming may be more challenging but will permit us to be much more productive.
At the beginning of each day, identify the most important things to accomplish and begin working to accomplish them. Often, there is not sufficient time to accomplish everything on our list, so doesn’t it make sense to spend our efforts on those matters that are most important?
To succeed, we must be self-disciplined, avoid wasting time on easier but less important tasks.
It is important to distinguish between time-wasting activities and undertakings that provide rest, relaxation, and renewal. Things like hobbies, reading, exercise, relaxation, and the like are important because they enhance our well-being. They help maintain balance in our lives, and ultimately make us more productive.
Our goal as good managers of time is to get the greatest return on the investment of our limited time. To do this, we need to focus on the matters that are most important.
To stay focused on our most important tasks, we must exercise self-discipline to:
1. Avoid crises by not putting off important tasks.
2. Not being distracted by matters that appear pressing but are not important. Perhaps they are important at some point, or to someone else, but do not need to be dealt with right away at the expense of more important tasks.
3. Avoiding activities that cost us our time will little or no return on the investment.
Think about all the activities you engage in over the course of a day, a week, a month. What percentage of these are truly focused on your goals and priorities? At the end of the week, how much time did you spend in activities that did not really matter?
Take a moment here and think about how much time you spend on an average day browsing the web, looking at social media and doing other things that involve staring at a screen. Did this turn out to be a productive use of your time? Did it help you move closer to your goals?
Even a small amount of effort to re-organize your activities according to this principal will yield significant results. How valuable would two or three more productive hours a day be? Ten to twenty every week? As good time management becomes a habit, you will begin to realize two important results. First you will find you are more productive in accomplishing the things that really matter. Second, you will discover you have more time for doing the things you enjoy!
Most of us can admit that we find ourselves procrastinating at times, especially when faced with tasks we find unpleasant. When we procrastinate, we not only fail to do the thing we need to do, but we also often find other activities to distract us and fill our time, instead of focusing on the things we need to apply our time and energy to. Peter Vishton (Outsmart Yourself, The Great Course Company, 2016) offers several suggestions to overcome procrastination. First, when faced with a task that tempts you to procrastinate, sit and think about the task for 15-20 minutes. This is important for two reasons. One, it prevents you from engaging in avoidance techniques, activities to distract you. Secondly, it decreases our anxiety and increases the likelihood of us beginning the task.
His next suggestion involved breaking the overall goal into smaller tasks. This makes the undertaking seem less overwhelming and permits us to focus our energy on one component of a task at a time. Lastly, celebrate even small successes in tackling a task without procrastinating. Each victory makes us less likely to procrastinate in the future.
Some people feel that they are better managers of their time if they multi-task. According to Vishton, research indicates the opposite. Multi-tasking reduces, not increases, our capacity to get things accomplished. Our brain cannot adequately focus appropriate energy on multiple tasks at once, meaning we are less efficient at the tasks. In addition, research shows that we become more distractible when we attempt to multi-task. Good time management does not involve doing many things at once. It involves identifying what is important and spending most of our time and energy on the tasks, activities, duties, and projects that are most important to us.
According to a study conducted by Brad Aeon of Concordia University, having good time management skills not only improves our performance, but also enhances our personal well-being. The study found that good time management skills increased life satisfaction and decreased depression, anxiety, and distress. Participants indicated that the effect of good time management skills on life satisfaction was 72% stronger than on job satisfaction.
I would like to close this discussion on time management with this thought from Rabbi Harold Kushner.
“When you realize that you do not have time for everything, when you find out that trying to cram everything into a twenty-four-hour day leaves you tired, leaves the things you do incomplete and half-baked, and leaves the people you share life with feeling that you never stop moving long enough for them to get to know you, what are the nonnegotiable elements of your life?” If any of this sounds even vaguely familiar, take some time to identify the non-negotiable elements of your life. What areas of your life most deserve your time and attention? If you discover that you are spending too much time on other matters, then it may be wise for you to become more adept at time management. Start effectively managing your time, so it does not manage you!
Kent Shafer 