Carefully Crafted Articles On Time Management…
In fact, there is only one article here right now.
These titles are currently being written so not yet available
time and control and project management
stress and time management article
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seven steps for effective time management
time management life setting personal goals
goal setting and time management
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(more time management strategies articles to come)
Relax into this very insightful article about the problems and solutions with time management.
The New Paradigm Of Time Management Combining 'Work' and 'Life'
“Rocks and Water - Prioritizing and Scheduling”
Do you have to neglect certain areas of life because other things are ‘more important’? Should you list priorities by 1 to 10 and just focus on number 1 until it’s done and then move on to number 2?
NO!
You would never get round to things like cutting the grass, exercising regularly, filing papers, reading your kids night time stories.
People are taught to prioritize by level of ‘importance’. This creates mess and does not work. NOT knowing how to teach time management properly is the reason that so called time-management experts do not suggest much on time-management for personal life. They couldn’t factor in all the variables.
In the 2000’s we need a new type of efficiency and progress. We want time and money freedom. We want to work how and when and with what we like. We want to maximise the productive use of our time. We also want to get our hair cut. This requires a new understanding of time management where all things are considered. It’s possible new because of the personal computer. And it has led to a new paradigm of understanding time management.
Are you ready for the ‘organize everything’ revolution?
- Prioritizing by so called ‘importance’ is wrong and leads to failure.
- Scheduling activities to time is also wrong and leads to failure.
So just how should you prioritize and schedule if not by time and importance?
Here is the new time management paradigm…
Do you know the anecdote of filling a bucket with large rocks?
The Rocks
Identify your core values (most generalised statements of what is important to you). These become your core projects that your life is focused around.
They may include:
- Lifestyle
- Health
- Relations
- Emotion
- Creativity
- Intelligence
In our bucket analogy, these core projects (categories) of your life, are large rocks that you fill the bucket with. This is what you wish you could maintain constant focus and progress on in the broadest sense.
And the bucket is full. It can hold no more large rocks.
Despite being full, there is still room in there.
Because you can fill in the rest of the space with smaller pebbles right?
The Pebbles
In my work we break those solid fixed points of our life and divide them into our personal projects. Those are the pebbles that will fit down into the bucket between the rocks.
Those pebbles represent the other projects that contribute towards those widest categories of life desires and projects.
The Sand
Next we identify something on the size of an immediate activity such as feeding the kids. In our metaphor this is represented by sand.
These are the actual daily activities that contribute towards our multitude of projects (pebbles).
And there is one more step. And yes there is still some room left in the bucket despite being full of rocks, then filled to capacity with pebbles, and also with sand poured into every possible left over crevice.
The Water
That extra space is available to water. And this represents the very small next action steps that we can take.
The big projects will only get done by the little next step activities, and so it’s all vitally ‘important’.
Time Management Scheduling
So how do we aim this analogy more specifically at Scheduling?
Well once we have a strong habituated focus on those 6 core categories (the large rocks that fill our life); Once we are mindful of how our time is spent on things that contribute towards our success, then we will always be mentally occupied with something to do with the important projects, the pebbles.
And after scheduling my time with the mini-day technique as per the Time Management Lattice, I always have pebbles that I carry around with me, whether that be books for learning, paper for writing, Pocket PC use, ear phones for listening to training audios, etc. When I’m at home, the computer is usually on with some kind of project work open.
Then everything else in my life, all of the sand, the little bits and pieces, sometimes irritating if they get in awkward places, fits in around my pebbles.
This way I am always connected, mindful, focused, in some way, to the bigger picture.
For example: The computer is on, an article is open about buckets and time management, and I need to look after my health, so I’ll rush to the kitchen to chop some salad, steam some potato’s, and whatever else. Whilst doing that I might be thinking of my article, or I may listen to an audio file whilst in the kitchen, or indeed may use the time for quiet time to let my brain space out and enjoy the chopping, bubbling, and sizzling.
Then once that’s all cooking away smoothly, I rush back to my office onto my computer and re-focus. (A fast pace with home activities adds tremendous intensity to the day, making you more emotionally compelled towards success, as well as more efficient.)
You could say that eating is more important than writing an article. So you see I do not prioritise or schedule to level of importance. I do it all, and I do it all by breaking it down into the hierarchy that the Time Management Lattice reveals which I teach my clients, and then I fit everything together by size, location, and movement.
And yes I do prioritise.
I certainly don’t schedule activities to time, apart from the hard landscape (explained in the Time Management Holiday.
I do keep a running list of next step activities, and that is my prioritization. Then when I’m in a certain location I have a list showing me a selection of next step activities I could focus on, and I choose which I would rather get done in the moment by asking myself ‘what is the most powerful thing I could do at this time’.
People who try to prioritise by level of importance, and people who try to schedule specific activities to time, always always always fail in my experience. This is because of the distractions, interruptions, changes in a persons mood and energy levels, and new inspirations or projects that reveal themselves as you move through time.
Willpower does not last long. Pure intent coupled with preparation & organization allows a simple and easy power.
So the bottom line…
Don’t prioritize by level of importance. It’s all important. Instead, schedule according 1st to hierarchy, then to location/movement and then moment to moment mindful decision.
Then you’ll find that all of the ‘little things’ that used to get in your way, actually weave quite well into the ‘bigger’ things, and then everything gets done, your level of self-satisfaction jumps through the roof, and you leave your contemporaries behind in the dust, unless you share Organize Life | Organize Everything with them.
At these links you can get my Time Management Lattice and find out about the Time Management Holiday.
And these days I almost never burn my cooking.
Ooo speaking of which….
(the above was originally drafted August 2006)
After reading this article Alex Hunter emailed saying “Great work… I especially like how you used your personal cooking as an example. You built an excellent vision for me.”
2007 Breakthrough Solution To Get Organized Living (result of this website matrix)
NathanShaw
Social Trends Writer
Ex-Professional Organizer
Beyond Getting Organized
www.OrganizeDr.com