Scoring 100% in Time Management
“Most people who attempt to learn a new time management system fail.”
I can’t prove the above statement with hard facts, but I have a sense that it’s true, based on my personal experience and observations. If success is defined as 100% successful implementation, then that statistic is most certainly true.
On the other hand, perhaps 99% of the people who take a time management program put down the book, or drive back home, agreeing with 100% of the ideas.
So, the million dollar question is: what’s the problem?
Did the time management gurus blind them with their brilliance? Or does it prove that we are all a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings with short attention spans, suffering from various degrees of ADHD?
The problem is not something that’s addressed by the gurus, and it’s actually something that is being ignored by gurus and devotees alike.
It’s a problem in what we think time management IS.
Learning a new time management system is not like learning differential calculus, financial accounting or particle physics. Each of these subject-areas are new to most people, who typically come to them like a blank canvas, and without any homegrown capability whatsoever. Most of us haven’t figured out our own system of computing depreciation before stepping into accounting 101.
Ironically, our ignorance helps.. A new system of thinking is easier to learn when it’s completely fresh to us, and only requires us to be ready, willing and able.
Learning a new approach to time management is much more difficult, because standing in the way of a shiny new system is the one that we are already using.
That’s the same one we first put together when we entered high school, refined when we were in college, adapted when we got our first job, and started suffered with when we got married and found a bunch of stuff falling through the cracks for the first time.
That’s “the time management system we never knew we had.”
(For some of us, calling it a system might be too much of a mental leap, but it’s tough to get through college without having put something in place.)
This “system we never knew we had” is comprised of habits, practices and rituals that have been practiced over the years and are now built into our neuro-muscular systems. In this sense, we are more like smokers trying to quit some dangerous behaviors, than we are mathematicians learning some brand new techniques.
Ask President Obama, or any smoker, and they’ll tell you… quitting is tough.
But time management gurus don’t tell you that changing the habits that make up your current time management system is just as challenging. They don’t get you to appreciate what you are up against as you try to reverse decades of practice, reinforced by some positive results that convinced your subconscious that you had this time management thing beaten.
Not only don’t you know all this, but most people try to learn a new time management system when they KNOW that their system is no longer successful. As you ponder your latest failure, you are driven crazy with desire for the new system being offered that seems to be so logical, sensible and easy to understand.
This only adds to the frustration. It appears to be easy, but isn’t.
Here’s a concept: Forget about learning a new time management system, and instead take a program in “Habit Changing 101.” Discover the unique set of actions you must take to change your ingrained habits so that they stay changed. Figure out the unique blend of goal-setting, community support, backup plans, rewards, punishments, reminders, coaching, etc. that you need to succeed.
Once your special cocktail is figured out, then take any time management program that you want, implement the changes slowly (one habit at a time,) and take enough time to ensure that you won’t lapse into the old habits when the inevitable crises hit.
You may still be failing to implement THEIR system the way it “should” be done, but you’ll be 100% effective at upgrading your own.
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Francis Wade
I own a management consulting firm in Florida, and recently moved to live in Jamaica. Shortly after arriving, I began to study time management techniques when I found that my old system didn't work. I eventually coined the term "Time Management 2.0" for people who are continuously upgrading their own, custom approaches. Find out more about Time Management 2.0 and the MyTimeDesign training.
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Comments
Gordie Rogers says on October 9th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Stephen Covey who wrote 7 Habits of Highly Effective People said that time management is a myth and can’t be done. It’s all about managing oneself. Tony Robbins agrees. Have you heard this? What are your opinions on what they say?
Kenji Crosland says on October 9th, 2009 at 11:02 am
Excellent post Francis,
Over the past couple of years I’ve happily gobbled up other time management systems only for them to fall apart on me. I can see how it would be better to find what works and what needs improvement in my own personal system. I’ll still probably refer to books like Allen’s “Get things done” but use them simply as a supplementary reference to improve my own system, and refrain from using it as a Time Management Bible.
This kinder, gentler, approach might just work. Thanks for the encouraging post.
Francis Wade says on October 9th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Kenji
Thanks much for this — it IS a kinder, gentler approach (some would say more logical) and I think it would help the “gurus” to better help people who tend to end up throwing away the baby with the bathwater. Download my e-book which gets into more detail than I could here – http://2time-sys.com/6mistakes
valves manufacturer says on October 9th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
This time managemant is looks very useful. I canprove the above statement with hard facts.
Patrice says on October 10th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Great post. I believe that time management is a very important factor when we speak about work efficiency.
Francis Wade says on October 10th, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Gordie,
I agree with both Cover and Tony — it’s true that time can’t be managed. On my blog, I make the point that it’s really something like “habit management.”
The challenge I have is that no-one knows what habit management is, but everyone knows what time management is… so I use the term, but it’s good for everyone to know that “time” isn’t the focus, HABITS (or practices, or rituals) ARE.
Gerry says on October 10th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I agree that there i no time management only self management. That said, I think people abandon “systems” because they are too complicated to implement or stick with and the basic fact that time management has a point of diminishing and even negative returns. This is due to the simple fact that each moment organizing is a moment not actually doing. So complex systems with lots of overhead take time away from doing things. In this digital age, however, complicated and shiny new toys are all over the place, but they may not be the best way to manage time or yourself.
Gerry
Francis Wade says on October 10th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Gerry — so, so true.
I wonder why the makers of Smartphones aren’t more concerned about this?
When people return to self-management, a lot of clarity will be brought to the idea of becoming “more productive” and there will be less of a rush to buy the new gadget, or pick up the book with the “10,001 Time Management Tips” (I am sure it’s being written as we speak – LOL.)
Kell says on October 11th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
This is a great article. When I work with athletes and business professionals in time management the striking thing is that everybody is different in their time use and has different areas they can become more effective in. I find that a tailored solution, rather than one that fits all, allows the user to take on the responsibility/ownership and also has the most chance of being formed into habit.
All the best
Kell
Tony @ Kamobo says on October 13th, 2009 at 9:25 am
This article is good in terms of breaking habits. It is, as stated in the article, one of the hardest things to do in life. Simply changing habits, however, will not change our life to the life we most desire.
Time management in itself is dead concept. It belongs in the industrial era. What really matters is efficiency. You can spend months on a project, work hard every hour of the day, but still not accomplishing much at all.
The only thing time-management does is burn you out. How efficient we are with the time we spend is what really produces great results.
Think about it. Isn’t energy what drives us? When we are tired, aren’t we lacking energy? It’s not really time, then, that is insufficient, it’s energy.
This article should be called energy management, not time management. Breaking the habits of bad energy spending.
To illustrate, let’s take a car. We fill the car up with gas (energy) and then we start driving. After a few miles we’re out of gas (energy); since we are smart we use spare-tank to take us to the nearest gas station to refill (recharge) our car and then we can start driving again. Were we to continue to drive irregardless of our gas shortage we’d run into a grinding halt.
So the question is, why don’t we recharge our bodies after spending so much energy working? The human body does not work effectively without continous recharge of energy. After a long while of insufficient energy management our body begins to malefunction and give us trouble in forms of illness, mood swings, bad family life, so on and so forth.
Peter Drucker talks a lot about efficiency and is a good read. A book (not Drucker) I can suggest for you all is “The Power of Full Engagement”.
Best,
Tony @ Kamobo
Job Self @ Goal Setting says on October 14th, 2009 at 5:13 am
Time management implies some sort of management (duh!) which is in itself a variety of actions based on focus and attention and guided by a system. So if you are not able to maintain that focus and do the required actions, you are not going to be able to manage your time. If you fit in that category then you should definitely start by training yourself into keeping that focus and going through the motions of a system before trying to master this or any other kind of self management.
I find that for myself, in the beginning, it was hard enough just to keep a time log… what about changing my time habits :)
Francis Wade says on October 14th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Tony,
I find that I get the best results when I manage both my time and my energy. Both have the same underlying elements: habits, practices and rituals.
For example, I do triathlons and training properly is a function of developing both skills. Without developing both there was no way I could have properly prepared for my first race — over 10 years ago. I have a race on Oct 31st, and am able to keep on signing up for races because I now have habits that work for me in both areas.
For example… this week I am taking it easy, as I noticed that I was feeling weary from a series of long training rides and runs. If I were just focused on time management, I would go ahead and train, and probably get injured.
Kim - self improvement and motivation says on October 15th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Good insight into time management. I think many people believe a time management system is a magical fix that will help them get more done. You are very correct in stating that time management must come from within us. Our habits greatly impact how we go about our day, etc….
The good news is that we can develop the habits we need. The challenging part is that it’s not easy.
Mel Ancholy says on October 19th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Because I am so bad at time management I have been trying to practice the Do it know principle.
Michelle says on October 24th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
I definitely agree with this. It seems people get so caught up in what they think time management is, rather than personalizing a schedule for them. It’s really self-organization. Thanks for the post.
Mia says on November 22nd, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Habits are very strong. I have developed bad procastination habits without even realizing it – now that I am trying to break them I’ve found it much more difficult than I could have imagined! I also have poor time management – once I’m on a roll I stay on a roll. It is starting and stopping what I am doing that is difficult for me. Improving your time management should probably be done in really simple steps that are dependent on your needs and situation. Identifying thought patterns and habits is so important – and getting tips on how to gradually, inch by inch, change your habits and replace them with better ones is essential. Any progress is good progress.
Francis Wade says on November 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 am
Mia — habits are tough to break!
Procrastination in a particularly tricky one, as people interpret what that means in different ways. Reading your comment made me think that I need to write a post on the topic sometime soon due to the amount of stress related to the topic. Check this blog soon for something new on this…