The Truth About Time Management
Are you having a hard time focusing at work?
Let me guess, before the pandemic hit you were already stressed at work. You already had too much to do. And, how do you do it all now with even more complexity?
Maybe you feel like you are drowning in meetings with no time for your real work?
This feeling is common. People have too much to do and too little time to do it. They have tried all the productivity hacks, they’ve even tried hacking their brains to think faster…
Yes, those things can help. But, they still only get you so far.
For even the most efficient, there is always exponentially more to do than time to do it.
During the last recession, companies made some deep cuts to their workforce to stay viable. They mostly piled the work on the remaining staff. As a result, employees have been working harder and longer hours for years…
Managers have been trying to squeeze all the productivity they can out of their staff by expecting more and more and more.
In fact, Americans work longer hours than workers in any industrialized nation:
- 137 more hours per year than Japanese workers
- 260 more hours per year than British workers
- 499 more hours per year than French workers
At the same time, complexity has skyrocketed. It takes a team to do what used to be done by one person.
And, with the explosion of access to information, we also can see how much more there is to know or do on any one project. Software versions are never really done, they are a steady stream of updates with more in the pipeline.
I have always said that marketing is like school, you are never done because you could always do more.
It seems most of our work is like that now…
But, humans aren’t assembly lines. They don’t work better when they are put under stress. In fact, humans are less productive when they are stressed.
What can we do then?
It’s time to start thinking about WHAT NOT TO DO.
After a career in strategy work, I live by the motto, “Good strategy is about what you are NOT going to do, as much as it is about what you are going to do.”
We simply can’t do it all.
We need a new definition of focus. The focus we need now isn’t about putting our heads down so we can pound out more work. It’s about narrowing our vision to only include what is truly important to our work and lives.
Adapting to the pandemic helped us do just that. We narrowed our lives quite a bit by having to stay home and reduce the number of things we can go out and do. Our groups, activities, and events changed.
It’s a great time to evaluate why we are doing things.
Then, we can evaluate how we are doing them…
I have made several simplicity pushes in the last 10 years. My husband and I have pared our belongings down to about ⅓ of what we used to own. It cleared out our house so much that we put an apartment in the basement so we wouldn’t fill it up with more stuff again. Now we have a nice little income and we’ve never regretted losing the space.
The most important step in simplifying is to ask yourself a different question.
You can’t keep asking “Is this really important?”. Because, of course, you think it’s important or you wouldn’t be doing it…
I find that the decision changes by asking something extreme like:
- “If I got cancer and had to take a leave from my work tomorrow, what would get done in my absence?”
- “If I got hit by a bus, what would be the most important things that would carry on?”
- “If I didn’t have this, what would I do instead?”
It helps to get rid of big things first. One good way to pare down things in your home is to start with the things that hold your items like an armoire or bookshelf. When you lose the container, it motivates you to also let go of what was in it.
It’s called getting rid of the rat’s nest.
We can think of our commitments at work like that. For example, if you didn’t do that whole event, you could save the work of several departments. What would you do to connect with customers instead? This thought exercise can open up new ideas.
We can also simplify by doing less…
Many of my clients are reeling from the increase in meetings. Instead of accepting this as a new way of life, they are using technology differently to get out of email and away from meetings.
They are exploring new ways to gather input that can reduce the amount of time the team needs to be in a meeting together…
One client gathered input from each team member before the meeting and was able to discuss only the specific areas that needed the group’s input during her meeting instead of having to discuss them all. This cut her meeting from an hour to a half-hour and the team appreciated the brevity.
Another client has changed how they are using Slack by creating clarity about what will be handled there and what still needs to be covered in long-form over email. This has reduced the need to be constantly checking both places.
Some are going old school and turning back to the phone for meetings. They are finding relief in not being on camera at all times and even scheduling walk-and-talk meetings…
How could you turn an hour meeting into a 25-minute meeting by preparing differently?
One client told me, “We are streamlining our business, not by cutting people, thankfully. But we, as a company, are going to focus on a few things rather than many. We are really looking at the business to see what our consumers need now.”
This is a great time to look carefully at what might be outdated given the great changes we are going through…
Think about what it would be like to be only working on the things that truly move the needle for your company, your employees, your family, and yourself. Book out a little time on the calendar to assess your list of responsibilities, projects, and commitments.
What can you let go of? What has dropped off that doesn’t need to be picked back up?
Where can you find a rat’s nest?
What if all of your efforts made you feel fulfilled? What would that do to your enthusiasm for your work? How much energy would that give you?
Since there are too many forces adding complications in our lives, simplifying is really a practice. It’s something you can (and need to) revisit over and over.
Start by letting go of just one thing…
I know you can do it. I’ve helped many clients to clarify what is important in their lives and it’s made them feel more balanced, energized, and fulfilled.
