There is a story of five blind men who want to find out what an elephant is like. They come upon an elephant and reach out to touch it and satisfy their wants. Each one touches a different part of the elephant. One feels a leg and says, "An elephant is like a pillar." Another feels the side and says, "An elephant is like a wall." The third feels a tusk and says, "An elephant is like a spear." Another feels the tail and says, "An elephant is like a rope." The last feels an ear and says, "An elephant is like a fan." All of them are partially right but none are right. Likewise, people have different opinions as to what time management is. They all are partially right. They have a limited view. They don't have the big picture.
One way to determine what people think about time management is to ask a few general questions and collect answers. The questions can be:
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the phrase time management?
What does time management mean to you?
How will you benefit from better time management?
What aspect of your time management skills do you most want to improve?
How will your life change with better time management?
These are open-ended questions and form a good basis for a discussion.
The first benefit of opening the presentation with a question is that we are engaging the audience right from the start. Then again, there are no wrong answers with questions like these. When the participants see that all answers are accepted with no judgment, they are all the more willing to participate.
What do people think about the subject of time management? What is the first thing that comes to their minds when they come across the term time management? I have collected the following responses over the course of 8 years:
Punctuality
Meeting deadlines
Being able to accomplish more
Getting more done
Completing all tasks on hand
Self-discipline
Using a planner/organizer well
Well-ordered life
Leisure
Quality time
Ability to do what I want
Checking off items on a to-do list
Peak performance
Rating high on a performance review
This is not a complete list. There were some outliers and quite a few unprintable responses. This is a representative set of the responses that appeared most frequently.
Just as with the story about the five blind persons and the elephant, all of the previous statements are true but they're limited views and not the complete picture.
In most cases, the previous responses reflect what people are looking for in a time management system. They also represent the benefits people will reap when they improve their time management skills. In other words, people consider time management as a solution for a specific set of problems. Therefore, in order to define time management, the solution, we need to understand the problem or problems.
What are the problems? What are the symptoms that indicate the presence of the underlying problems?
How can we recognize poor time management? It is easily recognized in others, for example, when tasks are not completed on time and when they arrive late to meetings and keep us waiting. It is easy to recognize in others the same negative traits that we may not recognize in ourselves!
Poor time management can be recognized in actions and in results. Sometimes, what is visible is merely the tip of the iceberg. In other cases, we may see neither the causes nor the results but there may be other signals to indicate poor time management. It is important to understand the actions, results, and signals that we watch for in others so that we may see them in our own behavior. Thus, when we recognize that we are behaving in a manner that indicates or leads to poor time management, we will be able to take steps to head off the negative results.
Is fever a symptom or the underlying problem? Is stress a symptom of the problem? Many of the issues a patient presents to a doctor are mere symptoms. Doctors do not merely treat symptoms. They probe to find and cure the underlying issues that present the symptoms. Likewise, many of the purported problems that we see in the time management arena are in fact symptoms.
Let's look at some of the signals that indicate poor time management, some of the underlying problems, and the results people with poor time management skills face.
What are the indicators of poor time management?
Arriving late to meetings and appointments
Missing appointments and meetings entirely
Double-booked time slots, that is, conflicting schedules
Often rescheduling appointments and meetings
Not meeting deadlines
Requesting deadline extensions
Constantly switching between activities
(Attempted) Multitasking
Incomplete tasks
Critical tasks not even started
Forgotten tasks and chores
Poor quality due to hurriedly slapped together things at the last minute
Overflowing "In" tray
E-mail inbox full of unread messages
No spare time
What are the underlying problems?
Poor schedule management: Proper use of a scheduling system with appointments, meetings, and scheduled events marked on the same calendar will ensure that there are no conflicting expectations on your time.
Poor task list (to-do list) management: The fundamental purpose of time management is still to ensure that the current moment is being spent on the most appropriate activity. Making, pruning, and prioritizing a list of tasks is the best way to do so.
Poor planning: The old adage is that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Poor organization: A place for everything and everything in its place, a time for every action and every action in its time.
Poor direction: Many people operate without proper goals and objectives to give direction to their actions, that is, they drift without a sense of purpose.
Poor preparation: Preparation ensures a smooth flow of actions.
Procrastination: Procrastination is a terrible thief of productivity.
Not working fast enough: This comes from inefficiency and the tendency to give in to distractions.
Poor time allocation: Every task takes finite time. If you do not allocate enough time for any task, you will be scrambling to get things done at the last moment.
Poor management and control: If the mandates from the management are contradictory and self-defeating, nothing can ever get done properly.
Not thinking things through: When ramifications of decisions and actions are not considered sufficiently, they create new problems.
Poor self-discipline: When everything else is in place, if tasks still do not get done in their time, the only one to blame is oneself. Dedication, diligence, and focus will help tasks get done.
What does poor time management lead to?
Overwork
Stress
Sleep deprivation
Tardiness
Obesity
Irritability
Poor anger management
A poor reputation, that is, people expect tardiness, schedule slippage, shoddy work, poor attitude, and so on
The problems may be stated in a different manner.
At work, corporations are trying to get more and more work done by fewer people and in less time. The easy target receiving all the blame for this phenomenon is "the economy", but this trend existed even during the great boom of the 90s. In good times as in bad times, many Machiavellian (that is, win at all costs) corporations do try to squeeze the most out of their employees. This may make economic sense in the short run, but in the long run, it burns employees out and makes them less productive.
On a personal level, people have too many things to do and not enough time to fit it all in. Modern conveniences and time-saving devices only seem to aggravate the situation. Just as a brand new kitchen cabinet gets filled in three days, time freed up by any new gadget is instantly snapped up by new chores and activities. The pressure just keeps mounting.
The outcome of all this pressure is that it has become the norm to work long hours. People are constantly chasing deadlines, are constantly under stress, and social life is painfully reduced.
Where does all the time go?
The result of this problem is not limited to reduced social life. Working insane hours leads to sleep deprivation, which in turn could lead to fatigue, irritability, and reduced life span.
When people are running from task to task, there is a tendency to merely play catch-up and be reactive. This leads to poor time management and disorganization. Poor time management and disorganization could compound the stressful frenzy already present: disorganization leads to loss of credibility, which in turn leads to loss of business or being passed over in promotion, and more stress. Stress could lead to ulcers, strokes, and heart attacks.
There are six areas of problems that good time management can solve:
Schedule-related, that is, making and keeping appointments
Productivity-related, that is, completing tasks as expected
Competence-related, that is, professionalism in execution
Quality-related, that is, attention to detail
Health-related, that is, reduced stress and sufficient rest
Life-related, that is, work/life balance
What does this mean? This means that people who manage their time well:
Are punctual
Meet deadlines
Complete all tasks
Give excellent quality
Have their "In" trays and e-mail inboxes well in control
Are organized
Are prepared
Are calm
Are relaxed
Have clear goals and work towards them
Are healthy
Are successful
Time management is a set of skills that instills priority, punctuality, performance, and productivity. Time management is a key element to success in life. This is the motivation to develop time management skills. Before learning any new skill, it is important to ask, "What's in it for me (WIIFM)?" This is the WIIFM factor for learning time management—it is a key element to success in life. In fact, Lee Iacocca, the automobile magnate, said, "The ability to concentrate and to use your time well is everything if you want to succeed in business—or almost anywhere else for that matter."
What is time management? In order to answer this, let's move a step further. What is time? A physicist may respond that time is the fourth dimension and get technical about it, but that is not relevant in the context of time management.
Benjamin Franklin said, "Remember that time is money" in his article Advice to a Young Tradesman. He was right—up to a point. Think of time as money if it helps you understand its value. However, time is more than money. Money lost can be recovered, regained, earned again, begged, borrowed, or stolen. Time lost is gone forever.
Some people think twice about spending money on important things, and waste hours on trivial matters without a second thought. Isn't the time wasted worth as much as the money spent or saved?
What is the true value of time?
A person's earnings are measured in time. People get paid a certain amount every year, month, week, day, or hour. Is this what your time is worth?
Investments earn interest and dividends in time. Return on investment and interest paid on loans are measured in terms of "time value of money." Is this what your time is worth?
There is a natural tendency to value your time according to what you earn in that time. This is what your time is worth to someone else, the person who is paying your wages. What is your time worth to you?
Time is the essence of life. Every moment is priceless.
These, too, were Benjamin Franklin's words:
"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
Charles Darwin said, "A man who dares waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."
Note
Make a note
Time is the medium within which events and activities occur. Time management, therefore, is the control of events and activities in your life.
Obviously, not all events can be controlled. For example, you have no control over the weather, and, consequently, you have no control over activities that depend upon the weather. You do, however, have options. You have control over what you choose to do and how you choose to do it.
Let me expand this point a little more. If what you plan to do depends upon the weather, you must also make contingency plans. For example, if you wish to create a lawn party, you could create a backup plan to either set a rain date or be prepared to move the party indoors if the weather turns against you. Your choice puts some control within your hands.
Time management thus comes down to a choice. In fact, it is a continuous series of choices. The first choice is what events and activities you permit into your life. The second choice is how you tackle these events and activities.