TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN (or WOMAN): Time Management Tips for Innovators
TIME WAITS FOR NO MAN (or WOMAN): Time Management Tips for Innovators
As innovators living in the age of Facebook, reality television, and Call of Duty we often hear expressions like, “we just don’t have enough time in the day” or “I wish I had more time, but…”
Well, I hate to burst your proverbial bubble, but time is the only equalizer. It does not care if you are rich, poor, smart, or foolish…everyone has 24 hours and 7 days.
So how can some people accomplish so much and still have time to play? What’s their secret?
I can’t pretend to know what their secrets are, but here is my system…
I used to manage my time like as if I were in the Military. One time while I was on a date I actually said to her, “We have 5 minutes remaining what do you want to do?” She thought I was joking. Sadly I wasn’t. I promptly left when the time was up, leaving her mystified about what had just happened.
So yeah… needless to say, that kind of strict, to-the-second type of time management obviously does not work.
After several similar incidents where I stretched my time and energy to their limits and deprived myself of sleep (seriously threatening my health in the process), I realized it’s not about squeezing more into my 24 hours. Instead it’s about prioritizing and getting the important things done first.
First off, decide what is truly important…
• Family?
• Relaxation?
• Learning?
• Free time to have long meals?
Check out Franklin Covey’s “Big Rocks.” It’s a metaphor, I swear.
All too often people are bogged down by the menial tasks. Reorder things…
For example:
Daily Accomplishment List
• urgent and important
• not urgent but important
• urgent and not important
• not urgent and not important
While managing my team, I’ve learned that I can’t realistically finish more than 6 or 7 tasks in a day. So I have to Prioritize. I try to find out what really matters and either delegate the busy work to someone else or delete them from my to-do list altogether.
It’s about getting things done… Check out Life Hacker. They drop the serious knowledge.
Be in sync with yourself…
Some people don’t keep calendars. Bill Gates and Richard Branson don’t, which, you might agree, hasn’t really held them back much.
I have stick to one because I’m very easily distracted by new ideas and nothing would ever get done otherwise. I keep my schedule on a Google calendar and sync it with my blackberry so I am aware of it even when I am traveling.
Single-tasking vs. Multi-tasking
I used to juggle multiple projects at the same time, keeping multiple windows open and switching back and forth between them striving towards productivity and value. At the end of the day, judging by the results, I didn’t accomplish much of either.
I am addicted to feeling productive and enjoy staying connected to the world.
For those of you who are excellent at managing time, but still feel bogged down by your daily to-do lists, chances are you are doing too much. As as Michael Gerber of the E-Myth would say, modern innovators need to work on their business not work in their business. In other words, focus on your strengths and delegate the other tasks to others or hire others to them for you. You’ll quickly find that it’s often taxing on your wallet (and your well-being) if you try to do everything yourself.
Simplify, Prioritize, and Focus…
