Holy Glitterballs

I read this expression this week and immediately knew it had to be the title for my weekly ramble for no other reason than it is ace.

But also, Holy Glitterballs where has the time gone this week? I blinked and suddenly it's Friday and really I should have achieved so much more, done so much more, taken over the world and solved the energy crisis.

And then I remembered to just sit and reflect on what I have actually achieved this week. I've designed and launched a new appraisal system into a fabulous business that puts people at the heart of everything they do, I've won a stonking contract to deliver a full talent ecology programme and I've finalised my women in business group coaching programme. Reader it's been a goddamn busy week.

And still there's a list and it's already 4.00pm. Luckily I have all of the training and systems in place to know what to do to manage the overwhelm - and I also know that it's steak and chippy tea tonight which is enough for anyone to switch on to the weekend.

But, Holy Glitterballs, where has the time gone? And why does it seem to supercharge forward with every year I spend on the planet.

Which got me thunking about time and how we manage it.

Do you time chunk? Do you time box? Do you look at impact planning as opposed to time management?

Or do you pack your day with so much schizzle you have no chance of achieving it all and then never actually feel that sense of satisfaction that comes from ticking off the task list. (For full transparency, I definitely put too much on my list today.)

Imagine if next week you planned your week, your day realistically. Imagine if (whether you have been working in business for five minutes, five years or twenty-five years) you mapped out your week with adequate breaks for your brain to process.

The end result would be that you would be more productive, more efficient and more creative; because you will have given your brain a chance to process, to achieve, to reflect. And conversely, you would get more shit done because you are less likely to drown in the overwhelm.

So before we supercharge into the weekend, sit down and plan your week next week. And complete your time chunking circle; this means protecting your time – not just the space in your diary. This means when you put time in your diary for a meeting or some other schizzle adding 15 minutes after to reflect and process the actions from the meeting and it means timeboxing. Timeboxing is a technique where you assign a specific deadline to each task. This is known as a timebox and when it's finished, you analyse your progress and then move on to the next one. It's how you complete your time chunking.

How many of you put your tasks in the diary and then get caught up in a wormhole of doing other stuff, responding to emails, dealing with someone else's emergency? How many of you get to this time on a Friday feeling frazzled and fearful of next week? There is another way.

I could go on dear reader, but frankly, there's simply not enough time. (and my timebox for this task has come to an end).

Have a fab weekend - and spend some time reflecting on what you have achieved not what you have yet to achieve.