Improve Your Time Management

Over the years, I've become much better at time management. I used to be a horrendous procrastinator, but somewhere along the way, I stopped enjoying the adrenaline rush of pushing things to the last moment and started enjoying the inner calm of having some wiggle room.?

While my time management mindset has improved, I'm not sure my skillset or processes have kept pace. This felt like a great opportunity to dive into the research and emerge with some pearls of wisdom on how to better structure, protect, and adapt how we use our time.?

1: Time After Time?

Before we start color-coding our calendars and erecting blockades to keep out intrusions, it seemed like a good idea to see if strategies for more deliberately?allocating our time live up to the hype. In Does Time Management Work?, I shared the exciting findings of a meta-analysis that shows time management has benefits for productivity, satisfaction, and stress.?

With confidence that Time Management is worth the effort, I split the rest of the month into three components that research shows are required: structuring, protecting, and adapting your use of time.??

2: Making Plans for Nigel

Structuring how you will use your time for optimum efficiency is probably the most common form of time management. Still, I wanted to separate the trite internet hacks from the evidence-based techniques. In How to Structure Your Time Better, I outline the approaches that are worth your effort.???

3: A Line in the Sand

Once you have your beautiful, optimized schedule for the week, the challenge becomes sticking to that schedule in the face of a torrent of distractions and derailers. In How to Protect Your Time, I walk through some of the most significant time wasters (including?the self-inflicted ones) and provide some ideas for minimizing their impact on your productivity.?

4. Ain't Nothin Gonna Break My Stride?

Finally, I focused on the most challenging aspect of time management--what to do when your plan doesn't survive contact with the real world. In How to Adapt to Interruptions in Your Schedule, I outline five common scenarios that require a shift in plans and give you six options for how to get back on track.??

I hope you enjoyed Time Management Month. I enjoy periodically straying from the team effectiveness realm into some of the personal skills you need to be a vital contributor to your team. Let me know if there are other topics you want me to dig into!?

Resource of the Month

Alternatives to Saying "No!"

Sticking to an optimal schedule is easier said than done. And it's darn near impossible if you aren't a master at saying "no." But I'm not a fan of the "No is a complete sentence" idea. It's likely to tarnish your reputation as a good team player and a lost opportunity to show that you think about work strategically.?

The alternative is to ask questions that help the requester conclude that there are better options than asking you to do the whole task right now. This might include?questions that help the person conclude that...

• Now is not the right time for this task. (For example, "When is this on the agenda? How does this compare in urgency to this other task?")?
• You are not the right person. (Such as "Who is the decision maker on this?" or "What expertise is required?")?
• Not all of the work is required (Such as "Which parts need my specific expertise?" or "Which components of this are urgent?)
• You can only do it if something else happens. (Such as "How could we find someone else to do my regular duties?" or "What would be the best way to broach this with Finance if I'm going to delay the work I'm doing for them?")

Depending on the situation and the specific request, asking great questions will help your colleague realize that the appropriate answer to their request is "not yet," "not me," "not all of it," or "not unless." Those are more strategic answers than "no!"?

(Click on the image to download the tool.)

On the Tube

As always, there was lots of action on the YouTube channel this month.?Here are two new?videos. (Not sure why I seem to always have my mouth wide open.)

I've ranted before about how priority shouldn't be plural. You can only have one thing you do first! But what if you've got multiple things that people want you do to first? Here are some suggestions on how to handle competing priorities.?

This is a quick video with tips on how to better structure your time so that your week is as productive as possible. I even share some counterintuitive advice about making time for those administrative tasks that haunt you.?

From My LinkedIn Couch

If I Could Put Time in a Bottle?

In my first post of the month, I shared the research on the benefits of Time Management and asked you for your experiences. You came through!

Maxine Castle said, "On the days when I take the time to create a mindful and realistic to-do list and use the Focus Keeper app to time-box my work...my mood and energy is very different, and there is way less procrastination (my kryptonite)." Yup, I hear you on that one, Max. When I do it, it really works. Now I just have to do it!?

Several people made points I found really insightful about how Time Management is just as much about managing other scarce resources. Christi Mertens has been "Recognizing that time management is really attention management. And attention is a precious, under appreciated resource."?

The conversation around my post on adapting to interruptions in your schedule was also really valuable.?

Gina Alexandris wasn't so sure about my suggestion to scale back to the output of your task without compromising the outcome. She admitted, "I was a bit skeptical of "Scale Back the Output Without Changing the Outcomes"...until I read your example and sheepishly thought...yup, okay, she's right!"? Take a peek at the article and see if you agree with Gina.?

Thanks to everyone who comes to sit on my LinkedIn couch to share, debate, challenge, and learn together.?

Here are some other discussions that took place on my LinkedIn couch last month!

Thank You, Thank You!

So many wonderful people to thank this month.

Thanks to KPMG for inviting me to speak with two different groups about some of the secrets of giving effective feedback and having difficult conversations.

Thanks to ?? ??Keita Demming, Ph.D for inviting me to chat on your podcast. I loved being able to share the Tarp exercise. Watch/listen here.?

Thank you, Kirby Hasseman , for having me on Delivering Marketing Joy with my heretical message about needing more conflict!

Thanks to the great people of ESDC Atlantic for inviting me to share the secrets of thriving in perpetual change.?

Thank you to the leaders at CHEO for inviting me to be a part of your leadership development day.?

Thanks to everyone who responded to the last newsletter and everyone in this community for all you're doing to make teamwork work. March is Meetings Month... buckle up!!

Talk to you soon!?

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