A Leader’s T.I.M.E.; The 4 Keys to Leading Your Professional & Personal Time!

As a kid or teenager, you rarely think of time at all… either believing we have so much more, we waste it, fail to capture extraordinary moments, and nowadays drift into the abyss of our phones and social media. It’s not until we get a bit older that we appreciate time's full value and pricelessness. It’s not until we become professionally successful and personally aware that we comprehend that life can be very long when done wrong and way too short when done great! Therefore, let’s do it great, professionally and personally, by learning the T, I,M, and E. to Lead the lifestyle of your dreams!

T. – Thimble Principal!

I developed this short, sweet, and true principle from years of playing with my kids during the summers and later while being a Supervisor at work… and it goes like this, “A thimble of dedicated and focused time spent with someone (including yourself) is better than a mountain of distracted time.”

Years ago, I worked as a Mental Health Therapist in Alternative Schools and was gifted with a lot of summer time off. Back then, I had three little ones running around and of course I wanted to enjoy my summer MY WAY. I learned quickly to schedule the days with short bursts of “full attention time”; playing games, reading books, outside activities, dedicated school work time, and more. Therefore, making it more understandable when Daddy said… “I need a minute!” to take a breather or do some ME-Time for 30 minutes or so. The same is true now; I have four amazing kids… my oldest daughter is 24-years-old and my youngest is 5 , Lol!

The Thimble Principal also works professionally! We all have that “Work-Bestie”, Employee, or Coworker that can knock on your office door with a 2-minute question and an hour later they’re leaving your office. Let that happen 3 times and that’s literally half your day… and now you’re taking work home at night and over the weekend! Therefore, enthusiastically and willingly offering a thimble of your time can be very useful!

Leading through unscheduled thimbles of time, like the interrupting knock at your office door may be handled by saying something like, “ Hi _____, I’m right in the middle of this; I have 5-10 minutes. If I can help great, if not, I’m available tomorrow at 9:00am or Wednesday at 1:00pm.”. The trick is… during that 5-10 minutes; be attentive, curious, positive, passionate, and productive… not looking at your computer screen, your phone, rolling your eyes, tapping your foot, getting sucked into the deep conversation or gossip details; I could go on, but you get the point!

Scheduled thimbles of time refer to the 1-on-1 Meetings, check-ins, mentoring, coaching, training that you’ve scheduled, and more. These scheduled thimbles of time are not something to simply check off your To-Do List. Be curious, attentive, positive, passionate about their “Why”, how you’re going to help them, the Team, and the company!

“Thimble-Time” for deep professional work matters! Do you know how much you can get done during an uninterrupted thirty-minute period of time without your phone buzzing, emails dinging, no knocks at the door, or remote working from phone without kids bursting in, or thoughts of getting the dishes done and the Amazon Guy at the door?

Do you know how much you could relax, self-soothe, and work your way to the root of most of your issues; and a plan of action with a 10-minute thimble of time to sit quietly traveling down the rabbit hole of your life without our phone addiction kicking in, our kids asking for something, or us thinking of the one-millionth thing we get to do for the day? Be Mindful!

I. – Interested vs. Interesting!

As we evolve in life, it’s tempting to want to share with people all you’ve seen and learned, and impart the professional and personal lessons you’ve picked up along the way! The easiest and worst thing we tend to do while someone is talking is start nodding “Yes” and follow it up with a “Me Too Story”; taking over the conversation and one-upping them with your similar but better tale. This is something I still struggle with and work to stop myself from doing when conversing with people!

Although your success, age, experience, title, and/or income may make you feel like the most interesting person in the room… the magic occurs when the opposite happens… and you make others feel like they’re the most interesting person in the room! So, how do we do that?

The answer is easy, ask simple yet powerful questions! These questions can be asked at work to Employees, Bosses, Colleagues, or in your personal life while networking or while at get-togethers with family and friends!

• My current favorite is… What’s the next BIG Thing you have planned?
• What’s BIG Thing you’re working on?
• What do you like most about ____, and is there anything you’d fine-tune?
• On a scale 1-10 (ten being the best), how much do you like ____? What would take it up a number or two?
• That’s cool, tell me more about that!
• How did you get involved in _____?

The exciting part about asking people questions is, they tend to ask you questions back! NOW it’s time to share your thoughts, your wisdom, etc. I spend a lot of time in airports, traveling to companies and conferences to present Leadership Trainings. While in the airport lounges or bars, I’ve been honored to meet some amazing People… and as I’m making them the most interesting person in the airport; they inevitably ask what I do for a living and I get to say, “I’m a Professional Speake and Author”. As their eyebrows raise, they smile, and swing the body more open to me in curiosity we get to enhance our communication, or connection, and chances to stay close and perhaps even do business together some day!

M. – Move-On!

Here’s another short and sweet Key to Lead your time… Move-On quicker. You may be the world’s best connector and Chatty Carl or Cathy; and if so, great for you! I have a Best Friend that if you met him in line at Target; he, his wife, and his three girls will be at your house for Thanksgiving Dinner later in the year as an extended part of your family and you’ll feel like you’ve known them forever. A MAJOR SHOUT OUT to my friends, The Beebe’s! However, most people aren’t that skilled at conversation, curiosity, connection, and building a community!

Therefore, after giving a thimble of your time and being interested vs interesting, it’s time to move-on before the awkward pause of no one knowing what to say and the even more awkward good-bye that follows. After you’ve asked a few questions learned a few things, shared about yourself, and discussed staying connected… MOVE-ON; leaving the person wanting more, feeling lucky to have met you, and willing to tell someone else about you. It may mean ending the conversation by saying, “Wow, it's been great talking with you and I look forward to reaching out in a few days to say hi and stay connected. I have to get going and thanks for sharing ____ with me, that was awesome!”. Feel free to adjust the wording to make it your own, but you get the point!

E. – The Evolving Effect!

Are people better off for having spent time with you? Whether it’s ten minutes, an hour, or a day… are they better for having been in your presence? Do they feel better about themselves? Do they have a clearer vision of their life, jobs, passion, or relationships? Do they walk away with ideas and possibilities? Or simply negativity, gossip, and confirmation that their job, their relationships, and their life is on a continuous hamster wheel of suck?

Lastly, we evolve our Work/Life Harmony when we respect and schedule what I call, The 7 Factors of T.I.M.E.:

1. Go-Time! – This refers to time scheduled for “Deep Work”; professionally on a task or project… or… personally on a chore around the house. Is this scheduled in your phone’s calendar with alters and notifications, so it can stop renting space in your head?

2. Friend-Time! – I’m beyond honored to have two great friends from high-school, four life-long friends from college, and three entrepreneur friends I’ve met in the last ten years that have become Best Friends and part of my Circle! As groups of friends, we may hang out differently, but each group is in my calendar to hang out with. Is this scheduled in your phone’s calendar with alters and notifications, so it can stop renting space in your head?

?3. Me-Time! – YES… You Matter and YOU need to be in your calendar with alerts and notifications too! What do you do to best nurse yourself? Some like spa days, some like to cut the grass, or golf. For me, I’ve never had a bad time with a cigar in one hand and a drink in the other…especially at my favorite Cigar Lounge, Lol! I don’t do it every day, but I know where my peace is. Do you have some Me-Time scheduled in your phone’s calendar with alters and notifications, so it can stop renting space in your head?

?4. Awe-Time! – Please never estimate the power of AWE… making time to experience something that awes you and makes you say wow! I Thank my Dad for taking my brother and I to museums when we were younger… it’s something that really stuck with me. When I travel, I get to the new city the day before my scheduled Training Events and make time to visit either their Natural History Museum and/or their best Cigar Lounge… and of course eat my way through their town! I also remember standing in front of the Grand Canyon for hours… WOW! Whatever awes you… a comedy show, art, music, movies… Is this scheduled in your phone’s calendar with alters and notifications, so it can stop renting space in your head?

?5. Couple-Time! – You can be let-go from your job tomorrow and your kids are supposed to leave one day… and there you’ll be spending time with a stranger you’ve been neglecting… or avoiding for years! Couple-Time reminds you of why you fell in love in the first place and lets YOU know you still like the person! Not to mention, your kids will repeat what they see you do… show them the world doesn’t revolve around kids and loving your partner is one of the best gifts you can give a child! Is this scheduled in your phone’s calendar with alters and notifications, so it can stop renting space in your head?

?6. Kid-Time! – A study came out nearly fifteen years ago stating how much time parents spend conversing with their kids… outside of COMMAND Statements (do this… stop doing that). The findings were… THREE MINUTES per day… Wow! That number could not have gone UP over the years! Are your kids in your calendar outside of task-based things, school, and sports practices? Can you schedule (in your phone) a date with all of your kids… it can be to McDonald’s, a walk in the park, game night, etc.? Can you also schedule one-on-one dates with your kids? I’m blessed to have four amazing kids… and as great as it is to have them all around me at the same time… it’s cool who they actually are when they don’t have to compete for your attention… or are fighting with each other!

7. Evolving-Time! – This refers to time for your intentional growth as a person, parent, professional, and/or partner! Are you reading books, subscribing and scrolling to things on social media that make you better instead of bitter, taking classes or courses? Leaders are continuous learners of themselves and nerds about their craft and what and who they say they love! Is this scheduled in your phone’s calendar with alters and notifications, so it can stop renting space in your head!

These are the four keys to best Lead your T.I.M.E., professionally and personally! What was your biggest takeaway? What homework are you giving yourself to implement into your life RIGHT NOW? Enjoy your Evolution!!!

“Although your success, age, experiences, title, and/or income may make you feel like the most interesting person in the room… the magic occurs when the opposite happens… and you make others feel like they’re the most interesting person in the room… Be Mindful!”??? – Andre Young

Written by: Andre Young

Are you looking to impact your Organization, Leaders, Teams, and Employees with Leadership & Work/Life Harmony Trainings or a Speaker? Click www.youevolvingnow.com to connect, chat, and customize with Andre Young!