Need a magic formula to manage your time better ?? Read on....

Sometime back, I was delivering a workshop on time management for senior leaders of a financial institution

Almost all the participants wanted some quick hack, some quick tips – some magic formula, which can help them manage their time better

And if you have read my previous articles on this topic, you might know that I have very?different views?about time management

I don’t believe that time management is about time as such

Time is constant. Time is finite

We all have the same amount of time

No one is going to give you extra hours to do things which you want to do

It’s more about what you do in that time that is important

But I will go one step further

Instead of time management, what you need to think about is?time creation

How can you create more time for yourself ?

That’s the?real question?you should ask yourself

While the total time available remains finite, you can still?create time?for yourself within?those limits

Creation by definition means bringing something into existence –?something which did not exist before

This is exactly how you need to look at time

How can you create more time for yourself (when none seem to exist)??

And if you can figure out ways to create more time, your time management challenges will get solved

Anyways, back to the workshop discussions....

Since the participants wanted a quick tip to work on their time management, I shared this with them :

Create a?NOT-TO-DO?list

Things which you will NOT DO

All of us are in the habit of creating a TO-DO list, right ?

And that list never ends – it keeps on increasing day by day, correct ?

So instead of creating a TO-DO list, first create a NOT-TO-DO list

It could be simple things such as:

..I will not look at my phone from 9am–11am

..I will not browse the internet during 5pm–7pm

..I will not multi-task

..I will not attend meetings without specific agenda and so on

These are just some examples of simple things which you can easily implement

Creating a NOT-TO-DO list helps you set boundaries

It helps you create space

It helps you prevent unwarranted distractions

You know what the best part of a NOT-TO-DO list is ?

You actually know what you should NOT do

You actually know where your time is getting consumed?unnecessarily?

You know what you should avoid

It’s your way of saying NO?

At the same time, it's your way of saying YES to yourself?

This might sound overly simplistic – but it is, actually?quite simple

Yet very impactful

So I asked the participants in this workshop to create their NOT-TO-DO list

And almost all of them came up with atleast 2-3 things to they can easily avoid

I further asked them quantify their list in time

And almost of all them were of the opinion that if they implemented this list, they can easily free up?1-2 hours?minimum on a daily basis

They could create time.?Just like that !!

One participant actually stated that he could free up about?3 hours?per day,?if he implemented this list !!?

That’s the real impact of creating and implementing a NOT-TO-DO list

You identify and don’t do certain things (?which you should anyways not do?)

You free up your time

You create time

You can then focus on things which you should do

Things which you want to do

So if you are struggling to manage time, I invite you to reframe the problem statement :

Instead of stating?“How do I manage my time better?”

Ask yourself this question?“How can I create more time?”

And then create your very own NOT-TO-DO list

Write down atleast 3 things which you will NOT do

Then go ahead and implement this list

And in most cases, you will realize that you have instantly created time !

Hope you find this exercise useful

Share it with people in your personal and professional community, with your family -?to help others?create more time?

Do share your thoughts as you engage in this reflection

Till then

Stay safe and stay healthy

Harsh

www.harshjohari.com???

P.S.?

1) Some of my previous articles on Time Management are available (My Blog)

2) PLUS, whenever you are ready to take the?powerful decision to invest in yourself, you can book a short exploratory call here (Book Your Call)