What is your priority : Time Management [2/10]

So let's continue our journey into time management. In the last post we talked about the fact that everyone gets the same amount of time in their day, week, life and still different people are on the different scales of achievement and sense of accomplishment (mind you.. two totally different things, but relevant for us).

We also talked about the fact that you cannot manage time, all your can manage is your priority.

So what is your priority?

Or What is a priority anyway? It's about a choice. And it's less about a choice of what you decide to do and more about what you decide "not to do".

Sometimes we drift in our lives, work, education in an uncertain direction and living each moment as it comes. If that works for you in a given time, don't change a thing! But just in case you are not satisfied with the process or the result, I offer you a simple but challenging task.

When I conduct Time Management session, I ask my attendees to write down what they want to do.. today, this week, this month, this year!

Then I ask them, what you want to do.. how important is it you on the time horizon of "right now", "today" and "this year".

I mix up these scale based on audience or just to mess around. Because it's not the scale that matters, it's the accountability that does.

Let's take a practical example. I can spend next 1 hr doing

• emails,
• update a requirement document,
• update competitive analysis,
• gossip around latest layoffs somewhere on the globe,
• play table tennis if I am in office,
• watch IPL first innings if I am at home,
• go for a walk,
• plan my investments
• complete that GenAI training tutorial I bookmarked two months back
• ....

The list is endless. Easiest thing to do is to keep doing emails or just walk off and play table tennis. But are perfectly valid options and depending on the day or my mood or urgency on delivery date, I may do either of them.

But knowing that you have a choice and then actively choosing is the key to time management.

I am not going to be preachy here.. doing emails is way more easy and gives sense of accomplishment than completing that requirement document in response to 100 comments on your document. But if the document is due today, you better do that before you answer every single email. (of course, answer your boss / management chain mail first!)

And another thing to note is actively doing things that are not important today but will be important for things you think you want to accomplish this year! It's easy to fill your day with urgent and important by assigning a false sense of urgency and importance to things you "want to do" because something else is out of your comfort zone.

And to help (or complicate) further, it's more important to decide what is not important! Also on the time scale.

So once my participants have filled the first page with "what's important" I ask them to write down what's NOT important today, this week, this year and so on.

This usually stumps them.

Give it a try. Be honest and on two pieces of paper write down the what's important and not important on nearest to farthest time scale. No cheating.

Which one do you find harder?

Most of my audience says writing down "what is not important" is the hardest.

Why? That's usually how we are brought up. We are taught what to aspire for, what to study what to accomplish. But the discussion on what "not" to do rarely features in our parenting or teaching (beyond the obvious discussion on addictions).

Tell me in comments which one you find harder.

Saying NO is empowering

If you start training your mind on what is not important to you on each time scale, the choices become easy and more importantly they feel like active choices and not drudgeries of life or office.

Wo when talking about priorities and time management, start thinking what did you choose "not" to do!

Some examples in my own life:

• Me and my wife decided to stop watching news channels in any format over 20 years back. It has saved me a ton of time and anger!
• In spite of being a chartered accountant, I decided I do not enjoy watching share market. I would rater process a photo on computer than analyzing stocks. I chose to go ETF route. Stock trading is just not a hobby I enjoy.
• I hate gym, especially lifting things and running without going anywhere. Instead I choose to either play something (badminton / table tennis) or just fast long walks.
• I don't like to read sitting in one place. Plus with my marathi education, I find it hard to read english books (especially fancy words). So I have a hack. I hear books. And good 50+ each year! Learning is important, medium is not (for me). It could be different for you, and that's perfect. "You do You"

So go, get a paper and pen, tablet or your phone and write down

What's important to you || AND || What' NOT important to you

• Now
• Today
• This week
• This Year

You don't have to share the list, but do share the experience and what you find out about yourself.