In one of my monthly experience-sharing sessions today (part of EO), we talked about time management.
I’ve been really interested in this topic. Why do I want to manage my time better?
The answer used to be, “so I can get more things done.” That seems like a good answer, but it can also be a poor one. It suggests quantity. It also suggests that I need discipline and structure in order to get things done when they need to be done.
When I realized the above answer was bad because it is about quantity, I went to an obvious improvement: “so that I can do quality work.” This is related to a past entry I wrote titled Slow is the new fast?, so I won’t dwell on the aspect of slowing down and finding time to do deep work.
My current answer is, “so that I can find time to improve my thinking.” Now, that is a little meta, but I do need to make time to think about how I want to spend my time. That’s just back to the basics.
Next, how should we manage time?
One way to manage time better is to not focus on managing time but find a way to get more done with less time.
The 80/20 Principle book by Richard Koch said, “Don’t manage time. Manage efforts.” I will revisit that topic at some point.
The classic Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time article by Tony Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy has been tested through the years.
Managers and executives burn out because they don’t have enough time to do things. In software, individual contributors also overwork. We work directly with clients. Our team members have to manage themselves. should we train everyone in the company how to manage time better.
Time is a finite resource. We all have the same 24 hours a day. Energy is highly individualized and comes from four main wellsprings in human beings: the body, emotions, mind, and spirit. We can find ways to reenergize by practicing so that we can get unconscious and automatic energy renewal from the above sources.
I am going through this period myself, and I consider it the most important activity: I shift the emphasis from getting more out of my day to investing more in myself so that I am more motivated and able to bring more of myself to work every day.
I also started thinking about how to empower employees, especially the top performers, to be more aware of how they manage their energy and efforts.
Next: Making A Schultüte