time management

The Multi-Tasking Myth

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Popular Time Management BookAs 2012 winds to a close, I am proud to release my third book in The Time Diet series: Digestible Time Management.

Make this the year you actually enjoy your weekends because you’ve finished all your work by Friday afternoon. Learn why Time Killers are making your work take longer, your to-do list isn’t helping you, and a simple re-ordering of tasks could save you hours of time. Pick up your copy on Amazon today for $12.99 and check out this excerpt below:

“The Multi-Tasking Myth” from The Time Diet: Digestible Time Management

“One of the things that makes Time Killers so dangerously invasive is our obsession with multi-tasking. We are trained to think that not only is it OK to do multiple things at once, but it’s desirable. We think it’s fine to be on the phone while answering emails, or creating a meeting agenda while cleaning our desks, because in today’s fast-paced world, if we’re only doing one thing, we’re simply not doing enough!

Multi-tasking is not as glamorous as it appears. There is no substitute for focus. When we try to complete multiple tasks at once, something is going to suffer, be it quality or time of completion. Remember what your mother told you: Chew one bite and swallow before taking another.  The same is true with tasks in your Time Diet.

It is an art to manage multiple projects at once, but you do so most effectively by focusing on one at a time. Switching haphazardly from task to task, never concentrating long enough to accomplish any of them, is one of the worst Time Killers of all.”

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Schedule Your “When”

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Time Management Start NowOften when we say we “haven’t gotten around to” something, what we really mean is that we haven’t committed to a deadline and tried. When a boss or supervisor is checking up on us, we’re forced to finish our tasks, but when we are only accountable to ourselves, we can sometimes allow too much leeway. This is why creating a deadline and making a commitment are half the battle. Make this the week that you schedule your “when.”

“When” before “How”

When our schedules are already bursting, we don’t like to add more things to them. It doesn’t seem like we’re able to fit anything else into our day, so we wait. We put off tasks that are important to us at the expense of tasks that we owe to other people. It’s difficult to figure out how you’ll find time to do something if you don’t first set a goal of when. Once the when is established, the how comes much more easily.

My Deadline

As part of my doctoral degree, I have to take three written exams. There is no set date these are offered. Students are supposed to schedule them whenever they feel “ready.” I have been waiting for the day when I wake up and feel “ready” to regurgitate all of the knowledge I’ve acquired in the past three years, and that day has yet to come. My days are full as they are and I don’t have large blocks of time at my disposal to study for these exams. This week, I realized the only way I’ll ever finish these tests is if I just schedule them.

The last week of January, I will be taking my first doctoral written exam. My “when” has been established. Over the next month and a half, I’m going to figure out the “how.”

Schedule Your When

Have you been putting off something that’s important to you or that you know needs to be done? What are you waiting for? Take out your calendar, pick a day, and make a commitment. Putting it in your calendar makes it real and forces you to start constructing a plan. Until you add it to your schedule, your task is just an idea. Turn your idea into an obligation.

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No, You Won’t Just Remember

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The Time Diet Writing“I don’t have to write it down, I’ll just remember it.”  We’ve all heard someone repeat this famous line as an excuse for not keeping a calendar or written list of tasks. Sometimes, we need a reminder that no matter how good our memory is, we can always use a little help remembering it all. I definitely got that reminder this week. Check out my story, and the three excuses we tell ourselves to avoid putting pen to paper.

My Mistake

On Saturday, my husband and I hosted our annual holiday party. We had everything in place – appetizers, dinner, dessert – except one thing: a list to keep track of it all. We host a party every year and I never write down a menu, so I didn’t think it was important.

After the last guest went home, and I went up stairs feeling satisfied with our gathering, it hit me. I went to the fridge to be sure, and my suspicion was confirmed. We forgot to put out one of the side dishes. The vegetable salad with the tri-colored peppers my husband had meticulously chopped into tiny pieces sat untouched in its Tupperware.

The anger I felt was perhaps unjustified given the situation, but this was not about the salad. In my Time Diet workshops, I reinforce the importance of writing things down, and here I had not taken my own advice. A simple written menu would have ensured we remembered to put out all the food in the hustle-bustle of hosting a party. I’m reminded of the three reasons to write things down:

1) You always forget just when you “know” you’ll remember

I keep a detailed calendar and pride myself on staying on top of my deadlines. This party was not something I was worried about. It’s six different food items, how hard could it possibly be? I “knew” I’d remember everything, but that is exactly when things started to slip my mind. In the heat of the moment, even the simplest things become easy to forget. It’s important to take a few seconds to write down your tasks so you’re sure you meet your deadlines.

2) Just because it’s worked in the past, doesn’t mean it’ll work forever

Each time you don’t write down a deadline, but manage to remember it anyway, you train yourself that it’s OK. You build a false confidence that you don’t need to write anything down because your memory is excellent. Inevitably, you reach a point where you don’t remember it anymore, and now you haven’t trained yourself to be organized. I had myself convinced that I could throw a party for 50 of our friends without writing anything down. That was silly.

3) Writing things down doesn’t take a ton of time

We have all seen those people who make immaculate to-do lists that look like works of art. We’re convinced that it took longer to make the list than accomplish anything on it and we tell ourselves that list-making is a waste of time and it’s better to just start doing than to waste time organizing. If you set out to waste time making a list, you certainly can, but it doesn’t need to be like that. Organization only takes a few seconds. It doesn’t need to be fancy or elaborate. It just has to be consistent.

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Time Management for a Merrier Holiday Season

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Time Management HolidayIt’s December, and all of the dashing through parking lots, decking the halls, and increased number of deadlines can create a time management crisis that makes us feel less than jolly. Just follow these tips to rein in your holiday schedule so you have time to enjoy the season with your friends and family.

1. Ask for Help

At the beginning of December, we optimistically think that we can handle everything ourselves. Despite the longer work hours and lengthier to-do lists, we think we’ll be able to do it all without any help. Then, sometime around the 17th or 18th of December, we start to crack.

Don’t let it get to that point. Ask for help in advance. Don’t put off big projects until the day before your vacation hoping they will just…happen. Be realistic at work and delegate when you need to. Instead of throwing a huge party for your family and friends, ask everyone to bring a dish and embrace the decreased workload that comes with a potluck.

2. Make One Trip

During the holiday season, all retailers and grocery stores try to tempt you into their shops. It’s easy to think you need to make it to all of them, but this makes your shopping take three times as long. It’s not worth saving ten cents a pound on the Christmas turkey if you have to drive 40 minutes out of your way to go get it. Your sister will appreciate the sweater from the store down the street just as much as the one from the mall in the next town over.

3. Plan Some Quiet Time

In the hustle and bustle of the season, it’s easy to get swept up in it all and forget to step back and enjoy it. Free time will definitely not just happen at this time of year. You have to make it. Set aside a few evenings to stay in and relax. There will always be shopping to do, or parties to attend, or community events to check out. You probably already have enough mandatory extra activities, such as overtime at work or an increase in deadlines at the end of the year. Make up for it by skipping out on one of the optional activities and staying home instead.

It’s tempting to fill up our calendars with loads of holiday cheer, but the best way to enjoy the holidays is to simply step back and breathe.

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What Your Shopping Says About Your Time Management

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Standing in the middle of Best Buy at 2:00am on Black Friday, I couldn’t help but think of time management. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or a desperate attempt to occupy my mind with something other than the constant stream of shopping carts running into my ankles, but as I watched everyone around me pile heaps of electronics into their carts, I began to analyze their shopping strategies. By watching them shop, I realized I could also make a pretty good guess as to how they manage their time. What does your shopping strategy say about your productivity?

1. The Lost Puppies

A few people wandered around the store as if they were waiting for someone to point them in the right direction. They picked up an item, looked at it, started to put it in their cart, and then put it back down. These people have clearly never been Black Friday shopping before. It doesn’t work like that. As soon as you put it down, someone else takes it. Most of these people left the store empty handed.

Just like these shoppers didn’t cross any gifts off their shopping list with that strategy, they are unlikely to ever cross anything off their to-do lists either. Rather than tackling a big, important task, they start smaller, less-important tasks instead. These people are good at preparing to work, but not as skilled at actually beginning. Don’t let this happen to you! Pick your Meat, Vegetable, and Dessert priority tasks for the day and move forward. Preparation is great, but if it never leads to execution, your productivity will stall.

2. The Kid in the Candy Store

These shoppers can hardly contain their excitement. They haphazardly grab items off any shelf that says “sale.” They may have come into the store with an item in mind, but their carts are full by the time they reach it.

Whereas “sale” signs distract these shoppers from their shopping mission, Time Killers distract them in their time management. They may have had a productivity goal for the day, but they let Time Killers like Facebook, email, snacking, T.V. and texting distract them from their goals. Don’t let Time Killers throw you off track. Remove these distractions before they steal your focus.

3. The Planner

These people are a force to be reckoned with on Black Friday. They know exactly what they want and what time to show up in order to get it. They’ve mapped out the store in advance and go straight to their desired item without any detours. They get in and out of the store as quickly as possible, leaving the other shoppers to fight over the scraps.

This is the kind of laser-like focus that also achieves success in time management. It’s important to know your priorities for the day and don’t let Time Killers, or other tasks on your list distract you. By getting the task done quickly and efficiently, you have time left over for relaxation without the stress of your impending workload. This kind of focus takes discipline, but it pays off.

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Why, Hello Motivation!

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Have you ever been suddenly motivated to complete a task that isn’t on the top of your priority list for the day? In a perfect world, we’d always be motivated to complete the most pressing task of the moment, but we know that’s hardly ever the case. We are all well-versed in the process of trying to dig up motivation to start a dreaded task, but what happens when we suddenly find that motivation at the wrong time?

My Sudden Motivation

I hate cleaning. I know I’d be hard-pressed to find someone who truly loves the chore, but I feel as though I have a particularly difficult time motivating myself to throw out my useless clutter. You can imagine my shock when I woke up this morning thinking, “I really want to clean out the garage today.”

Here is my problem: cleaning the garage was not terribly high on the priority list. I have a few big projects to wrap up before Thanksgiving weekend and I had a productive day planned to make progress on all of them. As I sat down to work though, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I should really pounce on my sudden motivation to organize.

Do I choose the more “important” task that I have no problem motivating myself to do, or the less important task that I usually dread?

After careful contemplation, I chose the latter.

The Right Decision

For three hours this afternoon, I sorted, threw away, cleaned, stacked, shredded, etc… I was definitely on a roll. As the third hour came to a close, a sudden feeling of frustration came over me. “I kind of hate this,” I said out loud. As quickly as it had come, my motivation was now gone. It was at that moment I realized I had made the right decision for the day.

Finding an extra hour or two over the next few days to squeeze in a little more work would be easy. Waiting for cleaning motivation to strike again could be endless. With just a few short hours of work, I could now walk into my garage without bumping into things. If I hadn’t been motivated, that could have easily taken the whole day.

Your Turn

Sometimes it’s best to do the task you are most motivated to do. You work most efficiently when you’re motivated and motivation is hard to conjure up. Notice I didn’t say it’s always best to make this decision. If I had a huge deadline coming up tomorrow, my cleaning crusade would have had to wait. Will you choose motivation or importance this week? Can you find a balance?

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The Side Streets of Time Management

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Have you ever been traveling with a friend who is convinced he has a faster way to get to your destination? It’s usually a little-known side street or back road. These side streets can either shorten your journey…or waste a tremendous amount of your time after getting you lost.

We run across similar shortcuts in our time management.  Before you take a time management shortcut (such as skipping or shortening a step in a process), ask yourself the following questions:

1. Do I Have Enough Experience?

Let’s pretend that you’re on your way to a new destination and two people suggest a shortcut. One of those people has never traveled the road before, while the other travels it frequently. Whose advice are you more likely to take? Experience is crucial when deciding which steps to remove from a process. If you’ve never completed a certain task before, it’s a good idea to follow all of the steps in detail, even if you think they might waste your time. As a novice, you don’t know the consequences of removing a step.

2. Am I Just Being Lazy?

If we’re looking for tasks to cut out of a process, we’re most likely to turn to the most tedious and annoying tasks first. It’s important to determine if those tasks truly aren’t necessary, or if you just don’t feel like doing them.

To use a simple example, I was making “For Rent” signs for our rental property the other day. At first, I was marking out the word placement in pencil before inking the final letters in marker. Pretty soon, I got lazy and stopped my pencil layout…only to discover that now my posters were crooked. I cut out the intermediary step not because it was unnecessary, but because I didn’t feel like doing it.

3. Will This Shortcut Make More Work Later?

Sometimes what seems like a shortcut now, in reality, just makes more work for ourselves later. Remember: later always gets here eventually. It’s much faster to do a small, annoying task now, than let those small tasks pile up. Procrastination is the enemy of time management. A shortcut is only truly a shortcut if it saves time, not if it just puts off work until later.

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3 Crucial Things Busy People Know

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“If you want something done, ask a busy person.” Even though that statement seems so backwards, we all know it to be true. People with packed schedules always find the time to squeeze in one more thing. But is it possible to harness that level of efficiency without a crammed calendar? Absolutely. You just have to learn the time management secrets that busy people know.

1. We have more time than we realize

Much like people on a diet account for each calorie they consume, busy people account for each minute of their time. They know about Parkinson’s Law, that work expands to fill the time we have available, and therefore don’t give themselves two hours to get ready in the morning, or an hour and half to check email. When they sit down to work, they work efficiently and with the utmost focus, eliminating Time Killers that try to make their task take longer.

2. Don’t wait to want to do something

Sometimes there are tasks on our list that we aren’t looking forward to doing. When we don’t want to do something, we put it off hoping we’ll feel more like doing it tomorrow…as though enjoyment of a task was a necessary prerequisite. Busy people don’t think like that. They know their time is limited and it’s better to just do undesirable tasks now and get them off their plates and off their minds.

3. Put your head down and start grazing

Busy people know that worrying about a big workload is a waste of resources. Remember the story about the two cows:

“Two cows were both faced with an immense pasture of grass to graze. The first cow looked around and said, ‘Oh my goodness. There is so much grass here. How will I ever get through it all?’ While the first cow stood and worried, the second cow said nothing, and put her head down and started grazing.”

If we spend less time worrying and more time doing we not only lower our stress level, but we find that worrying was taking up a lot of time and energy that we could have spent on being productive.

The point of working efficiently is not to make time for even more work. The point of working efficiently is to get our work done quickly, so we can have more time for the enjoyable Desserts in life that are truly important.

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Are You Letting Fear Hold You Back?

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This week, you will likely see some spooky ghosts and goblins on your doorstep. However, Halloween isn’t the only time we encounter things that scare us. Some of our fears follow us year round and try to both interfere with our time management, and inhibit us from accomplishing our goals. Unfortunately, it will take more than some free candy to make these scary things go away.

We strive to have excellent time management skills to efficiently work toward our goals. Sometimes, even though we know the steps we need to take in order to reach our target, we let our fears get in the way.  Be careful not to let these three fears stop you from reaching your goals.

1. Fear of The Unknown

Even though we may be dreaming of change, the fact of the matter is, it can be a terrifying concept. The unknown is scary. Sometimes it’s easier to put off taking concrete steps toward a goal simply because the status quo is so familiar. Don’t let yourself fall into this trap. If you need help taking that first step into the unknown, look around. You probably aren’t the first one to venture down that path.

2. Fear of Failure

Failure is not enjoyable and in an effort to protect ourselves from that horrible feeling, we sometimes avoid trying at all. If we never try, we won’t succeed, but we also don’t run the risk of failing! This avoidance isn’t something we’re always completely aware of. A common method of failure avoidance is to busy ourselves with so many other things that we can tell ourselves we “don’t have time” to accomplish what we know is really important. Remember: we make time for what’s important to us. Failure, while painful to our ego, doesn’t have to be a dead end, but is rather a necessary pit stop on the way to success.

3. Fear of Disappointing Others

Many of us let other people dictate the way we spend our time. We do things not necessarily because we want to do them, but because we think it’s what others expect of us and we don’t want to let them down. Here is the thing: other people don’t care nearly as much as you think they do. People who are close to you just want you to be happy, and people who aren’t close to you are too busy worrying about how everyone else is perceiving them, that they don’t have time to judge how you’re spending your time. You need to devote your time and energy to tasks that support your own goals, not the goals of others.

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Time Management? That’s Debatable

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“That’s ridiculous” “You don’t know what you’re talking about” “That’s just not true.”

These could be statements from one of the recent Presidential debates, but you might also recognize them from the internal time management debate we have in our heads all the time. When we don’t want to do something, our responsible side says we need to do it anyway, and our inner procrastinator says to do it later. Consider the following when you’re trapped in a time management debate.

 1.  You Never Regret Productivity

Think about it like this, when we convince ourselves to tackle something now instead of putting it off, we rarely ever say, “Gosh, I really wish I hadn’t done that.” However, when we choose to procrastinate, we rarely say, “That was a wonderful decision.” Use this experience to your advantage.

2.  Imagine the Worst Case Scenario

Rather than think of the benefits of getting work done early, sometimes it’s more effective to think of the problems that come from procrastinating. Think of what the worst possible scenario could be if you put off your work. If that scenario sounds unappealing to you, start the task now to avoid it.

3. Find a Productivity Coach

It’s usually pretty easy to find people in our lives who will encourage and enable us to procrastinate, however, it’s important to find that one friend or colleague who instead tells you to snap to your senses and just start your work. Think of this friend as your “Productivity Coach” who you can call when you are in need of some help in your time management debate. Sometimes just hearing another person weigh in can give your productive side enough of a boost to be victorious.

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