I had a speaking engagement a few days ago, and the topic was: “How to shave 5 hours off your work week.” My talk was part of an interactive workshop that covered items such as making effective to-do lists, and conquering time-sucking email.
After my talk, one of the participants asked me a thought provoking question, “After you’ve managed to create extra time for yourself, how are you going to spend it?” It was a great insight into an aspect of time management that’s usually overlooked. What is the driving force for us to acquire time-management skills? We’re always saying how great it would be if we could just have a few extra hours each week.
A few extra hours…to do what?
Some great motivations might initially pop into your head when you hear that question, but are they compelling enough to move you to action and embrace a time-management system? Are they meaningful enough to spark your determination (and self-discipline) to change old habits and implement time-saving strategies?
If your answer is YES, then good for you! I would simply encourage you to periodically review these motivations, and make sure they’re still potent for you. Having clear motivators will keep you on the straight and narrow when you’re tempted to fall off the time-managing wagon.
If your answer is NO, here are some ideas to get you on track.
Changing our behaviors is a complex process. It involves many things, not the least of which: awareness of your belief systems, (limiting or otherwise); development of your daily willpower reserves; clarity with regard to that which you can and cannot control in your life, and a litany of other variables, all of which are worthy of independent articles.
For this article, however, I’d like to discuss one of the cornerstones of creating reliable changes in our behaviors and patterns, and how it can keep you on track with those changes.
Implementing a system to manage your daily activities requires some serious changes in patterns of behavior, and it is hard work; as such, your reasons for doing so must be absolutely clear to you. You MUST identify your core motivators, and as you move towards making these changes, you’ve got to “keep your eye on the prize” at all times.
Here’s a simple question to help uncover your core motivators (for implementing a time management system): “If I saved exactly 5 hours a week, every week, how would I want to spend those precious hours?”
To go deeper with the question, look at it from two different perspectives. First, imagine using the extra hours for improving your personal life; then imagine using the extra hours for improving your professional life.
Personal
If you had 5 extra hours in your week, would you:
- Read a book?
- Work out?
- Play music?
- Take a long, hot bath?
- Take a walk with a loved one?
- Take a day trip with your children?
- Go on a dinner date?
- Invite friends over for a movie night?
Professional
If you had 5 extra hours in your week, would you:
- Make more sales calls?
- Finish more reports?
- Meet with more clients?
- Dedicate more time to mentoring individuals?
- Develop your team’s skill set? Develop your own skill set?
- Brainstorm on a new product launch with an associate?
- Attend more social functions with key clients?
After you’ve put some thought into this question, make two lists of your own, and pinpoint 3 compelling items from each category. On a scale of 1-10, rate how badly you want these things. If any item scores less than a 10, try re-wording it and see if it scores higher on the “How Badly Do I Want It?” Scale. If, no matter how you word it, the item doesn’t reach at least a 9, you can be sure it will never compel you to make significant changes in your behavioral/operational patterns.
For the items that scored 9 or 10, ask yourself to rate your commitment level on a scale of 1-10: “How committed am I to managing my time better in an effort to achieve these rewards?” If your commitment scores less than 10 on any particular item, try re-wording it until you feel determined to see that goal through to fruition.
You’re only interested in items that score a 10 on the Commitment Scale. These items will be your core motivators as you embark on implementing time-management strategies. The idea is to keep your eye on the prize, so you’ve got to know exactly what prize you’re working towards achieving, and you have to be 100% committed to achieving it.
Congratulations! You’ve now identified some powerful core motivators for carving out more time for yourself each week! Again, I suggest periodically checking in on your motivators to make sure they’re strong enough to keep you on the time management wagon.
If this exercise resonated with you, the next step would be to explore time-management resources within your own organization, and/or enroll in a time-management class. SHAMELESS PLUG: Will and I just completed a book on this very subject, called “Time Sucked! How to rock your productivity mojo and get your life back.” It will be ready for public consumption in a few more days! We’ll keep you posted!
Good luck, and here’s to enjoying your newly-discovered, well-earned TIME!
