The Time Management Fiasco
How much energy we have at the end of a day depends on:
- What we did during the day
- How we did it
- Why we did it
- How resilient we are.
In this post, I’ll touch on the “What”.
“Oh no! We’re not going to hear the time management lecture again, are we?”
I know, we’ve all heard it so many times: prioritize, delegate what you can, chunk the rest. So my question is: How come most of us are still so swamped?
The Time Management Fiasco
I won’t surprise anyone by saying that we will always be asked to do more, to do as much as we allow ourselves to take on. No one is protecting us, our time or our health. So it’s up to us to set boundaries…and rarely do we do that well, if at all.
Why not? There are many reasons, from fear of failure to not taking the time to organize ourselves, and I want to touch on a few interesting ones that usually don’t get discussed that much:
Immediate, lower priority tasks seduce us.
Time management expert Alex Mackenzie found in his surveys, that most executives don’t get to their most important tasks until mid afternoon. So it’s a common “disease”.
It hits us because we want the sense of accomplishment that comes with finishing something concrete. Lower priority items tend to be shorter, easier, and we’re not as tempted to procrastinate with them since they are not as emotionally charged as the project that could impact our success…one way or another.
The cure? Making absolutely sure that we take time to “script” our day; to decide where we are going to direct our attention. It’s not just “one of those” time management tools; it prevents us from wasting our lives away on things that don’t matter most to us.
The dispensability factor
No matter what we say, many of us don’t trust others to do the job right unless we are involved. And/or we subconsciously think that if we are not kept “in the loop”, it diminishes our self-importance. (How could things function without me?)
The cure? Asking ourselves what might really go wrong. Maybe we can create a way to minimize those instances. And wouldn’t the occasional slipup be worthwhile in exchange for freeing up our time and attention?
Strengths vs. Weaknesses
Everyone agrees that we are so much more tired after doing work we don’t like. But somehow, we don’t use that fact in planning our work.
As a business owner, executive or manager, we can choose to work in our areas of strength, and hire for our weaknesses. Notice over the next week what kind of work leaves you drained, as challenge your thinking: do you really have to do this yourself?
What matters to us
We always have a greater reserve of energy for doing work that is aligned with what we feel is important. So why wouldn’t we spend some time reflecting on what we do, to make sure that, as much as possible, we devote our time to what matters to us.
Even within the confines of “having to make a living”, we can find ways of adjusting our work to reflect our values. In some cases, it might take a while to get there (often with the assistance of a mentor, coach or friend), but it’s worth the investment. We are talking about our lives here.
What is really draining your energy?
Yes, most of us would feel better if we changed our nutrition and fitness behaviors. But as important as they are, they are not the root cause of our personal” deflation”.
Root Causes
The root causes are more likely our feelings. Skeptical? Well, how much more energized do you think you would be at the end of the day if you did not:
- Worry about getting business results or the next promotion
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Fear losing your job, or your customers
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Feel angry at all the impossible demands made of you
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Always brace yourself for the next problem
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Hate (or came to hate) the work you do, or the environment you’re in
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Underneath it all, distrust most (or all) people
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Feel like you’re running on endless treadmill with no end in sight
“Ok, but that doesn’t help me much”, you might say. “I have to work, and those things just come with it. Everyone’s in the same boat.”
Lots of people are, but not everyone.
And lots of people are tired, so tired they don’t recognize themselves as the person they once were.
Too tired to do anything but work and workout
We live in the land of sleep-deprived, caffeine-boosted, win-at-all-cost adrenaline junkies. Our physical, emotional and energetic systems are so depleted we only have energy for the “revved up” activities: the workplace and the gym.
“Wait a minute, isn’t that contradictory, being too tired for anything but high-energy activities?”
Not really. In order to relate to family and friends, we have to be emotionally present, to be receptive to the nuances of their needs. We also have to be willing to show ours. But when we are tired, we are shut down. We can all recognize this because we have all done it, snapped at someone and then apologized later, saying we were “too tired”.
But even when we are tired, we can brace ourselves for the next task demanded of us, as long as it doesn’t require too much subtlety (since that requires us to have access to all of our resources and we’re not functioning on all cylinders).
So we can function and even look formidable, but we are bulls in a china shop. And despite what some people may believe that doesn’t lead to a high quality performance, especially in the long-term. Business success depends on relationships and people either steer clear of a bull or try to trap it. But I digress; more about performance some other time, let me get back to energy levels.
The consequences of pushing yourself
Remember what happened in the past when you knew you had to keep going for a deadline and pushed yourself to keep going when you were tired? I do. Eventually, I:
- Made errors I wouldn’t have otherwise, which I had to take extra time to correct
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Teed a few people off wanting immediate service in my rush (at the coffee shop, printer, receptionist, legal department, etc.), which means I had to repair relationships
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Had no life outside of work
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Didn’t perform as well on the next project as I would normally have if I hadn’t burnt myself out
Eventually, it can lead to a more pervasive burnout situation, and/or a certain kind of rigidity in thinking, leadership and communication style, and general attitude.
“But what else can I do, I have deadlines to meet”.
Yes, there’s the rub. The answer is more complex than can be answered in a blog post, but I’ll cover a few ideas next week.
Why do we want more money?
Everybody wants more, for reasons that can be categorized as either:
- Security
- Power (ambition, achievement, self-confidence)
- Enjoyment (of experiences)
- Altruism
- Or freedom of choice
Very few of us want money for money’s sake, but for what it can allow in our lives. Yet many of us seem to have lost sight of our ultimate goal; we live as if money itself was the object of our desire.
For example, do you know anyone who wants money for the freedom of choice, yet works so hard at her business that she rarely has time to get away?
Or someone who says that his family is the most important part of his life, yet he rarely sees them because of his career?
Now, constant life balance is rarely possible. We all have deadlines and special circumstances that require our extra attention at the office for a while. But what if that becomes the norm?
If our families never see much of us…and we don’t really see an end in sight to that rhythm, how can we say that they are the most important thing to us? The truth is, they were at some point, but no longer; they have been displaced by other more pressing motives.
We might not have intended for that to happen, but it’s the truth. If you are one of those people, be brutally honest: how much is the drive at work to be a good provider, and how much is for other reasons (self esteem, the adrenaline of winning, fear of losing out, etc.)
If our business was supposed to give us freedom but has gobbled up all of our time and energy with no end in sight, when do we think we are going to be able to enjoy that freedom?
What we do with our lives is up to us, and if a person wants to concentrate most of her time on her career, that’s totally her choice. Let’s make sure it truly is a choice and not a runaway life.
Quick breakfast suggestions
Last time, I discussed how what we do first thing in our day, has a major impact on our energy and performance. Part of that healthy early morning routine, is having a nutritious breakfast.
Now I realize that we all have different body clocks and that some of us are not hungry when we get up. If you’re one of those, you won’t at first see the point in forcing yourself to eat, especially if like most people, you’re always mindful of weight control.
The thing is, there is too much scientific evidence to ignore on the benefit of breakfast for optimal body functioning, and for weight management for that matter.
And some people are not hungry in the morning because they ate too much late at night. Some of that is sheer habit, and some is a way of destressing, whether we realize it or not. Once again, studies prove that having breakfast can help improve both the stress and late hunger levels.
Just about all of us are rushed for time so whatever we have must be quick, but it has to be nutritious so it can’t be a donut, danish, croissant or plain bagel with butter and jam. After all, despite all of the confusing and contradictory opinions on diet, there is consensus that refined flour and sugar are not good fuel for the body, quite the opposite.
So here are a few ideas for breakfast newbies, some lighter in quantity than others to accommodate those who really would rather skip it all together:
- Whole grain toast and peanut (almond, or cashew) butter
- Have it un-toasted if you are really time challenged
- Have it with fruit (banana, apple, or pineapple slices)
- Have it with cheese instead of nut butter
- Whole grain cereal (preferably unsweetened) with milk, soy or almond milk
- Yogurt with berries and nuts tossed in it for protein
- Boiled egg(s) (boil several ahead of time to have them ready to go in the morning)
- Have a fruit as well with the egg(s)
- Leftover whole wheat pizza slice
- Protein shake (in a water bottle to go, if you must)
A few words on protein shakes: You can of course make your own, but I’m assuming here that most people wouldn’t want to take the time for that. Then you can simply buy a good brand from health food stores, grocery stores, or online.
What makes a brand good? As in all foods, it’s always better to choose the brands with the fewest artificial ingredients. For example, there is growing evidence that aspartame and other artificial sweeteners are, shall we say, a bad idea. Also, you can work around any food allergies by choosing from different protein bases, whey and soy being the most common.
I personally like and use the “Nutrition Now” shakes which I order online at: http://www.phporder.com/RetailProductSearchResults.aspx?Search=nutrition+now&ID=hd . What I like is they have no artificial products or sweeteners in them.
One final word about my old breakfast favorite: muffins. They are convenient, tasty,…and are basically cakes. If you happen to love cooking at night or on weekends, or have a family member who does, you can find healthier recipes for them and then they can be an option. Just make sure you have protein with it: cheese or nut butter.
If anyone has any ideas about breakfast, I’d love if you shared them with us in a comment.
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