Time Management

Time and time again I get asked the question, “How do you do all you do?”, or at least something similar to that question. Basically people want to know how I am able to run five division offices, write these blogs, network and work on business development, perform at public speaking events, volunteer and organize philanthropic events, train for a triathlon, etc. etc. etc. Besides the fact that I spend little time on non-productive things, and work every hour I am not sleeping, the simple answer is time management.

I would like to start out by saying that time management isn’t possible without the right team behind you. I have the great fortune of having an amazing team of highly talented people working for me and that is the bottom line reason why I am able to manage my time.

As I have said in previous writings you are only as good as your team and they will determine your success. You must hire the right people and get rid of the garbage. When you have inadequate, lazy, or narcissistic team members, you spend your time managing them and not your time. Those individuals will account for 80% of your problems, and will also drag down the morale of the high performers. However, on the other side, when you have true “Rock Stars” across the board, as I have, you won’t have to spend any time worrying about what they are doing. All you have to do is support them and empower them to make their own decisions. Don’t get me wrong they still have objectives and are accountable for them, but you don’t have to worry about how they get those objectives done, only whether or not they achieved their goals.

So once you have the right team to support you, time management becomes easy. All you need to do is analyze the following:

What needs to be done? You need to know what needs to be done each day. This means that you need to have spent time planning this day out, knowing what has to get done and who is going to do it. Don’t under estimate the importance of this step. Many people do not go into detail about what needs to get done and then all the little things you thought were not important enough to plan for start piling up and knock you off your plan. This is no different than budgeting money. Studies have shown that most people that have financial distress, have it as a direct result of not budgeting for the little things. I will give you one example. Some people don’t figure their morning coffee into their monthly budget even though they stop at the local gourmet coffee shop every day to get it rather than making it at home. If you average $3.50 a day for that morning latte, assuming that you only have one, you may not think to include something so trivial into your budget. However, when you add up all those little purchases over the month, you have totaled $105 dollars a month, for that one coffee. David Bach wrote a book called “The Automatic Millionaire” where he discussed ‘retiring on a latte a day’. It is staggering what happens when you start to invest that $3.50 a day. But that is a whole separate subject. The point is that if you don’t plan for all the little things they will become your nemesis in time management.

What do you need to do? The next step is what do I need to accomplish today? I plan out each day the night before (coupled with my weeks, month’s and yearly plan). I analyze every task that has to be done as to whether or not it needs my attention. You see, I don’t waste any time doing something I can have someone else do. I only focus on what needs my attention. If something comes up that one of my “Rock Stars” can handle, it gets delegated to them. That way I can stay on task without interruption. You should never spend time doing something you can have others do for you. Also, I would add that you want to put your focus on what you are best at and not waste time doing things you don’t enjoy or are not as proficient in. Some of the worst managed companies are that way due to micro management, and managers that are not willing to empower their team.

When does it have to be done? You also need to understand when the deadline is and make sure that you have allocated enough time to finish the tasks in a complete and polished manner. When I start my day I have my planned objectives for the day and my day is not over until the final objective is complete. Yes, that does mean there are times when I will only get a few hours sleep but I am committed to my schedule. What is the purpose of putting together a schedule if you are not going to follow it? Remember that your schedule should include recreation and relaxation time.

Make time for Murphy! One thing I can tell you is that no matter how well you plan your day, week, month, etc…, something can, and will, go wrong. If you are not making plans for Murphy, then you shouldn’t even bother making a schedule. Many of the people that I speak with will tell me about how stressed they are and how behind they are at work. I find that they are very structured people and they take the time to plan. What they are generally missing is planned time for the unexpected. Look at it this way, if you plan for something to go wrong and it doesn’t; then you get those much needed hours of sleep back. So what’s the harm?

Know when to say no! Undoubtedly, the biggest reason for blown schedules and poor time management is not knowing when to say ‘no’ to more work. While no one wants to be the one to tell their boss, or even worse, a customer, “NO”. The fact is that there are only so many hours in the day, and if you continue to say yes to everything, either you will need to add unproven staff to handle it or you will fail to meet expectations. Neither should be an acceptable outcome. You have to prioritize and make the tough decisions as to who will get your time and who will not.

To summarize, while there is no great insightful trick to managing your time contained within this article, all of the principles exist. There is no quick tip or trick to proper time management. You either are going to dedicate yourself and be disciplined to your schedule or not. Unfortunately, some people are not disciplined enough to stick to the required structure to be a good time manager. The simple fact is that when all is said and done, all you need to do is “Plan Your Work and Work Your Plan”.