Time management is a fallacy. We cannot manipulate time. We cannot speed time up, slow time down, pause or rewind time.
Time is ultimately uncontrollable. It will march on regardless of how we spend the minutes within the confines of time. Time doesn’t care if you use it to work, play, eat or sleep. It is a constant and finite resource that keeps moving forward regardless of our efforts.
The problem with a lot of traditional time management techniques is that they can overemphasizes efficiency. And an overemphasis on efficiency can be bad for us in the long term. An overemphasis on efficiency leads to a sense that you are constantly rushing, constantly behind & makes you feel that you could always be more productive. This can result in a lack of time for important things that thrive when we slow down - like creativity, self-reflection & innovation which are harder to schedule into our diaries. Strict time management principles can also leave little room for flexibility & adaptability which can in turn create unnecessary stress when unexpected things arise. And being able to adapt to challenge & change is an essential element of being a successful Project Manager!
So if we can’t manage time, then what can we manage? We can manage our actions and behaviours within the confines of time. The BuiltWell way is not to focus on time management, but rather on energy management. Energy management involves tapping into yourself. Understanding your natural rhythms & wherever possible aligning your tasks according to this. If you are someone that naturally has a lot of energy in the morning, consider scheduling in high output or collaborative tasks first thing. If you are someone that needs to wait until after 11am for your brain to fire up, then consider easing into your day with desk based activities in the morning.
Once we understand our own internal patterns & behaviours, then we can turn to more traditional time management techniques that will complement & enhance scheduling based on our energy. Here are some more traditional time management techniques that can compliment scheduling your time based on your energy.
Methods for you
- Eat that Frog – a theory popularised by Brian Tracy, the Eat the Frog theory involves tackling your most challenging, important or unpleasant task at the start of the day. The idea being that by completing this task first thing, everything else will feel easier by comparison & you will gain a sense of accomplishment that will set a positive tone for the rest of the day.
- ABC method – this method involves going through your to-do list & assigning an A, B or C to tasks based on their priority. A items should be high priority, B items medium & C items low priority. This can be a really useful way of helping you identify & tackle critical items first and deprioritise those that can wait.
- Time blocking – This technique involves identifying specific blocks of time in your dairy and allocating that time to specific tasks. It can enable you to compartmentalise your day, & importantly, if you time block your diary, it can enable others to see what you are doing & help avoid interruptions from co-workers or colleagues.
- Pomodoro technique – The Pomodoro technique introduces the concept of working in short, focused bursts of activity. It recommends allocating your time in 25 minute bursts with short breaks between to maintain productivity & prevent burnout.
Methods for you & your team
- Delegation – As Project Managers we can often end up feeling like we will get thigs done faster if we do them ourselves. But this is not a good long term solution to managing your time. Make sure that you delegate tasks to your team properly based on their scope of service, strengths & availability so you free up your own time in turn.
- Collaboration tools – make the most of software & technology to streamline tasks, track progress & facilitate collaboration amongst the team. Technology can also be really useful to automate processes & avoid unnecessary time consuming activities.
- Time audits – Conducting regular audits of your time can be really useful to help you and your team understand where they are actually spending their time. Adjustments can then be made to eliminate time wasting activities & make things more productive.
- Boundaries & breaks – Setting boundaries & taking breaks will be absolutely essential for your long term success. Remember that prioritising yourself is the ultimate time management tools. After all, we will all be more productive if we can have long, healthy & happy careers & avoid burnout, stress & overwhelm.
To be effective Project Managers it is important that we understand where we are spending our time so that we can be as proactive, efficient & autonomous as possible. Remember however, that the whole principle of time management is a fallacy. All we can ever do is manage our own behaviour and actions within the concept of time. And this always works best if we align our actions with our internal rhythms and patterns so that the above traditional ‘time management’ techniques fit & amplify our natural styles of working.