Time management

I have seen this question before, (and questions similar to it), and when a young lady from the Washington area asked it the other day online, it made sense to share.
She asked it this way:

When God gives me more than one project … How can I keep each one organized in a way that allows me to reach completion?

Unfortunate as it may be. Or maybe it is actually fortunate. No matter how briskly and feverishly we wave our magic wand, extra hours don’t magically appear in the calendar just because we decide to dive into another project.

However the magic does start to whirl around into amazing formations once we make a promise to ourselves to become intentional. Intentional in the way we decide to use the 168 building blocks or hours of each week.

Before you start stacking up new tasks, activities, and projects, the best thing you can do for yourself is to step back and take an objective look at your calendar.

Ask yourself this important, yet simple question, “Do I really have time to fit something else into my schedule?”

If you do have time, that’s great, budget it in. However, what I have found is that most people are over-scheduled and the funny thing is, and this is probably just human nature, is that the way most people respond to being over-scheduled, is to schedule even more things.

Take a lesson from time management pros. Before you allow yourself to plug into one more activity or project, (no matter how socially acceptable it might be), find two things that you can unplug from. Imagine, if overnight, the Extreme Makeover team came over and added an extra room to your home. Think of the extra space and mobility that it would give you. If you take the time to unplug first, in essence, you do the same thing for your life. You create space. Space to build something that matters.

Time is at an all-time premium today and while it may seem that everyone and everything requires more of it, the truth is, we have only a limited supply; A limited supply of time to pursue our passions, our calling, and our purpose.

To make a real difference, to the people, the organizations, and the causes that are most valuable, is it time to begin your own renovation?

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Like a suspense-filled mystery, how can it be that in the days of electronic organizers, cell phones, and working lunches, quite often, the cry that echoes from home offices to corporate boardrooms remains unchanged, “I wish there were more hours in the day.”

Is it fair to say or even think that? If, by the wave of a wand, we are able to add a 25th and a 26th hour, would that solve our time management challenges?

God gave us 168 hours per week. Why is it that some people can squeeze out every last drop of productivity, while others, like a steel ball trapped inside a pinball machine, seem to spend their time bouncing back-and-forth from one crises to another. Just as the right key is needed to crank the engine of a high-performance luxury automobile, the correct keys are also needed to accelerate your personal and professional success to an even higher level.

A super-charged “time-management” or more appropriately worded, “time-investment” plan is one of the keys. Best-selling author, Stephen Covey, in his book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” provides great insight into time investment planning.

Whenever your work week starts, take some time beforehand, get focused, and plan your game. The movers and shakers of today like Tiger Woods and Bill Gates don’t just show up and play. Their success is the fruit of years of planning and strategy.

Quadrant I:

IMPORTANT AND URGENT
Quadrant of NECESSITY
DO THIS

Quadrant II:

IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT
Quadrant of LEADERSHIP
DO THIS

Quadrant III:

NOT IMPORTANT BUT URGENT
Quadrant of DECEPTION
DELEGATE

Quadrant IV:

NOT IMPORTANT AND NOT URGENT
Quadrant of DEFAULT
DELEGATE/DISCARD

Quadrant I – This Q consists of items that are important and urgent such as personal crisis, pressing problems, and deadline – driven projects. Do not let yourself get overwhelmed by this quadrant. This is a taking-ownership exercise; it takes time to save time so list them out.
To manage QI effectively, radio talk-show personality Dave Ramsey suggests using the “A-B-C” method where an “A” goes by items that must be accomplished today; ‘B’ by items that need to be done very soon; and a “C” by items that if not done inside of two weeks, should be delegated or stored in an idea file. After the appropriate letters are noted, we can then number them in order of importance, (A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2, etc) if need be. Keep in mind that the goal is to move out of QI as quickly as possible.

Quadrant II - This represents activities that have low urgency but high importance. This is the effectiveness Q. When you operate in QII, you increase your capacity to deal with the other Qs. Elements in QII include developing a mission statement, vision-casting, preparation, relationship building, and recreation. Investments in QII will result in an increased amount of energy, more productivity, and more family time. To get the most from this quadrant, invest in self-revelation activities such as identifying strengths, understanding values, and having a clear understanding of what matters most. Interestingly, if you don’t take care of business in this quadrant, you will experience more crises to be listed in the first Q.

Quadrant III - This represents high urgency but low importance items. You may mistakenly assign high importance to QIII activities simply because they are urgent, only not to us, (someone else’s crisis). Deception could be lurking its ugly head so use caution. Meetings may fall into this category. Fellow coach Mika Wyatt shares these words on meetings, “Ask if you have to be there, if so, do you need to be there for the entire meeting.” He also advises us to examine the agenda beforehand and if items can be handled before or outside of the meeting, get it done and get it moved off the agenda.

Quadrant IV - This represents low urgency and low importance. We know what these activities are. Run from them like they are the plague. Activities in this quadrant do nothing to contribute to effectiveness.
Wyatt shares three ideas you can put in place immediately to help you get back your time.