time management

Dividing your time

Image c/o Harvard Business Review

Time management is the ability to use your time productively and efficiently. I have found that the highest achievers manage their time exceptionally well as making a positive difference in the people’s lives gives time a deeper sense of purpose. From my perspective, cultivating gratitude and being present in the moment allows me to appreciate the time I have. And I think the pursuit of knowledge and personal development adds depth and meaning to our lives. Contact me via e-mail for a 1:1 evaluation of your time management.

Was it worth it?

Have you considered the long-term consequences and benefits of your actions?

Yes, I engage in deliberate decision-making practices and make conscious choices about how I spend my time. If I was to offer you some advice, then it would be to prioritise activities that contribute to your personal growth, focus on meaningful relationships and the pursuit of your goals. Instead of chasing material wealth and possessions, I think it more beneficial to broaden your horizons and seek out experiences as they will provide a sense of fulfilment and contribute to more meaningful life.


Embrace balance

What brings you joy, fulfilment, and a sense of purpose?

I believe lives are only enriched by strong relationships therefore I dedicate my time to nurturing and cultivating meaningful connections with my family and friends. I think quality time spent with loved ones can create lasting memories and provide a sense of purpose and fulfilment. And it’s important to have a balance between different aspects, for example, work, relationships, personal growth, leisure, and self-care. One should strive for a harmonious allocation of time across these areas, enjoying the ebb and flow of life's demands.


Time is a precious commodity

Time is a finite resource that cannot be reclaimed once it is spent, and recognising the limited nature of time can motivate us to use it wisely and prioritise what truly matters to us. To make our lives more meaningful, we must first determine what matters most to us and reflect on our values, passions, and aspirations. I think by understanding our strengths, weaknesses, and personal tendencies can help us make better choices about how to spend our time. Contact me via e-mail to book a 1:1 session, where we can look into how you currently use your time and evaluate whether it aligns with your goals and values.

Time waits for no one

How can we use our time in a way that makes our lives meaningful?

Ancient philosophers were obsessed with this very important question of how to use our time in a way that makes our lives meaningful. Modern time management has moved away from its philosophical roots, and only focuses on tips, tricks, and techniques to get more things done faster, more productively and efficiently. I think it's important to delve deeper into the philosophical roots of this concept to gain a broader perspective on the subject by asking the following questions:
· Why do we have to manage time?
· How precious is your time?
· Contact me via e-mail and let me know what do you think about time.

What time is it?

© Zac Freeland/Vox

Nowadays the majority of people use their telephones as a means of telling the time. Over the weekend when I said, “the second hand never negotiates,” the majority of people in the group thought I was speaking about clothing. Time management isn’t just about time as you can manage how you use time, but time can’t be managed. Here are a few tips to help you master the art of time management:

·      Plan ahead
·      Conduct a weekly review
·      Use time management tools
·      Focus on a single task
·      Say “No” occasionally
·      Block out distractions
·      Prioritise activities

Contact me via e-mail to book coaching, mentoring or 1:1 sparring sessions.

Was it worth it?

Time management is very important and we have the ability to manage our time. When we talk about time management there’s usually the ‘tips to be more efficient’, but that’s not the point of time management. It’s not all about being more efficient and productive, as it may lead to stress and overworking. It’s about embracing our freedom to choose what we want to do with our time, being able to understand that time is limited and that it’s up to our own judgement as to how we want to spend it. We have this tendency to trick ourselves into thinking we’re not free because being free to use your time as you please, means that you have to make a choice and live with the consequences of that choice. In reality, we do have time and time can be managed, it’s just that we don’t have a lot of it so there has to be sacrifices.

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. It is up to you to give life a meaning.”
— Jean Paul Sartre

Research shows that whenever people start thinking of time as money, they become greedy, less happy, and more restless. When time is spent without consideration, it becomes a persistent source of regret. How many times do you catch yourself ‘wasting time online,’ spending hours on Facebook not learning anything? I think that when it comes to time, we can either make excuses or sacrifices but only one of them will allow you to live a meaningful life.

Repetition is the key to success

To drive lasting productivity, make assessing your progress and enjoying the fruits of your labour part of your routine. I think life and work will always be messy, therefore, trouble shooting, firefighting and problem solving are how we spend a lot of our time so let’s make sure we enjoy it! Contact me via e-mail for practical, actionable tips, which will guide you to achieving even more throughout each day.

“For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.”
— Alfred D’Sousa

Peaks and troughs

The Day Reconstruction Model (DRM) measures how people spend their time and how they emotionally experience the various activities and settings of their lives, combining features of time-budget measurement and experience sampling. It looks a little like this:

PEAK - Usually in the morning and is the ideal time to do your heavy analytical work.
TROUGH - Early afternoon, here I would advise you to do adminstrative work.
RECOVERY (also known as the rebound) - Late afternoon/early evening and is the perfect time to do your insightful work.

Negativity is on the rise in the afternoon and falls during the evening. Understanding this pattern will have a very direct impact on the work you do and also when you schedule important meetings.

“We need to start thinking of breaks as a part of performance rather than a deviation from performance.”
— Daniel Pink

Timing is a science

According to my dictionary, when you say something is perfect it means it’s as good as it could possibly be. Timing on the other hand is used to refer to the time at which something happens or is planned to happen, or the length of time that something takes. 

 

There is an emotional pattern to our daily lives. There is a genuine mood of positivity that peaks during the morning, drops during the afternoon, and then climbs back up in the evening. This prevailing cycle of moods happen every weekday to everyone, regardless of race or nationality. Behavioural scientists from Cornell University using the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) and going hour by hour through people’s lives found the same pattern. 

Designed to help you increase productivity

It’s essential to learn and practice time management if you want to increase your productivity and efficiency. Rather than feel you are at the mercy of your schedule, you can become a strategic master of your time and calendar, which empowers you to enhance your productivity. No one can create extra hours in the day, but you can manage your time well and create the sense that you’ve got all the time you need. 

“As it is not one swallow or a fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.”
— Aristotle

Would you like to increase your productivity and achieve more? Do you already have feasible strategies to make better use of your time? Contact me via e-mail to arrange a time management workshop which are tailor made for you and your team.

Leading clients through the process

We only have 24 hours in a day, and we always try to steal from the health part (sleep, training, etc.) and give it to the working hard part. Working smart = doing the same number of sales and at the same time by getting rid of the low productivity activities and focusing on the high productivity activities. We have to get big deals; we have to get deals that provide revenue now. I help companies solve problems, by getting into the nitty gritty and changing how companies do things. Are you aware about what is the smartest way of doing things? Have you learned how to anticipate what is going to happen with a deal?

 

I’ve spent the last few years in consulting and it’s a huge advantage to be able to connect with people and use psychology and understand who you are dealing with. I think it’s all about people and I take a therapist’s approach to dealing with whomever is in front of me. Contact me via e-mail to arrange a meeting.

There are only 24 hours in a day

There are only 24 hours in a day and our productivity is based on what, and how much we do per day. Time management are the tools we use to make most of our time. As humans, it’s natural to want to constantly improve and set new personal records and when it comes to time management, many of us hit roadblocks. Research suggests that the average worker is only productive for around three hours a day.

 

What we can accomplish in a day dictates how quickly our projects will progress. The more distractions and time-consuming tasks, the less actual progress we make. Those of you that have been working from home over the past 2 years will recognise the most popular unproductive office activities:

-       Reading news websites 
-       Checking social media
-       Discussing non-work-related things with co-workers
-       Searching for new jobs
-       Taking smoke breaks
-       Making calls to partners or friends
-       Making hot drinks
-       Texting or instant messaging
-       Eating snacks
-       Making food in office