Learning time management - you dont learn it by doing just 1 time management course
You cannot do 1 time management course and consider that you will be effective at time management for the rest of your life. Time management principles that are applicable to a certain role you may be doing now will not work for you in other roles in the future.
Learning time management is so much more than learning a bunch of tips. It has to do with
Time management is about goal attainment. You cannot manage your time if you do not know
To be an effective manager of time, in any aspect of life and in any role, all of the above broad elements need to be in place. The particular time management techniques you will use will vary from role to role - sometimes greatly.
Learning time management is so much more than learning a bunch of tips. It has to do with
- understanding yourself and how you personally interact best with time
- understanding what is important to you in your life (your values)
- understanding your personal goals in life
- understanding the goals of the group or team you are working for or with
- understanding how your personal goals align with the goals of the team or group
- your ability to stay focussed on attainment of a goal
- your ability to identify those things and activities that forward the attainment of the goal and also detract from it
Time management is about goal attainment. You cannot manage your time if you do not know
- where you want to get to (your goal)
- where you are now in relation to your goal
- how to achieve the goal from where you are now
To be an effective manager of time, in any aspect of life and in any role, all of the above broad elements need to be in place. The particular time management techniques you will use will vary from role to role - sometimes greatly.
My qualifications to write about time management
I have been a management consultant, executive coach, and management trainer for the past 24 years. My area of expertise is time management.
In my career, I have coached 23 CEOs of blue chip companies on where to focus their personal time and energy to add the greatest value to their companies, based upon the current needs of their company.
I have also individually coached more than 300 senior executives, who report to CEOs, of blue chip companies on their personal executive focus.
Earlier in my career, I personally delivered time management training to more than 2000 managers in blue chip companies. I have also delivered this training to managers and staff in smaller companies.
I believe that my experience qualifies me to speak and to write on the subject of time management, as an authority of sorts.
In my career, I have coached 23 CEOs of blue chip companies on where to focus their personal time and energy to add the greatest value to their companies, based upon the current needs of their company.
I have also individually coached more than 300 senior executives, who report to CEOs, of blue chip companies on their personal executive focus.
Earlier in my career, I personally delivered time management training to more than 2000 managers in blue chip companies. I have also delivered this training to managers and staff in smaller companies.
I believe that my experience qualifies me to speak and to write on the subject of time management, as an authority of sorts.
The Importance Of Self Knowledge
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power."
Learning time management begins with self knowledge
If you want to be an effective manager of time, you must first be a keen student of yourself. You need to understand your personality type, your values and your goals in life.Two thousand years ago Hippocrates, the father of medicine, identified four basic personality types. His work is still valid today and forms the basis of the work by Carl Jung, who is regarded as the authority on personality types.
Jung identified 8 primary personality types. He outlined the preferences of each personality type and the strengths and weaknesses of each type. No one type is better than another. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
What does personality type have to do with learning time management? One size does not fit all.
Certain time management techniques appeal to certain personality types and not to others. Therefore there is no such thing as correct time management techniques for all.
Some of the personality types prefer detail and adherence to precise and exact work practices. Other personality types prefer an overview approach, coupled with flexibility. There can only be time management techniques that are correct for a particular individual.
Most time management training teaches specific techniques for all the course delegates to adopt. This is why time management training has a bad name and does not work for a majority of the delegates.
To be an effective manager of time, in any role, you must know and continuously focus on the goals or objectives of the role you are doing and you must adopt the time management techniques that will help you to achieve those goals. The techniques you employ need to suit your personality type and be suitable for the role you are doing.
To be an effective manager of time, it is paramount that you understand your own life goals and values. This has to do with your personal desires and wishes. You must have an understanding how the tasks you are trying to get done on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, in any of your roles, relates to what is important to you. This provides you with motivation to get them done.
Learning time management - the secret
Learning some tips about time management will not help you to be better at managing time. What is taught on most time management courses will not help you either.
The secret to learning time management lies in goals, objectives, or outcomes or whatever name you wish to give to the end destination of your efforts.
If you want to be effective at time management, and ultimately a success, you must know where you are going - where you want to get to. This applies to your life and every role that you undertake.
The secret to time management is having these goals and focussing on them all the time. The temptation to distraction is all around us. It can arrive in the form of an email, a phone call, an ad, a tv program, a visitor, those around us, or a meeting - to name a few sources. They present options, which if followed, will consume your time.
To be effective, you must be able to evaluate the options that will continuously compete for your time. Each of these options will either
- be an opportunity that will move you closer to achieving your goal, or
- be a distraction that will take you away from achieving your goal
People who are effective at time management persue those options that move them closer to achieving their goals and avoid those options that do not. This is also the formula for success.
Important!
The Most Important Thing
"Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind."
Seneca, Roman statesman and philosopher, 4 BC - AD 65
Seneca, Roman statesman and philosopher, 4 BC - AD 65
Sources of information that will help you to manage time more effectively
- The Time Commandments
- An audio tape programme that provides a system by which to manage time that has been used by successful people from all walks of life.
- Take Back Control Of Your Time And Life
- An e-manuel that provides 139 ways to deal with the tyrannies of office life - excessive email, paper, meetings and phone calls.
- Stop Procrastinating Today
- A CD program based on the work of a renowned success and productivity coach who works with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies including Disney, AT& T, Xerox, and IBM.
- Design Your Best Year Ever
- An E-book written by the publisher of Success Magazine that will guide you through the development of the best goals for you, given your current circumstances
- Achieve It Goal setting Software
- Software that will develop a plan for your goals. Enter each each of your goals into the software and it will develop a plan for each goal. It will also help you track the steps of each plan until they are done.
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