Beat The Clock

Managing time effectively can be a confounding and taxing endeavor.  But time is only a unit of measurement.  The key to managing our time successfully rests on how we manage ourselves. 

There are tons of useful time management strategies and most will offer a measure of value. The problem is that many of us will succumb to distractions, boredom, frustration, anxiety or indifference. Any one of these can quickly sabotage our focus, performance, efficiency, productivity and time management efforts. 

Each one of us is unique in the way we think, behave and perform, thus no one strategy will benefit all of us in the exact same way.  Achievement levels are enhanced when we develop and use a working system that factors in our individual uniqueness. 

Create and refer to a personal inventory of skills, resources, behaviors and routines that boost your efficiency and productivity as well as those that might impede your performance. Identify behavior patterns that alert you to potential performance disruptors. 

Design a daily action plan that identifies one or two priorities for each day and pinpoint which strategy, thought, behavior or activity you will initiate when one of your disruptors threatens your effort. Step away from your activity and take a short break when you notice a loss of energy or attention.

There is research that encourages taking a few minutes each hour to allow the brain to rest from its work mode. This might be something as simple as closing your eyes and just going blank or meditating, walking to the water cooler, doodling on paper, playing the kazoo (as long as no one is within shouting or throwing distance) telling or listening to a joke, listening to relaxing or energizing music for a few minutes, reading the back of a Captain Crunch cereal box.  Know what works best for you when it’s time to reload.  Remember you are only looking for 5-10 minutes each hour whenever necessary.

Manage yourself intentionally and reap your rewards as “time goes by”