Time Management.
What a racket. As if we can manage time. Time is elastic, and not on our terms: Root Canal Time is very different from New Jersey Beach Time. I think all meetings should have a special clock that moves at three times normal speed. How's that for time management?
The time management frame of thinking—a holdover from the industrial age—generates minutely-detailed agendas for training sessions and meetings—Concrete Illusion of Controlled Events (CICE). Beware the CICE folks. Trying to control other people, or events outside our selves is occasionally interesting, but mostly futile. We cannot manage time.
We can manage energy.
We control our perceptions of time by how we manage our energy. And energy resides in the moment.
We manage energy when we practice specific behaviors:
- Being transparent with ourselves and those around us. Remember what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. I'm not talking about being smarmy or duplicitous. Strive for candor, seek clarity with yourself and with those around you. How much energy do we expend skirting issues and then having to revisit them again and again because we weren't clear to begin with? This includes being clear and consistent about your values.*
- Identifying only actions and events that are real and immediate threats: Where's the Tiger? In other words, don't be moved into your dinosaur brain unless there is a real, present danger. Why waste energy on things that aren't dangerous, like worrying when others not agreeing with us. Feedback. Ambiguity. Change.
See http://blog.readytomanage.com/is-conflict-always-negative-or-where-is-the-tiger/ for more on that subject. - Checking our assumptions at the door. Unload preconceptions, attitudes, and anything we have made up about what should happen. Planning is a limited tool. Wear plans like a loose garment. It's not about being passive, it's about being agile. Getting twisted around unmet expectations is like punching a hole in your gas tank. Wasted energy.
- Triage: What can I control. What can I influence? What is beyond either one? Divide your energy between the first two categories and waste none on the third. Manage your energy from the inside out. BREATHE!!!
- Practice WAIT (Why Am I Talking?) Listen more, and listen without judgment. Explain less—the more we explain, the less people will understand. Compose, slow down, boil down, and check for understanding, but avoid the phony check—blah, blah, blah, any questions?, blah, blah, blah. Pace talking and listening in equal measure. There is no better use of energy than a powerful question followed by neutral listening.*
- Think of a pie chart, draw one if you like. If that chart represents available energy in a day—without being exhausted—how much do we waste? Focus on managing energy and time will be on your side.
*You can download (free) a quick and very useful Values assessment (Value—The Driver of Conflict and Resolution) and a one-page list of neutral questions at AzaResources (downloads). Help yourself and feel free to provide feedback.
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