The best way to generate effective time management is to become aware of what time means to us.
Realizing what is a priority for us and what is not, understanding productivity as what gives us something that we consider important.
In order to do this, it is necessary to reflect on the following:
➣ Do you clearly know your objectives?
➣ How do you manage the tasks that lead you to them?
➣ How do you manage and store the information you need?
➣ Do you have stipulated work processes?
➣ What meaning does my life have?
➣ What can I contribute?
What makes the fire catch is the space between the logs. A space to breathe…Too many logs crowded together, they suffocate the flames. To create fire we need both the logs and the spaces between them. The fire ignites simply because there is room for the flame, which knows how to burn, to find its way.
Judy Brown
Ideas to manage time
➣ Being connected with “being” more than with “doing”: connection with slowing down, with silence, with what I feel, think, with what I consider important. And not go into that exhausting hyperacceleration, which generates superficiality and stress.
➣ Mindset that allows you to be flexible and adapt to changes
➣ Achieve results aligned with your purpose and your talents
➣ Going from measuring the progress of results to measuring the level of calm and inner connection: because the results will be what I really want if they are connected with oneself, with what makes sense to one, and for that I need calm.
➣ The power of focus and the state of presence: being focused on what is important to me, and being consciously present to the moment and the environment.
➣ Empowering thoughts: help new possibilities.
➣ Connect the future with the present to create the future: it is not about always being in the future, because if after having connected with that future one does not return to the present to make the right decisions, I will not be able to achieve the future that one wants.
➣ Put the focus on oneself, instead of outside oneself: all I can achieve is within myself.
It is necessary to stop and look for spaces to breathe in order to be productive and effective, and that what we do we do in the best possible way. There are numerous time management techniques such as the Covey model, the POSEC method, the domino model, or the Pomodoro technique are some examples.
Major time thieves
➣ Not being clear about what you want to do:
wanting to cover everything, having the feeling of not being able to do anything
➣ Not knowing how to say no:
the paradox of professional prestige. It is better to learn to say no and fulfill what you commit to, than to always say yes and only go as far as you can
➣ The inability to delegate:
If only you know how to do it, you will always have to do it. Teach, trust, and delegate. Believing that things should be done only your way implies that in the end you do them
➣ The mania for unnecessary perfection:
Not knowing how to simplify is one of the biggest wastes of useless time to do things the way nobody has asked you and that nobody will appreciate.
➣ Absence of conscious and written planning:
confuse the urgent with the important. Not making a to-do list and prioritizing wastes effort and time on ineffective tasks
➣ Disorganization of papers:
a table permanently invaded by papers is very ineffective. keep an order
➣ Allow the invasion of time squatters:
people who sneak into your space without having been summoned, to talk about something inconsequential, interrupting your work, your concentration
➣ Insane Meetings:
Ineffective meetings, poorly directed and that last longer than necessary and agreed waste not only your time, but all the other attendees
➣ The mobile:
when a person calls you, they are managing THEIR time. You also have the right to manage yours. Decide if you answer or not. The mobile is a tool to enjoy, not to enslave you
➣ Email:
Don’t let it be a distraction. Establish certain times to read and answer emails and do not spend all day waiting for them
➣ Not setting a time to finish work/go home:
If you have not decided what time you want to finish, your mind will work more scattered as it does not have a clear reference. This will significantly decrease the quality of your performance and productivity.