‘Time management’ is an age-old topic in business circles.  In fact, the very first self-improvement program I ever bought back in the eighties (yes, it was on cassette!) was largely devoted to managing time – it seems we’re still trying to tame this beast.  In reality, we all know that time can’t be managed, what we really mean is ‘activity management’.  

Give yourself the gift of Limitations

It is true, you can’t do it all, so stop trying!  Focus on one big project at a time, in life and in work.  We’ve now all heard of the research that has proven ‘multitasking’ foe executive function is a myth.  We often start, and then experience too many distractions and head trash.  Then, we decide to switch projects, then something else distracts us and we’re off on another track.  Has this ever happened to you?  It’s happened to me too many times to count!

We all want to achieve great things, but we lack the discipline to choose just ONE THING.  Having lots of dreams is great, but you have to focus on one at a time if you want to see exponential results.

With so many great ideas flying around inside our entrepreneurial brains, we feel like saying “which one should I do first”?  The truth is, it usually doesn’t matter, but you can only choose one!  Whatever you decide on, focus on it until it’s complete.  Your brain will tell you to try something else, but you have to decide to stay focussed.  One very good resource on focus is the book by Gary Keller, The One Thing: The Surprising Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results.  Another way to look at focus is what you will eliminate in order to give your attention to your focus area.

Clever Concocting

Block out uninterrupted time to concoct a plan.  If you’re like me, you may feel like you just want to get started – you want to be DOING rather than planning.  Even when we do concoct a plan, why don’t we follow through with it?  There are 3 simple reasons:

• Our plan is too vague
• We don’t calendar the time it takes to execute
• We don’t commit seriously to a plan, once concocted

Planning is very serious.  You’re planning your life.  This is about the resource of time, and time once spent can never be bought back.  Have you ever or recently counted the number of days you have left if you live to a certain age?  I did this recently and it shocked me!  I figure I’ve only got about 10,000 – 12,000 days left!  Planning time is not just about planning for the things you don’t particularly want to do, but also things like down-time, holidays and recreation.  This is important because many of us can work so hard that we fail to devote time to the things in life that really matter the most.

Cage Your Inner Procrastinator

It’s always a fight!  Even when you cleverly concoct your plan, you’ll naturally resist your plan because your brain just wants pleasure.  You have to put yourself of the frontlines with whatever weapons you need to fight.  This is an important fight – you’re fighting for your Vision, your Mission, your Purpose, your Why.  Showing up to your calendar and following through can be a battle.  We can come up with all kinds of excuses in our heads, “I should stop”, “I should eat”, “I should check my email”, “I should check my social media”.  We live in a ‘constantly on’ world that is using all manner of tactics to pull our attention away, and most of them are highly successful, even addictive.  Yes, it’s hard, but you’ve got to pay the ‘dream tax’ – the price of achieving your dreams, because you’ll achieve nothing by accident.  

WARNING to all Perfectionists: If you’re a perfectionist, there’s an extra piece of work for you – a Perfectionists’ work is never done.  We know this, but we need to take action on this to move forward.  “I just need to tweak it a little”, or “I just need more time”.  Stop worrying so much about the need to achieve an A+ and be okay with a B.  A completed B is far better than a potential A+ that’s never completed.  If you feel you MUST produce A+ work, first plan for a ‘B’ then plan some additional time later as part of your planning process, BUT you do need to stick with your plan.  The plan drives your activity, not your inner perfectionist.  A well-structured plan will set a perfectionist free, if they will stay with the plan.

‘First Hour Magic’

Now we get to the magical part!  This is the system for getting 10x productivity in less time on a regular weekly basis and I practice these habits now consistently, because they work!

It’s the only hour of the ENTIRE WEEK, set aside for making decisions.  Instead of starting and stopping all throughout the week, planning, re-planning, deciding, re-deciding, make ALL your planning decisions within the first hour of your work week, every week.

What is your normal Monday morning routine?  It’s so easy to get swept up in your email inbox, Slack channel, or Social Media.  Instead, with the First Hour Magic, you’ll start your week intentionally, being deliberate, getting all your most important tasks scheduled.  You’ll make all your planning decisions first thing.  That way, your brain doesn’t have to think about planning at all, for the rest of the week.  You can focus on getting your work done, according to the plan you set.  

The 4 rules of the ‘First Hour Magic’

1. Turn off or put away your phone
2. Turn off all notifications on your computer (Flight mode makes it easy)
3. Choose a silent or quiet space
4. Use the time exclusively to make decisions

Do a complete brain dump of every that’s on your plate for the week, and get it down on a sheet of paper.  All your work requirements, projects, plans etc.  I include free time, lunch time and any regular occurrences as well.  Include your ‘focus time’ which is 2 hours a day of your most important focussed work, with no interruptions.  Choose your prime time for this work, where you are at your best.  Also include a separate list of the ‘one day, maybe’ things.  Once you have everything down, transfer it all to your calendar, except your ‘one day, maybe’ items which you’ll need to keep as a separate list.  Plan every single hour of your work week.  

Now that you have a realistic plan, you don’t have to worry about what you need to do each day, you just need to follow your plan.  You can even plan for unforeseen items if you get a lot of these, and fill from your ‘one day’ list if they don’t occur.  

Plan a ‘Last Hour Magic’ as well.  One hour at the end of your work week where you go through and evaluate your plan and achievements and celebrate your wins.  It is very rewarding to highlight these and list them out – your brain with love you for it!  Also capture what needs to be carried over to next week, ready for your Monday morning first hour planning.    

John Robertson

Principal Coach

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