Madeleine Morgan of Growu writes:
Is achieving things and multi-tasking turning you into a productive but unfulfilled and tired robot?
Has your New-Year-New-You energy run out of steam… are you finding yourself with the same old time management habits?
Do you ever wish you had a ‘Time TARDIS’ which would give you more time in your life?
Then this time-for-success tip is definitely for you.
If you’ve read any time management books you’ll notice that most of them focus on the things that you can DO to manage your time better.
They give some useful practical tips such as:
- get the most important thing done at the beginning of the day
- switch off your email alarm and only check your emails at the beginning, middle and end of your day
- prioritise your To Do list etc.
If you use those time management tips, you’ll certainly use your time better.
But…what time management books tend to ignore is that time management is mostly about emotion and energy management. This is why our poor time management habits persist even when we try hard to change them.
For instance, if you’ve got an extremely tidy office, home or car or your Facebook profile is up-to-date because you’ve been procrastinating about getting…done, you will know what I mean about emotions and time management. (Image removed)
What about energy, then?
Well…different kinds of tasks need different kinds of energy to help you complete them. For instance:
- Tasks like sales calls, family gatherings and networking involve outgoing energy where you’re focused on connecting with others
- Other jobs such as reviewing your profit and loss accounts and your household bills may take a more quiet, grounded, solidly-moving-through-things kind of energy
- Exploring changes in your business, career or personal life may take a more dynamic, innovative and creative energy
- While actually making those changes takes a focused energy where you cut through obstacles, prune out things that are unproductive and make firm decisions
- Some tasks need you to be very present and connected to your intuition
- Perhaps you can think of other useful kinds of energy?
A project may involve many kinds of energy.
Successful time management in a business, career or personal project is often about:
- tapping into the right energy at the right time
- batching your tasks so that you do tasks that require a similar energy together rather than exhausting yourself by jumping from one kind of task-energy to another during your day
- taking time to recharge your energy
How could you use this idea about energy to be more productive and fulfilled in your use of time?
If you know that managing your time better would bring you more career, personal and business success, here are two ways you can do something about it:
- Getting to Grips with Time Management Workshop
Thursday 13 February 8.45 a.m. to 12.30, in Cambridge
This half-day workshop is jammed packed with time management and procrastination-busting tools that will help you create more time, be more productive and enjoy your mastery of time. Click here for more details and to book - If you prefer a 1-2-1 focus, try my complimentary ‘Time for Success’ coaching session
I have four complimentary spaces for 1-2-1 ‘Time for Success’ Sessions in February. During that session we’ll: - Discover the time stealers in your business, career or personal life.
- Discuss how you’d like to be using your time and what you’d like to be achieving
- Get clear about how you can make it happen.
You’ll go away feeling positive, excited and certain about your next steps.
If you would like to apply for a session, just email me: madeleine@growu.co.uk
Remember: “You’re writing the story of your life one moment at a time,” Doc Childre and Howard Martin. What story do you want to live?
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