I have had numerous consulting experiences with executive clients in which after getting feedback--that most valuable commodity that execs never get--they tell me that their number one issue is help with managing their time.
Sometimes the issue is very serious. The boss has put more on their plate than they can possible handle within any sensible timeline. But one common situation is even more serious. A senior exec at an internationally known organization put it to me very directly and candidly. “My wife said she’d divorce me if I didn’t change my schedule and stop this crazy merry-go-round of working six or seven days a week. Can you help me?”
Most lists of time-saving skills have 25 or 30 different ways to manage your time. But the truth of the matter is that two stick out. And I’ve found that both my clients and myself manage far better by paying attention to them.
First. Dammit. Learn how to prioritize and do it. Here’s the best way I’ve seen over the years. Reduce your priorities to three in number. That may be difficult. But effective business people don’t have to serve more than three masters. Situations that seem completely random and meaningless are really only situations in which you lack a way to disclose the order inherent to the many and differing change events. As Bill Bridges has written, “it’s like those connect-the-dots diagrams in kids’ magazines; once you find out how to ‘connect’ the changes, the chaos disappears and an intelligible pattern emerges.”
The three big umbrellas may be as straightforward as building my network, completing my projects and upgrading my skills. Each of those objectives should be broken out into three intermediate goals. That means you’ve got nine issues on your plate. Then break each out into monthly, weekly and daily objectives. Always leave time for interruptions and admin issues. That’s a quick summary of what most managers take a month or more to complete.
Again and again I've seen executives become very effective by figuring out their three big priorities. One client regularly sends out his priorities toward the end of the fiscal year, asking for his subordinates' input. On occasion the input forced him to make changes to his priorities. Now that's guts! But it's also smarts.
However, once that’s done, it’s much easier to lay out your specific measures for assessing your success.
As I said, this is just a quick summary of the process. And most need much more input and help to work through their prioritizing process. But at least that’ll get you thinking.
The second big time-saving skill is unbelievably important. It’s very small, but it’s the kind that most of us struggle with much of our lives until we take it to heart. Think about it this way. The first skill was primarily thinking and planning. The second skill is pure action.
Do the one thing you hate the most first in the morning. It’ll stop the emotional pain, the self-concern, the spinning and everything else. After all my years of planning and setting priorities, I can just about do the thinking with my eyes closed and a couple sheets of paper. But the action skill is another animal.
Again. Do the one thing from your daily priorities that you hate the most. And do it first thing in the morning. As I suggested, there are just as many psychological as strategic reasons for this. Try it on for a month, and let me know what you think.