Time Allocation, the Replacement for Time Management
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – work, family, health, friends and spirit, and you’re keeping all of these in the air.
You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass.
If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same.
You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.”
Brian Dyson, CEO – Coca Cola Enterprises
What’s Stressing Out Managers Today?
There was an article in this morning’s paper in the career section about the level of stress being felt by executives in these trying times. It’s not, the writer pointed out, that everyone in the rank and file isn’t feeling stress but often those in senior positions believe they have to be strong and not share their emotional burdens with others.
It got me thinking about not just the executives who have jobs, but the ones who are out looking and, in fact, the ones who are about to start a new job. Regardless of which situation you are in, this is not the time to try to “out work” problems. Now is the time to “out think” problems.
Managers at every level spend much of their time doing everything but managing. With all of the daily crises, pressures, and trivial tasks that are thrown at you, it is tough to stay focused on the things that are important.
The reality is that there are numerous, mundane activities that take up your time – some of which actually impede your productivity. Many of these non-priority tasks are unavoidable; they come with the job, but are never written in the job description. You try to focus on your priorities, but often get bogged down in the requirements of the job.
In hard times we often back slide into believing the answer is to put in more hours, sacrifice family and personal time to be on the job 24/7. In fact, though, this is the exact time to be putting into practice your personal Success@30 formula.
What is Success@30?
I’ve mentioned this concept in these pages before.
The concept is: delegate enough “stuff” to be able to get the operational aspects of your job done in 30 hours a week. You need to do this because this is the time when everyone in your function is looking to you for strategies that will make the difference. They’re looking to you for leadership and creative approaches.
For those of you embarking on a new job this point is really critical! You’ve got between 90 and 120 days after you start to prove to your new boss(es) that they made the right decision in hiring you. Remember, they didn’t hire you to “do” they hired you to lead. They hired you to motivate. They hired you to think.
Whether you’re in a job you’ve had for a while, just starting a new one or still looking, take some time to really look at what you do with your time at work. Ask yourself, “Am I in charge or am I in control?” If you’re a manager the answer should be “in charge.”
In corporate life, if you are a manager of people, the tasks you accomplish in those 30 hours a week are operational; they are the “do” part of your job. They must be accomplished for you to be in control of your responsibilities. But, the other 20 to 30 hours should be focused on strategic aspects; these are the leadership (vs. management) roles that allow you to be in charge of the function. Able to see the bigger picture and direct resources to the high ROI areas of the function.
So, look at last month’s calendar. What did you do with your time? Invest in strategic leadership activities or spend 98% of it in “do” activities. Ask yourself, “Am I in charge or just in control?” If you’re a manager the answer should be “in charge AND in control.”
Where Does All the Time Go?
Most of us manager/leaders are frustrated because there “aren’t enough hours in a day?” I know that I am. Groucho Marx said he wanted a 36 hour day. That way he could work for 24 hours and still get a good night’s sleep.
There are incredible new pressures being placed on our time – and they eat not just minutes but hours every day. Blackberry, email, texting, cell phones, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, e-zines, websites, Google … all consume hours of time and attention. AND, this is in addition to the non-stop meetings, web conferences, conference calls, etc.
Have you ever added all this up? Two hours a day is 10 hours a week and that’s more than a day a week. How many minutes a month do you have on your phone plan? 1,000? That’s almost 17 hours a month and most of us spend more. This isn’t to say there’s no value but, really, how much value do you get?
Want to fix this frustration … not having enough time?
Try these tactics:
- Set goals for white space on your calendar and then book it on your calendar
- Set goals for number of nights out of town and start tracking it
- Make a partner of your assistant to control your calendar
- Set criteria for which meetings you will personally attend
- Give your assistant a list of key people who can have non-calendared access to you
- Practice calendar “triage”.
Think about whether you are spending your time or investing it? Jeffrey Gitomer says it’s not about time management … it’s about time allocation. It’s how you choose to invest vs. spend the 16 to 18 hours you have every day.
Need help? Give us a call … we’re here to help!
What time “allocation” methods do you use? Share in the comments below.
image courtesy of ngga
