Time management is crucial to improving performance in your business. In many service led industries whole business models are built up on selling time so it actively affects the bottom line.
Maximising your use of time not only impacts performance and effectiveness of the business but also the mindsets of the individual. Setting a goal and achieving it keeps you motivated, brings in energy, opens the mind and allows us to grow in self belief. So much so, that we will begin to step up and into more challenging actions with greater ease delivering more impact in our businesses and team.
Getting started on managing your time more effectively starts here, with first addressing all the Myths that can derail our growth to better time managers.
Top 6 time management myths dispelled.
MYTH Number 1 Multi tasking is the Key
No such thing as multitasking, your brain can only do one thing at once.
Humans are wired to be mono taskers, meaning that our brains can only focus on one task at a time
When it comes to tasks that require cognitive effort, our brains can't do more than one thing at a time. So your attention is constantly flicking back and forth between tasks. This is a very poor allocation of mental effort
Cognitive science teaching, and more recent studies on multitasking, show that multitaskers do less and it leads to miss information. They found that on average it takes 15 minutes to re-orient to a primary task after a distraction such as an email.
Meaning that throughout your day efficiency can drop by as much as 40%.
In addition, long-term memory suffers and creativity — a skill associated with keeping in mind multiple, less common, associations — is reduced.
So every time you think you are multitasking you are in fact losing 15 minutes of time whilst your brain struggles to get back on track.
You can’t multi-task: So stop trying
MYTH Number 2 - Use to do lists
Throw away your to-do list; instead schedule everything on your calendar but make sure you only put three to 5 types on tasks on a list.
It turns out only 41% of items on to-do lists are ever actually done. And all those undone items lead to more stress and even insomnia because of the Zeigarnik effect. Named after a psychologist whose research noted- you are more likely to remember an unfinished task and Unfinished tasks create mental tension, which impacts how well people perform other tasks in the meantime,
Highly productive people put everything on their calendar and then work and live from that calendar. “Use a calendar and schedule your entire day into 15-minute blocks. It sounds like a pain, but this will set you up in the 95th percentile of success”, advises the co-founder of The Art of Charm, Jordan Harbinger.
So instead use your calendar and time block everything - allowing time for reacting to things.
MYTH Number 3 - Work more hours to fit more in
There is always more to be done, more that should be done, always more than can be done.
Highly successful people know what they value in life. Yes, work, but also give time to give to what else they value.
There is no right answer, but for many, values include: family time, exercise, rest. They consciously allocate their xx of minutes a day to each area they value
Remember work expands to the time you give it, so make sure you have built a life outside of the office that enables you to be motivated to be productive in your work hours and allows you to switch off.
Ensure you have something worth finishing work for so you are more motivated.
MYTH Number 4 - be on top of your emails
Nope, this goes back to the multi tasking, remember it takes 15 minute for us to get back on task effectively. So every time we interrupt what we are doing we are losing effective time. Time block, schedule and only look at emails then.
This can be once a day, or morning, noon but put it in your schedule and you will become far more productive. The same goes for every ding, announcement on your phone. Silence your phone for a work day and schedule time when you look at it.
There is some research that suggests that you should avoid email for the first hour of the working day so you are attacking the day proactively focusing on tasks rather than being reactive.
High effective people also work to the ONLY TOUCH IT ONCE RULE - if possible. So how often do you read an email, and then close it and leave it in your inbox to deal with later?
Highly successful people try to “touch it once.” If it takes less than five or ten minutes—whatever it is—they’ll deal with it right then and there. It reduces stress since it won’t be in the back of their mind, and is more efficient since they won’t have to re-read or evaluate the item again in the future.
Technology has become one of the key time stealers for many people.
Instead use that Calendar and set time to catch up on emails - morning, noon and 3pm?
MYTH Number 5 - Have MORE meetings
100% a myth, most of the time meetings meander along with a range of topics being discussed.
Yes we all love a bit of face to face time but highly productive people make sure that they avoid meetings at all costs and if they do attend them, they make sure you have set them, have control on the agenda, keep them short and are very strict on the end time.
Setting out meeting running times at the beginning ensures that if someone has something to say they know they need to get it in before the end time.
In fact make sure you wrap up the meeting 10 minutes before the scheduled time which allows it to NOT overrun and steal your time.
Be strict with your meetings who, when and how long.
MYTH Number 6 - save time by doing it yourself
People who are time management ninjas know the power of delegation and they use it to the max. They are not micro managers, they as how can this task get done not how can I do the task.
If you want to become a delegation ninja read my Guide to Mastering Delegation and improve your skills with a few simple steps.
Ask how can this task get done remove the I
If you would like more support and to chat about how you can make positive change in your life to achieve the success you desire Book a Free Discovery Call today.
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