What is this asset? Time. That is my answer.
I never fail to be surprised by how we fail to manage our time. More often than not, our calendars, other people’s priorities, and the tool meant to assist us wind up controlling our time and working against us.
What I discovered recently, as the parent of a 6th-grader, is this mismanagement begins early. Like, in 6th grade! And it’s not really anyone’s fault. It’s more a flaw in the system. Let me explain.
My son was given a presentation assignment in September, with a due date in early January. While there was one check-in point in early November, there wasn’t any type of timeline assistance given to the kids. As a result, my son procrastinated, and allowed it to fall off his radar screen until just days before he was scheduled to give his presentation. And this counted for a large part of his first semester grade! No surprise, he wasn’t prepared, and the teacher gave him an extra week, and his final presentation was fantastic – but he was docked an entire letter grade.
Tough way to learn a valuable lesson.
As a coach who spends a shocking amount of time with leaders and executives re-teaching them how to evaluate the importance of their time, what is truly important vs. urgent, and how to say “no” I took this situation with my son as a failure.
As a parent It never occurred to me that we don’t teach kids how to manage their time. Instead, they chase the due date with no sense of how to back into the date with bite-sized milestones and a true preparedness strategy. For my son, this translated into an overwhelming project and deadline that felt very distant. It was much, much easier to get caught up in the day-to-day assignments.
Sound familiar?
We lull ourselves into thinking we make that time by placing time blocks on calendars that are simply titled, “Time Block.” That is basically the equivalent of giving a writer struggling with writer’s block a blank sheet of paper. It simply exacerbates the problem.
We create endless “To Do” lists with no strategy, time estimates, prioritization. Often, I discover my clients have multiple versions of these lists. Talk about anxiety inducing. How do you figure out what to tackle first, and why?
Stop the madness! Starting today – right now – look at your calendar. Get deliberate about when, where, and why for every single item that is consuming your time. If you’re attending a “weekly update” meeting that lasts a full hour, WHY? If you aren’t actively involved in the meeting agenda, the work being discussed, why are you attending? Can it be delegated?
Often, I ask my clients to color code “low value” vs. “high value” meetings. Once they’ve done the exercise the resulting realizations are stunning for most of them. The hours of lost time, simply sitting in endless meetings. When I ask, “What could you do with those few extra hours in your week?” the list of strategic, valuable work they immediately list provides an instant energy boost. A much more productive use of time and intelligence that fully realizes their value to the company.
Back to my son. We used the presentation incident as a fantastic learning moment. Thank goodness we caught it now and have a chance to instill some great time management, organization, and preparedness strategies that will serve him well in school – and beyond.
