That Elusive Beast.....Time Management

I talked with a mentor/friend/colleague yesterday who answered the phone breathless. I had visions of him just completing a workout. Instead, the cause of his breathless was 'multi-tasking", which we all fall victim to. Since I stand for helping entrepreneurs with tools and strategies that help them build their business while staying sane, I raised the issue in my mind once again about time management.

Time management is a hot topic. We are inundated with messages to “work more efficiently” and to “get more done in less time”. We are all extensively wired with electronic devices which allow us to be connected to our e-mails, our phone and our schedule 24/7. Experts provide endless techniques to harness our time and make us more productive. One would think given this degree of technological and expert “support” that our time could be managed, controlled and disciplined in order to permit us to do more with less effort.

Unfortunately time appears resistant to all of the expert advice. Worse yet, many of us fail to consistently spend it on what matters. For instance, how many of us really take the time to connect with our community, our spouse, our significant other, friends or family? Most of us attempt to multi-task our way through daily life and we end up doing nothing particularly well. How many times have you gone to a social event and found yourself constantly checking your Blackberry? Can you remember the last time you actually listened with every fiber of your attention during a phone call instead of scanning e-mails, drafting a memo, or thinking about the next thing on your list? We are urged to work smarter, stay relevant, and prioritize our activities. While these are great goals, most of us are struggling to find time to pick up our laundry.

I ask you to consider the following questions: Do you wake up every day excited to begin a new page in your life? When is the last time you read a book, took a walk without your Blackberry, or went out with someone important just to play? If you are like the majority of us and you are totally honest with yourself, you may not be able to even remember the last time.

Perhaps you are like many of my clients – guilty because you cannot “do it all” in an organized fashion. Your “to do” list has become as long as you are tall. You are very busy every day, but unable to cross anything significant off your list, which of course continues to grow.

Over the course of the coming weeks I’m going to use this space to work through the questions and problems of time management. I hope that you find these entries helpful and urge you to chime in with any comments that you may have. Thanks