That age old question of time management seems to be rearing its head again during this time in quarantine.
How are you managing yours?
Can you even manage time?
I would say no!
Because the same 5 seconds are going to happen regardless of what you do with them.
You cannot manage time…
Only your focus with it!
Set a focus.
Own it.
Set a time structure within it.
Trying to juggle the kids and work.
Firstly – respect! I am doing the same and it is incredibly challenging.
Two of my kids are currently truanting and one is asleep….
But you need to focus manage your distractions…
(and they may well be your offspring!)
Last week I spoke about Little Red Riding Hood and her twig.
You know – the sound of a snap behind you that stops you in your tracks.
What are yours?
Whatsapp,
IM,
Texts,
Zoom,
Parents,
Amazon Man
Postman,
Emails,
Teams,
Kids,
Animals.
Some of these would have been distractions in the workplace, others are more pronounced at home. Today – my biggest twig is the thought I have arranged to run a ZOOM quiz later and haven’t written a question yet!
Life is different in Lockdown.
So how do I avoid my twigs and my distractions.
Those I can – I switch off.
I do not need to read emails as they come in, and IM can wait.
I can diarise to check every 30 or 60 minutes.
Put simply, when I am working on my most important work, every distraction is muted. If I wouldn’t leave a meeting to check it, then it isn’t worth checking now.
The more I respond to other peoples time frames, the more the day runs me and not the other way round.
I know what my most important task is, and the rest of my work is diarised for later or the next day.
Understanding your goals is critical – and reaching them can be impossible if you respond to texts, emails and IM’s as they come in.
Try a day where you turn it all off for an hour at a time and see how much more productive you are….
Sadly this only works on technology – not kids and animals.