Practicing the Fundamentals — a Rower

rowing_oars.jpgI read this article from the New York Times and loved it, as it echoed many of the ideas I have written about here in 2Time Management.

It speaks to the fact that America has had very few rowers  of world-class standard, and an interview with one of the few top individual rowers, she shares some of what she has learned.

It reads like  an exact copy of the philosophy behind 2Time, with the only difference being that the topic is rowing instead of time management.  The similarities had me smiling:

“During Ms. Guerette’s ascent in the ranks of elite rowing, she has learned a few lessons that could also benefit recreational and collegiate rowers. One is that you should never stop working on technique. “There are principles in rowing that are universally correct,” Ms. Guerette said.

While a rowing stroke looks fluid, it is made up of four sequential elements: the catch, the drive, the finish and the recovery.”

This  is essentially the same message as 2Time — the idea that behind every time management system there are universal practices. As far as we know, there are 11 of them..

“Of her two or three daily sculling sessions, one is almost always focused on drills to hone technique. “There’s not one secret drill that will make you fast,” she said. She practices a wide variety.”

While I haven’t found a way to introduce drills in the 11 practices, I think that any user can treat their habits as a form of drilling in which they do a single act over and over again, looking for small gains.  For example, they might capture 20 times in a day, and observe the practices they  use with a goal of improving them bit by bit.

” “There’s this saying that ‘Miles make champions,’ ” Michelle Guerette said. So she spends up to five hours a day on the water, doing a variety of workouts. ”

Clearly, she practices a great deal, honing her technique.  Professionals in every occupation must do the same with regards to their own time management techniques.   Once theyknow the fundamentals, they must be willing to put in time to practice them in order to improve them.

This applies to adults at every stage of life.  We are all limited by time, whether we are at the start, middle or end of professional careers.  My parents are retired, and they too are challenged with how they manage their time.

A feeling of fulfillment and peace of mind gets destroyed when we feel as is if we are not managing our time well.  We see where our goals are not being fulfilled, and that the limited time we have is being filed with activities that we are not really committed to.  This can all be reversed with a focus on practicing the fundamentals of time management.

The New York Times article can be read by clicking here.