Survey on Upgrading Your Time Management System

istock_000002312528xsmall.jpgClick here to enter the survey

While I have written a great deal about the benefits of upgrading rather than replacing one’s time management system, I have wondered why there is no-one else echoing the sentiment consistently.

I am hoping that this survey will help.

It consists of 15 questions, and the intent is for me to learn a thing or two about people’s experience in implementing time management improvements.

I plan to share the most important results here on the blog, and also on the 2Time Facebook page.

Take a moment to fill out the survey, and to pass it on to others.

Click here to enter the survey

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A New Hypothesis

tom_hanks_cast_away.jpgIn the past few weeks I have been giving some serious thought to what is missing in most time management programs.

I now think it’s pretty simple — most people love the ideas they hear in the seminar/book/website, and there seems to be some convergence of ideas in all the systems that I am aware of.

This is good.

From a 2Time point of view, they are covering more and more of the fundamentals of time management, and presenting complete systems that make sense.  This kind of cross-fertilization is a good thing, and I certainly have benefited from ideas presented in a variety of places, starting with those learned in graduate school.

However, good ideas are not enough.

While everyone might leave a seminar, close the book or click out of a website and love what they have read,  the typical reader would still end up failing to implement what they learned.

The reason?

One piece of the puzzle is that they don’t understand that they are working to change a complex system of habits that they are already using, and not starting from a blank canvas, which is what the gurus seem to assume.  They compare learning their systems to learning a martial art, an analogy I happen to like, and use.

However, learning a new time management system is a bit like having a green belt in karate and then deciding to learn judo.  The very little I know about the martial arts suggests that there are more than a few habits that would have to be un-learned to make the transition.  Someone who is making the transition could hardly be expected to do so by simply reading a judo book.

In like manner, it’s easier to learn a new language when you it’s your very first language.  Un-learning the habits of pronunciation and grammar take some time, and only a few adults are able to speak a second language like a native without years of practice.

The key to both transitions is the practice, support and the community that’s required.

The same applies to those who learn new time management techniques.  There are lots of sources of good ideas… but how do I get the practice I need to become a master?

My new hypothesis is simple: more people would be successful in upgrading their time management systems if they had the post-learning support that is required to make the transition to higher levels of mastery.

Left on their own, there are a few who are able to generate the discipline that’s needed to develop and master complex skills.  Tom Hanks in the movie “Castaway” comes to mind.  An executive teaches himself survival, navigation and sailing skills in order to escape from a desert island.

Most of us would have probably not made it off the island, however, and a LOT of us would not have learned the survival skills to last a month!

Luckily for us, technology is changing rapidly, and it’s becoming easier and less costly to construct the kind of communities needed to support us in learning new time management skills.  The cost, energy and time to do the following are plummeting:

  • find people of like mind and commitment
  • get coaching quickly
  • discover insights and shortcuts on implementing new habits
  • set up automatic tracking mechanisms that don’t require personal effort (e.g. a trainer that calls you at 5:00 am each morning to come to the gym)
  • create leverage using incentive$
  • put together plans for gradual change over time that are realistic, and don’t require miracles
  • use the best new ideas as soon as they are discovered
  • develop back-up plans
  • join teams with people who are at a similar stage of development, and won’t let you quick
  • assistance in setting up new rituals
  • have chances to connect with higher goals, life-purpose and whatever higher power they happen to believe in

Anyone who is familiar with what it takes to break or create new habits will recognize some of the results of the latest research embedded in the above list.  With the internet, these are much easier to set up.

My thinking is that one of the versions of my next custom program, MyTimeDesign 2.0, will provide this kind of support to anyone who wants it.

So, what do you think?  Is this a hypothesis that makes sense?

Employee Use Policies on Blackberrys, Cell Phones & PDAs

I just received the following invitation to join this US$199 conference call.

I was wondering how long it would take for companies to start to limit the “always on” culture that smartphones have created.

Perhaps fear of litigation will “help” employees to better manage their time.


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Dear Francis Wade,

 

For those concerned with how to effectively create and enforce employee cell phone use policies, you are invited to join us for a leading 60-minute audio conference:

 

“Cellphones, Blackberries & PDAs: Employee Use Policies You Need Now”

Thursday, October 29, 2009 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET http://www.pb-conferences.com/M1/0/2/p3X4DRc/p3GWR4TRi/p0e

 

Your employees rely on Blackberries, PDAs, smart phones, cell phones and remote access to keep them connected to their work. Employers face new liability risks on wage and hour issues, confidentiality breaches, inappropriate use of equipment, and safety concerns. Is a connected employee ever off the clock? When are employers liable for accidents caused by workers distracted when using work cell phones? Join us for this 60-minute audio conference where you will discover:

 

**  Keys to drafting effective cell phone policy

**  Keys to handling employees who are ALWAYS on personal calls

**  Tricky FLSA issues & employees’ use of mobile devices

**  Monitoring Employee Use of Technology: What’s Legal: What’s Not

 

Your Expert Presenter:

Daniel McCoy, Esq. is a partner at Fenwick & West LLP. Mr. McCoy’s practice emphasizes employment litigation and counseling for employers throughout the country.

The Wisdom of Taking Time Off

This article on taking time off caught my eye on Twitter, and it seems to run counter to the general practice of working as hard as possible until you drop.

It gives the example of a top management consulting firm experimenting with the idea of giving their associates scheduled time off.

I have worked alongside one of the top management consulting firms, and I’ve had a short dose of near all-nighters, working until 3 a.m. on PowerPoint presentations for 8 a.m. meetings.  Sometimes, it would all be for naught. The unsuspecting client would cancel the meeting without realizing all the hard work they were negating … ouch.

Here is an excerpt  from the article:

It’s important to recognize that our experiments are not about reducing professionals’ commitments to their work and clients. We understand that the success of professional services firms depends on hardworking people who value the intensity of the work and are committed to their clients. They relish being in the thick of things, with all the learning and adrenaline buzz that engenders. What professionals don’t like is the bad intensity—having no control over their own work and lives, being afraid to ask questions that could help them better focus and prioritize, and generally operating in ways that are inefficient. Still, professionals accept the bad intensity without hesitation, believing it comes with the territory.

This only perpetuates a vicious cycle: Responsiveness breeds the need for more responsiveness. When people are “always on,” responsiveness becomes ingrained in the way they work, expected by clients and partners, and even institutionalized in performance metrics. There is no impetus to explore whether the work actually requires 24/7 responsiveness; to the contrary, people just work harder and longer, without considering how they could work better. Yet, what we discovered is that the cycle of 24/7 responsiveness can be broken if people collectively challenge the mind-set. Furthermore, new ways of working can be found that benefit not just individuals but the organization, which gains in quality and efficiency—and, in the long run, experiences higher retention of more of its best people.

Click here to be taken to the article: Making Time Off Predictable and Required.

Vid – Why Most People Fail

Here is a brief video I did that explains why most people fail in their efforts to implement new time management systems.

I posted an article with some similar ideas over at the Stepcase Lifehack website, and I received a comment from a user who called the idea of upgrading rather than replacing a “gentler approach.”

Wow.

GTDer Audio and Videos

If reading isn’t your thing, then my e-book for GTD®ers need not be the point at which you give up and go no further.

Once you download the book, you can also gain access to the full audio version plus a six-part video series hosted here on Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/groups/6mistakes

Not to be a tease, but you do need to download the e-book to get the password (at the moment). As you might expect, it’s free.

 

Mission Control Productivity, FranklinCovey, GTD and Getting Things Done are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company (davidco.com.)  2Time is not affiliated with or endorsed by the David Allen Company, Mission Control Productivity or FranklinCovey.

Scoring 100% in Time Management

istock_000004921432xsmall.jpgAn article I wrote over at Stepcase Lifehack received a nice thank-you comment.

Scoring 100% in Time Management is all about implementing time management systems and mistakenly thinking that we can implement ALL of the habits and practices built into the approach.

This is a mistake in our thinking that produces stress, and it causes too many people to abandon GTD® and other systems too early.

 

Mission Control Productivity, FranklinCovey, GTD and Getting Things Done are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company (davidco.com.)  2Time is not affiliated with or endorsed by the David Allen Company, Mission Control Productivity or FranklinCovey.

A Message for All GTDers

6mistakes-cover-2.jpgActually, this is a message to the users of all time management systems: there are some mistakes that people often make when they try to learn Getting Things Done (GTD®), Covey, and all other systems developed by another person.

It’s all detailed in my new report, The Six Surprising Mistakes that GTD®ers Make.

At first blush, you might think that I’m taking a swipe at those who use GTD®. That’s not my goal.

I did, however, make a bunch of mistakes when I tried to implement it a second time. Now, I have the benefit of some insight that tells me I’m not the only one who tries to make GTD® and other systems do what they cannot do — and get stuck as a result.

For more, download the report and have a read. It also comes in an audio format and has its own follow-up video series.

Click here to go to the download page at http://2time-sys.com/6mistakes

 

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Note:

[email_link]

 

 

Mission Control Productivity, FranklinCovey, GTD and Getting Things Done are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company (davidco.com.)  2Time is not affiliated with or endorsed by the David Allen Company, Mission Control Productivity or FranklinCovey.

Upgrade, Don’t Replace Your Time Management System

In the past week, I had a revelation that’s led me to abandon the idea that people could create and implement their own time management systems.

Now, it’s clear to me that the word “create” is a poor one to use, simply because no one creates a time management system from scratch (except teenagers).

Instead,  we all have time management systems that have worked for us to a point, and then failed because of some change in our environment.

For example, I just read a tongue-in-cheek article claiming that people who don’t have kids have no reason to lack time for anything.

Obviously, the author feels that having kids  is major life change that introduces a slew of new time demands, often resulting in feelings of being overwhelmed.

It may feel to overburdened parents as if there is absolutely no time management taking place, but that’s actually not the case. It’s more accurate to say that their system is being overtaken by the reality of having a newborn.

If that’s the case, then we make a terrible mistake by trying to learn a new time management system as if nothing already exists. We might be unaware of our system, but that doesn’t mean that nothing is in place.

Conducting an upgrade to a house is a very different activity from building a new house from the ground up.  A critical new activity comes into play — surveying what currently exists in order to gain an in-depth understanding of how we must work with it, work around it, and use it.

To make anything better, it’s critical to understand what currently exists. This is a basic principle of continuous improvement that seems to be obscured by almost all the time management approaches that I’ve ever seen.

This leads me to think that the vast majority can only upgrade their time management systems, and that only a few people have the discipline (and luck) to be able to replace an already existing system with another.

It just seems as if it’s too tall a change to ask most people to make — and a possible recipe for failure.

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Higher Skills and Better Results in Scheduling

clock-sfe-wall-clock-35.jpgI found an interesting article on the power of rituals at the Harvard Business Review publishing blog.

I took the excerpt article from the post entitled “An 18 Minute Plan for Managing Your Day.”

It talks about  the power of scheduling and moving from a Yellow Belt to a White Belt in the practice of “Scheduling.”

In their book The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz describe a study in which a group of women agreed to do a breast self-exam during a period of 30 days. According to the results, 100% of those who said where and when they were going to do it completed the exam. Only 53% of the others did the exam.

In another study, drug addicts in withdrawal (can you find a more stressed-out population?) agreed to write an essay before 5 p.m. on a certain day. Per the results, 80% of those who said when and where they would write the essay completed it. None of the others did.

If you want to get something done, decide when and where you’re going to do it. Otherwise, take it off your list.

The success of these individuals is simple to explain. A schedule that has clear commitments, including time estimates, works far better than a mere list of activities for those who frequently have days in which everything that’s on their list doesn’t get accomplished.