Tag Archives: time-management

Los Des Enmascarados.

mask1Apuesto que al igual que yo, tu también has sido culpable de decir o pensar “no voy al gimnasio porque no tengo tiempo…”, “me alimento de comida rápida porque no tengo tiempo para ir al mercado y menos para cocinar en casa…”, y “no tomo un curso ya que no tengo tiempo para estudiar…”

No estoy buscando ser aguafiestas.  Más bien busco retar la creencia común y acabar con la cantaleta “…no tengo tiempo…” – y así ayudar a la gran mayoría de personas a alcanzar sus metas. 

Entonces, si sigues ahí, estando de acuerdo con aquellas personas que le echan la culpa de su status quo a la falta tiempo, te invito a sacar cuentas:

  • ¿Horas en tu semana? 148
  • ¿Horas por semana que el promedio de las personas pasan viendo televisión? 21 a 35 (mas de un día)
  • ¿Horas por semana que el promedio de las personas pasa surfiando el Internet? 7 a 14
  • ¿Horas por semana que le promedio de las personas pasa chismoseando con amigos, ya sea por teléfono, SMS o correo electrónico? Ese calculo se lo dejo a tu conciencia.
  • ¿Horas por semana que el promedio de las personas pasa durmiendo los fines de semana? También se lo dejo a tu conciencia.
  • ¿Horas en la semana de Bill Gates, Madre Teresa y Hillary Clinton? 148

Sospecho que ya entendiste que no es por falta de tiempo que la gran mayoría de las personas no alcanza sus metas.  Y entonces ¿por que es que muchos no hacen “esas” cosas clave, que los llevaría a alcanzar sus metas? 

(Música de suspenso por favor…)

Miedo – disfrazado de falta de tiempo.

Así es.  El miedo viene en muchos colores y sabores.  De uno ya te hable en un post pasado – la rabia.  Otro es un sentimiento de que no hay suficiente tiempo para alcanzar a hacer todo aquello que queremos.

Seguro que te estas preguntando ¿y a que, sienten miedo aquellos que se refugian detrás de la falta de tiempo?

Eso depende de cada persona.  Unos temen fracasar, y no alcanzar sus metas. Otros temen ser objeto de burla. Otros temen ser objeto de crítica.  Otros temen sobresalir tanto que no pertenecen al grupo de mediocres que los rodea. 

En fin, la lista de razones por las cuales sentimos miedo es bien extensa. Y detallarla no solucionaría nada.  Mas bien la próxima vez que pienses que es por falta de tiempo que no estas haciendo algo que sabes que te pondría más cerca de tus metas, pausa.  Pregúntate a que le temes. Al responder, atrévete a ser brutalmente honesta.  Así le quitaras el disfraz a tu miedo.  Y veras como aparecerá, como por arte de magia, el tiempo que pensaste no tener.

 

Gracias Carnaval de Venecia por la foto tan adecuada.

“Some day” is NOW

In the past few days I’ve spoken to several people – all from different walks of life.  One is a professional mom in her early thirties, the other is a gym instructor in her mid twenties, the other is a restauranteur in her early fifties.  In spite of their differences I’ve noticed that they all share one thing in common – which I wish it wouldn’t be so.

They all told me about projects that they hope that some day they’ll execute. Some day one will open her own business, some day the other one will buy an investment property, and some day the other one will write a children’s book.

When I asked them what they had done today to get closer to their goal, they were not able to give me a clear answer.  Their lack of clarity is what inspired this post.

As far as I know, today is that ‘some day’ of that other day when you said that some day you’d do that one thing you’ve been wanting to do.  So are you doing today what you said that other day that you’d do ‘some day’?  And what can you do today to get closer to that goal that you’re putting off for some day?

 

Photo credit: Thanks Photo-master Greg 

A Good Addiction

Hi all, my name is Silvana Avinami. I’m addicted to time management. 

Yup, I’m one of those people who writes to-do lists even when on vacation.  I like to think it’s because I take R&R seriously – my husband on the other hand thinks it’s neurotic.

Finger pointing aside, having control over our time places us in the seat of power of our work-life.

As you think through those words, keep in mind that leading an efficient life need not be restrictive or painful.  I find that it can feel liberating.  Simply because when you control your time, you own your life. For the skeptics in the room, I’ll admit that there are things that are outside everyone’s control.  Think Warren Buffet.  He’s the 2nd richest man in the world (or the first, depending on what day of the week you check Bill’s stock portfolio). Like many, he also couldn’t prevent getting stung by the recent market downturn.  Even so, that’s not a solid reason for relinquishing all of your control.

Here’s an un-painful process that will help you to manage your time – and claim control over your work-life:

1. Identify.  What’s keeping you from achieving the important things at work?  List every interruption you can think of, self-inflicted and otherwise.  Is it a compulsion to check your inbox every 5 minutes?  Are you taking longer than you should to get things done because your desk is a mess? Is it client phone calls that you could batch for a certain time during the day – and reduce the stop-and-go?  Is it a chatty colleague who insists on being a time-leech?  Just because your time is slowly (but surely) leaking away from you, does not mean that it’s not critical to stop it.  Why wait for a haemorrhage to take action?

2. Dump. This a pre-to-do list.   For some this could seem like a bad case of OCD.  However, if you skip this step and jump straight into developing a to-do list, you risk ending up with a messy list – one which is hard to follow and one you may not feel inclined to refer to as often as a neat one. (think Zen garden vs Times Square)

3. Un-do. Make a list of things you need to stop doing.  As important as knowing what you need to do, being aware of those dead-end things that you’re doing is important. Drop those bad habits – doing so will make room for ones that support your goals.

4. Prioritize. Now you know what needs to get done.  It’s time to determine what’s most important and most urgent.  Mark those as you’re A items.  Then mark the important, yet less urgent tasks with a B.  Finally, mark those nice-to-haves with a C.  If at the end of this screening exercise you find that you have a disproportionately high number of A-items, it’s time for a dose of self-honesty.  Review your most important goals.  Which tasks support those? Which don’t?  Those should not be marked A-priority.

5.  Plan.  Take a step back and identify which tasks may be clustered together.  Which things can you take care of in one go?  What needs to be done first?

6. Schedule.  Now you’re ready to create a to-do list (ah, the moment I’ve been waiting for).  Starting with the most pressing A-item, work down your planning sheet.  Personally I find that numbering items on the list gives me more control over my time.  If there are 50 things on my list, I like to know. If there are 10, I also like to know.  Also, I tend to list the most challenging tasks first.  Getting them out of the way takes away the edge from my day. 

7. Remember. Keep your to-do list close by.  Refer to it often.

8. Track. Check-off tasks as you complete them.  It might be because I’m easy to amuse, but doing so gives me a rush, which actually energizes me to start working on the next task.

Now you can check-off ‘learn time-management’ from your to-do list.

That wasn’t too painful, right?