Time Management

Over the years I have been asked several times how I find the time to remain so organized. I have always felt, it is only because I remain organized that I find the time to do the things I really want to. I feel remaining organized is a natural, normal part of life and living. I think, the question that we should first try to answer is:
- What comes first, Time to be organized, or Organized to have time?

It might be a matter of interpreting what takes time. Does remaining organized take time, or is remaining organized simply necessary, as we would like to have time to do everything else. My belief is inclined towards the latter. We normally think whatever requires us to do anything out of the ordinary, takes time. Sometimes, of course, some things need time intervals to process and ‘mature’, but then this shouldn’t be our main worry. Unfortunately, when we’re ‘battling’ with time management, we normally worry about how much time it will take us, to do the things in an organized manner.

We should consider time as something that can be spent not only by us, but by others as well. Sometimes, or maybe often, someone else may take less time to do the same thing. By thinking of time as a freely available common commodity, we actually ‘invent’ time. A good way to plan is to think of time as an unlimited, freely available resource, and work on the planned tasks so that they become more efficient and integral.

We ‘invent’ time for doing things that we believe will lead to outcomes we are committed to. So, the two other questions that we should try to answer are:

- How do we form our belief(s) of what work steps are needed and what should their intermediate outcomes be?
- What final outcomes are we committed to working towards?

Intermediate outcomes are evidence of stages being crossed, and that the work process is progressing. Visualizing and planning for intermediate outcomes is the key to retain the integrity of the work process and to ensure that rework is minimal. Intermediate outcomes also are things closer ahead to look forward to!

Let me share my own example. I enjoy working when what I look forward to is hassle-free work, which is interesting, new, and valuable. I think most of us don’t like monotonous, repetitive jobs. We all have commitments that we make to ourselves, which form an underlying framework for how we look at what we have to do.

When I plan, I begin with by making a commitment. I say -
My commitment to myself is:

• I will not do the same thing again
• I will take less time to do the same thing again, and I will do it better
• I will do more and better things all the time

In this manner, I try to improve the efficiency of my time, by re-engineering the activities that had scope for improvement.

Thus, when we try to find the time to do something, we look at all the tasks that our time is already committed to, and usually realize that we need to ‘invent’ time. Inventing the time for what we want to do, rather than what we have to, can be done in two ways:

• take less time to do what we do
• reduce the “actual work” or do work differently

At this juncture, a valid question to ask is – what if there is no scope to invent time? What if I’ve exhausted all methods of improving the efficiency of my time? What then?
My answer is – Ask yourself the following question:
“Do I really need to spend MY time in doing something?”

The answer to this question also comes from our belief in others’ capacity to do what we think is needed. We should form our belief in this case around what decisions will be needed, and what skills will be needed for delegating work. Knowing our people, and having the belief in their potential and commitment to do enormously better than us, have to be the bedrock of our decisions.

I’ve found that it’s effective to operate with a personal goal of being free all the time, and therefore ensuring that everything we need to do can be done by other people, except when we have determined that others to whom we can delegate can’t. This approach is the approach of the ‘lazy’, but interestingly, it leads to a lot of work coming to me, and my being able to do it, which I wouldn’t even have thought was possible if I didn’t have this approach of having ‘nothing-to-do’.

To conclude, Time Management is about meeting commitments on time. - The commitments that have to be met are:

a) Commitments made to the end customer, of what will be delivered when,

b) Commitments made by the process, of how and when work will happen, and

c) My commitments to myself, for how I will do what I have to do to meet the first two commitments, with or without the help and support of other people.

Author:
Mukul Saxena,
Chief Technology Officer
NIS Sparta Ltd.
http://www.nissparta.com