Time management: is less time the answer?

Written on the 20th February 2017.

Time management is a subject discussed on many forums within our networks. We are often reading that successful time management involves effective planning; prioritising; delegating; controlling your environment; identifying what you will change about your routines.

However, research has shown that lot of it does not work for most people. With access to knowledge and information such as planners and gadgets, why do we still struggle?

While it’s true that you cannot pause or manipulate time on the clock, you can manage the time that has the potential to exist in your mind. It's about facilitating a situation which forces a change in your approach.

Keeping it simple without the planners, try and remove any self-limitation you have around "not having enough time”. In fact, try the opposite; reduce your time!

For me, the best way to improve my time management skills has been to have less time to do the work in. Following the birth of my children and the need for a change in my working hours due to tighter schedules around childcare, I now get more done simply by being forced to manage my time with a level of discipline not applied before.

If your time is strictly limited, then your brain retrains very quickly and learns to dramatically increase its focus for shorter periods of time. It’s this focus that enables me to get through so much more work. Put simply this approach works because you do. It leaves no room to idle away time on tasks without prioritising and focusing. Having less time removes these choices.

It’s amazed me how much I can get done simply by not having the option but to close the PC down at a certain time each day. Why not try working ‘part time’ for a day and challenging yourself to get through your task list? It’s not about working faster, it’s about refocusing your mind to be more tuned in to what really needs to be actioned rather than a long list. Why not give it a go?