Try as you may, you will never be able to manage time. No matter what you do, or what you fail to do, time ticks on with no concern about what you are or are not doing. Minutes become hours, hours become days, days become weeks, weeks turn into months, and months into years.
Time feels different based on the context. In middle school, the clock seemed to take forever to reach 3:00 PM, freeing you to go outside with your friends. Later in life, you may feel as if time runs faster, causing some to believe they don’t have enough. The truth is that all you have is time.
It would be good if we could manage time, but we have no power to do so. The only thing we can manage is what we do with our time. Instead of time management, we should practice something we can call Me Management, a more accurate description, and a much better strategy for using your time.
What Is Me Management?
If you observe people at work, you will notice they procrastinate. They have good intentions, but they have trouble getting started. Wherever you see a person with an immaculate desk and office, you can be certain this person is procrastinating. I do like a clean desk and environment, but it is not the high watermark when it comes to getting things done.
Me Management is the idea that the obstacle preventing you from doing certain things is staring back at you when you brush your teeth in the morning. Me Management is a way to manage yourself and the outcomes and results you want to create in your life. This is a form of self-discipline for creating the life you want.
The Tyranny of Tasks
You may go from task to task, checking boxes, completing one task only to find two more in its place. One reason we are not as productive as we should be is because the level of task is not the right place to begin planning your day or your week or your life. Every email is a task. Every request from another person is a task. Many things that show up in your mailbox become tasks.
Throughout your day, the tasks stack up. The monotony of completing task after task can cause burnout and boredom. Escaping the tyranny of tasks requires you to start levels higher than tasks.
Goals and Priorities
A common reason people don’t produce the results they need is because they start with tasks instead of starting with their goals and the outcomes they need to get there. If you were to start with your goals instead of the tasks, you might discover that many tasks are not going to produce the results you are pursuing.
Me Management looks at the value of a task and its contribution to your goals. If you choose to do one thing, it means you are saying no to something else. Some tasks can go untouched and unaddressed without harming your goals. Other tasks will come at the high price of your goals.
It may be a good time for you to pause reading this and make a list of your goals. Once you have your list, you can organize them by priority. Your number-one goal should take priority over the second goal. Given the choice between making progress on your goals or doing something that might be easier or more interesting, Me Management will have you work on your priority.
Planning Priorities and Projects
One advantage that Me Management provides is that it allows you to prioritize your goals. Every goal you have will be a project or a group of projects. For example, I write books. A chapter is a project. I might need 12 chapters to reach the goal of writing a book.
One way to improve your Me Management is to plan your week before it begins. By sitting down with your goals, projects, and priorities to schedule them. Scheduling 90 minutes to work on the first thing you must do to move you closer to your goal will make you feel productive. Once you have scheduled a few 90-minute blocks, you have built a barrier between your goals and the tasks that will do nothing to advance them.
It is important that you block the time for what is most important for what you want. The more you can exercise your Me Management, the better. You may have to inform others that you are unable or unavailable.
Here is the structure:
- Areas
- Goals
- Projects
- Tasks
You don’t want to start with tasks. It isn’t going to motivate you.
Me Management
A few years ago, I shared Me Management during a live training in Chicago. Forty people joined us to work on doing meaningful work. One person shared that he got his life back. Others felt they gained control over their work and their life. Many said they were more productive. Last week, I pulled out the slide deck, the massive workbook, and the assets for this program.
To provide this to as many people as possible, I am going to deliver this content in a live virtual training over several weeks. I am also going to make this incredibly easy to afford. If you want to join us, subscribe to my weekly newsletter and reply, or contact us here.
