Tag: time management

Productivity is a Team Sport

Time Management Isn’t Just Personal

Everyone wrestles with time management challenges at one time or another. I have a library full of resources with “surefire” solutions to this ubiquitous problem. But what works great for some doesn’t work for others. We’re not all the same and personal time management starts with knowing ourselves. But that’s a topic for another time.Productivity impact

Where most of these resources fall short is that they’re all about “me”. How do I become more productive? Seems logical, but… Continue reading Productivity is a Team Sport

Time Management: When Best-Practice Isn’t…

Know Thyself…

There’s a classic illustration of filling a jar with sand and big rocks.  Put the sand in first and the rocks won’t fit.  Put the rocks in first and the sand fills the space around the rocks and everything fits.  The time management application is that we should do big, important tasks first before doing lesser things.

That’s good advice…sometimes. It might even be good advice for most people, most of the time.  But – and this won’t set well if you’re a “big rock” fan – it ranks among the worst advice I’ve personally ever received. Continue reading Time Management: When Best-Practice Isn’t…

Why Can’t I Say “No”?

Even When “No” Is The Right Answer

(Video version available here.)

Excessive busy-ness is the most common complaint I hear from clients.  Is it possible to manage our workload in a way that leaves us fulfilled but not burned out?  Let’s scratch the surface of that question by shining a light on our motivations and suggesting some methods to deal with it.

Motivation

Our first problem is that we often wear our busy-ness as a badge of honor. NoImportant people are expected to be busy; we want to be important; so we don’t want to admit (to ourselves or others) that we’re not busy.  We fill our plates to keep our importance badge. Continue reading Why Can’t I Say “No”?