Time....is it really possible to manage it?

Tick, tick, tick, tick……..time just goes, it is unstoppable, unchangeable…….So, no, I don’t think we can manage time. What I do think is that we can manage how we spend time. That might seem like semantics but, for me, gives a different mindset entirely. After all, why set myself up to manage something over which I have no control? I will have failed before I’ve even started!

So, how do we spend time? Well, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week….that’s an amazing 10,080 minutes or 168 hours in a week!!

Even if we allow for a 50 hour working week (and we probably shouldn’t be working that many but unfortunately many do), we still have 118 hours to play with. Factor in 8 hours sleep a night, meal times (half an hour, 3 times a day), and a bit of commuting (an hour a day, 5 days)……still 46 and a half hours left to choose what we do with it!

Don’t know about you but I’ve got LOADS I want to squeeze in to that 46 and a half hours….so how do I fit it in and make it feel like I’m achieving a balance?

Firstly, I start by really knowing my priorities, knowing what is important to me and what can wait (or be delegated to someone else to do!). And sticking to it, even though this is easier said than done sometimes.

I use the Eisenhower matrix to organise my priorities, in particular to be able to put aside tasks that do not fit in to box one. This is so helpful for me to find my focus and concentrate on what is really important.

Then, I look at the assumptions about my time - occasionally I don’t get that much sleep but, for me, sleep is important so I don’t compromise on my 8 hours unless I have to. But 50 hours a week working?? Not if I can help it. Or, if I do work that many hours, I try to ensure that it is all productive work. I admit that it probably helps that some of my ‘work’ is running my own business and doesn’t entirely feel like work.

But, even so, there are ways to make sure the time you spend working is productive - making the most of your systems, not duplicating work, having efficient delegation and hand off points in any process, automating work where possible, so much more.

Would you benefit from someone looking at the processes and systems in your business to see where you could gain time that would be better spent on something else? If so, get in touch, I’d be happy to help.