Importance vs Urgency

One commonly used tool in time management is the 2 x 2 grid plotting importance of tasks against their urgency. We list all the tasks we spend time on, and then put them on this grid. We may discover that we have many tasks which are not important and not urgent. If so, we probably should stop doing most of them. If we have many tasks which are both important and urgent, naturally the first instinct is we must focus to get them completed. However, a more important consideration is we should not have many urgent and important tasks in the first place. This is an indication that we are planning and prioritising our time and resources poorly. 

The more interesting quadrants on the grid are the important and not urgent, and the urgent and not important. Often we lose ourselves in the urgent but not important tasks. An email that needs attention; an enquiry from a customer; a bill that is soon due. We spend too much time on urgent but not important tasks, which we probably should delegate, or outsource, or sometimes even stop doing altogether. We don't spend enough time on important but not urgent tasks. Eventually these important but not urgent tasks become urgent tasks. E.g. do we strategise our marketing? Do we plan recruitment? Do we train our staff? We know these are important, but because they don't seem urgent, they often get deferred or neglected. 

The ideal situation is we spend all our time on important but not yet urgent tasks. It is not always possible in practice, but this is how we should plan our time. 

Saying No

As we grow as leaders, there will be more and more demands for our time. We must learn to protect our time. And that simply means saying no sometimes. We cannot be nice to everyone all the time. We must choose what to spend time on and what not to. Sometimes this can mean forgoing business opportunities. Sometimes this can be discarding old practices which are no longer of value.  

Manage Energy, Not Time

One school of thought says time management is less about time and more about energy. How do you stay energised throughout the day? If you can maintain a stable energy level, or you have high energy stretches with ample rest time sandwiched in between, you will be productive and making good use of your time. When you are constantly alert of your energy level and you proactively manage it, you will get more done. Set simple goals every day. Plan focus time. Plan breaks. Switch to a different task when you feel stuck in one particular task. Make time to play, to talk to people, to take care of others, to exercise, also to disconnect. 

Flow

Time flies by when we are in a flow state. We are focused and highly productive. Have you experienced situations when a task takes you 5 days to complete, but the actual time you spend productively is only half a day? The other 4.5 days are spent dragging your feet and procrastinating. If you can work in a flow state, you'll just need that half a day. 

One commonly used method is to schedule yourself to work for 25 minutes with no distractions, and then take a 5-minute break. Repeat this cycle several times, and you will find yourself highly productive. 

Rethink Your Priorities