Running out of Time?

17th March 2013

Believing in the quote,”The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” by Michael Althsuler, makes it so much easier to cope with time issues. It puts you in control, as only you can decide what to do with your time and how to use it.

Just as the pilot knows which airport he departs from, where he has to go, at which altitude to fly and his departure and arrival times; so also you need to know:

What needs to be done?
How long will it take?
When is the deadline?

Work from one List. Put everything down in writing, in one place. This gives your clarity! You can dream, plan, visualise, put down ideas and know exactly what you want. Do all the things that you can ahead of time, prioritising as you go.

As time draws near you realise, time is running out…, you panic and your head is screaming, “I’ll never be able to finish in time!” Take a deep breath and have a closer look at your plan and decide what is important in the here and now.

I love Julie Morgenstern’s “four D’s” and keep reminding myself of them all the time when I run into time issues: Delete, Delay, Diminish, and Delegate. This is what you need to do to be more efficient, to get clarity, to remain calm and to gain focus.

Remove tasks from your list that can be done at a later date or that you never do. Ask yourself, is this really necessary to be done now? (Like writing a newsletter amidst trying to plan a wedding!)
Re-schedule the tasks for a later date or a different time. Decide to tackle the task when you can give it your full attention, with the least interruptions and do it then.
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Have you ever planned something which you deemed important and many others didn’t even miss? Well, streamline the task and do only the necessary.
Get assistance from anyone or anything that can do a task to remove it from your list. Communicate what you want and trust them to do it well.

Don’t be tempted to multitask, as it you will take longer completing the job tiring you more, as you need to change focus every time you change to a different task.

Being the pilot of your day, choosing and prioritising tasks and setting yourself free of others will keep you more relaxed, enable you to work more efficiently and allow you to get more done.