The Secret to Effective Time Management
(That No One Else Thinks About)

I don’t like hearing my clients talk about “Time Management”.

Not because the topic itself is not important. It is. How we manage our time (or the better thought: how good a job we do of putting time into our actual priorities) is crucial.

Time Management is one of the key determinants of success. In any area of life.

But I dislike hearing the phrase “Time Management” because it’s so strongly associated with surface-level, cosmetic adjustments that never last.

When people start talking to me about Time Management, they’re thinking of …

• A new set of alarms and calendar reminders (but which the human brain quickly spots as repetitive and unimportant, so phases out of awareness).
• Regularly occurring time blocks (which, week-in, week-out, they fail to honour, choosing instead to prioritise the next (any!) incoming request they’ve convinced themselves is “urgent”).
• A commitment to a new work/home boundary (which they then drop at the first sight of a looming deadline).
• A good intention NOT to start the day with email (but near-immediately drift back into old habits – and throughout the entire day).

And so on. And of course, we could go on.

The issue? We’re not addressing the root problem in any time management challenge.

Because the core issue is not how better to arrange tasks and order distractions within an already overflowing day. Those are changes built on a foundation of mud.

The core issue is a question of lacking courage. And there’s the secret:

High Performance Time Management is simply a question of boldness.

And that’s it. Because if we had enough boldness, time management challenges would simply not exist. Time management would be a non-issue.

So, next time you hear yourself bemoaning your time management challenges, look not to what latest time management trick you’re missing; and instead ask:

How And Where Am I Not Being BOLD Enough?

Here are 5 quick ideas to get you moving, right away …

Bring a high quality “No” to every day.

On a daily basis, set yourself the intention of bringing a high quality no to the day. Your goal: to issue a (high quality!) “No” at least 3 times every day. Practice this: and make “No” your default.

Drop any fear of missing out.

Get good at noticing where your FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) has you saying yes to commitments that are just nowhere near the priority projects you set for yourself at the start of your day. If you’re quite sure fear is not your motivator, only then look at the cost/benefit of issuing a “Yes”.

Let go of “what others must think”.

Ever notice the elaborate stories you create off the back of the thought: “If I don’t do this now, they will think …” Just let go of all that. Honestly, we’re all too all-consumed with ourselves to be thinking about you and the “not now, not today” you just gave us. (And actually: if it was a truly high-quality “No”, I would have more respect for you, not less.)

Stop living up to people’s expectations.

We might love to dish-out expectations to other people, but we hate to live up to other people’s. So stop working with expectations and instead, co-create agreements with each other.

Make decisions!

Exercise your power of decision – and it is a power. Think of any recent decision made and notice how empowered you felt as a result. Wouldn’t it be great to move through every single day with that sort of feeling? So, create a new habit. It’s called conscious decision-making. And drop its anti-habit: drifting. Not making a decision is, itself, a decision. Unconscious. Default. But still a decision. Stop that.

Stop managing your time. Start working on your boldness.

Thanks for reading!

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