Many leaders struggle with time - there are so many things & so little time to get them all done.
They say time is a great leveller. Everybody has 24 hours in a day. However there are some people for whom time slows down for them to get almost everything important done in a day. Somehow 24 hours become 30 hours.
So what is the secret?
Time can be an opportunity or threat based on how you view it. People who view time as an opportunity, take the initiative to plan & use it well. They make sure they are not driven by the clock. They are driven by what they want to get done, when.
So are we just talking time management?
Time management is definitely a good starting point. Classifying tasks based on importance & urgency sure gives you an ability to prioritise & move tasks around. However this does not help you go beyond 24 hours work.
What gives you an advantage is attention. If your body, mind & heart are focussed on the same task & nowhere else, you will get a lot done in very less time.
So is this about being mono chronic or poly chronic or multitasking? You can choose what you prefer. We are talking about the “attention” you give in a slice of time.
Lets say you got a nasty email from the customer in the morning. You have a deliverable the same day. Can you ‘not' think about the email when you are working on the deliverable? Can you ‘not' think about the deliverable when reading the customer’s email?
When you need down time to focus on something - can your emails be kept at bay?
"Well, I know to work only when 10 windows are open on my laptop, 2 people standing at my desk, my mobile phone screaming & I, talking to the customer on the landline. This is called multi-tasking." Been there, heard this.
Whatever order you wish to address each - the people, laptop, landline, mobile etc, when you are at it, even for a few seconds - from your attention, remove/blur others. Technology has several options called “Snooze”, “Do not disturb”, etc. Use them effectively. Schedule a time for people to be at you desk unless its an emergency.
First it might appear overwhelming. However practise consciously keeping your attention at one focal point. Over time you will become comfortable with it. Ensure you are controlling your attention span instead of time. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish.
How can you direct your attention to get more things done today ?