Ask any one working an executive or management job, and they will tell you that their number one personal development objective is to find a way to better manage their time. I know I am one of them.
We always start a role with a set of responsibilities and expectations, and plan to execute our role within those boundaries. Many of us soon find ourselves submerged with outside demands, requests, tasks, all pulling us from our main role and position.
It rarely comes all at once. It starts with small enough requests from colleagues, our boss, or our clients. We see no harm in taking care of those tasks but they quickly add-up to the point that we feel no longer in charge of our time, schedule and deliverables. From experience, I know that it is a dangerous pattern to let set in. It can leave you feeling overwhelmed, stressed-out, and lead you to underperform.
It is the ultimate paradox. You do so much but achieve so little.
US Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ reclaim my time moment is actually very relevant here. When you are no longer in charge of your schedule, your tasks, your output, take action and reclaim your time.
Reclaiming your time, however, requires some recalibration. When I had to do this, and believe me it has happened a few times in my career, I took the following steps.
- I took a fresh look at my actual deliverables; what my job was; what I was getting paid for.
- I wrote down everything that I did and split items between my deliverables and what I called my collaterals.
- I prioritized my deliverables.
- I reviewed my collaterals and put them in categories: Delegate i.e. assign to rightful owner; Cancel i.e. redundant tasks/not aligned with business strategy; Review i.e. for tasks that only needed punctual attention.
- I then communicated my new priorities to my colleagues, my reports, my boss, and even my clients when needed.
- I followed through consistently.
Don’t be fooled, it is not easy to keep the course. But it is absolutely necessary. At your annual review, you are measured on your deliverables, not on everything that just kept you busy.
An article in Forbes published last year even goes as far as saying that “if there’s never enough time, time management isn’t your real problem”. It offers a slightly different insight on the topic and suggests some useful actionable items.
If you are finding yourself in this situation, all I can say to you is: reclaim your time!