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The Myth Of Time Management

Productivity and Time Management Ask any successful business or individual out there, and I’m sure they will tell you higher levels of productivity are a crucial aspect in ensuring revenue growth and achieving success. In fact, many individuals and corporations willingly invest large sums of money and effort in order to improve in this area. Higher levels of productivity in individuals (whether as part of an organization or alone) helps to bring them closer to their success targets within a shorter time period, and prevents needless wastage of time, money and effort.

The dictionary defines productivity as “the quality, state, or fact of being able to generate, create, enhance, or bring forth goods and services”. To explain it simply on a more individual level - it is just how much one can get done in a set period of time. And when productivity is mentioned, time management is usually also brought up ; they go hand in hand. Both are strongly correlated - higher levels of productivity is usually the result of better time management. All That You Know About Time Management Is Wrong Yup, you got that right. Your understanding of time management is very likely… wrong. Time management is in fact, a misnomer. Time cannot be managed or influenced; it is something that is pretty much out of our control. All of us, despite our social or financial background, are allocated 24 hours in a day, no more or less. Once gone, there’s no way we can get it back. Our day-to-day responsibilities - be it family or work, takes up a large portion of our time. Not only that, time is fleeting and so easily robbed from our hands. Unexpected things pop up all the time. Priorities change. Things go terribly wrong. You get sick, or tired. You can only do so much - you’re only human, after all. You can, however control YOU. And your CHOICES. Time management is more correctly, all about self-discipline and task management. It’s the management of expectations as well as interruptions. It is the ability to manage your actions, habits and priorities based on the time you are given. It is understanding what matters most, making a choice to make room for that in your life, and getting rid of the unnecessary, unimportant stuff that’s hogging up your valuable time. Also, time management is not a one system fits all method. There is no perfect method. Different individuals have different styles - we’re all wired differently in terms of personality type, identity and individual life circumstances. Some may find that a to-do list works for them; others may find to-do lists hard to follow and demotivating. It’s all about finding your groove - different strokes for different folks.

Multitasking because you want to manage time better? Bad idea. Contrary to popular belief, faster and more is NOT always better. Multitasking is one way to destroy your productivity levels. Sure… you seem to get more done this way. However, you are probably more likely to make mistakes - which will result in you doing over things. Stick to focusing on one task at a time, and taking sufficient breaks whenever possible - you’ll stand to accomplish more this way. Now, we’ve mentioned that juggling multiple tasks at one time is counterproductive. However, striving to complete each task no matter how long it takes is also not a wise idea when it comes to time management - another common misconception regarding time management. Restrict your time spent on a task, and schedule accordingly.

As you can see, a lot of what we know regarding time management are in fact, myths. Many of us have skewed perceptions or are misinformed when it comes to time management. These myths, over time, through the people around us or the media we consume, become deeply ingrained within our mindsets; we eventually regard them as facts and hold on to them. As a result, we are prevented from becoming truly and fully productive in any aspect of our lives.

Chapter 1 : Effectiveness Vs. Efficiency Effectiveness versus efficiency. Both terms are adjectives that begin with the letter ‘e’, and are used to describe how work is done. Not only that, they sound quite similar. It is relatively easy to mistake one for the other, or use them interchangeably (a lot of people do!). However, these terms are anything but similar - in fact, they each carry completely different meanings. Effectiveness is all about doing the right things; it is result oriented. It is when one’s objectives are in line with their main goals, and indirectly your purpose.

It is finding ways to improve outcomes. For example, if your goal is to increase awareness and sales of a particular product to reach a particular target, you should engage in tasks or activities that will help move you closer to your goals (eg. marketing and ads, in this scenario) , and not waste time on irrelevant tasks that do not serve your goals. This makes you effective. Efficiency, however, is more about doing things right; this aspect is task oriented. It is using better ways to get something done well in the shortest amount of time possible, while utilizing the least amount of resources and/or costs. An example of efficiency would be using a computerized system to get things done accurately in a shorter span of time; as opposed to relying on manual methods to do the same thing, which is susceptible to human error and is more time consuming. Either one can exist without the other; one can be effective but not efficient, and vice versa. It is entirely possible for one to be effective in achieving their goals, while being inefficient in the way they do it. It is also entirely possible to be none of both at all. In fact, there are four possibilities: 1. Effective and Efficient 2. Effective and Inefficient 3. Ineffective and Efficient 4. Ineffective and Inefficient

It should be noted however that true, optimal productivity is a combination of both efficiency and effectiveness (Number 1) - the Holy Grail for every individual or organization. It is not possible for an organization or person to reach peak productivity levels, if they are lacking in either efficiency or effectiveness (Number 2, 3 and 4). If anything, they’re setting themselves up for either mediocrity or inevitable failure.

Effectiveness > Efficiency In terms of order of importance, effectiveness should be prioritized over efficiency in all your considerations about productivity.

This however does not mean that you should disregard the importance of efficiency altogether - again, as mentioned earlier, productivity is a balanced combination of both. Effectiveness involves the big picture. Putting effectiveness first just means that you should first and foremost focus on doing the right things in order to improve your chances of getting a good outcome. Once you get yourself on track and laid out the basics, you can then look into how you can improve the way you do things. The logic here is to concentrate on being efficient at the tasks which are significant and are effective in contributing to your goals. There’s no point in particularly efficient when the tasks you carry out do not contribute to your purpose and goals. To sum things up : efficiency is a modifier for effectiveness, not a substitute. Efficiency is meaningless on its own. The problem with most people is that they tend to gravitate towards efficiency, rather than effectiveness. It is perfectly understandable - being efficient is a whole lot easier than being effective. Being efficient involves improvements on a smaller, more manageable scale; effectiveness however requires a whole lot of brainstorming about one’s goals, values and different approaches, on a larger scale. And that is intimidating. Not only that, people who put efficiency before effectiveness have this tendency of looking for better and perfect ways of doing things, and head nowhere instead - which ironically, leads to ineffectiveness.

Increasing Effectiveness So how does one increase their effectiveness? Put some time aside to evaluate these few things : ? Clarify the What- focusing on the results you want to achieve and defining the picture of success. ? Clarify and pursue key strategies that will give you the highest possibility for success. Now that you’ve established your plan of action, you can focus on how to increase your efficiency. This would mean concentrating on the How’s - implementation of your strategies in the most efficient way possible, and improving how you do things as you go along.

In the coming chapters, we will look into further detail on this, as well as many other helpful tips that will skyrocket your productivity to optimum levels.

Chapter 2 : Results - Fast Lane To Success To embark on a major journey, you should first have a real idea of your destination. This way, you’ll be able to plan adequately for your journey - directions, mode of transport, estimated costs, time, etc. Skip that, and you’d end up wandering aimlessly. Or find yourself lost somewhere in middle of Timbuktu. Sure, you’re on a journey alright...but where? Similarly, when it comes to planning for your success, you will need a “destination” and a “roadmap”. That would be a clear vision of what you want, and specific goals to help you on your way to achieve your idea of success.

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Introduction

In this world, you’re either GROWING or you’re DYING… There's no middle ground. If you're standing still with zero progress, you're decaying. The same goes for success. It requires you to engage in the process of your personal growth at all times. And of all the things in life, what you believe about yourself can impact your success or failure.

People who believe that their abilities can be improved through their hard work and dedication typically move ahead and take action without coming up with excuses. These same people also demonstrate an open mind, are willing to learn and have been seen as most successful in different aspects of their life. So how do they do it?
This book will tell you how. You will see that the mind is the ultimate force to get you where you want to go but you need to harness its power correctly. How can you do that? Let’s find out together.

Chapter 1

What is Mindset?

The mind is a very powerful tool and it ultimately determines who you are as a person. Also known as mindset, this thinking pattern or your frame of mind impacts how you make sense of the world as well as of yourself.

So in other words, a mindset is a set of beliefs and thoughts which influence the way you handle any given situation. It pretty much dictates your personality helping you sort out what’s going on around you and what you should do about it.

How Mindsets Are Formed

Since time immemorial, people have thought, acted and fared differently from one another. For the most part, common sense dictates that these differences arise from the variances in one’s background, learning experiences and training. Plus, research also points in the same direction.

So while experiences, backgrounds and training are all external variables, even internal variables like genetic makeup have a part to play.

Most experts today agree that forming a mindset is a combination of the two. For instance, while everyone comes with a unique set of genetics, their experiences, training and personal efforts take them the rest of the way.

So your life experiences and genetics together help frame your attitude and beliefs. And since both have an important part to play in your mindset, it helps to know what these two factors are all about.

First off, your attitude to something is how you think or feel about it, especially when it shows in the way you behave.

Your attitude can have different components such as an emotional component or how something or someone makes you feel. Then there is the cognitive component which is how or what you think about the subject. This is finally followed by the behavioral component which shows how you behave when confronted by the subject.

Then there are your beliefs which are merely feelings of certainty about something. Beliefs are based on ideas and when at a specific point, these ideas start to feel certain, they turn into beliefs. Beliefs, in turn shape your attitude which in turn shape your mindset.

Attitudes and beliefs then give rise to habits which are a direct reflection of your mindset.

Perhaps the most common and well known example of a mindset is seeing the glass as “half empty” or “half full”.

Types Of Mindsets

There are different types of mindsets that can either help you unleash your best or contain your potential. There could be a long list of these but here are a few which have been backed by research. Here’s a quick glance at the following:

Abundance Mindset vs Scarcity Mindset

The way you view abundance or scarcity in different aspects of life greatly influences your success in life, For instance, imagine that two people are walking down the street. They are talking to each other, laughing, joking and all the while breathing in and breathing out.

Now do you think that one of the two might worry that there may not be enough oxygen for the both of them? Likely not, since air is abundant.

Now place the same two people scuba diving where one’s tank starts to malfunction. That person signals the need for oxygen and suddenly the air around them becomes a precious commodity.

This scarcity could easily make the two worry with a concern that what if there isn’t enough oxygen for the both of them?

For the most part, the general population seems to be more inclined towards a scarcity mentality. They often view life as having only so much and if they had to share, there wouldn’t be enough for them.

This sad mentality makes it very hard for such people to share anything including credit, recognition, responsibility or even authority with others. Instead they only end up competing for available resources even when there may be an abundance of them.

On the other hand, those with an abundance mentality are not limited by this thinking pattern. Instead of seeing opportunity as limited, they strive to create more opportunity for themselves and embrace change instead of fearing it.

To sum up, a person with a scarcity mindset chooses negative thoughts and adopts a victim mentality. At best, their everyday focus is on all the things that may not be working.

But others with an abundance mindset tend to put all their energy reserves into what is working and see endless possibilities to improve their current situation.