Time Can Not Be Managed, But....

How many time management books are there in this world? I checked with Amazon in 2003 and found 5086 listings. So, I was interested today to find that Amazon now has 92,551 books alone on the topic! Have we become more desperate? Are more people making there living from telling us how to manage time because we just don’t do it?

I say time cannot be managed and, it’s true. There is nothing to manage. You cannot file it, store it, save it, reduce it or manipulate it in any way. You cannot hold it in your hand. All these authors are not telling us how to manage our time, they are giving us ideas, suggests and inspiration for managing ourselves!

Once my daughter asked me to write something that explains the basis of my work as a speaker, coach and author. I wrote this,

"What is important is simple: Know what you value and invest your time accordingly. This is integrity and it will bring you peace."

I could easily have added "....and it will bring you power, passion, purpose, progress...and cash!"

As the world would have us heat up to the idea of scarcity, lack, limitation, reduction, constriction and loss, are we likely to get our knickers in a twist over time as well? We’re in a time when the media, marketers, big business and the governments would like us to accept that things are scarce, particularly money and the opportunity to make it, right? Whatever your beliefs, you’ll decide if that idea is worth engaging your time, attention and life energy in. But, no matter what your beliefs, you will recognize that the purpose of all this gloom and doom is incite fear. If you are finding your shoulders living somewhere close to your earlobes, they may have gotten to you!

However, time is a valuable commodity.

First of all, they are not making any more.
Second, you choose how to use what you have.
Third, it is best invested, not just spent.

I had a client who loved order and organization, every pen in its place, every file label printed and spaced identically in its color-coded file. A vision of perfection when the file drawer opened. Now, to her, it was a natural and necessary as breathing. She did it automatically.

Another client believed in the “piles rather than files” systems and spent hours looking for things she KNEW she had. Organization was not a priority, even though she got frustrated in her searches when time was limited. Not frustrated enough, though, to consider a different filing system.

It's great to be a self-starter...but what are you starting?

Different uses of time because they have different core values. Although they would tear each other’s hair out if they had to share an office, both are happy with their own systems. (This is a big deal about to understand about yourself, your values and the contribution you are hard-wired to make! You can learn about it and how it can help you immediately at CoreValuesProfile.com.

I believe most folks spend their time getting ready to get ready. I know from my personal experience—fortunately years ago--that it was true for me. Long days, short nights and what was I doing? Getting ready to get ready! That's when you find things that fill your day and make you busy but fail to make you productive!

Oh, yes, those things sounded great when I regaled any listener with my busy days. I sounded successful! But what was I really doing

that made real progress in my business or my life?

That great philosopher, Anonymous, told the truth when she said: "In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to daily acts of trivia."

We make lists and tidy desks, organize filing cabinets and have long chats with colleagues. We research, gather information (even print it out), network, take teleseminars and classes. It can all be right on task, or, it can be a way to fool ourselves into thinking we’re making progress when we are just mired in activity. We say to ourselves:

“As soon as my desk is clean, my garage organized, my thank you notes written, and I’ve lost a hundred pounds, then, I’ll be able to focus and be successful. (Or, find the right relationship. Or, make money. Or, start exercising. Or, ______. ”

Does that sound at all familiar? Are you getting ready to get ready?

Nike has been giving us the good news for a long time: Just Do It! We often put off what scares us or, at a minimum, makes us feel uncomfortable. That doesn't matter if those things are cold calls or treadmills, either. If you know something is good for you or your business, Just Do It!

It's great to be a self-starter. But, what are you starting? It's time for an honest look. Are you getting ready to get ready? How long have you been preparing? When are you going to start?

What if you would not be able to eat another bite of food until you made the money to pay for it? What would be your first action? You would not spend any more time than necessary to get ready. You would take action. Then, when that need was taken care of you, would take a moment to plan your next action step. David Allen, the remarkable productivity guru, wrote

"...you actually can't do a project-you can do only action steps."

We exhaust ourselves with the idea of a whole project when all we need to do is to figure out the next necessary action step that will move us to the result we want.

Are you afraid to be successful? Many people are. I believe this is what holds us back from achieving our great ideas: We won't know who we are when we have done what we said we want to do. We are afraid of losing our identities.

Right now, you might be the person who is going to write a book. Everyone knows that about you. Who do you become when you HAVE written a book? (Shudder) Now, you have to be a marketer, a distributor, a presenter...or, even, a famous person. Now, that's a shift of identity. Are you ready? Or, do you prefer just talking about it? Big decision.

Ambrose Redmoon said: "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

These days, when news report is aimed at upping your personal fear factor, will you make the decision to be courageous? What is more important than fear to you?

Manage yourself, your time, your priorities and your thoughts to accomplish it right now. Time can't be managed, but you can!

© Rhoberta Shaler, PhD All rights reserved worldwide.

Dr. Rhoberta Shaler is the author of Wrestling Rhinos: Conquering Conflict in the Wilds of Work and founder of the Optimize Institute and WorkplacePeopleSkills.com. A well-respected psychologist, speaker, consultant and coach, she works with organizations that know their people are their top resource, and with enlightened leaders who know that building relationships must be a top priority. They know that working with Dr. Shaler creates right-sized, high-performance teams that are consistently effective and profitable--especially in a troubled economy.

Author of more than two dozen books and audio programs, Dr. Shaler offers cost-saving professional development through training delivered both in person and on the telephone. Call Dr. Shaler now and optimize your success. Visit www.OptimizeInstitute.com and subscribe to her Rhino Wrestler ezine.

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