Time Management Workshops – a waste of time or an investment?
I’m blessed to be able to travel the country and present time management workshops. When meeting planners approach me about planning a time management workshop, they inevitably ask how much time I’ll need. My standard answer is, “My preference is a minimum of two hours. What I’d actually love, however, is a two-hour workshop in the morning, followed by consults with five to seven individuals who’ve volunteered, ending with a wrap-up group Q&A at the end of the day.”
A meeting planner’s typical response to that is, “We don’t have time for that!”
Ironically, the folks who say that they don’t have time for a time management workshop are usually the ones who need it the most. But they see taking time out for a lesson about time management as a loss of time – instead of an investment in more time.
During my time management workshops, we discuss time tracking. After all, if you don’t know where your time goes, how can you tell your time what to do? Many of my clients initially see time tracking as a waste of time. They’ll say things like, “Why would I want to spend 15 minutes at the end of each day journaling how I’ve used my time? I need those 15 minutes to do other things.”
Other things? Like…procrastinate…play on social media, go down a rabbit hole for twenty minutes on an unnecessary Internet search, shoot the breeze for 30 minutes longer than necessary, stare at the ceiling…wondering what to do next.
When my clients finally agree to track their time, it is life-changing. They’re able to discover where and how their time has been leaking. You see, they haven’t lost time via Niagara Falls or a Yosemite geyser – all at once in an obvious large chunk. Time is usually lost like little drops from a leaky faucet…a few minutes here, a few minutes there, but adding up to a heap of trouble if it keeps happening.
When I share this information with event planners, the forward-thinking ones get it and agree to at least the two-hour option. The ones who just want to check an item on their list that they’ve booked a workshop on the topic that the boss wants, book a one-hour lunch and learn workshop.
By learning strategies either through time management workshops or books, you’re investing in yourself – not losing time. How much time will you invest in yourself today?
