Do You Have the Time Management Skills of a Carrot?
A friend of mine sent the image above to me with a note: “Thought of you when I saw this.” Just in case the image doesn’t appear on your device, here’s what it reads (spelling and punctuation as in the picture):
“Embrace what you are
PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE
I’ve got a weeks worth of work to do in 3 hours because I have the time management skills of a carrot.
Thank you.”
I chuckled when I read it. But then I got to thinking:
*Who would test carrots for that?
*Am I the only one who would consider that part of the joke to be literal?
*Does the author mean this truly as a joke or is it a cry for help?
*How many people out there turn their frustrations into self-deprecating humor?
Don’t worry. I didn’t take 10 minutes to ponder all of that. It was one of those instant flash-barrages of questions that can pop into my head when the curiosity part of my brain is tapped.
But it got me to thinking…Anyone in this type of situation – if they are indeed asking for help – is probably feeling that they do not have any control over their situation and are not sure what next step to take.
If you, a colleague or a loved one are experiencing this time management skills conundrum, here are four steps you can take to change your situation:
Track your time.
It might sound dreadful, but it is truly eye opening. You can use an excel spreadsheet, a blank calendar (digital or paper), a Word doc, a sheet of paper, a note in your phone (if you promise not to get distracted by your apps!), etc. When I’ve asked my clients to do this for just one day, recording a few words every 30 minutes about what they’ve done during that period, they all come to the same realization: “I allow time leaks to occur.”
Identify your time leaks.
Time leaks are when you lose time but aren’t consciously aware you’re doing it because you’re either absorbed in the time leak or operating on auto-pilot. A time leak might be popping into your email inbox to check on one detail, and 30 minutes later you’re still scrolling through. Or perhaps you took 10 minutes to set up your desk or screen perfectly before actually starting on a task you’re not looking forward to. A time leak can also be short – a 30-second thought about what you’d like to eat for dinner. What are your time leaks?
Determine your biggest time leak.
It’s difficult to be exact, so don’t worry about perfection, but estimate how much time you lost to these various leaks and determine which leak cost you the most.
Focus on plugging that time leak.
Now that you’ve pinpointed a biggie, focus on that the next day. What brings it on? How can you prevent it? Or if you can’t prevent it, how can you nip it in the bud when it starts?
Tracking your time for just one day will make you aware of how you operate (or don’t operate). When you reach this awareness, this is a huge step forward in improving your time management skills. You begin to exit autopilot and make intentional decisions about how you’ll use your time. From this point, you can build on this awareness and capture more and more of your time back through plugging other time leaks and moving into other strategies and tactics for improving time management skills.
For a step-by-step guide to improving your time management skills, take a peek at The Inefficiency Assassin: Time Management Tactics for Working Smarter, Not Longer.
