The pervasive impression that there is never sufficient time contributes significantly to the stress experienced by many people. As a response, many of us have turned to managing our time better. To be “more efficient,” we try to cram one-hour meetings into half-hour sprints. Alternatively, we try to fit smaller tasks into gaps in our calendar to reduce the amount of time that is wasted. Despite this, managing our time effectively frequently adds to the stress we are already under rather than relieving it. When we increase our productivity, we make room for even more responsibilities, which results in a heightened sense of urgency. When we are experiencing feelings of being overwhelmed, it is in our best interest to address the underlying causes, which include the sheer volume of tasks, decisions, and distractions. Time Management is and Illusion.
The Fallacy Behind Effective Time Management
An interesting natural experiment that illustrates the paradox of time management was made possible due to the transition to remote work after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. People report that working from home saves them more than three-quarters of their time, typically related to commuting and business travel. About half of remote workers report that they are more productive.
Despite these self-reported time savings and productivity gains, enterprise software firm Atlassian data shows that the average workday has expanded by 30 minutes globally. Time Management is and Illusion. This is the opposite of what we expect to see if people use their time more productively since they are reporting saving more time. The fact that the additional thirty minutes of work have primarily come at the expense of what usually is leisure time in the evening is a further complication of the issue.
Time management gives us the hope that if we become more efficient, we will be able to make room in our schedules for all of our responsibilities without feeling overwhelmed. Time management, on the other hand, is analogous to digging a hole at the beach: the larger the hole, the more water will rush in to fill it once it is created. In a world with the potential for infinite demands, when you clear an hour off of your schedule, it is the equivalent of sending up a signal flare announcing that you are able to participate in another endeavor or take on additional responsibility.
However, this is not to suggest that effective time management is without value. Productivity is an essential factor. But in a world where burnout is at epidemic proportions, we also need strategies for reducing the volume of work rather than just finding ways to accommodate it. There are three different routes out of the maze that you can take.
- Decrease the Total Amount of Work to Be Done – Time Management is and Illusion.
To-dos are a representation of an agreement, such as “I’ll take care of updating the budget for the meeting next week,” “I’ll pick up something for dinner on the way home,” or “I’ll send you the updated PowerPoint deck later tonight.”
As soon as a deal has been struck, the pressure to come through with what was promised begins to mount. If we are forced to violate the agreement or renegotiate its terms, we will face the additional stress of a difficult conversation and the guilt that comes with letting someone down. Holding the line at the beginning can help relieve the stress caused by the volume of work by preventing you from having to renegotiate later. Your ability to hold the line will vary depending on whether the majority of the items on your list of things to do are tasks that have been given to you or tasks that you have chosen to take on.
Regarding the tasks delegated to you, you should think about priorities rather than time. If a superior asks you to do something, it may seem rude to respond, “I don’t have time for that,” especially if the request is reasonable. Consider instead posing the following question: “Where would you like me to prioritize this in comparison to x, y, and z?” This serves two purposes at the same time. To begin, the superior is the one who is responsible for setting the priorities, not you. Second, it transforms the conversation from a simple yes-or-no choice into a roundtable discussion about the issues that should be prioritized.
Create time slots in your calendar for any additional responsibilities you might take on. We are often our worst enemies because we have unrealistic expectations regarding our capabilities. When we examine our schedule and notice that there is still some daylight left, we think, “Okay, I should probably be able to finish this by Friday.” The following Friday arrives, and we are required to renegotiate the terms of the agreement.
The problem is that your calendar typically only displays the claims on your time that involve synchronous work, which is work that you perform with other people at the same time that they do. Examples of synchronous work include meetings, phone calls, coffee chats, and other activities. Your to-do list is a parallel list of agreements with other people for asynchronous work, defined as tasks you perform on your own and not in real-time with other people. This work has a claim on your time. What is the answer? Combine your agenda and list of things to do by allocating specific amounts of time on your calendar for each item. Before agreeing to take on additional responsibilities, it is important to understand your current capacity accurately by gathering comprehensive information regarding the commitments you have already made.
- Substitute the Use of Principles for Decisions – Time Management is and Illusion.
The previous year was marked by a never-ending procession of decisions, the most important of which was, Should I enroll my children in school? Do you mind if I see my parents? Should we return to the office now, or is it too dangerous? Scientists refer to the phenomenon known as cognitive overload, which occurs when the demands of the mental work we need to do exceed our abilities to cope. Constantly being forced to make decisions with significant repercussions and limited information can lead to this condition. Overloading your brain with too much knowledge makes it more likely that you will make mistakes and significantly contributes to the sensation of being overwhelmed.
You can start to lessen the strain on your brain by exchanging decision-making with adherence to absolute principles. For instance, the science behind weight loss management tells us that it is much more effective to say, “I won’t eat after 7 p.m.” than “I’ll limit my snacking after 7 p.m.” This is because “I won’t eat after 7 p.m.” The second option leads to an endless number of decisions in the future, such as “Can I have this cup of yogurt?” What about some fresh fruit to snack on?” The door is closed for good thanks to the unbreakable rule that food should not be consumed after 7 p.m. The choices are no longer available.
Successful author and podcaster Tim Ferriss refers to this as “finding the one decision that removes 100 decisions.” Ferriss would have to commit to not reading any recently published books in 2020. This overarching principle liberated him from making hundreds of decisions on a book-by-book basis after spending years being inundated with requests from eager authors and their publicists to read, review, or blurb dozens of new or forthcoming books each week.
It is well known that Steve Jobs always decided to wear the same outfit to spare himself the mental strain of selecting an outfit each morning. The rule that there are to be no meetings on Fridays was instituted by Jon Mackey, who serves as the managing director of the Canadian operations executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. After realizing that he was unable to protect time for deep work by making individual decisions regarding which meetings to accept or reject, he devised a plan to set aside one day per week during which he would be able to concentrate.
- To reduce the number of interruptions in your day, rely on structure rather than sheer force of will. – Time Management is and Illusion.
We are prevented from completing our tasks and making the most important decisions when we are distracted. Because they prevent us from perceiving that we are making headway against the factors that are causing the pressure, distractions are one of the most corrosive factors that contribute to feeling overwhelmed.
You are pitting yourself against an army of our generation’s most brilliant minds whenever you try to use your willpower to shut out distractions such as social media. They are intently concentrating on finding ways to take advantage of what Facebook’s founding President, Sean Parker, refers to as “vulnerabilities in human psychology” to appropriate some of your attention for themselves. When it comes to avoiding distractions, the structure is always more effective than willpower.
When they need to concentrate, I’ve noticed that several business leaders I’ve collaborated with turn off the wireless connection on their laptops for set periods of the day. Others have established standing 30-minute sessions during which team members are free to drop in at any time to get answers to questions and receive guidance. Because of this, the number of people who approach me throughout the day and ask, “Can I grab you for five minutes?” has significantly decreased.
When Cathy Engelbert was Deloitte’s CEO, she abolished scheduling back-to-back meetings. Instead, she instructed her assistant to leave SMORs, which stand for small moments of reflection, at ten-minute intervals. Because she took this brief time to recover, she could avoid becoming distracted at the end of meetings by what would come up next or by carrying over information from the previous session into the current one.
None of these situations is the answer to becoming more efficient in dealing with increased responsibilities, choices, or distractions. Simplify is the unquestionable requirement. You should cut down on the number of tasks you take, replace decisions with guiding principles, and establish a structure to eliminate distractions. Time Management is and Illusion.
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