[GROW-2] About “time management”

So, this series is about one thing: Making the most headway with your blog and business… in the shortest amount of time.

But, what is this thing called time? How does one manage their time?

Do you mind if I get a wee bit philosophical here for a bit? You cool with that? 🙂

Cool, cuz here we go…

See, time isn’t really a thing. It is nothing but a viewpoint. It is an idea.

Things move around. We view it. We consider that something happened and hence time is created. We created that time ourselves by observing and considering that we did so.

And then others do that, too. We all get together and we agree that we all saw the same thing. We come up with agreements on what we viewed. We find ways to measure it. Clocks, calendars… all that stuff. Until that point comes where we all sorta forgot that, in the end, it is little more than our viewpoint.

If you don’t think so, consider animals like the turtle… or the hummingbird. The turtle is super slow at everything, from OUR viewpoint. From the turtle’s viewpoint, it is normal. To us, the hummingbird looks like it is zipping around at a million miles an hour! But, that’s normal speed to the bird. To that bird, it likely looks like we’re moving around like molasses.

Pardon me while a “super slo mo” scene from Ace Ventura crosses my mind. 😉

Anyway…

It is the same reason why we have such a hard time catching a common house fly with our hands. It usually sees you coming from a mile away because it’s viewpoint of space is different. Time is different.

So, what does ANY of this have to do with us and our productivity?

All of us, as humans, have the same 24 hours per day. The same 7 days per week. But, yet, we all have known people who seem to get quite a lot done with that time and we wonder how the heck they possibly do it all! On the flip side, you’ve likely known people who seem to barely get anything done with their time and you wonder what the heck they did all day!

Sometimes, it is just laziness. Other times, it is really a matter of viewpoint.

A really busy person who is used to a high level of activity probably doesn’t consider that they’re highly active. To them, it is normal. To others, they seem superhuman.

It is like an inner metronome, setting a certain rhythm with each of us. For some, the metronome runs faster. Others, it runs slower.

Good thing is, you have some control over the speed of your inner metronome. You probably remember times in your life where you were “in the zone”. Where you felt like you were getting a lot done in a short amount of time.

For me, I find this happens alot before I’m going on vacation. 🙂 I see that deadline there where we’re planning to leave, but in the days before it I am just ON FIRE with productivity! Getting posts prepped and scheduled, email campaigns ready to roll when I’m gone and more. I’ve even joked that I could increase my productivity by working less and going on vacation more!

But, is it really a joke? 🙂

Not really.

Because, one of the best ways to speed up your inner metronome is to reduce the amount of time you have to get something done. Set a deadline, make it real. Make it a wee bit challenging, even. And then make a game out of getting it done by the deadline.

It is kind of like an athlete looking to train for a race. Over time, he trains himself through incremental improvement until at some point he is up to a speed to compete. His (or her) perception of his skills the year before are seen in a whole new (slower) light and he’d have a hard time imagining it anymore. But, it was achieved through baby steps.

We can do the same thing. By setting a deadline for some task in our businesses that is a little bit challenging and then making a game out of achieving it, we can work on speeding up. Do it over time like practice. In baby steps. Over time, your deadlines might be a little more challenging. More than likely, your perception of what seems challenging will change, too. 🙂

But, through this process, you’re changing your perception of time. You’re becoming more like a hummingbird.

Combine that with what we discussed yesterday about knowing what DONE looks like, and you can definitely move the needle in your business faster.

Ya getting it? 🙂

Cool.

Tomorrow, I’m going to talk about another way to make more time. Much more direct than just shifting how you look at it. 🙂

But, until then…

Find a task that you need to get done today. How long would it usually take you? OK… now set a deadline for yourself which is just a little bit sooner than that. Make it doable, but a little challenging. Then, GO FOR IT.

Get some practice, and start making a shift to your inner rhythm.

See ya mañana.

– David