Manage Your Time or Master It?

Posted 06 March 2012 in Leadership

Maybe. Say goodbye to that new time management system you were about to implement -- you know, the one you haven't found time for yet. You don't need it.

Time Mastery is in.

What is Time Mastery?
According to John Clemens and Scott Dalrymple, authors of Time Mastery: How Temporal Intelligence Will Make You a Stronger, More Effective Leader, Time Management emphasizes managing time via clocks and calendars, while Time Mastery provides a more intuitive perception of what "time" is: time is not static or inflexible but rather, dynamic and relative.

Time Management focuses on time. Time Mastery focuses on tasks. Time Management is like boxing, meeting a force (time) head on with an opposing force (your schedule). Time Mastery is like judo, where one "gives way" to time by focusing on a desired result.

Performing Mental Judo

1. Slow down to go faster. It's about taking action AND letting go. Ever been involved in a quick decision that's led to a poor result simply by rigidly adhering to an artificial deadline? With Mastery, you ask more questions and do more research before making hasty decisions. Think of music -- it's as much about the pause between the notes as the notes themselves.
2. Accept the time managers on your team (so you don't have to be one). Time Mastery isn't about forsaking Time Management altogether. It's about acknowledging everyone's different sense of urgency when it comes to perception of time. Let your time managers focus on the deadline while you focus on the tasks.
3. Beat the clock by letting it win. We don't control time. Instead of focusing on a deadline for a project or event, focus on the event itself. Have you ever been tardy for a deadline only to deliver results that knocked their socks off? Be prepared to suggest a deadline change if you can see extra time will make a difference to the end result.
4. The great reframe. You can fume at the stopped traffic for making you late for your meeting OR you could use that time to visualize a solution to a pressing work problem. Will you be remembered for being late or for being the genius that discovered a solution no one else thought of?
   There are plenty of benefits to implementing Time Mastery - think of the time you'll save not having to start that new time management system!