The Time Management: Myths

Myth No 1    

“People need a “Personal organizer” or other time management system to get organized”.

People are not organized because they use a time management system.  They use a time management system because they are organized.

Personal organization involves breaking old habits and forming new effective ones. It is a state of mind as opposed to a state of the office.

Some people are more organized using a five rupee steno pad, than others are using a 500 rupee organizer.

Myth No 2    

“Time Management involves getting more done in less time”.

Effective time management actually refers to getting done fewer things of greater importance.

We cannot possibly do everything we want to do or all the things that there are to do.

But if we practice what there is to do, and focus on completing the priorities to the exclusion of everything else, we will be more effective.

Myth No 3    

“A quiet Hour” is a great time management tool”.

There is no such thing as a quiet hour.  It is a figment of time management under imagination.

We can reduce interruptions, but never eliminate them. To be effective we must learn to work in spite of the interruptions.

Frequently, interruptions are not time wasters but opportunities arriving at inopportune time.

Myth No 4    

“To do list helps gets things done”. 

 “To do” lists do nothing to further a project or task.  They simply remind us that they are not done yet.  Scheduling time in your planners, as appointment with yourself, to work on the tasks helps get them done. 

 “To do” lists are merely intentions; scheduled blocks of time are commitments.

Myth No 5    

“We can manage time”

We cannot manage time nor can we save it, time ticks away relentlessly in spite of our efforts to control it.

We are provided with 24 hours of time. Each day to use as we like. The key is in, how we use that time.

We ca can use it wisely or we can waste it but we can never save it.  At the end of the day it’s gone.

Myth No 6    

“We should have one planner for the office and a separate planner for the home”.

We should have one planner, period.

We are only one person sharing our lives with people and activities at work, at home, at school, etc. Since we have only one life we should only have one planner.

Both business and personal activities should be scheduled in the same planner so business activities don’t take precedence over personal and family activities.

Myth No 7    

“It is more efficient to stick to one task until it is completed”.

It may be more effective but it’s not more effective, for seldom will you have time to finish it.

It’s more effective to break large projects into small one or two hour chunks and work at them for a brief period each day. 

Working on priorities involves frequent brief sprints not occasional marathons.

Myth No 8    

“The biggest time waster’s include telephone interruptions,visitors, meetings and rush jobs”.

These are not time wasters, these are time obligators they come with the job.

The biggest time wasters are self imposed, such as procrastination, making mental notes, interrupting ourselves, searching for things, perfectionism, and spending time on trivial tasks.

We are our own worst enemies. Being effective involves managing ourselves, not placing the blame on others.

Myth No 9    

Keeping a time log to determine where your time is going is the place to start.

A time log should be done last, not first.  All we need is more paperwork and interruptions when we are already inundated with them.  We should get organized first , adopt effective habits, schedule time properly put into practice time reducing techniques and procedures and once we have the time, keep a time log to effect further refinements.

Myth No 10  

“Time is money”  

Time is more than money. “Its life”

You can always get more money but you can never get more time.

It’s an irreplaceable resource when time is gone, you are gone.