There has been so much written about time management. Even though it is actually a futile quest to try to manage time. However, the concept of ‘Time Management’ is well known, and makes for a good keyword.
Basically ‘Time Management’ is part of the quest of 21st Century educated people to fit an ever increasing number of options into a stubbornly finite amount of time each day, week, year and lifetime.
One of the main areas where people feel the pressure of limits is in their relationship with time.
There are many helpful things to take into account around time management. This includes: learning to set clear priorities; making decisions based on deeply held core values, and becoming disciplined around a personal organisational system.
Yet for all the training, teaching, books, articles and technological tools on time management this issue still frustrates many people.
There is no one size fits all approach time management.
How one person assesses what is a realistic ‘TO DO” list for a given time-frame will depend a lot on their personality. Understanding your personality type will enable you to find the most effective time management approach for you.
Vive la difference!
The Extended DISC Personality Profile starts with 4 basic personality types, D. I. S. and C. It then breaks the original 4 into more than 160 variations. Some examples of differences include:
- Some people are great at working through a list of relatively mundane tasks staying focused until they are all done (C and some S).
- Others will be very good at thinking at a big picture level, making decisions, creating and planning, yet will struggle to stay focused on the more mundane tasks necessary to implement. Such people are often better to attempt details in short bursts or better still delegate them to an assistant (D).
- Still others thrive best with lots of variety in their day where they get a few tasks done, make some phone calls, then meet with people for a mix of marketing, sales and networking (I).
- Some would say they get more done when they work in a team environment (S and I) whereas others much prefer to work alone and undisturbed (C).
The answer to the question, “How does it all fit?” will vary from person to person, depending on personality type.
Extended DISC is the leading personality assessment tool in the marketplace today.
An Extended DISC Personal Analysis Report will give you all the information you need to enable you to establish which time management strategies will be most effective for you.
The Key To Effective Time Management
After many years of struggling with time management, with feelings of failure for not being able to make someone else’s systems work, my humble view is this: You can have all the personal management tools, go to courses, read all the books and try out everyone else’s systems; however, the key to effective time management and increased productivity for YOU will only emerge out of a clear understanding of your personality.
Great post John, I have a love hate relationship with time and I know learning more about myself through EDISC has been really helpful to understanding how I work with time.
Totally agree Jo. EDISC has helped me to know more about myself in order to manage myself better, and also is such a helpful tool for helping others in my mentoring work. I hope you and time sort out your relationship soon.