Year: 2009

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Recent Guest-Posts

I have done a bit of writing recently for other websites that I admire, and find interesting.  Here are the most recent publications:

5 Things to Consider Before Investing in a Time Management System

Why Time Management is So Tough

Why We All Need to Upgrade Our Time Management Systems

There are some other articles coming out in the next few weeks so please stay tuned.

I’ve been focusing on trying to say a few things that no-one else is saying. The truth is, I hate reading stuff that’s just rehashed from other places.

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Harvard Business Review Letter

harvard-biz-rvw.jpgI just got word from the editors of Harvard Business Review that a letter I wrote in response to an article on information overload was included in the January-February 2010 edition.

Unfortunately, they don’t carry letters online and it takes ages for my copy to reach Jamaica, so if anyone can confirm its inclusion would you let me know?

Here is  an excerpt of the letter I sent, which I am fairly sure has been edited down to size.

“Death by Information Overload” (September 2009) by Paul Hemp was a well-written and provocative piece that I’m sure had many heads nodding. But I fear that the author did more to inflate a popular complaint than he did to guide readers toward a proper answer.

By the time I finished reading the article, I had the distinct feeling that we were all victims of the proliferation of information, and that we had no choice except to suffer from the “floodgates” of content that were “rush(ing) towards us in countless formats.” Hemp suggested some weak remedies, such as putting in place filtering software or getting others to send fewer messages — actions that hardly seem designed to stem the tide.

I went on to argue that the real problem is one of time management.

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An Experiment with Scheduling

I just stumbled across a post over at Matt Cornell’s blog in which he shares an experiment he performed around the discipline of Scheduling.

For those readers who are familiar with GTD®,  you will notice that he clearly crosses a boundary that that particular system enforces.  The schedule should only be used for items that have “hard edges,” or in other words, cannot be changed easily (e.g. a meeting with your boss at 4pm.)

From a 2Time point of view, this boundary is what separates White Belts from Yellow Belts in time management.  Yellow Belts don’t need elaborate lists that must be checked once a task is complete — they simply set up their calendars to handle most all tasks (while using lists to manage items on a shopping list that don’t require individual time-slots.)

My own opinion is that when David Allen, the author of GTD, wrote his book back in 2000-1, the tools for scheduling were simply too crude to contemplate the kind of schedule that a Yellow Belt maintains.  Today, we have iPods, Blackberries and Palm Pre’s, and they make scheduling a much simpler task, and the job of carrying around a schedule at all times as easy as carrying around a smartphone.

(While I do have issues with the fact that smartphones don’t easily allow users to create scheduled items from individual emails,  I have to think that that capability is coming… the sooner the better!)

Until that happens, visit Matt’s blog to read: Testing the Classics:  A Time Management Experiment: Time Blocking

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A Typo, a Move and Some Lost Habits

istock_000005291546xsmall.jpgI was hardly prepared for so many things to fall apart when I recently moved my home, and by extension, my home-office.

Things came to a head a few minutes ago when I noticed the topic of a post I wrote: “Procrasination Teleseminar.”

At least I didn’t put off fixing the typo until later…

But I did  ask myself why it is that a move is so disruptive, and why so many of my habits developed over the past few years simply dropped out of sight once we started packing

That’s not all that happened to my .

Gargling each morning with peroxide has been shown to reduce incidences of the common cold by almost 30%.

After moving almost two weeks ago, the practice disappeared.  I didn’t even remember that it had now become a habit that I was doing each morning without missing a beat.

It re-appeared only when I discovered the peroxide bottle nestled in one of the boxes marked “bathroom.”

What bothered me in particular was that I had nurtured this habit from the point where it was just an idea, until it grew into a daily ritual.  I used my habit tracker to keep it in front of me each morning, and I rarely forgot to gargle right after bathing in the morning.

That is, until I moved and the whole practice completely dropped out of sight.

Why is this important to time management?

As I have established in prior posts, time management systems are made up of habits.  These repetitive actions are  the atoms of each and every system that humans use to get their lives done each day.

They are tough to learn, yet when they are practiced enough they become second nature and in turn become difficult to change.  I do know that my habits gain a certain neuro-muscular back-bone as they take their place in the group of actions that I take each day without really thinking about them consciously.

What I learned is how that many habits of mine are actually hard-wired into their physical surrounding.  Change the surroundings dramatically, and many habits will simply cease to exist.

Why?

When the physical environment changes, many of the cues that we use to spur us into action are removed.  No prompts, no action.

For example, I had the peroxide for my daily gargle beside my toothbrush, making it easy to remember to use each day.

I had  a desk supporting my habit list for the day written into my Palm Tungsten, and each morning I’d check off the items on the list.

Now, take away the peroxide bottle and the desk and you have a problem.

At the moment I don’t have a clear solution.  All I can do is to give a warning that a physical move can  signal the demise of any time management system.
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Procrastination Article – A Point I Missed

istock_000001479642xsmall.jpgI wrote an article for the StepCase LifeHack website on the topic of procrastination after getting a bit pissed that the word was getting a bad name!

(If you read the article by clicking at the link below you’ll get the lame joke that I just made.)

It’s a serious article, however, on a problem that I think afflicts professionals from White to Green belt levels alike — being hobbled by what they call procrastination.

After writing it, however,  it struck me that I missed one tiny point.

What I didn’t mention are those people who make indefinite commitments without due dates, and instead make vague promises to themselves to do something in the future.  The thing never gets done as a result, or only after they think it “should” have been done.

This is also called “procrastination” but is it really?

I believe it’s also the same kind of mistake that I mention in the article… a real problem with the wrong label.  A better label for this particular problem would be “habits that need to be changed.”  In 2Time language,  it might mean upgrading one’s skills in 3 fundamental disciplines: Capturing, Emptying and Scheduling.

This would solve the problem of putting off vague promises indefinitely.

But how do we get over the problem that has so many saying:  “I procrastinate too much!” ?

The answer is over at the Stepcase Lifehack website in my new article — Click here to  read “Procrastination — NOT a Problem.”

P.S. Sorry for the gap in posts — I have been working hard on MyTimeDesign 2.0 for its January release, and I also moved homes here in Kingston.  Doing both made me procrastinate… in the good way!

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Never Trust Your Time Management System!

I read an interesting post over at the GTD Help blog, and come up with some different conclusions that are perhaps directly opposed to those in the post below.

Here is the link to the post from the GTD Help blog

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Do you REALLY trust your system?As I continue to grow in my use of GTD®, I’m discovering just how important the trust factor with your system can be.  David Allen says that you need to really trust your system for it to work.  You can say you trust it all you want, but that’s irrelevant.  When it comes down to it, a trusted system works and a semi-trusted system doesn’t.

So what does it mean to really trust your system?  I have a few thoughts.

Trust it like a Christian should trust God
You may or may not believe in God, but the point still works.  Andy Stanley gave a great analogy for how a Christian should trust in God.  He held up the stool he was sitting on and said to trust in it.  To trust in the stool means to sit ON it.  Not on the edge.  Not with your feet on the ground a little bit.  On it with your full weight.  You might be nervous at first, but over time you’ll learn to trust the stool completely.

Trust it like you should trust your spouse
If you’ve been married, you can understand this.  Saying you trust your spouse is one thing.  Really trusting your spouse is another.  For a marriage to really work, you need to completely trust in your spouse.

GTD is the same way
If you don’t really trust the system, then you can never have a “mind like water”.  I’ve found that as I’ve learned the system works and I can trust it, anything I put into it is instantly out of my head.  Getting the junk out of your head is the key to focusing on the task at hand, and GTD is a great way to get it done.  Whether you use software, a website, your PDA or just pen and paper, make sure you use a system that you can trust completely.

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Here are my thoughts…

1. Distrust Your System!!!

A time management system should never be trusted to produce the same results over time.  Many things change — technology advances from year to year, people undergo life changes such as promotions, having children, getting married etc.  The time management system you developed and used last year might not work this year given a change in jobs.

We need to be vigilant for the times when our systems need to be overhauled, and always be on the lookout for upgrade possibilities.  (If you have ever met someone who designed a time management system in the 1950’s and is still using it, you’ll understand what I mean.)

2.  Make Sure It’s a System You Can Upgrade

I’d say it’s better to make sure that your system has an upgrade path, otherwise be prepared to be stuck in something like Windows 95.  Thankfully, Microsoft tries (and sometimes succeeds) in putting out good upgrades, and it would be weird for them to announce that they have perfected Windows, and as a result no further upgrades will be required.

If your time management system cannot be upgraded, then you have a real problem.

3.  Understand that Your System is Fallible

While the idea of everyone following the same system in the same way is attractive to some, I imagine that most people aren’t interested in trusting any particular system to the point where they believe that it can’t be improved, or is somehow without shortcomings.

The fact is, time management systems are human creations that were invented to fulfill human needs that only exist in this world.  According to Einstein, time doesn’t even exist as an absolute phenomena, much less the systems that we put together made up of habits, practices and rituals in order to try to manage it.

(Turns out, we can’t really even do that…  See my post on the reasons why “time management” is a misnomer.)

A car is also a man-made system and its performance has little to do with how much we trust, or semi-trust it.

Time management systems are no different.

In a nutshell, it’s a vain person who thinks that his/her time management system is perfect.

 

Mission Control Productivity, FranklinCovey, GTD and Getting Things Done are registered trademarks of the David Allen Company (davidco.com.)  2Time is not affiliated with or endorsed by the David Allen Company, Mission Control Productivity or FranklinCovey.

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The Idea I’m Really Excited By – A Smorgasbord!

What the survey I conducted confirmed for me is a hunch I have had that people need a lot more help in implementing their time management improvements.

Only 5% said No to the question: “If you had the right support system, could you make any change you wanted to your time management system?”

Along with the other survey results I shared earlier, it’s clear to me that people are disheartened at their inability to implement the good ideas they find on their own, or learn in training courses.

What people are looking for is a way to take even the most innocuous tip that they find, and reliably put it into play in their lives.  While the tip/idea might have some merit, it’s only those who are able to test them with actual implementation that are likely to be satisfied.

An important part of a good support system would be one that tells them the truth about the size of the challenge they have undertaken. It would radically increase the odds that they could accomplish their goal.

Also, one of the other findings from the survey is that people are more interested in upgrades, than in entirely new systems.

54% said that their systems were in need of continuous improvement, and 20% said that they were interested in  small improvements.  Furthermore, only 16% said that they were not interested in upgrading their time management system at this point in time.

It made me think that people want a way to preserve the progress they have made with their current time management systems, without a need to throw away the practices and habits they are using.  In other words, they don’t want to hear that their current system is crap, and that they need to chuck it all away in order to make an improvement.

This implies that they need a way to understand their current system, to see where it’s working and where it’s not, so that they can make the upgrades that they want.

This is a big one for me.

You may have noticed a change in my thinking on this blog, as reflected in the language I use to describe what Time Management 2.0 is all about.  In my older posts, I wrote a lot about “creating a time management system.”

Built into my first posts was an assumption that has become more important — knowing your current skill level (i.e. your current belt level) is critical to creating a new system.

What I have made much more obvious is the fact that no-one is starting from scratch, or from zero, so it’s more accurate to use the word “upgrade” than “create.”

This small difference has gotten a lot of positive feedback, as I believe that most people are interested in improving their time management systems, and don’t want to be locked into any one system or another.  Instead they want the freedom to sample different approaches, and choose what they like from each.

A smorgasbord.

This is the very opposite of those who insist that following time management system “XYZ” means marching in a military-like lock-step to its prescribed practices.  They insist that it’s adherents must learn to execute each and every step exactly as it’s designed, following the prescription down to the last letter.

I’m sure that this approach works for some people…

I suspect that most people are interested in getting to the point where they make up their own minds, rather than simply following another person’s opinions.

This is how I read the data that I collected in the survey — am I reading too much into it?
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A Surprising Convergence

air-jordan-retro-7-18.jpgOne of the surprising results of the survey those who sell commercial time management systems are all starting to sound alike, and make things seem too easy.

Only 24% disagreed with the statement “most commercial time management systems are essentially saying the same things.”

This made me think that there is some convergence happening between the different systems that are sold, whether it be online, in books or in seminars.  Users apparently come to the learning experience expecting to hear the same old thing they have heard before.

Perhaps this is the natural result of the same ideas being shared back and forth.  As far as I can tell, there has been no breakthrough research in this area, for reasons I have written about before.

The other interesting finding is that some 46% said “No” to the question of whether or not teachers of time management tips, lessons and techniques give an accurate picture of how easy/hard implementation will be?  Only 19% agreed.

This one is understandable, I think.

When someone is trying to sell a particular time management system, the idea is to promise the maximum results possible based on a small investment of time, energy and money.  It’s easy to overstate the benefit and understate the cost.

The fact is, changing habits is difficult, slow work.  However, I don’t think there are too many people who are interested in that approach if they have a  choice.  They’d rather purchase some Air Jordans in order to instantly “be like Mike,” rather than spend the hours in the gym that is required.

To me, this explains the fascination with “time management tips.”  It rests on a hope that big improvements will somehow come from implementing one or two easy, effortless tips.

At the same time, only a small number had the experience of being excited about a time management technique they had learned (9%.)  This makes me think that most people are interested in being more productive, but simply ineffective at making the transition.
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We All Need More Help

0percentfinancing.jpgIt appears that few people have the discipline that’s necessary to implement any time management system, and that they desperately wish they had it.

Based on the short survey that many visitors to my blog completed last week, here are some of the results that respondents reported:

A whopping 68% blamed their failure to implement some piece of their time management system on themselves.

Only 17% attributed it to a lack of support, and only 13% said it was due to the quality of the ideas they were trying to implement.

That’s a LOT of guilt IMHO.

Furthermore, when asked for more details on the cause, 50% said it was due to a lack of discipline, while 18% said that they simply “lost their commitment.”

When asked about their success rate in implementing new techniques,  only 10% reported that they had never failed while 12% said that they had rarely failed.

To sum it all up, the message seems to be that “there’s a lot of failure, the blame is almost all mine and it’s because I’m not disciplined enough to follow through on my commitments.”

I’m also bearing in mind that the kind of people who would come to my blog to answer a time management survey are likely to be the most disciplined and motivated in society, as shown by the response to this question: ” Are you the kind of person who is always looking to take at least one aspect of your life to the next level?”

Some 59% Strongly Agreed,  while those who Disagreed or Strongly Disagreed with the statement totaled exactly 0%!

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A Study of Caribbean Time Management

negril01.jpgAs I have often said, my inspiration for this blog comes from a move I made from Hollywood, Florida, USA to live here in Jamaica.

If you are from outside the Caribbean,  you probably have an impression that the whole idea of living in the Caribbean is that time isn’t an issue at all… “No Problem, Man!”

The fact is that tourists to our region absolutely, definitely want a laid-back stress-less experience.  They want to feel as if time, deadlines and schedules simply don’t matter.

However, there is an irony that I recently explored in a time management course I led in the Bahamas.

Tourists want the experience of being laid-back, but they don’t sloppy execution while they have that experience.

In other words, their time management might go to hell for the 10 days they are on vacation, but they want the restaurant to open up on time, and to have everything on the menu available, and to be fully staffed.

The don’t want to hear that the restaurant is closed because half the staff is stoned, and sitting on a beach somewhere.

This paradox is one that lies at the heart of the Caribbean tourist product, and many visitors are willing to tolerate a bit of slack execution, but not a whole lot.

To put it in 2Time terms, they don’t want to find out that the whole bunch of white belts are running around behind the scenes ruining things for everyone.

With that in mind, I have been tackling the unique challenges we have here in the Caribbean when it comes to time management.

To be honest, this is the kind of stuff  that’s not normally shared far and wide, and some people would rather that I not address issues like the impact that 400 years of slavery has had on our people’s time management.

Nevertheless, I imagine that some would find the article and/or the podcast pretty interesting, as it does give a peek inside a culture that is typically hidden from the world.  While Bob Marley and others have done a great job sharing some aspects of Jamaican culture in particular, many of the hot button issues are things that don’t make it into the music.

Click here to be taken to the article and the podcast “The Problem of Caribbean Time.”

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