In 2Time, a While Belt has the honor of being the “lowest” belt, in the sense that a user at this level is just starting out on the journey of developing their own time management system, and still has the habit of trying to rely on their memory, versus using a conscious system.
Most of the professionals who have taken the NewHabits-NewGoals and MyTimeDesign programs based on 2Time discover that they are White Belts, due in part to the rigorous standard that must be accomplished to attain the higer belts. In these programmes, there is an important idea — that each of 11 fundamental practices can be evaluated separately. A composite picture can be created by pulling together the scores that a user gives himself in each discipline.
It’s not too different from looking at the composite scores of a baseball player who can be evaluated by their RBI’s, Home Runs, Batting Percentage, etc. A batter might be great in one statistic but lousy in the others, reducing their overall effectiveness.
In 2Time, professionals are advised to give themselves the lowest belt level they find when they do their personal evaluation.
At the same time, there some easy ways to tell that a professional is operating at a white belt, or novice level,
instead of analyzing the disciplines.
White Belts have one or more of the following: A high number of unread items in Email Inboxes
- Missed appointments
- Often having to say “Sorry, I didn’t remember”
- A Voice-mail Inbox that is consistently full
- Frequent mad scrambles to find lost information stored on paper
- Key information that is stored electronically is not consistently backed up
A White Belt is not someone who lacks for willpower or good intentions. As a professional, they may have a simple job that
requires no more than White Belt skills.
However, White Belt users need to be aware that their skills may not allow them to progress to bigger projects, greater
responsibilities and promotions up the corporate ladder. They might not have the capacity to start a business in their spare time or conduct an effective exercise program.
It’s not an indictment on them per se, but it is indicative of what is needed to accomplish higher performance.
After all, Little League baseball is not Major League baseball, and it shouldn’t be. In like manner, time management for hourly workers is not the same as time management for executives, and anyone who aspires to high performance in their career will be faced with those moments when their time management system needs an upgrade. For those who are successful, it will probably happen several times in their careers – an occasion that requires them to develop a new time management system in order to accomplish their new goals.