Managing time is one thing everyone seems to have issues with throughout their life. “I just didn’t have time….” is such a common mantra.
When time is of essence we know we need to prioritise, however do we? Really? Often people tend to go round and round in circles to work out what they need to do. The situation is always exacerbated whenever workload increases. When, all of a sudden, you have a mountain of work to do, and you resort to: time management. You look at your to-do list and contemplate what should be done, can be dumped, put off till next week, or delegated … You know, all the stuff we learn in time management courses. Sometimes you need a different solution; a solution that will bring you back and ground you. When in that whirlwind stage you need to stop…and realise that sometimes, we don’t need time management. What we need is attention management.
Do one thing at time, and give it your full attention.
Be aware of what you are doing, or who you are speaking to, take notes if need be and remember to review them to make sure actions are made.
Finally when in a panic about the amount of work you simply must get done, remember to breathe, stop and think about your breathing, use your diaphragm (it raises levels of awareness when done deeply enough).