On Saturday, the Guardian magazine ran a series of articles aimed at ‘sorting your life out’. My initial impression was “Well, I don’t need any of this, I’m doing fine!” but as I thumbed through the topics, it soon dawned on me that some of the ideas in there were really good ones, that I’d had already but not really followed through on – like using Evernote to sync all my thoughts between places – really useful so that you’ve got info to hand wherever you are.
However, I’ve been being mentored at work by a senior member of staff to try and be more reflexive and evaluative about the way I undertake and manage tasks in my life, and one of the pieces that really struck me was on Time Management, where lots of prominent people, like the MP Rory Stewart and others, were sharing information about how they manage their time to make life more productive. There were lots of good ideas in there, including using smartphones, and getting a good night’s sleep. However, what I realised as I was walking the dog through the sunny Cumbrian hills this morning were that all of the tips focused in some way or another on two conflicting ideas needed to pursue goals effectively:
1) People need to make time to allow for undirected, creative thinking
I tend to make time for this a lot – probably a lot more than is healthy. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m prone to wild flights of fancy – thinking about kitchen alteration plans one minute and what I want for Christmas the next. However, I’m a firm believer that this type of thinking, albeit in moderation, is needed. It allows us to make connections in ways that are not intrinsically logical or rational, and allows us to put interesting twists on traditional approaches to problems or issues.
2) People need to be focused to achieve the best they can
Running directly counter to that above, the best results that I have achieved in life are when I’m working flat out towards one goal, even if there are a million and one tasks to micro-manage. Some of examples of this have been preparing Newcastle’s Local Broadband Plan, and it’s recent submission to European Green Capital at work, and at home, getting solar panels fitted (and more recently preparing for our new arrival). In these instances, I’ve made measurable difference in a myriad of ways.
I think that managing the conflict between these two ideas is key to being successful in life, whether it’s running an organisation, or just keeping the wheels of daily life turning smoothly. All of the practices that people normally talk about when describing ‘effective time management’ at interview, such as delegating, prioritising, and putting in extra hours fall out of pursuing the above two ideas – you’re either making space to focus on what’s important, or you’re trying to clear stuff off your desk to have space to think strategically how to act next, and what you need to do differently.
Interestingly, I can think of a number of people who are either in one camp or the other, and few who manage to balance the two well. However, those that do balance them well tend to be those recognised as the achievers – the ones who can be trusted to get the job done and understand what’s required.
So what are the implications for me? Well, to be honest, I think that subconsciously over the past few months I’ve been trying to get at least one of my feet firmly in the ‘focused’ camp – not helped by a lack of certainty in a number of areas but when it’s out of your control you just do the best that you can to seek certainty around you. Will it make a difference? Hopefully, though I’m not expecting any earth-shattering changes. The likelihood is that I’ll become more efficient, but at fewer things, as I spend less time dwelling in the realm of what could be, and more time on making things a reality. Time well spent I’m sure you’ll agree.
