Successful time management is about more than meeting deadlines: it is about freeing up psychological space to be creative. When you’re given a tight deadline, do you achieve more in less time? Executive coach Dale Williams grapples with the mysteries of time, and how it features in business success, in his latest blog for Biznewz.
For many of us, understanding time is a bit like trying to come to terms with infinity: it is one of those messy concepts that serves as a reminder of the limitations of human intellect. Although the seconds, minutes and hours are fixed quantities, how we experience time seems to depend on a range of factors – not least of all what we are doing when we reflect on its nature. Dale, however, has managed to put time in an interesting box. – JC
By Dale Williams*
All time is not created equal, says “Time flies”, may be one of the most cliched sayings we use.
My physiotherapist on a visit this afternoon said, “I can’t believe it is already October.”
My father regularly shakes his head in dismay that another year has passed.
I remember my childhood friend Carol asking her mother, ‘Which corner?’ after being told that Christmas was just around the corner. Everyone laughed at the naivety of a child thinking about time in a way different to months, weeks, hours and minutes.
But is it really naive? Is time really fixed or can we think about time in ways other than what the clock tells us?
Here are some challenging thoughts about time:
- Why do some events feel like they have flown past while others last an eternity even though they have taken similar amounts of time?
- How come when we really decide to do something like go to gym regularly, the time opens up and we manage it even though it felt impossible before?
- Why do tax returns take longer to fill out than visa applications for a desired holiday?
- Why does the first day away on holiday feel so timeless and the last day before we leave feel so lacking in enough time?
- Does time really go slower when we are anxiously awaiting something?
- Or more specifically, does a watched kettle really never boil?
Author Bondil Jonsson observes how the arrival of measured, accurate timekeeping became first our tool, and then our master.
As with everything we all have a relationship with time. Some are better than others. Is time our friend or our enemy?
Can time be used masterfully? For many business people, the constraint of time drives us to achieve more in less. Conversely creating open space, time with no expectations, allows creativity to be fuelled.
With time maybe it is a case of friends close and enemies closer?
*Dale Williams blogs weekly in the connectedblog exploring examples that arise from the work he does helping clients create better strategies for themselves and their business. More about Dale at www.connecteddale.com.
For more by Dale Williams, read:
Why business education doesn’t make the grade – strategic thinking expert
Why do we assume people like Oscar Pistorius and Barack Obama are automatically good?
