Time Management
I
had the privilege to listen to President Bill Clinton, whilst he was visiting
Mumbai. When I looked around in the audience, I wondered what is it that
distinguishes a leader like Mr Clinton from the rest of us sitting in the
audience.
Mr
Clinton has served as President of USA for nearly a decade and prior to that as
Governor of Arkansas. Subsequent to serving in office, he has established the
Clinton Foundation to make a difference in society in areas where he believes
often government is not able to maximize its reach. He flew into India 4 hours
before the talk and was there on the podium engaged and charismatic as ever. He
has evolved with time, whilst being committed to his vision of public service.
“The
common man is not concerned about the passage of time, a man of talent is
driven by it”, Schopenhauer.
I
recall some years ago when I had finished giving my CA final exams, I took 2
days off because I felt the desperate need to recuperate. My manager was
appalled because he was used to doing a round trip across the globe for
meetings and not taking even an hour off.
It was indeed a lesson learnt.
Many
of us have dreams and many of us even walk the road to pursue our dreams. Time
is the one resource that we all been given in equal terms – 24 hours in a day.
How we use that time is what makes all the difference. I often start my day
around 630am and keep hoping for the clock to go slower to be able to snatch an
extra wink. It’s an on going struggle between the ticking clock and the desire
to chat on the phone with a friend, have a lazy coffee, watch a movie or spend
time with the kids versus doing something to make a difference in the world.
Sachin
Tendulkar, one of the greatest batsman of today is known to practice for hours
on end in the nets. His dedication and training enable him to remain unfazed on
the field and face any ball. His level of focus and commitment is an
inspiration to the team and others. Time for him is a precious resource to be
used wisely and unflinchingly. I’m sure he too likes to take a vacation, spend
a leisurely weekend with his family and put his feet up and read a book or
listen to music. The pertinent question that remains to be answered are how
often and for how long does he indulge in himself versus his commitment?
“Time is the coin of your life.
It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.”
Carl Sandburg
Time is resource and it is not
limitless. Every moment in the past, is a moment lost or gained. Time cannot be
rewound or recalled. We however, have the power to choose and decide how to use
this resource in the present.
As a coach, while working with
one of the senior executives, the issue was “I am feeling pressured and I don’t
have enough time!” What I listened to
and heard was the word, “feeling”. I asked him, if he felt out of depth to
manage the challenges of the role that he had taken on. The immediate response
was, “of course not, I know I can do it”. This response itself, reduced the
sense of overwhelm and opened his mind to look for solutions. The question was
capability versus capacity and we needed to work on creating capacity. His
business environment is very dynamic and it requires crisis management moment
to moment. There is sense of emotional assault due to the constant unknown. He
has a preference for structure and hence, there was an immediate need to create
structure in this unstructured environment. We introduced a half hour slot
every morning to walk alone and mentally plan, analyze and prepare for the day
ahead. Secondly, he started to be more discerning and ruthless before saying,
“yes” to every interruption and prioritizing where his time was being spent. These
consistent practices have significantly helped him discipline his day and create
time effectively. In fact, he is now able to manage his role better and is also
ready to stretch himself to take on higher responsibilities. To summarize what
created time was:
· Analyzing
· Preparing
· Prioritizing
· Consistency
· And above all, Action
To achieve such consistency and
discipline, there is a constant need to be self-aware. Ask yourself, what is my relationship with
time?
· Who
am I being in this moment - am I being wishful, fearful, desirous of miracles,
wasteful, irresponsible or am I being action and solution oriented.
·
How
productive am I, what am I doing with my time?
·
Am
I utilizing my time in line with my vision of life?
Martin Luther King, Nelson
Mandela, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi are legendary leaders who continue to
inspire. What did they do differently when neither time nor the environment was
in their favour? They took responsibility and decided to be in control of time
rather than allow time to control them.
I have commonly observed that
ever since the global financial crisis, many executives, especially in
financial services have been waiting for time to reverse. On the other hand,
entrepreneurs in the technology and social media have maximized the opportunity
by accepting the paucity of resources and recognizing the need to stay
connected and supported as an opportunity. We need to accept “this is it” and adapt
to the changing time to turn the tide by seeing opportunities rather than problems.
“Until we can manage time we can
manage nothing else”, Peter Drucker
