Our obsession with saving time, diaries, schedules, planners and programmes has only recently become apparent in the grand historical timeline. In the days of ‘yore’, nobody had heard of stress, anxiety, pressure, absenteeism and mental breakdown. You probably have up to five ways of telling the time right now, from your mobile phone, to computer clock, to your watch, to wall clock and even your car clock.

“A man with one watch always knows the time, but a man with two watches is unsure.”
anon

Psychology tells us that, on an unconscious level, there are two main ways we think about time, which have a major effect on our behaviour: ‘in time’ and ‘through time’. Here are some characteristics of each:

‘In Time’ ‘Through Time’
Spontaneous                                  Detached from the experience
Carefree                                        Less able to be ‘in the now’
Reluctant to plan                             Calculated and organised 
‘Spend it now’ attitude                     Less aware of feelings and surroundings
Casual about punctuality                  Time conscious and punctual
Less concerned with appearance       Conservative in appearance
More prone to addictions                  Keen to save and invest
‘In the moment’ mentality                Eager to plan and schedule 
Unaware of consequences                Feel guilt and anxiety
Good at ‘experiencing’                     Prone to stress
Gravitate to what interests them       Type ‘A’ personality
More creative and personable           Able to apply lessons from the past

You will naturally favour one or the other, although from time to time you exhibit characteristics from both. The point is, both are good depending on what activity you’re undertaking. Networking and playing with your children need a ‘be in the moment’ approach. Working on a project with a deadline might require a more calculated attitude to get the most out of what you’re doing.

From a management perspective, you can clearly see where conflict might arise if members of your team have a different outlook to time management than yourself.

Einstein argued that time wasn’t actually real – it was just a way of measuring things. A key point I picked up from a time management course was that you are physically present wherever you are. It’s just that your brain can be anywhere.

"Time is a way of making sure everything doesn’t happen at once!”
Albert Einstein

One of the best takes on time management I’ve ever read was from achievement guru Brian Tracy. He tells of sociologist Dr. Edward Banfield of Harvard University, who, in 1970, conducted one of the most profound studies on success and priority setting ever. He wanted to know how and why some people became financially independent in life. If you were asked the question, you may well cite such factors as family background, education, intelligence or even influential contacts. Tracy writes:

“What he finally discovered was that the major reason for success in life was a particular attitude of mind. Banfield called this attitude ‘long time perspective’. The most successful people in life and the most likely to move up economically were those who took the future into consideration with every decision they made in the present. You can tell how important something is today by measuring its potential future impact on your life.”

We know that strong time and self management is all about setting priorities. So we should aim for long time perspective. A good way to analyse this is to see what your values are in life, as this drives the way you behave and make decisions. A value is simply something you deem important on your life.

Tracy gives a great example:

“If you come home from work at night and choose to play with your children or spend time with your spouse, rather than watch TV or read the paper, you have a long time perspective. You know that investing time in the health and happiness of your children and your spouse is a very valuable, high-priority use of time. The potential future impact of quality time with your family is very high. If you take additional courses in the evening to upgrade your skills and make yourself more valuable to your employer, you're acting with a long time perspective. Learning something practical and useful can have a long-term effect on your career."

A phrase that sometimes encapsulates this is delayed gratification. If you think ‘in time’ rather than through time, you will probably spend a little more than you earn and do what is easy, fun and enjoyable. However, Tracy argues this is the primary cause of economic and personal failure in life. ‘Through time’ people are often more disciplined in doing what is right and important. By delaying gratification and sacrificing good times today, the long term comes quickly and substantial rewards lie ahead.

“We often don’t have control over what we do, but we can control the way we do it.”
Rob Brown

So, here are more action tips to help you manage yourself better, and in doing so, manage your time.

1. Think Long-Term. Develop longer time perspective by writing out a description of your ideal life five, ten and twenty years into the future. This kind of visualisation will draw you to your goals and keep you away from the minutiae that bog you down.

2. Develop The Habit Of Delayed Gratification. Try this with small things first, such as tiny amounts of money, small spends and small pleasures. A classic measure of your will power is in what you eat and how you exercise. The goal is to sacrifice now to enjoy greater rewards and greater satisfaction in the future.

"We first make our habits, and then our habits make us"
John Dryden, writer

3. Do A Time Log. Find out where all your time goes. There are plenty of examples of these on the Internet. By logging your time in five or ten minute blocks through your working week, and perhaps your personal life too, you can see exactly where your time goes.

4. Use One Daily Time Planner. Nothing worse than running two diaries, a PDA, work planners and home calendars, lots of ‘post-its’ and pieces of paper. How can you know where you’re going from one minute to the next? Choose a good system that suits you and keep it simple.

5. Schedule Personal Time. Sounds crazy, but putting blocks of time into your diary for family, hobbies and yourself is vital in today’s busy world.

6. Ask Yourself One Good Question. Does this task take me closer to or further away from my goals? Put another way, does this piece of work help and support me, or hinder and stop me from staying true to my values?

7. Get Clarity On Tasks. If someone has given you something to do, listen carefully, ask clarifying questions and check you’re doing it the right way. Instructions offered by line managers are often fuzzy and open to many interpretations. You can save time and effort by doing the right job in the right way first time.

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”
Benjamin Franklin

8. Keep ‘now’ focused. The past is gone and there’s nothing you can do about it but take ‘the learns’, says top coach and endurance athlete, Andy Mouncey. Focus on what you can do now and let the past go.

9. Start Now! Write down the six most important things for you to do tomorrow. Rank them in order of importance. When you get to work, start on ‘Job 1’ as Henry Ford called it, and keep going through 2 and beyond.

10. Make Lists. Not loads of them. Just the key things. You probably have 4-5 hours of super productive time in you per day, where energy, concentration and creativity are high. Lists get things out of your head to make way for other stuff. Any worries, concerns and reminders can clutter up your head. Get them down and free yourself to concentrate on your Prime Tasks.

So which of these ideas are going to make you better today? And if you’ve missed them, why not check out the other articles in this ‘Time Management’ series?

>> Part 4

Rob's Quick Tips