Time Management Is a Waste of Your Time

You can't manage time, but you can manage what you do with it.

I once read a seemingly-controversial article by Jim Rohn, the highly-respected business philosopher. The article concerned time management -- one of the things many small business owners list as an obstacle to their success. In this article, he says that the idea of time management is a myth, if not detrimental... and he's right.

As Jim goes on to say, we have no ability to manage time. It is going to move on no matter what we do. So believing that we can indeed manage time is setting ourselves up for failure and disappointment.

At this point, you may be thinking, "This is being too literal. Everyone knows we can't manage time itself. 'Time management' is just a label applied to a possible solution." Well, that's true, yet the inability to effectively work within times constraints still persists. It continues to sap efficiency and profitability from businesses of all sizes, especially small businesses.

Time blocking
One possible solution is time blocking. This is the practice of allocating blocks of time for specific activities. For instance, you may block time for your weekly meetings. Time for other important tasks, such as marketing, bookkeeping, and networking, would be blocked. Not only does it put aside time, but the exercise itself reveals any lack of adequate time to complete all your activities. It also shows inefficiencies in your schedule.

Self-management
So the answer is obviously time blocking, right? Well, according to Jim, it's not... and neither is any other practice. His point is that the only thing we can truly manage is ourselves. And that's where many of us drop the ball. I can't tell you how many people I talk to who grasp the idea of time blocking, understand its usefulness, and still do not implement it. Even though they understand that this may be the answer to their problems, they are too stubborn to change their habits. (I have to admit that I thought this way for quite some time.)

This being the case, we have to learn to change our frame of mind. We have to do whatever it takes to be more efficient and more effective when it comes to utilizing the time we have. This could be time blocking or other idea -- whatever works for you. But make no mistake, no matter what you implement, you have to manage yourself first!

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