WIZE TIME MANAGEMENT

Are Time Management and Knowledge Connected?  Have you ever thought about that question?

I present a workshop to would-be entrepreneurs on time management and organization.  If you’ve ever had a business of your own, you’ll know that how you spend your time as “your own boss” is much, much different than the way you spend your time as an employee.

As an employee, there’s a job description and everyone else working in the same environment has theirs.  You all work together towards generating positive results for the enterprise for which you are employed.  Within the context of that job description, time is spent doing what you’re suppose to be doing and connecting with others as needed.  Each of you manages their time according to the work which needs to be accomplished in your own area, your own job description.

As “your own boss”, especially if you have never been your own boss before, you simply don’t have a clue.  Why?  Because much of the knowledge you need to run your own business is knowledge you simply don’t have!  Simple!

If you’re an engineer, you know how to do the job of engineering but how about the job of promotion, accounting, setting fees, contracting, sales, web sites, social media and a host of other areas which the entrepreneur needs to master in their own business.  Creating a budget and reading financial statements are often overwhelming to new entrepreneurs because everything is so new to them – how can they predict the future of a business they’ve never owned before when there’s no history on which to substantiate numbers?  Most people, even if they have had to deal with financial statements before in their jobs, have only a micro understanding of what the numbers mean especially if someone else was responsible for the budget.  In your own business, you need to understand thoroughly what the numbers mean and the story being told.

How can someone possibly manage their time when they don’t know what they’re suppose to be doing?  They cannot.  It’s impossible.

For instance, if someone said “make a chicken soup from scratch” and you don’t know how to cook, how would you know what to do to make a chicken soup from scratch.  You’d have to ask someone who knows or you’d have to find a recipe to follow.  Either way, you’d need the knowledge.

Knowledge is paramount – know-how – if you know what to do and how to do it, it’s much easier to manage your time – step 1, step 2, step 3 and when the steps don’t quite follow, you know what to do about that too because your knowledge and experience will give your brain the ability to come up with a solution.

Next time you see hours passing by and you still haven’t produced anything worthwhile, knowledge is likely the missing link.  The same happens with new employees.  Often managers are bewildered why a new employee isn’t performing.  Good training is likely the answer because once a person knows how to do a job, generally, they can organize themselves to get it done.

If you’re having problems with your time management at work, sometimes it’s useful to determine whether or not you have the knowledge required to do the work efficiently. If so, find the knowledge or the people to help you.

Time management is intricately connected to what you know, to knowledge and to experience. That’s why experience is so valuable – experience is knowledge gained outside of the book learning – the creative side of learning.

Lorraine Arams

http://www.wizetime.com

A client said to me in an email recently that it was difficult for her to get back to tasks after an enjoyable telephone conversation.  Knowing her extroverted personality, I wasn’t surprised. 

Extroverts are energized by talking to people – they like to laugh, talk and just love to be around people.  Isolation is a real motivation killer for an extrovert.

Being an entrepreneur of a one-person company, of course, there will be a lot of time necessary spent alone doing proposals, reports, billing and a host of other tasks associated with a small business.

My advice to her:  after a great telephone conversation, take a break.  Make yourself a cup of tea, relax for 15-20 minutes, and then get back to work.  Even a short walk around the block will help.  It’s a way for an extrovert to “come down” from the high s/he gets from interacting with people.

So, if you’re an extrovert – try it – I know it works – it’s the only way because if you force yourself to get back to tasks right away, you’ll be hyper, uninterested in what you are doing and, maybe, even feel as though you’ll blow up if you sit and work.  The energy either has to be dissipated or used up before you can get back to the type of activity that is really not your preference.