You are Not Crunched for Time, You are Simply Making These Eight Time-Administration Errors

November 10, 2020 9 min read

The opinions expressed by the entrepreneur’s contributors are their own.

A couple of weekends ago I was asked to attend a Zoom meeting. My immediate answer: “I don’t have time for this.” The thing is, I could have added the event to my schedule. I had to remind myself that, “No, I don’t need time.”

Like most people, I only noticed that I had a limited supply of time. In reality, we all have the option of ticking things off our to-do lists or enjoying our free time. However, you likely feel that you are not doing this because you are putting unnecessary pressure on yourself.

In short, you are not really up to date. You’ve been led to think this for just eight reasons.

1. You have not established or adhered to your time budget.

Like your finances, your time is a valuable resource to be managed. If you fail to create and meet your budget, you won’t have enough time to do what is important to you. Worse, you could find yourself in debt.

For example, if you work 60 hours a week, it means you don’t have that much downtime. That means that you will be sacrificing time with your loved ones. You may even endanger your health and wellbeing.

In short, a time budget, as defined by Amanda Abella in a calendar article, is “a guideline that lets you spend your time the way you want to spend it.” That includes, of course, the things you don’t go crazy for are. The concept, however, is that with a time budget, you can manage your time wisely and intentionally.

First, determine what matters to you in life. Often times, these are your relationships, your health, and your career. Knowing this, you’ll only spend your work week doing activities that get you closer to your goals. And during your downtime, you would be exercising or spending time with your family.

How can you stay within your budget? A calendar app and limits are important because once you’ve planned an activity, it’s easier to enforce limits.

2. They are looking for control.

“When we say that someone has more time than someone else, it doesn’t mean they literally have a twenty-fifth hour in their day,” notes Robert E. Goodin in Discretionary Time: A New Level of Freedom. “What we want to say is that she has fewer restrictions and more choices about how to spend her time. She has more “autonomous control” over her time, ”he explains.

Why is that? Psychologist and behaviorist Susan Weinschenk believes this is because “we equate decision-making with control.”

“Our survival instinct tells us that we will survive if we are in control,” explains Weinschenk. “So it is our powerful unconscious that makes us seek control, and it is the desire for control that makes us seek decisions.”

Related: The best entrepreneurs know when to lose control

3. You believe in the myth of multitasking.

When I talk about multitasking, I am not referring to pointless or everyday tasks that happen in the background. For example, you can fold your laundry or wash dishes while listening to a podcast. Another example would be taking a walk while you are on the phone.

Instead, the kind of multitasking I am referring to here, tasks that require your full attention. In this case, working on your taxes while writing the agenda for tomorrow’s meeting will not be effective. This is because the brain is set up to only handle one thing at a time.

It has also been found that multitasking can slow you down. Because you are more likely to make mistakes, multitasking can take longer to complete.

The solution? It’s actually pretty easy. Do one thing at a time, also known as single-tasking.

4. Stoke conflict, not passion.

Research shows that those who are passionate about doing activities that are important aren’t as rushed and rushed. The reason? It prevents internal conflicts.

“Passionate people said their goals were competing for time and attention,” said Kira M. Newman, editor-in-chief of Greater Good. However, passionate employees were different and viewed their goals as mutual support.

“Time pressures are not just about how enjoyable our activities are, but also how well they fit together in our heads,” Newman added.

How can you solve this in your own life? Well, there is no right or wrong way. But you should definitely let go of the “have it all” mentality. Instead, plan your priorities and activities that you enjoy and that you find fulfilling.

If you’re still feeling overwhelmed, Stanford GSB Professor Jennifer Aaker and her team have determined that there are two simple interventions that can help. The first is “to breathe so that each full breath (inhale plus exhale) takes 11 counts.” The second was to reevaluate fear as excitement, like saying, “I’m excited!”

Related Topics: How To Pursue Your Passion And Reach Your Full Potential

5. You don’t go to the mountains.

Have you ever run a marathon? In this case, you definitely had to exercise, and you may have used what is known as the Fartlek approach.

It’s a Swedish term that means “speedplay”. It’s a type of interval workout in which you alternate between fast segments and slow jogging to improve your speed and endurance. However, it’s also recommended to add hills to your run.

What does this have to do with time management? Just as you increase your speed and strength, you also need to challenge yourself. For example, learn how to focus on blocking out distractions. Both require discipline, practice, and a balance between sprints and breaks.

Of course, don’t just attack these hills. Gradually work your way up. You don’t want to get burned before you go into the race, do you?

6. Ask if you would do it tomorrow.

Have you read Laura Vanderkam’s time management book Juliet’s School of Possibilities? If not, you should. It’s solid read, full of excellent advice. But this is probably my favorite nugget of wisdom: the main character informs a young counselor, Riley, that all she is saying is “yes” to what she wants to do. “Most people, however, have a very vague sense of opportunity cost,” Vanderkam writes. “If someone asks you to do something in the future, you may look at your calendar and find that it seems pretty open.”

But she adds that this is actually a mistake. The reason? Your future self will be just as busy as you are now. “You will feel just as flooded, only now you will also have this other commitment that competes for your time and energy (which you didn’t want to do at all).”

He suggests that you wonder if you are ready to do something tomorrow and know how busy you are now. If the answer is yes then say yes. And if the answer is no, then that’s the best answer for the future too. If you are more sensible with your “yes”, you can free up all kinds of space. “

7. You focus too much on the money.

You obviously need money to survive. And you kind of need it to pursue hobbies. At the same time, research by Sanford DeVoe at the University of Toronto and Jeffrey Pfeffer at Stanford found that people with higher incomes feel less time-consuming.

As explained in The Economist; “Once hours are financially quantified, people worry more about wasting them, saving them, or using them profitably. As economies grow and incomes rise, everyone’s time becomes more valuable. And the more valuable something becomes, the scarcer it becomes.” it.”

In addition, DeVoe and Pfeffer found that just by perceiving wealth makes you feel like you don’t have enough time. While you should definitely be making a comfortable living, you don’t have to be obsessed with it either.

Related: Science Says Money Buy Happiness If You Spend It Right

8. Being busy is a status symbol.

Via Overwhelmed: Working, Loving, and Playing When No One Has Time: “Psychologists write about treating burned-out clients who cannot shake off the notion that the busier you are, the more you will be admired and even viewed as competent, smart, and successful envied. “

The solution is to stop worrying about being productive 24/7. For some, this may be a strange concept. The fact is, however, that you don’t have to maximize every moment of your day.

Instead, spend your valuable time on the people and projects that matter. Also, avoid falling into the bustle trap and just enjoy yourself. Remember, life is too short to work 24/7. Sometimes you just have to slow down and have a little fun.