It's About Time
It is the middle of the week, “Hump Day”, and I am driving home from the office in the notorious DC traffic. It is a mild October evening and I have the windows down enjoying the fresh air. I have the sound cranked up listening to yes, another leadership podcast. Feel free to laugh here. I enjoy spending my time in the car learning and rarely listen to the radio; however, I will admit that you may catch me enjoying some “80’s on 8” or “Classic Rewind” every now and then during my Friday drive home.
Today I am listening to the Greg Groeschel Leadership podcast. During this podcast Greg was discussing eliminating “slack” from our days. He refers to slack as “time wasting, non-productive, life taking, soul draining distractions”. Greg goes on to quote a Havard Business Review report on a survey which was conducted by the Covey Center for Leadership. This study looked at over 400 business owners, executives and entrepreneurs. It found that these people spent approximately 6.8 hours on average each week on tasks that could have been easily delegated. They spent 3.9 hours on escapist mental breaks like streaming YouTube or social media. They spent 3.4 hours on non-essential email, 3.6 hours on low value, non-essential requests that could have been handled by another person. The survey found that the average leader was wasting 21.8 hours per week on tasks that do not add real value.
Obviously, this did exactly what it was supposed to do, and it made me start thinking about how I spend my time. Where is my “slack”? How many hours per week do I spend on non-essential items? Where could I make tweaks in my day to day routine to ensure that I am eliminating these things, or at least planning them so that I am controlling them. I then took a step back and thought about the team I support and began to wonder how I could use this information to help them manage their days to eliminate “slack” and be more successful in their roles.
The first thing that came to mind was to share this podcast. Next, being a checklist person, I decided to identify a few simple things that anyone can implement into their day to day life to eliminate “slack” and create a quick mental checklist that will assist them with engaging in essential tasks and help eliminate the non-essential ones.
I believe that every successful day starts with a morning routine, so we should start each day with some quiet time. Meditation, devotion, prayer, a quick body scan, or a combination of each. This helps us be centered and present in the day. This should be done before looking at your email, social media, news feed, etc. This year I am enjoying Ryan Holiday’s, “The Daily Stoic” in addition to my early morning routine. If you think you don’t have time, try waking up 30 minutes early. It is time well spent and you will certainly reap the benefits. Soon it will become second nature.
Plan your recurring daily activities and put them into your calendar. If you set specific time aside for emails, for client calls, or even workouts and you are disciplined in using that time for that specific task, you will maintain control and avoid slipping into “slack” time.
Groeschel gives his advice about creating a “not to do list” or items you will avoid. That is similar to Warren Buffet’s advice and I tend to agree in general, however I like the checklist and I like to have a goal to accomplish, so I need to have a target for the day. Set yours and make it SMART. Simple, Measurable, Attainable, and a Time to have it completed. It is okay to break large goals down into small goals. There may be several steps to one large goal. Maybe you break the small steps into daily goals. This will help you avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Check in! Schedule check-ins throughout the day. Set your alarm, set a calendar reminder, or have an accountability partner. Whatever works for you, but you must check in throughout the day to track your progress. This is where discipline and self-awareness will be critical. Ask yourself 3 questions, 3 times per day:
1. What have I done today?
2. What have I accomplished today (there is a difference)?
3. Is what I have done moving me toward my goal?
We are human and we will get off course. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Use these check-ins as an opportunity to redirect and refocus on that goal you are working toward.
So there, you have it. Start your day with some quiet time, schedule your recurring items and stick to the blocks of time you have them scheduled, set your SMART goal for the day, and check in at least 3 times per day.
As you implement these steps into your life, I hope you find success and look forward to any stories you would like to share about that success.