You Are The Pilot
Author: Ninive Badilescu

I was reading the other day through my coaching notes for a previous week and once again realized that a recurring coaching topic is time management. This is no surprise to me as someone who is fortunate enough to be made aware of common work related issues through my coaching experience.

As our jobs become more complex and the types of tasks, duties and responsibilities are forever increasing one of the most important skills one can have is that of time management.

We have exchanged the paper based scheduling tools with the electronic ones only to conclude that it is not enough and embark in more spending in the form of pocket PCs that would make it easier for us to keep on scheduling even when we are away from our desks, synchronize the two devices and hopefully become more productive in the process. Why is it then that so many people are still facing the problem of not having enough hours in a day? What is it we are missing here and most of all what is it that we can do about it?

Jackson Brown once said: "Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." Thinking of all the things these people achieved in much harsher environments and with fewer structures in place to help them makes it even harder to understand why do we still struggle?

The great achievers of all times have never kept an eye on their diaries or schedulers. They had the motivation lever put on high and managed to focus better for longer periods of time. Try this experiment: schedule an hour to do something you really want to do: write a letter to a loved one, read from a book you love, write a procedure for a system you want to implement at work…anything you would really want to spend an hour doing. Schedule an hour to doing something you have no desire to: write a report for your boss, a procedure for a system you do not believe in, an apology letter to someone you rather forget exists, read an instructions manual for something you are not interested in, etc.

Compare the final results once you complete the two tasks. I can almost see the difference in how efficient were you in one case as opposed to the other. Why? Because I know what motivation will accomplish for you. You are in control. Otherwise you are just going through the motions in the hope of reaching the end of the day just a bit closer to your intended goal.

The lesson? Find a way to make your tasks more interesting? Be creative. The only rule you have to keep in mind is having the right perspective. Something you don’t like doing can be a great opportunity to prove yourself, it can give you the chance to deal in issues you are not involved with usually, it can give you information or skills you can later use when working on issues you are interested in, etc.

The result? You will regain control of your time even if you are doing something that usually will not motivate you. And then you will look at time from another perspective.
As Michael Althsuler said:"The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot."







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Ninive Badilescu is a Certified Professional Coach specialized in Career and Executive coaching. You can read more of her articles at http://www.uachievecoaching.com

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