Creating a Living Family Legacy Series: Time Management
Welcome to Our Guest Blogger, Gary F. Patton!
By: Gary F. Patton
Have you noticed that when a big crisis hits, poor time utilizers always seem to manage to make time to deal with it? Why is that do you think? Maybe it's because the problem that has reared its ugly head is perceived as crucial, eh?
“Responding to 'The Tyranny of the Urgent' is one of the most dis-stressful of poor time utilization approaches used today!” ~ Gary Patton
Careening from One Crisis to the Next. Reacting to recurring crises is not the best way to go through life. Nor is it a great idea to allow "The Tyranny of the Urgent" to rule your day.
Here’s your people-relationship and life-skills S-M-A-R-TTip™
Use these three steps to get the less urgent, but more important, things in your business and life done:
- Take five minutes to make two lists containing all the challenges currently on your plate. Then, label one 'Important'. Label the other 'Urgent'.
- Review your Urgent List and delegate everything on it that someone else could handle. Take a risk and see how others will deliver when you trust them after supporting them by giving them the resources that they need to do a competent job. At the end of the day follow up.
- Number all the remaining items in order of importance and block out time slots in your calendar for these as soon as possible in priority order. Leave a few time slots open for the unexpected. And be disciplined about not allowing others to interrupt you during your "Important Calendar Blocks".
When you've got some successes to which you can point that others can learn from to find extra time too, share what you learned. Then, they can watch their productivity escalate also.
“Crises often occur in direct proportion to the amount of our ineffective planning and preparation.” ~ Gary Patton
You'll be more comfortable, less dis-stressed and enrich your life when you adopt my 3-step S-M-A-R-TTipTM to powerful time untilization.
Turn your back on "The Tyranny of the Urgent" … right now… please! You'll believe in the wisdom of my recommendation when you see how good you feel when you do. Plus how much you bless others when you delegate responsibly.
You've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain!
But, using this life-skill is a choice! And remember, quality customer/people service and living fully is a moment-to-moment choice. Plus, they result from an unending series of wise decisions.
Call me now at the numbers below if I can help you further in this area. So-called time management has been a life-skills coaching specialty for me for years because as a careening Type 'A' management consultant. I had to utilize my time better or my wife would have left me.
If your time for help is not ripe for you, please drop me a line using the link immediately below this paragraph. I'd appreciate hearing what you think and how you feel about the above.
By clicking here, you can e-mail me regarding questions about this article, to request other Time Management information and to be added to my S-M-A-R-TBriefingTM Mailing List.
With my compliments and permission to reproduce, without change or profiteering, including the following:
Copyright © 2011 Gary F. Patton
PattonAssociates.ca, People Development Coaches
"Specialists in assisting business & professional people to relate and serve better cross-culturally and cross-generationally!"
Toronto ON CAN M1E 4S4 E-Mail: Gary@PattonAssociates.ca Phone: 1 416 264 4633 Skype: GaryFPatton
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Gary Patton is a people development coach and consultant …The People Development Guy. He specializes in facilitating customer service-related human relations / people skills training programs that are powerfully effective cross-generationally. As well, Gary consults to organizations in the people development field. He also works with individuals coaching professionals & leaders in becoming better at what they do. Gary also teaches part-time at York University in Toronto. To re-create, he loves to hike, ride my bike, and explore good books. Gary also avidly reads health labels!
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Susan, Very useful tips. Thanks for sharing Gary Patton with us. A new name to me. Great post.
Fantastic suggestions Susan – thank you! I think we all need more hours in the day (hence why I’m up at 11.59pm trying to catch up on my blog reading).
LOL, Annemarie… I was doing the same late last night! Thank you for reading and sharing 🙂
Implementing new ways to get more out of your business and your life is always a good thing! Funny how I always get more done in “crisis” mode too!;-)
Tyranny of the urgent has always been one of my downfalls, so I’m looking forward to implementing these steps to better harness the energy of time! Thank you for reading and sharing, Carol!
Such great and doable suggestions! Thank you! I am always looking to better manage my time!
Time is the one thing we all wish we had in unlimited supply! I love how Gary has broken time management down into very simple and easy ways to increase our hours. Thanks so much Denny, for reading and sharing 🙂
Love it “delegate responsibly”! Great material for SMART planning.
Thank you, Beau … delegating doesn’t always come easily, but it’s definitely SMART!