Tags
efficiency, efficient, franklin planner, oklahoma, Oklahoma city, organization, personal inventory, productive, productivity, Project Management, project manager, time wasters, wasting time
A few years ago, I was given a Franklin Planner by a new employer. You know, those nifty little binders that are supposed to make you more productive and efficient? I was excited, partly because it was a fairly expensive little planner, but mostly because I wanted to be organized (something I’d struggled mightily with in the past) and efficient. After opening the packaging and getting the planner itself organized, I started to really look at its contents. A few minutes later, I set it down, disappointed. I was discouraged that it didn’t have any REAL insights that were going to make me immediately efficient, just because I had this new tool in my possession. What a waste of money, it was essentially an expensive notepad.
So, why did this tool discourage me in such a way? The answer is simple, the contents of that planner asked me to take a deep look inside myself to see what was getting in the way of my productivity. The truth is, I didn’t want to do that. I could get my work done quickly so I didn’t need to check my daily habits for things that waste my time. I sure wasn’t about to write it down! What if somebody saw what I put on there? The worst question was what if I had to actually stop doing these things that are not actually productive? It was quite the selfish and somewhat arrogant approach to my productivity. As a project manager, I am a little bit ADD by nature because I have to keep my head moving across multiple projects at a time. Being “ADD” helps me to accomplish this. The problem is that this trait is a double-edged sword in that shiny things catch my eyes far too often…….SQUIRREL! Oops, sorry about that…..I did it again didn’t I?
The truth is, that little planner did indeed contain the tools to make me instantly more productive and efficient. Upon looking back, I can see that I really did not want to do much “above and beyond” in order to better myself. I got mired down in the daily garbage that is merely out there to keep me from getting ahead. Of course, I was quietly grumbling that I wasn’t getting ahead. So, I finally took that personal inventory and found that what I do, while m o s t l y productive, is not efficient. Yes, there are times in my day that I’m not productive that I should be. It was time to do something about it and the change was dramatic, oh and almost instant.
What is wasting your time? Have you ever taken an inventory of your typical work day to see what you could really give up to make yourself a better employee or manager? This is a hard question – believe me, I am in full sympathy with you. I think you will find that if you answer that question – honestly – you will find things in your day that you can give up. Once you give those things up and replace them with better ways to spend your time, you will find yourself just as happy, if not happier than you were before. It will also make you more confident, not to mention more productive!
