EP108: Optimizing Your Time - What Does That Even Mean?
24 HOURS IN A DAY
Are you making the most out of the time you have?
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(The notes below are only a brief summary of what is discussed in the podcast. Be sure to listen to get all of the goodness! If you would like a full transcription of the episode, please send an email request to: angie@angie-robinson.com. We’d be happy to provide that!)
This is the first of four episodes about the topic: “Optimizing Your Time”.
Another, and more common way of describing this is ‘time management’.
Time management is defined as:
the process of organizing and planning and how to divide your time between different activities. It typically allows you to work smarter, not harder and to get more done in less time, even when time is tight.
I don't really like the term ‘time management’. Time is truly a construct. We can't actually manage time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. And that is something we can't change that is out of our control. So for me, the concept of optimizing your time rings more true. It's making the most out of those 24 hours, out of that time that we all have, and focusing on the areas that you can control. And just to be clear, this doesn't necessarily mean, go, go, go, - make the most of every minute in that “get something done way”. But it does mean making the most out of the time that we do have.
As a leader, optimizing your time is really important. But here's the thing - you can't do everything. Our to-do list will likely never be complete, at least not in the near term. New things are constantly popping up, but I do have control over the list of to-dos. Most of us do. I understand that there are some things that we feel like we don’t have control over when it comes to our time. There can be some external things happening, but hopefully in general, we all have some agency over how we truly use our time,
Why It’s Important
Here are some common reasons why it is important to optimize your time:
Reduce stress. When we utilize our time in an efficient way, it can help decrease that sense of overwhelm that we might get and actually reduce our stress.
Better work-life integration.
Increase in productivity. When you have a better understanding of how much time something actually takes to do, you can then manage that time better and be more productive.
Better focus. Focus can open up our space, energy and time for others.
Better quality of work.
Why Do We Struggle?
Here are some of the common struggles:
Overcommitment. In leadership roles, we feel like everything is our responsibility. And so we say ‘yes’. We overcommit.
Lack of prioritization.
Interruptions and distractions that hinder us from focusing.
Lack of delegation.
Procrastination.
Poor planning.
Not setting boundaries.
Micromanaging.
I do want to call out one thing. At the root of every single one of these struggles is our thoughts. Our brains have a lot to do with all of these struggles. And when we aren't optimizing our time effectively, it truly does have a ripple effect. It impacts your team, your organization, your customers, your clients, your families, your friends. It can also impact other people's time.
As leaders, part of our responsibility is to develop and inspire and create vision. But when we're caught up in our own stress and overwhelm - that's not going to happen in the way that we want it to. To take that even further, we might be withholding the things that we have to offer to the world.
I just want to talk about what we do have control over. We have control over how we think. How we think about our time, how we think about ourselves and others in relation to our time, how we think about the actual tasks that take up our time, how we show up with our time, regardless of it's on our schedule or someone else's. When we can normalize the concept of time a little bit and remove some of that brain drama, we can get more logical.
So the first thing I would encourage you to do when it comes to optimizing your time is to really think about what that means to you. Does that mean getting more things done in a specific timeframe? Does that mean packing your schedule was so much that you have little time to eat or even breathe?
Things I Consider in Optimizing My Time
Here are some of the things I consider when optimizing my time. These might not resonate with you - but I want to give you an example and some things to thing about:
Alignment with my why, my goals, my expectations / role, my future self.
Watch for comparison and how much I’m taking other people's thoughts and opinions into consideration.
Set and honor boundaries.
Watch the energy / personality preferences that I’m using in my time.
Pay attention to my thoughts - notice when they are serving and not serving.
What Do You Think?
What does ‘optimizing your time’ mean to you??
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