Time Management for High Achievers
Time Management for High Achievers
We'll be dealing with things like time, emotions, and learning, as well
as a series of things related to personal effectiveness, efficiency, and
productivity.
One thing that Wyatt has learned by observing elite performers, is that
how well you perform on any given day, is as much based on what's going
on in your life that day, as it is based upon your actual skills and abilities.
You can be the most skillful person and you can have the greatest
abilities, BUT THERE MAY BE DAYS WHEN YOU'RE NOT ABLE TO USE
THOSE ABILITIES, because you've got other things interfering in your
life.
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Here are some ground rules, as we begin to study Time Management.
These ground rules can be applied to any new area of study, as well:
Rule #2: Have enough sensory acuity to see whether what you're
doing is working or not working. (It's amazing how many people keep
doing things that don't work!)
If you only have a limited amount of ways of doing things, and if all of
those ways don't work, then you're out of luck. (The more flexibility
you have and the more ways you have to vary your behavior when
necessary, the more successful you will be.)
Rule #4: TAKE ACTION and put what you know into PRACTICE.
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Most people simply float through life. They are simply reactive, and
they are not PROACTIVE.
In order to be effective and efficient, you must first have specific, focused
outcomes.
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The reason why many people continue to do things that don't work is
because they are addicted to their suffering.
Also, many of us have heard and follow this idea: "If at first you don't
succeed, try, try again." This is NOT always the best philosophy! Often
times what is best to do is to try a different approach.
Another reason that some people keep doing things that don't work, is
because THEY HAVE NOT BEEN MEASURING WHETHER WHAT THEY ARE
DOING IS WORKING OR NOT!
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Whenever you're trying something new, it's best to have
"shortfeedback loops", where you get to find out quickly whether what
you're doing is working or not.
Test a lot of things, and if what you're doing isn't working, then move
on to something else, and don't get TOO ATTACHED to something!
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Deming pointed out that in order to improve your Quality - you must
have ways to measure it.
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The Pareto Principle also applies to each of us as individuals.
You must ask yourself "What are the things that I'm doing during my
day that is not producing significant results?" In order to answer this
question, you must have ways of measuring your activities.
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You're not going to get any more time, and you're likely not going to
get any more energy or resources.
So, the question is, how do you manage the time, energy, and
resources that you have?
If you want to ADD SOMETHING INTO YOUR LIFE, then you must TAKE
SOMETHING ELSE OUT!
"It's what you're doing when you're NOT doing WHAT YOU NEED TO BE
DOING, that's the problem."
If you want to start doing more of something that you need to be doing,
then you need to be doing LESS of something else.
Sit down and make a list of all of the things that you're doing in your
life that are wasting time and that are not productive?
Take a look at each of these three main areas, and ask yourself these
questions:
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Emotional Level: "What am I feeling, when I am NOT feeling what I
need to be feeling in order to be a more highly effective person?"
(Our minds and our emotional capacities are like cups: If you want to
put water in a full cup, then you've got to pour out what is already in
there before you can put anything new in.)
Our bad habits are very strong and continually try to pull us back to
wasting time, wasting energy, and wasting resources, in the ways that
we always have.
99% of the things that we think and do today, are the same ones
which we thought and did yesterday, and the day before, and the day
before.
If you don't CRITICALLY look at the things that you're doing with your time
every day consistently, and CONSCIOUSLY say to yourself "there's an hour
a day of time that I'm spending and wasting that just doesn’t get me
anything"…and then RECOMMIT THAT TIME and REDEPLOY your
resource.. then, T'S NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN ON ITS OWN!
Also, realize that there is some part of you that actually ENJOYS and
GETS OFF ON things that are wasteful and unproductive. This is called
"secondary gain."
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You must confront these time-wasters, and face yourself, and be
honest.
And if you want to grow to the NEXT LEVEL in your life, thenmyou have to
systematically let these things go, and then replace,these things with
POSITIVE PRODUCTIVE ROUTINES and RITUALS that will help you
become more productive in your life.
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Wyatt and his wife wrote a book called "People Patterns", and analyzed
many of the habitual patterns found in human behavior. One of their
key observations was the following.,People tend to fall into one of two
categories: people that are 'In,time', and people that are 'Through time.'
One of the problems with 'In time' people, is that they're perceived as
irresponsible, wishy-washy, lacking in punctuality, etc. Also, 'In time'
people can lose sight of the long-term consequences of what they are
doing (e.g., drug use, unprotected intercourse, etc).
On the other hand, one of the problems with 'Through time' people is
that they tend to lack flexibility and spontaneity. Also, having lots of
plans that you've committed to doesn't necessarily equate to
productivity.
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'In time' people and 'through time' people are often in CONFLICT with
each other, due to their differences.
There is no superiority among these two types of people. In fact, the IDEAL
is to have the flexibility to be able to SWITCH BACK AND FORTH from
being an 'In time' person to a
'Through time' person, depending upon what the situation calls for.