In this series, we've talked a lot about how to measure time, save time and manage time, but it can be easy to get lost in the "how" and lose sight of the "why." I know I'm guilty of planning epic strategies to save time when I could have saved the most time of all by asking "Is this really worth doing?"
Charlie Gilkey at Productive Flourishing wrote a great post a couple of months ago about putting the time you save to good use, not just plowing your "time savings" back into the accomplishment of more tasks of questionable merit.
If you've read this far in the series, I imagine you're interested in time management (I could be wrong; you could just love the typeface). So why do you want to change your relationship with time?
To get more work done, in a timely manner. I think this is one of the big motivators: the sense that there just isn't enough time in the day to meet all your obligations. And perhaps there's enough untapped time resources in your schedule that a few tweaks can up your productivity drastically. But you might need to attack the "demand" side as well as the "supply" side and start paring down your workload where you can.
To get more free time to spend with family, friends, pets and/or yourself. Another biggie, and honestly, I think this has more genuine motivation than the "get more work done" reason. "Get more work done" is a "have to," while "more time with loved ones" is a "want to," and "want to" gets a lot more excitement going. And if this is your reason for trying to manage time, you can start using your creativity to figure out ways to work your time management so those gains can be invested into your personal life.
To feel more in control of time. Boy, do I get this one. Sometimes I have weeks where I feel like I wasn't even running on a treadmill, but that the treadmill just ran over me. For me, the feeling of being on top of things that I get from working my to-do list, prioritizing my activities, working in my best time zones, etc., helps my overall well-being, and I think it helps me do better work, too.
Because they ain't making more time. I can't really elaborate on this one.
What about you? Why are you interested in managing your time, and what big picture is in your mind when you think about time? Let me know in the comments!
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