The Three Mental Barriers to Time Power
If everyone agrees that
excellent time management is a desirable skill, why is it that so few people
can be described as “well organized, effective, and efficient?” Over the years,
I have found that many people have ideas about time management that are simply
not true. But if you believe something to be true, it becomes true for you.
Your beliefs cause you
to see yourself and the world, and your relationship to time management, in a
particular way. If you have negative beliefs in any area, these beliefs will
affect your thinking and actions, and will eventually become your reality. You
are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are.
Barrier 1: Worries about Organization
The first myth of time
management is that if you are too well organized, you become cold, calculating,
and unemotional. Some people feel that they will lose their spontaneity and
freedom if they are extremely effective and efficient.
Many people hide behind
this false idea and use it as an excuse for not disciplining themselves the way
they know they should. The fact is that people who are disorganized are not
spontaneous; they are merely confused, and often frantic. The key is
structuring and organizing everything that you possibly can: thinking ahead;
planning for contingencies; preparing thoroughly and focusing on specific
results. Only then can you be completely relaxed and spontaneous when the
situation changes.
The better organized you
are in the factors that are under your control, the greater freedom and
flexibility you have to quickly make changes whenever they are necessary.
Barrier 2: Negative Mental Programming
The second mental
barrier to developing excellent time management skills is negative programming,
which is often picked up from your parents, but also from other influential
people as you are growing up.
If your parents or
others told you that were a messy person, or that you were always late, or that
you never finished anything you started, chances are that as an adult, you may
still be operating unconsciously to obey these earlier commands.
Time management and
personal efficiency skills are disciplines that we learn and develop with
practice and repetition. If we have developed bad time management habits, we
can unlearn them. We can replace them with good habits over time.
Barrier 3: Self-Limiting Beliefs
The third mental barrier
to good time management skills is a negative self-concept, or what are called
“self-limiting beliefs.” Many people believe that they don't have the ability
to be good at time management. They often believe that it is an inborn part of
their background or heritage. But there is no gene or chromosome for poor time
management, or good time management, for that matter. Your personal behaviors
are very much under your own control.
Action Exercise
Imagine that someone
were to offer you a million dollars to manage your time superbly for the next
thirty days. Imagine that an efficiency expert was going to follow you around
with a clipboard and a video camera for one month. After thirty days if you had
used your time efficiently and worked on your highest priorities all day, every
day, you would receive a prize of one million dollars. How efficient would you
be over the next thirty days?
