Last month I introduced you to Jonathan, who runs a small design firm in Manhattan. Jonathan was often pulled off track by the myriad of distractions that happened along, and found himself having to stay late at the office to try to make up for the time he wasted during the day. It was taking a toll on his health and causing problems in his marriage.
Jonathan came to understand the value of choosing where to invest his time, and it helped; but once he had pinpointed what he wanted to focus on, and plugged it into his schedule, he still found it difficult to stick to the schedule.
“I’m getting better at determining what to invest my time in, but, I’m still finding I’m being pulled off course into other things…how can I ensure I stay focused on what I’ve set out to do, when I’m supposed to be doing it?”
I asked him what he thought might help. Laughing, he said he needed someone to “police” him. “Not a bad idea…” I said, “…but could you do the policing yourself?”
Jonathan thought for a moment and picked up his phone. He decided to try setting his calendar alarm to go off each time an activity was to start.
He tried it for the next week. It definitely helped, but he still wasn’t sticking as closely to his schedule as he wanted and needed to. We tweaked the strategy. For the next two weeks, he tried setting an alarm to go off each hour, even if it were in the middle of a planned task or activity. When it rang, he’d stop and ask himself: “What did I do for the last hour?” “Did I focus on the things that I set out to do?” he would refer to his schedule and re-focus on working on what he had planned.
The next time we met, Jonathan was excited to tell me about how productive the last two weeks had been. Although he was still somewhat vulnerable to distractions. by scheduling his time, and keeping himself on track with hourly check-ins, he was able to make substantial improvements in his productivity, and was making it home for dinner more often, to the delight of his spouse.
How do you keep yourself on track?
Susan Martin, Time Management
Great suggestion Susan, thank you 🙂
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