BCG Bulletin THE TRAINING EXPER

No Time For ALL
by Randi Agenbroad

“There just isn’t enough time to get it ALL done,” is a refrain common to most of our lives. Allow me to lift some of the guilt associated with this notion. While we all can manage our time better, truly getting it “ALL” done remains fools gold and should not be your objective.

Getting it ALL done is a myth. While the concept sells self-help books, magazines, it also causes frustration by setting an unattainable goal. Regardless of one’s age, gender, profession, at minimum, we each want to excel at work, spend quality time with our families, nurture our friendships, take care of our health, and actually get enough sleep to function the next day. Our additional efforts in helping with homework, grocery shopping, hair appointments, tooth cleanings, and community service expand your duties well beyond a 24-hour day.

We have blackberries, alarm clocks, watches that show the time in six time zones, computerized calendar reminders and the like to help us manage our time effectively. My company, Bryant Consulting Group, LLC, teaches classes monthly with the objective of helping people manage projects and achieve the work / life balance. But, I repeat, notwithstanding the availability of these resources and training there just isn’t enough time to get it ALL done.

It is time to accept a fundamental reality check. Understand that it all won’t get done and begin to plan your daily life accordingly. Ask yourself, what needs to done? What are your life-priorities? Your life-priorities should set your yearly, monthly and daily priorities. This process is simple, yet necessary. Prioritizing will clear your head, while simultaneously clearing your calendar.

I still use the tools designed to help us beat time – my pda is a good friend – but now I use them more realistically. In my Outlook Calendar, I record my fixed appointments. By fixed appointments, I mean the engagements that missing them would leave me greatly disappointed or conflict against my personal values. Work obligations, kids’ field trips and family meetings are all in that “must-do” category. I then in a mark with a different color the additional appointments and tasks that I would like to handle, (the “maybes”): pilates class, sorority meetings, book club, a distant friend’s birthday party.

This change has helped to relieve a lot of stress. I used to be that mad woman driving down the road on a business call, willing my two boys to be quiet in the back seat as I rushed them to swimming lessons. I would be stressed because groceries hadn’t been bought for dinner, I was supposed to attend a PTA meeting later that evening and had a manual to revise by the morning. Now, I am continuously reevaluating my priorities. For instance, dinner with my family is important, but one cooked by me isn’t (takeout is my friend); my kids aren’t training for the Olympics and it is okay if they miss swimming lessons and I can miss the PTA meeting once and awhile. Work, out of personal fulfillment and financial necessity, is a priority for me. Spending time with my family is my biggest priority so I ensure we sit down for dinner together before I revise that manual.

I don’t suffer from guilt trips anymore, because the engagements I miss were “tentative” to begin with. More importantly, I end each day feeling accomplished because I have given proper attention to my priorities. You may not be able to get it ALL done, but you can handle ALL that Matters.

Effective Time Management Continues to Vex Many Professionals
by Leanne Hoagland-Smith

As a professional business person whether you are a small business person to entrepreneur, is effective time management a continual challenge for you? Have you attended time management training workshops? And did you find that within a short time, usually 6 to 12 months, your time management behavior was right back to where it was before the time management training?