GPS technology has totally revolutionized the digital mapping industry. A few years ago I thought it was really amazing to be able to type an address into my computer and let Mapquest or Google Maps create driving directions for me to reach my destination. Now, the industry has upped the ante by using the GPS chip in my smart phone to identify my precise location. I only have give the application the address of where I want to go and - voila! – the map appears on my phone, along with printed driving instructions AND turn by turn voice instructions.
So, the two most important components for a successful trip are 1) knowing where you are and 2) knowing where you want to go. Everything in between is just scenery. The same is true in time management. There are numerous time management tools and strategies that can help you manage your daily “trips,” but none of them will really help you unless you have established where you are and where you need to be at the end of the trip. People who have problems managing their time usually struggle with this most basic of all time management fundamentals.
Put another way, in order to make the most effective use of our time, we need to focus on achieving meaningful, specific goals. Let’s revisit the mapping idea. As you make your way through time every day, you are on a journey. However, for a journey to have meaning and purpose, it must have a destination. Our goals constitute the destination of our time management journey. Until we know where it is we are headed — i.e., what it is we are supposed to be achieving — we can’t really do anything to improve the way we manage our time. The first key to effective, satisfying time management is to define your purpose by identifying valuable goals.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems in time management is the inability to set effective goals. Often goals are vague and not tied to a specific deadline or outcome. The question you must first ask yourself is, “Do I understand what my goals are and why they are important?” The second is, “Which goals are most critical now?” A goal is a practical, definable, measurable, achievable outcome that you either want to or must accomplish.
Externally Imposed Goals
Externally imposed goals tend to be inflexible and often absolute, dictated by outside forces that leave little or no room for compromise or negotiation. The strongest external forces seem to impose the most demanding goals.
Externally imposed goals include all the job assignments, performance specifications, and behavioral demands employers make on employees. An example would be an employer who asks his management staff to accomplish ten percent more this year with the same budget and resource allocations as the prior year. Or consider an organization that changes its data processing procedures; suddenly, everyone concerned with the timely exchange of information must learn to work with new routines, regulations, and demands.
Self-Imposed Goals
Self-imposed goals are those goals that we set for ourselves. They may still be related to our professional situation, or they may be connected to some other area of our lives. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that self-imposed goals are usually the most motivational. They are generally linked to things that you strongly care about, making it easier to stick with a single goal long enough to achieve it, and making you feel good when you attain it. Your self-imposed goals tend to reflect your deep-seated desires, interests, and abilities. Even if you do not consciously acknowledge them, some part of you is aware of the self-imposed goals that motivate you the most.
A self-imposed goal is also likely to contain a package of attractive secondary motivators, offering the satisfactions that you tend to overlook on externally imposed assignments; for example, the prestige you want, the influence you crave, and the good feelings you experience by doing something useful. These secondary motivators are less related to the final aim than to the process of reaching toward that goal. They can make the work itself a motivating activity.
The challenge of goal setting
Because of the factors discussed above, clarifying your goals is the first step in effectively managing your time. In order for goals to become viable, they have to meet certain criteria so that you can act on them in the real world. Think of the trip analogy we started with. If you only stated your destination to be, “somewhere pretty, where the people are friendly and they have good food,” you will soon be lost. The GPS can’t build you a map to that place, because you haven’t defined a particular place.
Goals need to describe specific objectives, including when to start work on the goal, exactly what must be achieved, and the deadline by which it must be accomplished. If you are having problems with time management, start by looking at your goals.
1. Are they specific?
2. Can they be used to define activities that will help you accomplish your goal?
3. Are they clear enough that you can start sorting your daily activities in order to limit any activity that won’t help you reach that goal?
If you can answer yes to these three questions, you are on your way to a more successful time management journey.
Re-Print Permission
This article may be reprinted in it's entirety if the following
conditions are met:
