EFG Consulting, LLC

Since we’re now in the silly season, it seems very appropriate that I focus on the one thing that seems to be a major challenge in the holiday season – time management.  I mentioned some basics in the last post.  In this post, I want to really emphasize what’s important.  As in knowing what’s important to you is absolutely critical to managing your time.

Have you noticed when you or someone you know is dealing with a crisis, major illness or emergency – things seem to get done quickly and with amazing clarity.  All of a sudden, time is an absolutely precious commodity and it must be spent on only the most important and critical of things.  It becomes very easy to prioritize your time at that point because the consequences are dire and immediate.

It’s when we lose that sense of urgency and go back to the everyday that we start being unable to manage our time and priorities get lost or  mixed up in the moment.

What if you could manage your time as if you were critically ill or in crisis without the crisis?   What would be different if you were aware of how valuable your time was every moment and spent it accordingly?  Would you work out every day?  Eat right?  Not watch so much TV?

We all tend to get lost in the moment at work, at home or when managing our businesses.   If you can keep what’s really important to you present at all times, you will be able to gain a great deal of productivity and effectiveness – not to mention seriously lowering your stress level.

Your assignment this week is to really lay out the top 5 (no more) most important things in your business and life in writing.  Evaluate every hour you spend your time based on that list – and see how it goes.

I had a very pointed reminder this week of how vital it is to take care of yourself physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually. I’ve been running full-tilt, not paying attention to my needs for a while now.  This is something pretty common with a lot of people.  We often take better care of our cars than ourselves.

I, like a lot of people, equate more with better when it comes to work. For example, if your business isn’t producing the results you want, then do more. I know better. I have years of experience insisting on solving the problem instead of throwing money or people at it. And yet I still fell into the same old trap. It’s an easy thing to do, especially being Type A and working for myself. And the predictable happened. I woke up Friday morning with a nasty case of laryngitis.

For most folks this wouldn’t be the end of the world, but for me, everything stops dead. Without my voice, I can’t make a living.  I had to cancel a speaking engagement and several other things.  NOT good.

Stephen Covey refers to this as the “P/PC Balance.”  In a nutshell, it’s the balance of what you produce and your capacity to produce.  It is the very definition of effectiveness.  I literally killed the goose that produced the golden egg,  my voice.  For me, another example is the shoemaker’s children.  Well-being, the capacity to produce, is the one of the major things I watch for with my clients and yet completely neglected in myself.

My first priority now is to restore that balance by eating right, exercising and taking time off for myself.   I was lucky,  it wasn’t anything really serious or debilitating.  Just a minor warning.

How about you?  Are you taking care of your well-being?  Or are you ignoring the signs that you need to take better care of yourself?