Scenario 1: "Let's meet at 2 PM Friday — I have a lunch meeting at Noon and I can run from there to your office to meet. I know it will be tight, but I will only allow myself one hour to eat." Scenario 2: "My day is full of back to back meetings, in different buildings, but I can make it without being late."
Scenario 3: "We can get your final approval in, print up your order, and have it out by the end of the day."
Which one is your scenario? Okay — let's get serious. We know these scenarios work some of the time, but most of the time, you're either late or you miss your deadline.
With the myriad of things we do in our career, time management, or the appearance of time management is our kryptonite. The more we try to do, the more we juggle, the less time we have for mistakes, traffic, and plain-old scheduling.
When it comes to time, where do you deceive yourself?
- Do you get up late and have to rush around getting dressed and ready for the day?
- Do you leave at the wrong time every day so you hit a higher level of traffic commuting?
- Is daily planning in the morning a chore (so you don't do it)?
- Do you over-promise and under-deliver?
Here are a few great time management posts to help you:
How To Survive In A High Performance Workplace