Time Management Tip: What Outcome Do You Want from Your Time?

This time management tip focuses on the outcome first and then the details. What is the ultimate outcome you want to achieve from your day? If you were to achieve even just that one outcome would it make today a success? What would prevent you from achieving that outcome today? How could you remove this obstacle? The reason I want you to focus on the outcome rather than all the individual steps for right now, is because I want you to realize there may be an easier way to get the outcome you want than you’re doing now.

The outcome you want from this time management tip will be obtained through your actions. What actual actions would you have to take to accomplish your ultimate outcome for today? If you and only you were to take these actions could you achieve your ultimate outcome? If you need others to make your ultimate outcome happen have you taken the necessary steps to communicate their responsibility, and gained a commitment including a deadline?

Is time management hard for you because of all the distractions? What are the distractions or interests that you spend the bulk of your time on? Will those distractions or interests contribute to the outcome you want from today? If not, can you set these distractions aside until your ultimate outcome for the day is accomplished? If you worked on just the ultimate outcome for a concentrated period of time, could you achieve it today or could you achieve a mile stone towards its accomplishment? How long would that really take if you had zero distractions or interruptions?

You probably can’t eliminate all the distractions from your time management plans, so you have to learn to deal with them or work around them. Is there a way to quickly move through the things that you have to do that aren’t part of your day’s ultimate outcome? If you had everything in place to handle your major distractions and only dealt with them for a concentrated period of time, how long would it take to get through at least the bulk of the distractions? When you look at the things that interrupt or distract you that you absolutely have to do, could you set appointments to work strictly on these things and hold yourself to it?

You probably already use one or more time management system. How do you track the unimportant stuff that still has to be done, but doesn’t have to be done right now? Do you have one central spot where you can capture all the stuff you have to remember, but you don’t have to take action on right now? If you committed to one central location would it make things easier for you to find things when you needed them because you’d always know where to look?