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 Restoring
Order
™:
Organizing Strategies to Reclaim Your
Life™
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CBN.com –
The Time Management Myth
I don’t know who coined the phrase, “time
management.” There is really no way to manage
time. We each get exactly 24 hours in a day, and
time keeps marching on, no matter how we choose to
spend it or what we accomplish with our allotted
seven days each week.
But even though we can’t really manage time, we
can manage ourselves, our environment, our
responsibilities, our choices, and our
opportunities. Time is simply the context in which
we act. It is not something that we can stretch or
compress or truly manage.
The Time Management Myth gained such popularity
in business schools and beyond because it is built
on universally admired virtues such as
productivity and efficiency. Who, in his or her
personal or business life, doesn’t want to be
thought of as productive and efficient?
Certainly, productivity and efficiency have
merit, and a multitude of approaches to achieving
them have sold truckloads of business books. But
when it comes down to making it through each day,
productivity and efficiency don’t really count for
much if you’re not living the life you really
want.
I propose we stop talking about time management
and start promoting self management. We enhance
our satisfaction and enjoyment in life when we put
first things first. We need to begin investing our
time, energy, and resources in priorities…the
things that really matter to us.
No Quick Fixes
How-to books abound, offering an easy path to
getting organized in your life and business.
Fortunes have been made peddling tips and tricks
that promise to bring order to your environment.
People are grasping for a sound byte or shortcut
they believe will simplify their life in three
easy steps. The unfortunate truth is that there is
no simple solution or set of tips or
one-size-fits-all plan that will solve all
organizing issues for every individual.
As a professional organizer, I’ve had the
opportunity to observe disorganized people from
all walks of life, both in business and personal
environments, and to examine their reasons for
change. I’ve concluded that people change for two
reasons: either they have reached a “point of
pain” with their chronically chaotic lifestyle, or
they are inspired by what would be possible in
their lives if they were to become more organized.
Begin With Your Priorities
Some believe that time management is setting
goals and agendas, breaking tasks into manageable
parts, and keeping lots of lists. Organizing your
day may indeed involve some or all of these
strategies, but those who succeed in ordering
their time in a meaningful way begin by making
room for their priorities. Once they have
identified the things that truly matter to them,
they can begin to organize around those personal
priorities.
You may have hoped buying another fancy
calendar would solve your time management problem
only to see important events continue to fall
through the cracks. You may have a spouse nagging
you to manage your time better and accomplish
more. You may have a boss who is unhappy with your
sagging productivity. All of these circumstances
might be the “point of pain” that triggers you to
change.
Pain certainly can be motivational, but I have
found no more powerful and lasting motivator than
identifying and embracing your own priorities.
The payoff to getting organized is more than
you might think. Most people understand that
organizing will help you maximize your time, which
indeed it will. However, achieving a “maximized”
calendar is not usually a compelling enough reason
for most of us to keep plugging ahead on our
projects. Organizing your time and environment
will take energy and resources, so you need a
reason to justify the ongoing effort organizing
requires. We all need to keep in sight why we are
creating and maintaining order. Organizing doesn’t
just clear your space and optimize your time; it
helps you make room in your life for the things
that truly matter. The bottom line is this:
ordering your space and time will give you the
ability to achieve your personal priorities.
Discovering Your Priorities
Once you know your priorities; they can become
a powerful catalyst for change.
Discovering our priorities requires
introspection. Begin to discover your own
priorities by asking yourself; “What do I want my
life to look like? How do I want to spend my
time?” Some of us have set goals for the week or
year but have never reflected on our personal and
professional priorities. Even if we achieve our
goals, we still may feel empty if we haven’t been
living out the things that are important to us.
That’s we confuse goals and priorities. Goals are
finite and measurable and may be checked off a
list. Priorities, on the other hand, are our
guiding life values and they are something we
continually strive for; they can’t be checked off
a list.
Here are some questions I recommend my clients
ask themselves to determine their own priorities:
? What are my values?
? What are my responsibilities?
? What is worth investing my time into?
? What are my gifts?
? How do I want to be remembered?
If we want to manage ourselves to our full
potential, we must have priorities that precede
and pre-qualify our goals. A set of priorities is
a necessary measure by which our goals may be
chosen and our opportunities evaluated. If, for
example, your priorities include a fulfilling
spiritual life, an intimate marriage, and deep
personal relationships, then you can manage your
self by means choosing the activities that support
those priorities. If you never set your priorities
in clear terms, then you will have no point of
reference for selecting the commitments and
opportunities that present themselves in
abundance. Without priorities to guide your
decisions, your calendar will be overrun with
obligations that don’t fulfill your life.
Once you know your priorities, you can schedule
the activities that support them on your calendar.
For example, if being an engaged, consistent
parent is a priority for you, then your calendar
needs to show time set aside for each of your
children. That may sound simple, but your own
experience probably tells you that quality
parenting is not something you just “fit in” to
your schedule when time allows; you must schedule
that priority. If you are not dedicating any time
or energy to one of your spoken priorities, then
you have to question whether it is really that
important to you.
The real payoff to being organized is freedom –
the freedom to invest in your priorities.
Organizing your time is about making room in your
personal and professional life for what is
important to you. When you live your life in a
state of order, you can live on purpose, and honor
your priorities.
Is it time for you to get inspired by what’s
possible in your life? I invite you to begin
discovering, scheduling, and honoring your
priorities. You can live the life you want,
starting now!
Adapted from: Restoring Order™ copyright ©
2006 by Vicki Norris (available now at
www.RestoringOrder.com and in July 2007as Reclaim
Your Life™. Copyright © 2007). Published by
Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR. Used by
permission.
About the Author: Vicki Norris is an expert
organizer, business owner, speaker, television
personality, and author who inspires people to
live out their priorities. Norris is a regular on
HGTV’s nationally syndicated Mission:
Organization, and is a recurrent source and
contributor to national lifestyle publications
including Quick & Simple magazine, Better Homes &
Gardens, and Real Simple magazine. Norris is also
author of Restoring Order™ to Your Home, a
room-by-room household organizing guide. |
