We never seem to have enough time, so employ the three "P's" of good time management - Personal, Planning, and People.

• Personal: Each day we must keep ourselves balanced in the Seven Vital Areas of Life: Health, Family, Financial, Intellectual, Social, Professional, and Spiritual. Like a seven-legged table, if one is out of balance, it will upset the entire table.

• Planning: "People don't plan to fail but a lot of people fail to plan." Doing Daily Planning each night, planning out the most precious resource at our command, the next 24 hours, will direct us to spending our time more wisely.

• People: Better than 50 percent of our success has to do with the good cooperation of other people. Some will help us and others can hurt us. We need to maintain good, positive relationships with others. "To have a friend, be a friend."

Learn to ask

One of the most powerful things you can do in your Time Management life is to ask. Add a "because", a reason for the request, and you will increase your results.

A line of people was at the photocopier. Someone went right to the front and asked, "Can I cut in?” 20 percent of the time he was granted permission. 80 percent of the time he was told to go to the back of the line.

However, when he asked, "Can I cut in because I need these for a meeting I'm going to now", 80 percent of the time he was granted permission to cut in the line and 20 percent of the time he was refused.

It says a lot about human nature. People like to help and when you give them a reason to help, their cooperation multiplies and your time is used more effectively.

Never enough time

We all have too much to do, which says a lot of good things about you. Having too much to do means many have entrusted a lot to you. But having too much to do may cause stress as we try to “get it all done”.

The reality is we will never “get it all done” because there is never enough time for everything. But there’s always enough time for the important things.

So, old rule: “I want to get it all done”. Get rid of that rule. New rule: “I want to get the most important things done”.

Published: August 14, 2003

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