Dec 18 2008
Time Management – just how difficult can that be?!
My schedule has been busy leading up to Christmas. As lead trainer for Training For Universities I find myself delivering a wide range of workshops ranging from Presenting Your Research at Conference to Dealing with Change. In spite of this diversity, in one of those statistical blips, I found myself delivering Time Management for three sessions within a week.
When I was very new to training I wondered whether delivering the same material would soon become boring…
I guess that is still a possibility. Doing the same thing repeatedly in any job can become boring or limiting if it stifles creativity.
What I have found is that the participants in each workshop add their own magic to the mix that makes each day different and three Time Management sessions has just proved the point.
Can I learn anything from this?
In a sweeping generalisation I can say that it seems that younger participants in these workshops had significantly simpler lives. They had their work… they had a social life but this seemed very flexible and without too many ties or committments.
Older/more mature participants in the workshops were far more likely to be juggling multiple responsibilities, part time work, part time study, young families, aging parents… few were dealing with businesses in any way. Life was generally more complicated and there were more fixed committments.
The tools needed by each group were different, but that’s not surprising either.
All groups I work with seem to like the “Eat That Frog” tool…
This is a great procrastination buster designed for those tasks you hate and would do anything to avoid, your personal “frogs”.
The rule is that the first thing you do each day is “Eat That Frog”.
This means, before you turn on the computer, before you check your email, before you do anything that will possibly be a distraction from that task you are so desperate to avoid, you eat your frog!
This is one tool that is beautiful in it’s simplicity and if you use it, it works!! Once you’ve “eaten your frog”, your day gets so much better…. don’t just take my word for it. Many particiants in my workshop email me to tell me how effective this is. Try it yourself and see!
