Think you’re bad at time management? You’re not alone. So many women in STEM come and tell me they want my help with improving their time management skills.
Well I have the one and only secret to solving all of your time management problems right here, right now.
Are you ready?
Time doesn’t need to be managed. It is YOU who needs to be managed!
My failed attempts at managing time
When I was growing up, I was the slowest kid at school. I was always the last person to hand work in if the teacher set us a task to do during class. There were a couple of kids who were consistently the quickest and got the best grades and I thought, “Gosh I wish I was like them!”. The thought that “slow” was part of my identity stuck with me until I was an adult.
This belief that I was inefficient at everything got worse as my imposter syndrome grew. If you haven’t heard about my battles with impostor syndrome in the workplace yet, check out this podcast episode.
Because of this belief, I overcompensated in my job. Catching up on work after hours started becoming a pattern of always working late.
When people asked me how I was doing in the mornings, I was that annoying co-worker who’d say, "Busy. I'm so busy. I stayed up till 11 last night finishing project X and I only got 3 hours of sleep. But look, I'm in the office early to finish off this thing so I can go to a client meeting about that thing..."
*EYE ROLL*
I played the victim card once upon a time and for a long old time and wore "busy" as a badge of honour.
I thought it made me seem important. I allowed people to come to me for help all the time because it would boost my ego. I felt important enough that someone would value my work so much that they would want me to work overtime.
Well, I can tell you that was NOT a good thing.
I burnt out and spontaneously burst into tears on the way to work one day (and I don't cry often). I knew this wasn't how I wanted to live my life. and I set out to find a better way.
Here are 4 things you must know in order to master your time management skills:
Time doesn’t need to be managed
It is YOU who needs to be managed!
As women in STEM we often fall into this area of impostor syndrome where we feel like we’re not doing enough. If only we could pack more into our day, we’d be more successful. If only we had all the time management hacks so we could get more stuff done, our bosses would see how hard we’re working.
But time doesn't need to be managed. It happens without you doing anything and is frankly your most valuable resource.
You can't create more of it. You can't pay for more. of it. It’s actually the only resource you CAN’T control.
So don't manage time, manage yourself.
What can you do to ensure you’re more focused? How can you spend your time more intentionally? What are the things you’re good at and can do more effectively than anyone else?
On top of managing yourself, you also need to manage other people. If you’re the sort of person who says yes to everyone else’s requests, you’ve got a boundaries issue. You’re teaching people that it’s ok to ask you to do stuff for them all the time.
I mentioned before that I loved being the person that people would come to for help. And I did like that. But it got to the point where I burnt out. I wasn't able to help anyone anymore because I was so stressed and things got really difficult.
So what about people in your life? How are you teaching them to treat you?
2. Urgent doesn’t equal important
Urgent tasks are unplanned tasks. Usually ones that you didn’t see coming. They could be emergencies, other people’s requests or even notifications such as email pop-ups, phone calls and colleagues asking if they can “borrow you for one minute”.
Most urgent tasks are not important. They just need to be done quickly.
Important tasks are the ones that align with the big-picture direction of where you want to go in life. For example, exercising regularly is important, but not urgent. It helps you become the healthy human you want to be, however there’s no time related pressure in doing it.
The most ineffective people in a workplace will prioritise urgent things over important things.
I used to have a pop up notification from my email inbox every time a new email came in. Even if I was working on something that was important for getting me closer to my career goals, I’d stop and respond to the email right away. Now, I turn off every notification on any device I can!
You might come across urgent tasks that are pretending to be important tasks too. These usually come from impatient clients or stressed out bosses who tell you that the thing they asked for should be your highest priority. I really encourage you to dig deep and think about whether those tasks are actually important, or just urgent. If it doesn’t align with your priorities and career strategy, you have every right to say no.
3. Successful people don’t do more things
They’re just clear on what’s important to them and only do things aligned with their priorities.
Successful people don't get more stuff done in the day. They get really focused on doing whatever is going to help them move in the direction that they want to go. So if something is not aligned with their life or career priorities, they're probably not going to do it.
Do you know what's important to you? What are your life priorities? Are you intentionally spending your time to nurture those priorities, or are you letting other people trample all over them?
If you want to be successful, you do not need to be taking on time management hacks. All they do is help you fit more tasks in your day but they might not be important ones.
Be more intentional with your time. Figure out what's important and only do those things. Don't spend time on things to please other people. That's not helping anyone. You might feel important at the time, but I can assure you, when you get to that point of burnout, you'll be asking yourself, “What am I doing all of this for? “.
4. Instead of saying, “I don’t have time”
Say, “I’m not prioritising this”. I’m empowering you with the ability and responsibility to manage what you’re allowing into your day!
So if you catch yourself saying, “I don't have time to read that book” or “I don't have time to listen to that podcast”, admit to yourself that you DO have the time, it’s just that you’ve prioritised something else. The more you do this, the more you’ll realise how much power you do have to take back control of your schedule.
Summary
Firstly, time doesn't need to be managed. It happens anyway, right? It is you that needs to be managed, and the expectations of people around you. The second thing is that urgent doesn't equal important. When you go about your weak your work week this week have a think about whether requests coming in urgent or if they're important. Thirdly, successful people don't do more things. They're just more intentional with their time because they know what their priorities are.
Finally, stop saying “I don’t have time”. This puts you out of the drivers seat of the bus that is your schedule. Admit to yourself that you always have time, but you chose to prioritise something else instead.
Has this article inspired you to be a more intentional with your time? Stop trying to fit more in your day and do less. Strip out the noise, and the things that are not aligned with your life priorities. Stop doing them or find a way to reduce them.
If this is something that you struggle with, consider scheduling a complimentary coaching session with me. I been through it all and have plenty of tools and resources to help you achieve the schedule of your dreams!
Find out how to apply: tiffany@tiffanydawson.co
