Managing Time

Thank you for joining me for this Leadership Minute, exploring how we Manage Time.

The number one challenge most leaders encounter is how to take control of their time. Think about how your day, week, and month are scheduled. Where and how are you spending your time?

Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, suggests we specify our work-related activities, and the time associated with each, in the Time Management Matrix. This grid provides an effective method for identifying task and time allocations so we can better organize our priorities. The four quadrants indicate where you appear to be spending most of your time.

• Quadrant I – Urgent and Important

• Quadrant II – Not Urgent and Important

• Quadrant III – Urgent and Not Important

• Quadrant IV – Not Urgent and Not Important

As you reflect on your matrix map, you may have realized that the first quadrants filled were I and III. It is easy to fill the “urgent-important” and “urgent-but-not-important quadrants because we generally see everything as urgent.

Covey states, “The challenge is not to manage time, but to manage ourselves.” Ask yourself these questions:

• What can I control? • How will I re-prioritize tasks and allocate time and attention in a way that is consistent with my plans, priorities, and values?

To learn more about yourself and the world in which you lead, I encourage you to participate in one of our upcoming leadership development programs found on our website, , www.chairacademy.com