Ready to challenge some popular myths about time management?
My colleagues Lisa Huetteman and Mary Owens of Black Diamond Associates in Tampa, FL pull no punches in challenging some popular "truisms" about time management. Get ready to have some myths "busted".
#10. The more you sweat, the more you get. This is the "buckets of sweat syndrome." Hard work and success are related, but so is hard work and failure.
#9. Activity means productivity. Don’t confuse activity with results. Activity should be a means not an end.
#8. Efficiency means effectiveness. Effectiveness must precede efficiency. This means doing the right things, right.
#7. Burn the midnight oil to get it done. Working long hours creates procrastination. The price is very high: nervous breakdown, ill health, alcoholism, and divorce.
#6. The best way to get the job done is to do it yourself. This feels easy. You don’t need to check up, train, worry about others’ ability. Are you an expert at everything? Realize your limitations.
#5. The easy way is the best way. This is the other side of the disillusioned "burn the midnight oil."
#4. Work is not fun. From the Bible we are taught that work is regarded as payment for sin. Another perspective is expenditure of energy is necessary in life. What is your paradigm?
#3. There is only one best way. We are taught very early to look for "the" solution. A broom is certainly better than a hand for picking stuff up, but not as good as a vacuum. There are probably at least two ways to do anything.
#2. More discipline means less freedom. Low Freedom/Low Discipline … High crime areas, fear for your life. High Freedom/Low discipline … South Sea Islands. Little gets accomplished. Low Freedom/High Discipline … Prisons, Autocratic Government, IRS. High Freedom/High Discipline … Self-discipline is imposed and we work less and accomplish more.
#1. We work best under pressure. This is a defense of procrastination and a superb self delusion. We invite Murphy’s Law: Nothing is as easy as it looks. Everything takes longer than you expect. Whatever can go wrong will, at the worst possible time.