By David Magallanes / Guest contributor
Here we are on a collision course with 2012, and many of us haven’t even begun to write down our resolutions. Assuming the Mayan predictions aren’t true and that we actually will live through this coming year, what are we planning to do with the 8,760 hours (during a third of which we’ll be getting our proper rest, of course) that will be gifted to us?
Many of us, I’m afraid, have a “whatever happens” attitude about this precious, finite time that is granted to us. We don’t want to become obsessive about the management of our time, but neither do we want to squander this treasure that we can never recover if we waste it.
I’ll never forget a coffee cup that one of my military colleagues had on his desk. It featured a scruffy character who was saying, “I spent my money on wine, women and song. The rest I just wasted.”
Are we guilty of “spending our time” on worthless pursuits … and “wasting” the rest? That’s a frightening possibility. We need to examine it if we intend to get out of life that which we think we deserve. Which really is the crux of the whole matter: What is it that we feel we deserve?
The management of time is a very personal issue — as personal as the food we eat and the shape we’re in. It’s also a complex topic, but it is well worth the effort to understand time and our use of it.
For many, the management of time is as simple as carrying around a checklist on which we cross off tasks as our day proceeds. But did we know that just as there are multiple generations of software, so too there are multiple generations of time management as it evolves? The “checklist” approach is merely the first generation of time management — a primitive form that has severe limitations. It’s better than nothing, but it may not allow for planning, preparing, scheduling and goal setting, which would bring us only to the second generation of time management.
But ideally we don’t start planning, preparing and scheduling anything and everything. After all, why schedule “organize photos” if it’s something we really want to do, but is relatively unimportant and certainly not urgent? Which brings us to the third generation of time management: prioritization. I’m a fan of Alan Lakein’s “ABC” method, explained in his classic, “How To Get Control of Your Time and Your Life.” Using this method, we are forced to consider our personal values and discover our mission in life. What, exactly, do we wish to accomplish with our time on the planet? So many of us have no idea! After all, if the Lakers are winning, who cares?
But if we do care (whether the Lakers or the Dodgers are winning or not), then we begin to realize the vast importance of structuring our lives in order to accomplish all that we set out to do with them. Armed with a solid understanding of linking our innate values to our personal time management, we might as well take this model and upgrade to the fourth generation.
I had seen the first glimmers of this generation when it was introduced to me many years ago by Barbara Sher in her classic work, “Wishcraft,” and as taught in great detail by the likes of Steve Covey in his epic work, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” This approach organizes our time depending on what’s urgent/not urgent vs. what’s important/not important to us as individuals.
Many people confuse what’s “urgent” with what’s “important,” and we’ve all witnessed lives that fall apart because of this confusion. People who are completely unorganized and who have no structural hierarchy for their time find themselves attending to urgencies all the time. They are continually “putting out fires” that needn’t have gone out of control if only they had taken the time to plan their time.
Covey’s book opened my eyes to a very effective means of managing my life, but it does require an investment of time to nail down just what our values are, and what we wish to be remembered for when we depart. Some people don’t like “time management” because they feel that it makes their lives rigid and boring. But the process that Covey explains has built-in flexibility that allows for interruptions and unforeseen events that put dents in our plans. In fact, handling interruptions and playing and spending time with family are all factored in to a holistic approach to the management of our time, which really the best guarantee for happiness because we won’t be happy if we don’t accomplish or pursue that which is personally important to us.
Having said all that, “making a list of New Year’s resolutions” now sounds underwhelming, doesn’t it?
Regardless .. .now go forth and resolve to manage your time and your life in 2012.
Happy New Year!
— David Magallanes is about to embark on a speaking and writing career whose purpose is to promote and facilitate the attainment of the American Dream. As an optimistic American of Mexican descent and an educator in college mathematics, he brings a unique perspective to issues of our day. He may be contacted for speaking requests or for commentary at adelantos@msn.com