“Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment Harry seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson …. and the next, walking into lunch”
– JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
As we settle into lockdown a new phenomenon is emerging for many people working from home – that of disappearing time. We, and many of the people we speak with, seem never to have been busier. Hours are disappearing before our eyes and work is expanding to fit every hour of the day – and by that we mean the whole day. The lines between work and home have become blurred, at the cost of both.
Time management has never been so critical.
Somehow we feel we should have more time than normal. We no longer have a commute to endure after all. We wonder where the hours go and feel cross with ourselves for not achieving more.
The secret is to be ruthlessly realistic about what we can achieve in a day. With a cacophony of distractions, interruptions, video calls, home schooling crises or pure loneliness, we simply can’t be as productive as before. This problem will not go away in the short-term, in fact we suggest that it will be a long time before a new normal establishes itself. It is critical therefore that we invest time now in managing how we work, if we are to survive and thrive.
Our first lesson is that “one size fits one”. What works for our colleague, neighbour, or LinkedIn connection may not work for us. We need to turn down the volume on the stories and pictures that surround us of others having seemingly endless time on their hands, baking, tidying or delivering fabulous results despite adversity. We must open our eyes to our own reality and be kind to ourselves.
Next let’s get a handle on our busyness.
This is not about managing an inbox. This is about working out what is really important (rather than just noisy) and properly investing time in it. If we follow Derek Sivers’ advice, one of the best things we can do is to start saying “no” more, so that our “yeses” become more powerful.
For leaders this means looking up and out, focussing time and attention on our people. We need to remember that connecting with team members, setting crystal clear objectives and managing by outcome is now the job, it is not an adjunct to the job.
Prioritisation is not just about work. When time slips away from us it is easy to take our focus off the importance of home. Allocating time for our physical and mental wellbeing, our family and our friends is just as important as allocating time for our work. Instead of eating lunch “al desko”, lockdown enables us to have a family meal and take a moment to connect with those we love, whether in person or virtually.
The commute may no longer need to be endured, but the transition it gave us from work to home has also gone away. We no longer change gears, read a book, or just sit quietly for a moment without feeling guilty. We each need to find our own way to make that transition in our new reality. Timing our walks and exercise so that they re-energise us is a powerful step. One size fits one.
Parkinsons Law tells us work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. If we know we can keep working until midnight it will take us until midnight to finish our work. If we establish a new routine and set our hours with a hard stop we will find a way to deliver to that – either by managing other people’s expectations or by becoming more focused and efficient. Sometimes this means working unconventional hours, but finding a pattern that works for us, and sticking with it, is the key to harnessing time.
Many of us feel overwhelmed with too many balls in the air and too much worry. These distractions silently steal our time without us realising it. We worry about relatives, finances, keeping the fridge stocked, supporting children through the rollercoaster that is home schooling and the scariness that is Covid-19 itself. All of this is on top of our work.
There is huge value to be had in capturing everything that is buzzing around our heads onto a single piece of paper and taking a really good look at it. We can then set aside those things we can do nothing about, our “circle of concern”, and not allow them to deplete our energy. This leaves us free to act with purpose, focus and calm on those actions that we can control or influence.
If we follow our ultradian rhythms and work in bursts of 90 minutes with breaks in between, we will achieve so much more than if we keep slogging away in front of our screens for hours on end. It is much easier to manage interruptions and distractions for blasts of 90 minutes than it is for an extended period of time.
Finally let’s stop kidding ourselves that we are multi-tasking. Much neuroscience research has been done in this field of late, which has found that attempting to multi-task merely extends the job in hand as our brains switch from task to task. If we can discipline ourselves to focus on one task at a time we might steal back some of our lost time.
Of course all of this takes effort, but it is effort that pays off in terms of business results, personal health, happiness and a sense of calm. I’d encourage you to try – making even one small change might magic more time into your day … and I for one would dearly like a little taste of that magic.