10 Sizzling Solutions to Predictable Time Management Stressors

There is a significant relationship between time management and stress management. I liken it to siblings fighting over who gets the biggest helping of ice cream.

If you are a better time manager, you experience less stress and if you manage your stress, you are a better time manager.

I was asked to customize a program for Whirlpool and as the meeting planner outlined their needs, it dawned on me that she was describing predictable stressors tied to time management challenges regularly occurring at certain hours of the day. I led the Whirlpool workers through the exercise of identifying their personal stressors based on the time of the day. We next explored what time principles or stress concepts could be implemented in order to feel better physically, mentally and emotionally.

The exercise was very successful with simple solutions for predictable stressors quickly expressed as participants started to see their day from different angles and perspectives with a plethora of solutions for each challenge.

Some universal truths surfaced. Those truths were:

1. Master Task List vs. Daily Task List. Accept it — you will not be able to get everything done in one day. This necessitates the use of a master task list and a daily task list. The master task list contains everything you have to accomplish, including long term project tasks. The daily task lists what you can physically accomplish today. 
2. Interactions vs. Production. There are two critical parts to your day: interactions and production. It is important to maintain your focus during each. A past president of United Airlines realized that his entire day was just one big interruption, so he solved it by staying home the first 90 minutes of each day, doing all of his work and then going to the office and handling the interruptions. You need closed door time to produce, but you have to balance that with being responsive to co-workers and employees.
3. Deadlines Distort. From a productivity viewpoint, deadlines are good because they move you into action. However, when faced with a simple deadline of getting out the door on time or getting the figures to your manager by 2:00, and you are behind because of the “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” phenomenon, you get that out-of-control anxiety exactly like the dreaded bodily response when you realized the time was up for the Algebra test and you had four problems left. Productivity is freeze-framed. To work around deadlines, always attack the issue early and allow extra time for things to go wrong because they will!
4. The “Before” Principle. Working in tandem with the allow-extra-time principle, is the “before” principle meaning you complete tasks before they are due. Example: Decide what you will wear the next day the night before so you can eliminate the choice of suit whose matching shirt is at the cleaners or has a button missing on the sleeve. At work, make sure the figures are finished the day or morning before the 2:o0 p.m. deadline. And a no-brainer: kids must do their homework the night before.
5. Tackle Traffic. Commuting to work is a tough issue to get around. The stress skills are to reframe, rename, re-label, listen to educational CDs or find an alternative to driving. Alternatives include choosing public transportation so tasks can be completed while your “chauffeur” does the driving, taking advantage of flex time so you are driving at non-peak hours or working from your home office one or two days a week. These alternatives are good organizational solutions if you are frazzled by the time you get to work because of commute problems. If a daily task list includes researching a topic via the Internet, answering emails, and making telephone calls, you don’t have to be in your cubicle. Research shows people working from a home office are typically more productive for three reasons: less interruptions, productive use of time normally spent in traffic, and reduced stress. The biggest problem for work from home workers is a fresh pan of brownies in close proximity to their home office space.
6. Meetings, Meetings, Eternal Meetings. As an organization, it is important at regular intervals to evaluate the effectiveness of meetings. It may surprise you how many could be eliminated, giving employees precious time to complete work. Another technique is to estimate the wasted time in each meeting and seek to be more efficient by sending out an agenda so employees are prepared on the topics being discussed, limiting conversations about subjects not on the agenda, and helping attendees listen intently and respectfully to each other. If you absolutely do not have to be in a regularly scheduled meeting, send someone else or borrow a friend’s notes.
7. Laser Focus. Focus is a very important productivity principle. Focus enables laser thinking, better decision making, and a sense of satisfaction when you finish a task. When you are totally engaged in a task, or focused, you’re more likely to recognize patterns and connections that lead to innovative solutions. The deep thinking that focus produces enhances your problem-solving skills by allowing you to dedicate your full mental capacity to the task at hand. Focus can be called “Deeper Work” which is the ability to focus on a cognitively demanding task, tackle complex projects and ideas that require intense thought and effort. Improving your ability to focus is a skill that takes time and practice to develop.
8. Pesky Interruptions. There is a need to balance your time to focus, concentrate and produce original thinking with the time you need to be available to employees and colleagues. As to employees interrupting you, give them each a specific time during the day to meet with you when you will give them your undivided attention. Instruct them not to interrupt you otherwise unless there is a terrorist attack. With colleagues, you can use phrases to get them to the point of their visit and you can use phrases to get them out of your office. Try “How can I help you?” “In summary…” or “Thanks for dropping by. I’ve got to get this out by Noon. You understand.” As to the chatty friend…you are on your own.
9. The “P” word: Procrastination. Procrastination is a thief. It robs you of achievement and production and the scary thing about it, is you do it unconsciously. Every day that overwhelming project seems to get pushed to the next day. The difficult conversation is never had, it just continues to gnaw at stomach and sometimes at your heart, either way, destroying your peace of mind and limiting your growth. Surprise procrastination. Take the task you have been procrastinating and break it down into instant start-up tasks that can be done in about 5 minutes. Give yourself a definite time of day to sit down and work on the task. Once you are in your chair with the task in front of you and you have completed a 5-minute instant start-up task, you are on your way and as you become focused on the task, you will probably be unaware you have spent the last two hours on the project. It’s a great feeling.
10. Close Out the Day. It may sound weird, but nothing is more important for your daily productivity tomorrow than closing out today. Check off completed items, make note of where to start on ½-finished projects, decide what will get your attention first when you walk in the office tomorrow morning, and clean off your desk, re-filing folders and returning e-mail and phone messages. When you are finished closing out your day, you’ll be ready for a less stressful tomorrow.