As the number of items competing for your time and attention increases, the ability to manage your time and your life becomes vital to your competitiveness, productivity, and well-being. In the attempt to employ what they believe to be time management principles, many people erroneously end up making things harder for themselves. The notion of working in sight of a clock, for example, is so pervasive in society that few people question the wisdom of doing so.

Of course, if you have appointments all day long or if you’re under continual, short-term deadlines, it may make sense to have a watch or clock in your immediate environment so that you can get regular time updates.

Facing the Clock Can be Counter-productive

The problem with constantly being exposed to the clock is that for many tasks, it is not only completely unnecessary but also counter-productive. In particular, when you’re engaging in first-time or conceptual thinking, trying to devise a new strategy, or exploring some breakthrough procedure, working in front of a clock will not be in your best interest. For these kinds of activities, you’re far better off having an open-ended period — i.e., you know when you start, but you don’t know when you finish, and you’re not concerned about when you finish. You might finish in a half-hour, an hour, or maybe two hours. If the project is important, finishing it alone will yield significant efficiencies once you apply what you achieved during the open-ended period.

Contrast this approach with attempting to achieve some type of conceptual breakthrough while working in front of the clock. Your creativity and energy can be muted when you’re more concerned with how much time is passing by than with what you’re able to develop.

“Group” Time Management

Suppose a key staff person in your department is learning new software this week. You’ve allocated two days, in which time the staff person is slated to return to his/her normal work routine, having incorporated the new procedures. How, precisely, can you possibly know if the two-day period is sufficient? Perhaps it’s more than enough. In that case, you’re lucky. Perhaps after two days the staff person knows only enough to get himself into major trouble. If the staff person feels uncomfortable after two days, you might be better off allocating another half- to full day so the staff person can become more fully immersed in the new procedures before having to be put back on the line, where everything is for keeps.

That half- to extra day you allocate to help ensure that your trainee feels more comfortable and more in demand can result in untold time and efficiency savings in the weeks and months that follow. Yet, in countless organizations, inflexible training periods are devised, all too often with the result that those being trained are only partially comfortable and partially familiar with elaborate new procedures, yet are immediately required to jump back into the fray, ready or not.

Far too many would-be time managers fall for the erroneous notion of doubling up on activities. Suppose you have five tasks confronting you and are stymied as to how to proceed. What’s the fastest and easiest way to tackle the five tasks and keep your stress in check? The answer: to put them in order of importance and then handle them one at a time. Child’s play you say–anyone could have figured that out. Anyone could, but hardly anyone does.

Not doubling up on activities, that is, tackling one project or handling one customer at a time rubs up against the very nature of society which seems to be telling you to do as many things at once as you can. Just get more done and never mind how stressful that is. Jump on your horse and ride off in all directions.

Frequently, I see people at my health club who get on the stair climber wearing a Walkman. I guess they’re listening to their favorite tunes, a lecture, or perhaps simply the radio. The other day, I saw a woman get on (and this example could have just as easily been about a man) who not only was wearing a Walkman, but she also opened a book. This, mind you, while on the stair climber. I looked at her curiously. I almost went over to her and asked her if she wanted some chewing gum! Is it likely that back in the office she tackles tasks one at a time?

Throw Out the Old

What is regarded as effective time management can be as deleterious to your competitiveness, productivity, and well-being as poor time management. For example, time management gurus have long advocated the value of handling only once each piece of paper you encounter. Here is what I call the Breathing Space perspective: it always depends on what a piece of paper says; you may have to handle some papers 25 times! Never handle most pieces of paper: don’t let them cross your desk.

Here are some other useless time management maxims. For reducing clutter the traditional wisdom is “When in Doubt, Throw it Out.” Here is the Breathing Space perspective: This is not bad advice, but hang onto things when you sense down-stream consequences of not doing so. Pack up and store current non-essentials and check them again later.

On Being More Efficient–The old wisdom prescribes speed reading, listening, learning. The Breathing Space perspective: We walk, talk, eat, read, listen, and learn at certain speeds for a reason. Notice that the most successful people in your profession are not in a hurry. It can be harmful for you to accelerate basic personal functioning. Operate at a pace comfortable for you.

On Managing Your Schedule–the old wisdom: Use Sophisticated Scheduling Tools. The Breathing Space perspective: Electronic calendars, time management software, etc., will fail when you don’t keep them current. Tackle the few key projects that count; have the guts to leave the rest.

A New Approach

The four examples above help illustrate that while time management principles may be worthwhile on a limited basis, in some instances what you really need is a new approach to your day, week, career, and life. In my book Breathing Space, I outline principles that transcend traditional time management techniques and lay a foundation for a greater capacity for achievement, while letting you remain balanced. Here are three of more than a dozen of these principles:

1. Managing the beforehand, as opposed to the aftermath, involves creating space–mentally or physically–in advance of what comes next. I regard it as clearing out the old and unsupportive and making room for the new and supportive. It requires anticipation and vision.

Managing the beforehand helps integrate your priorities and goals with your personal “systems” including how you keep your desk, office, closets, car, and other spaces.

When managing the beforehand, you are perpetually turning over files and data. You know more is coming that will supersede what you’re holding, your interests will change, and that it’s psychologically costly to hold on to what you don’t use.

2. Conditioning your environments involves taking charge of your office, home, car and other physical spaces of your life. This means that you arrange, stock, and maintain such spaces in a manner that supports your efforts. It means realistically assessing how you work and live best and summoning the resources that support your effort.

3. Multiple Stations–If you wear contact lenses, you may already know the value of using multiple stations. Lens wearers know to keep extra saline solution and storage tubes at the various stations of their lives: their desks, cars, lockers at the gym. etc. Hence, you are always prepared without having to carry these materials.

As the future unfolds, it’s likely that there will be more challenges, more tasks, and more items competing for your time and attention each day for the rest of your life. Nevertheless, you can march with confidence into a future earmarked by ever-increasing change, when you maintain. the proper perspective and have fresh approaches to the challenges you face.