The purpose of this article is to explore different approaches to time and  what time-relationships are for different kinds of people. Part 1 (also posted  here) provided backgrounding with some assumptions about time and how  differently different people think about time and why. This article is Part 2  and includes strategies and specific examples of how people who differ  radically from each other all successfully manage S.e.l.f and their time  productively. 

 What helps and what doesn’t? More time and money has been put into addressing  this question in the ‘90’s than we could ever have imagined possible in ALL of  time prior to this point. The result is we now have a totally confusing array  of choices of support tools to use: planner books, special calendars,  workshops, seminars, books, tapes, and software are all pitched to us as the  panacea of all time on the topic of our time, event and life management.  Despite all this, too many people still don’t tend to feel they have enough  time or don’t believe they maximize the value of time they do have. 

 The truth may be that only probably about half of us live life from the  perspective of the models of traditional “clock time,” use of the standard  calendar concept, setting goals, prioritizing, or the framework of “to do”  lists. The other half of us may have minor to major cases of lock-jaw when it  comes to saying “No!” because we are more highly committed to a belief we will  have more time tomorrow, no new crisis to manage then, or that there is a  better way than the standardly accepted more linear ones to manage life by and  follow than calendars, clocks, and lists. We are also the ones who may think  “boundaries” pertain mainly to football or soccer -- such as “in or out” of  bounds rather than to guidelines important to us in the living of our life. 

 Everyone’s intention is to be better, do better, and to do more -- soon. So  it’s not about intentionality. It’s more about style and gift. 

 Bigger truths are there are natural laws governing much. Natural laws that are  very powerfully effective are used by Hyrum Smith, one of the founders of  Franklin Quest. Franklin Quest currently produces one of the most in demand  time/life management paper and software systems and seminar series. Smith says  this about human behavior: 

  “Natural laws are fundamental patterns of nature and life. They describe  things as they really are, as apposed to how we think they are or how we wish  they were.” 

 Smith goes on to say, “These natural laws can help us gain control of our  lives, improve our relationships, increase our personal productivity, and  experience inner peace. “The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life  Management” - Proven Strategies For Increased Productivity and Inner Peace” is  available by Hyrum Smith (c) 1994, Warner Books, Inc. 

 There are two sets of approaches to learn self-management based on  understanding and applying natural laws: 

 1. Understanding and applying certain natural laws can help us better manage  our time.  2. Others can help us manage our life. 

 All require an important set of elements -- that we know what our values are  and how we want to prioritize these. (For an article on Values, watch this  site for the posting of this.) 

 Several of those identified by Smith that may seem particularly relevant are:  Managing your TIME natural laws:  - when your daily activities reflect your governing values, you experience  inner peace  - to reach any significant goal, you must leave your comfort zone  - consistent daily planning leverages time and increases focus 

 Managing your LIFE natural laws:  - your behavior is a reflection of what you truly believe  - negative behaviors are overcome by changing incorrect beliefs  - your self-esteem must ultimately come from within  -give more and you’ll have more 

 Something I think about, write about, and frequently discuss with my coaching  clients is the process of developing a mandala or a visual, circular  representation of your life. A way to do this is draw a large circle. In the  very center of it, draw a small circle -- this is the essence of you. You have  100% of your time -- allocate between 1% and 5% for this center circle --  that’s the least you can afford to allocate to your own essence -- your time  to just be with you. The all around the larger circle, section off areas  (maybe in the shape of pie-pieces or possibly as spokes on a wagon wheel) of  all the other essential elements of your life: family, intimate relationships,  friends/acquaintances, primary career, secondary career (if applicable),  hobbies, communities or organizations, rest and recharge; wellness/fitness,  health/medical, travel/transportation, finance/money management,  education/training, and so on. Apply a percentage (%) that is relevant to each  of these sections you have labeled. It becomes crystal clear with this process  why there may not be enough of YOU to go around in your day/month. 

 Here’s were Values become really important -- and knowing your values and  having your day reflect how you live through them is one key to satisfying  life management. Think of your own life mandala and apply the natural laws  mentioned to this and see how your use of your time stacks up and if this has  relevance to your happiness. If so, do more of what’s working. If not, make  some changes pronto -- and go to your Values to determine where to start. 

 I recently had a chance to live out this process as I was writing this article  as I traveled through part of Texas. The materials for this went with me to a  business trip for a training seminar in Dallas on the topic of “Compelling  Life Path” on a Friday eve/Saturday. Immediately at closure at 4pm I drove to  Austin to meet my son and his fiancee who had arrived there from Chicago for  dinner and to see my other son through Sunday morning, ending up at a $10  Million Dollar Camp For All groundbreaking ceremony in Burton, Texas outside  Brenham at a good friend’s new non-profit project for camping facilities for  the handicapped or specially challenged children and adults. Dinner was at a  client’s restaurant in Roundtop, Texas, and then I arrived home about 9pm  Sunday night in Houston. While the fully-packed and highly scheduled weekend  including driving alone over 600 miles, it didn’t feel ‘busy” or overloaded at  all. This was because all steps along the way and reasons for the trip for me  were "on purpose" and very much a piece of my “life plan” and my weekend as I  wanted to live it. Coordinating and planning was important -- and all the  reservations, the multi-legged car trip, and the meeting times were pre-  arranged. But the whole time I had a sense there was enough of me and of time  to work all this in comfortable -- so it was a pleasurable, profitable, and  productive way to spend three days. 

 I’m an advocate of looking at life much as if it is a tapestry -- the public  sees and enjoys the visible, beautiful front of this work of art only because  the crucial underpinnings beneath and behind the work are soundly in place.  Planning has occurred. Materials or supplies gathered. Groundwork lain, a  framework prepared. When the step for step is taken, a series of results can  be produced. This can help lead to the living of a “seamless life” -- one that  is part of a resonating whole. 

 This is the primary reason to commit to a life that includes stages that are  very much about goal setting, managing the timing of life events,  prioritizing, learning a lot about saying: “No,” “not now,” and “Later,” maybe  even “Never.” This is the reason to begin to unlearn what we believed in the  past that’s no longer really useful or serving us in the present -- letting it  go forever. We know where to find that belief should we ever need it again.  When these things can happen, life can be as much about release and detachment  from outcome -- the truest path to peace -- as it is about management and  order. 

 Leaving our comfort zone requires a step out in trust and into the unknown or  the unfamiliar. Planning and preparation are the safety net. Consistency in  planning, collection and maintenance of skills and materials are tools for  this purpose. They are our insurance and what shifts the odds in our favor.  They help us create meaningful form out of the scattered parts and pieces.  Much of success in life is the result of diligent attention to some form of  detail and good timing. Intuition plays a big part also, and learning what  innately works best for us in terms of style and procedure of approach to the  time and events of our lives. 

 So by building in elements of natural laws, we also build in greater chances  for success. And as I’ve mentioned often before, Ben Franklin had a great  handle on this: “Successful persons are willing to do what unsuccessful  persons are unwilling to do.” A challenge and a request -- will you spend the  next month looking at the way you spend your day based on your knowledge of  these natural laws and through the lens of your values? 

 Sometimes it helps to have examples of people who have done this successfully  who have created various strategies to help them maximize and use their  natural tendencies and styles more effectively. In Part #1, I went into some  detail on how convergent or linear, more left-brain dominant people use the  more traditional time/life management methods of clock, calendar, and  scheduling/prioritizing and “the list” methods. Below are some ways divergent  or global thinkers who are more right-brained dominant have come up with that  work for many of them: 

 - approach planning from a big picture perspective with a visual layout of  moveable symbols (colored index cards, objects, drawings) of each related  task. A mind map works well for this purpose. 

 - give up linear attempts to prioritize on a “to do” list. Instead, identify  the most important results wanted. (Ex: a more profitable bottom line for 1999  and 50% increase in gross revenues by July of 1998.) THEN select tasks to do  first in accordance with relevance to the specific results. A business choice  comes up -- measure it against this result. If it won’t lend itself to  increasing your profitability, put it on hold for now. Decision is made for  you. This is decision-making by putting into context of the bigger picture. 

 - use colors to help determine the priority of each task and assign from the  perspective of which is dependent upon which. Example: The mailing list has to  be created and tallied for totals before you can determine the # of envelopes  to purchase and time to allow to prep the mailing process. Mailing list  becomes the priority #1 color and item calendared first. 

 - don’t create more new tasks until there is an order for pre-identified ones  identified. (the divergent mind’s joy comes from generating more and new; the  convergent mind’s satisfaction and happiness derives from completing the  existing tasks.) 

 - stay in regular contact with the key people and circumstances involved when  a lot of change is the very nature of the work. Email, voicemail, and FAXed  updates and exchanges are key so people are not waiting overly long for still  needed information or confirmations. 

 - productivity and trust are interrelated. Only involve people you trust and  can count on. Eliminate those you cannot from key positions for your projects  or deadlines. 

 - use experts when they can save you both time and money. Ex: there are teams  of retired people trained to work together to tap in the community, and it’s  amazing how available mentors are simply when you make the request for their  help. 

 - rethink your processes. Rather than burning out someone who does only one  part of a procedure or task over and over, arrange it so each person can  complete one whole cycle from start to finish for the satisfaction and also  the responsibility of producing a finished and workable result. 

 - seek constant feedback as you go to prevent problems from arising. We think  of this as moving toward becoming a ‘problem-free’ zone in the Coach  University environment -- a great place of operation. (Eliminate problems  before they occur. A great way to begin to do that is ask your customer  service people what doesn’t work -- they know -- and pass on their ideas to  the people designing the service or production process.) 

 - survey all tasks to be done. Ask: 1) can I work on any two or more  simultaneously?; 2) which overlap and can be combined into one? Ex: return  phone calls from the car on that long drive to work; prepare proposals on the  airplane; carry a bookbag filled with things you WANT to read so no delay is  lost time; have a working lunch (occasionally only!); get design feedback for  the new bookcover at the meeting already scheduled for the final chapter  discussion; what parts of an already completed project can be reworked or  plugged in ‘as is’ to the current one? 

 - keep a way to make visual notes in your car, at your desk, and at key  pleases wherever you spend time. 

 Most of all, realize even if you are brilliantly successful as a 35-hr a day  woman some days, candle-burning at all ends is going to eventually be a  challenge vs a gift. Be kind to yourself and schedule in 'a life' also! 

 (c) Sherry Lowry, The Lowry Group/NexusPoint 
 

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