How Do You Spend Your Time?

​Colleagues,
 
There are four keys to getting off the treadmill and, not surprisingly, they correspond to the four traits of strategic leadership:

1. Acting with intention on a daily basis
2. Discern problems from symptoms
3. Enacting cycles of incremental change
4. Developing the right people

 
We will spend the rest of this week on acting with intention, which has three components:

• Developing awareness
• Becoming strategically reactive
• Becoming proactive

 
Where does your time go? There are two parts to tracking time: listing tasks, and measuring time spent on those tasks. Choose the method that aligns most naturally with how you work:

1. End-of the day method: At the end of the day write down all the things you did and approximately how much time you spent on them.
2. Realtime method: Keep a running list of what you do and how much time you spend throughout the day.
3. Front and back method: Begin the day with your anticipated to-do list. At the end of the day, review the list and add the time spent. Also add any unanticipated things that you did and how long those took.
4. Over achiever method: Modify the front and back method by including how much time you anticipate spending on each thing at the beginning of the day. This allows you to make direct comparisons of what you intended versus what the reality was.

 
About 70% of the people that read this email do so before 10:00 in the morning, so here is my challenge for you:

• Review the four methods of tracking your time.
• Decide which one to use.
• Use it today!

 
Tomorrow we’ll analyze what happened and then dive into being strategically reactive. 
 
Do good and be well,
 
Frederick