One of the most physically painful times I went through as a child was having a splinter removed from my foot. You might justifiably be thinking I was quite a wimp but hear me out.
I was playing with my brother on an old wooden boat dock without any shoes. I was running along when I slipped, and a large splinter of wood went into the bottom of my foot. I hobbled off the dock as my brother ran down the shoreline to our grandparents’ house. Sitting on the ground, I attempted to try and remove the fragment, but it too was long and deep. Embarrassed to say anything, I kept the matter to myself.
As it stayed there and the pain increased (because it was getting infected), I would quietly go to the bedroom and try and take the piece out, as time passed it became very painful just to touch it. Over the next couple of days, I began to limp because I didn’t want to put any weight on my affected foot. Finally, I was confronted by my mom and grandmother demanding to know why I was walking weird.
When I showed them the bottom of my foot, I sensed their immediate alarm at how it looked. My grandfather came over and gave me look and said, “That’s nasty, we need to get that out right away. Go out in the yard and sit on the picnic table, I’ll be right out.”
What followed was what felt like forever, as he methodically worked a set of tweezers to get all the shards out. Tears flowed and I swear a couple of times I saw stars. I would not say my grandfather had a delicate touch, but he carefully made sure there was nothing left. I spent the rest of the day soaking my foot. By the next day, I was back at it, running around with my siblings and cousins… wearing shoes.
When we fail to manage our time well, time can become like a splinter in the foot, waiting to make life more painful. From the hundreds who have taken the Time Management Analysis (TMA), there are five principles to ensure you use your time effectively and avoid creating “splinters in time”.
Unpack the interruptions in life that will impact your productivity and quality of life.
I still get surprised by so many people who do not set goals for themselves. If they do, it is only on the processional side of life. Having professional and personal ambitions keeps a time splinter of apathy from setting in.
Meetings are so much a fixture of modern business life, yet we allow slivers of time disruption to occur because we fail to plan, participate, and follow up – whether we are the facilitator or participant.
When it comes to tasks, failing to prioritize is allowing a time infection to spread. Focus on the most important and urgent tasks first. By ordering what needs to be done, you can ensure that critical tasks are completed on time, preventing them from becoming overwhelming and causing unnecessary Stress.
In a modern time where the world is so accessible, yet disruptive, little moments of unfocused time can magnify into a pattern where you just limp along, trying to manage. Identify and minimize distractions that can interrupt your workflow. Whether it’s turning off notifications, finding a quiet workspace, or setting boundaries with others, eliminating distractions allows you to maintain concentration and efficiency.
I failed to finish what I started. I should have immediately sought help to remove the splinter and saved myself a lot of wasted time, trying to mask the pain and not solve the origin of my discomfort. To be organized means you know you are ready to complete what is in front of you, honoring obligations to others and yourself. You reduce the time pain in life.
There are a variety of ways that taking care of yourself helps you be more productive. An easy one is to allow yourself to take regular breaks to recharge and avoid Burnout. Short breaks can improve your productivity and help you maintain a clear mind, ensuring that you can tackle tasks more effectively when you return to work.
I was reminded of this incident as a child when I recently got a splinter putting together a merchandise fixture at a tradeshow. I immediately stopped what I was doing and dug it out. The pain was small, and the delay small. However, I was able to get right back at my activity. By implementing these time management principles, you can ensure that you use your time wisely, avoid the pain of time mismanagement, and achieve a more flexible and productive life.
David Buck is the author of the book The Time-Optimized Life, coauthor of The Retirement Collective, and owner of Kairos (Time) Management Solutions, LLC. Learn how to apply the concepts of proactively planning and using your time. Take the Time Management Analysis (TMA), the Retirement Time Analysis (RTA), or all the other free resources offered to help bring more quality time into your life.
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