I have learned heat and pressure over time can create a diamond, the same does not apply to humans who are trying to manage their time. Usually, one or all areas fail. Whether it is running out of time, or the pressures of deadlines cause a collapse of planning, they do not mix well together over the long haul.
Consider the excerpt from my book, The Time-Optimized Life.
I had a running joke with my mom up to my college years. In school, I was a pretty good student. I got As and Bs, showed up to class, did my homework, and turned in my assignments on time. I even graduated in the top ten of my class in high school. My parents never really bugged me about my schoolwork because I never really gave them an issue to be worried.
However, I had a bad habit of “waiting until the last minute” to complete my coursework. A teacher would give out an assignment that was due in two weeks. I would delay or ignore the effort that needed to be done. The night before the due date, my mother would see me working away as she headed to bed. Then would come the questions.
She would usually lead off with, “What are you working on?”
“Ah, I have a paper due in American History,” I would respond.
Then came, “When is it due?”
Short answer, “In the morning.”
Now fully into the routine, she would sigh. “And you are waiting until the night before to get it done?” A statement asked as a question.
Then with a smirk and well-rehearsed response, I would pause for dramatic effect and utter, “You know, Mom, I do my best work under pressure.”
To which she would smile and shake her head. “You know, that may not work too well when you go to college.”
Now would be my turn to sigh and say, “Yeah, yeah, you say that every time, but I always manage to get it done. It will be no different this time and when I go away.”
She would give me the drawn-out and lengthened motherly, “Alllllrrrrrriiiiiiiight,” followed by, “Goodnight.”
My mom was such a prophet of common sense. When I went away to the university, working under pressure was a horrible approach to a successful college career. Gone were the easy assignments and waiting until the last minute. My first year was a horror show of time-management failures that almost cost me my acceptance and status with the school. I really did not hit my stride until my junior year and only got back to solid As and Bs in my senior year. Because of setbacks (and having a job throughout school), it took me over five years to graduate.
Download chapter 1 and learn the concept of using your time proactively.
Preparation, Execution, and Control (PEC) is the foundation I teach to be better equipped to handle the pressures in life.
Preparation establishes the provision, design, forethought, and groundwork of time tied to a future project, task, event, or undertaking. It’s a way of acknowledging the pressure and building steps to handle or ease the force.
After the plan is generated, time management then shifts to execution. It is as much procedure as it is technique. You’ll understand what to change and adapt, as circumstances around you when the tension shifts or increases.
An often-overlooked aspect, but just as important an element of time management, is control. Your control. The best preparation and execution can be nullified if you lack the authority over the period allocated for performance. Unless you recognize that the pressures of life will impact your use of time, control can be lost.
Preparation, execution, and control remove the pressure and turn down the heat. However, without these two, a diamond can never be created. Yet, the absence of pressure and heat can help you create your life what is a diamond of time usage. You create valuable quality time as a result.
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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