We have all been told to “be early” to meetings, appointments etc. When was the last time you arrived on-time to a meeting, and the other person never arrived? Have you ever waited at a coffee shop to meet with someone who showed up 15 or 30 minutes late? Or if you travel much like I do, how long was that last flight delayed?
Don’t Let “Waiting Time” Waste Your Time
You probably have had some situation where the above has happened (maybe all in the same day!) and you wound up losing ground that day. This kind of time-wasting drains your energy and you might end up frustrated and stressed out at the end of the day
In each the last 12 years, I have stayed in hotels more than 200 nights (per year) and flown on more than 100 commercial flights annually. I’ve presented more than 80 seminars and attended countless client meetings every year in more than 20 countries. One thing I know for sure is that things will come up, and I’ll have a chance to do “a little extra” with the extra time that I’m given.
I Get More Than 15 Each Week
You see, I never find myself with not enough time, I use all of the extra time (every block of 15 minutes) I have, and I’ll get more open blocks when things are rescheduled, or someone is late. I’ve been told I get more done in a day, than many people do in a week. Once, someone looked at my output over a weekend and promised she doesn’t create and implement as much in a month of her work…
During a typical week, I estimate that I get close to 4 hours of “extra time.” Every now and again, I’ll track my time over a week. NOT what I DO with my time, but how many blocks of 15 minutes I get during the week. I arrive early, my colleague is late. Boom…there are 30 minutes. I get to the airport, a slight delay. Bam…45 minutes. I fly across the country for a meeting with a client who “at the last minute” is called to a more important meeting in Washington DC. Hello….2 extra hours!
How much extra time do you get? With some planning, there are ways you can use last-minute changes to your advantage. Here are some of my habits that you might find helpful as you move into a focus on being much more intentional about how you use your time, and what you intend to get done…
1. Change the Way You Think. I used to get extremely frustrated when meetings were run inefficiently or people arrived late. But long ago, I realized I was “anticipating stress” too much in my life. That’s when I decided to think differently. Instead of thinking they were wasting my time, I saw this as built-in opportunity to get ahead.
Your beliefs drive your thoughts, and your thoughts create your actions. By accepting that people, as standard operating procedure, will be late and forget meetings, you can use that time to your advantage. I still plan as much as ever, I just anticipate having extra time … often.
2. Always be Ready – Be prepared for the time that you get back when others are late. If you’re ready, and have the right tools, you can turn a late-starting meeting into an uber-productive work session. Think about what your business lives and grows on. You might have the latest in mobile technology, but is that what you need to get your work done?
I have a print-out that I re-create every 90 days or so. It is 3 pages long, and it has 75 lines printed there for me to write on. What I do is hand-write 75 things I could do IF I had an extra 15 minutes. Then, I carry those sheets around with me. These are not the “to-dos” of normal business/life; they are all EXTRAS. Then, when I get an open block of time, I get one done. Want an example? I know – absolutely and quantitatively – that my business has grown because I stay in touch with people by writing hand-written thank you cards. Often, while I’m reading a magazine, I’ll come across an article and think of someone. So, I remove the article from the magazine and send it to them by post. With a thank you card. Takes about 15 minutes and over the years I’ve had people tell me that staying in touch that way makes it easy for them to remember to call me when they need me to run a workshop or seminar.
3. Use your downtime to learn something new. Practice makes…comfortable. That’s right, the more times you do something, the easier it can be to do again. So, while you’re waiting, practice some skill that you’re working to develop.
Are you learning a piece of software? Bring your computer and watch a YouTube tutorial. Are you learning a new language? Bring flash cards (paper or digital) and use that “found time” to go through bits and bytes of information. Have you added a new piece of technology to your toolkit? Print out and bring the first five to 10 pages of the instruction manual and a highlighter so you can scan those first few pages to see if there’s something you can learn in the little bit of time you have.
Final Thought:
To start managing your time better It is absolutely crucial to anticipate time wasters. Get over the feeling of anger – it doesn’t serve you. That negative energy will kill your productivity. You cannot avoid random cancellations, delays or people running late, but with a bit of preparation you can take back that time and use it to your advantage.