3 Simple Ways for Avoiding “Time Pickpockets”

By Bill Kica on August 6, 2021

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

– Mother Teresa

Feeling overstretched? You are not alone . . .

Ok, let us start with a bit of full disclosure. I am doing my best to avoid what I refer to as “Ground Hog Day Syndrome.” You know that unsettling feeling that every day is merely a repeat of the one before.

Being thrown a curveball by the pandemic, my daily routines and rituals still feel upside down. Upon investigation as to the source of my uneasiness, it appears it is the seemingly boring itzy, bitzy things that I miss the most. Things I took for granted like reading the newspaper on the train, hanging out at the dog park after work or pausing to get one of those ol’fashioned shoeshines before hopping on a short flight. I suspect that some may never come back. New priorities are likely to supplant some old habits as we all slowly throttle up and pivot to a post-pandemic afterlife.

But curiously, I remain busy, really busy actually. My days are filled with zoom-a-thons, calls, number crunching, networking, etc. …. and there is less and less white space each week on my calendar. All that appears to be missing is time stuck in traffic, time waiting for a table to open up at lunch or time scrambling to swing by and pick up some dry cleaning that has been “missing in action” for the past several months.

So, why do I still feel like I am leaking time somewhere? I still feel pressed when trying to squeeze in personal time for things I enjoy like walking the dogs, cast a fly at some trout or even take a 10-minute power break to meditate. Perhaps it is time to set out to create the new rituals that will serve to nudge me to my best self.

One of today’s leading authorities on productivity, Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, describes the whirlwind confronting today’s over-achievers who are sadly underperforming as they struggle to do more with less… less resources, less staff, less time.

Only curiously, we all have the same amount of time. I had to double-check it but there is still 24 hours in each day. And although last year seemed longer, unless I missed it and it is not a leap year, we still have the same 365 days. So, where do we tend to go astray? You guessed it. It is likely what we choose to do with that time. Or what I like to call “Return On Choice.”

There has never been more “productivity” software and technology in the history of the world than is available to us today. Yet, survey after survey still cites Time Management as one of the top issues derailing leaders, managers, and teams. So, what gives?

If you are like most professionals today, you are being bombarded with a constant barrage of emails and interruptions that take you off your well-intended game plan for your day. I like to refer to them as virtual “time-pickpockets” since time leaks away a little bit at a time.

Time thieves are clever. They know the best way to steal our day is one bite at a time, so we do not notice it happening to us. Perhaps it is time to learn some new strategies for coping in a world gone as Hallowell terms it, “Crazy Busy.”

Here are 3 simple ways to start taking back control of your day:

To start, ask yourself these three critical questions . . .

Q1: Where do you do your best work?

• Ask yourself, where do you do your deep work. Perhaps it is hiding away on another floor in your building or Saturday mornings at the library. Sadly, when they poll for this, we find that fewer of us are saying it is at our desks. And, now that more work is being done from home, it is more difficult to set space boundaries.
• To start, identify where you can go deep and single task until a focus project is complete. This location is likely free of the stimulus that sends you into the multi-tasking spiral of starting everything, finishing nothing. Step One then is to identify your deep workspace and set boundaries to keep interruptions out of that space.

Q2: Where do you do your best thinking?

• Perhaps it is on a plane or in the shower, as they often say. Best Thinking places are those that make it effortless to concentrate your mind. For me, it is fly-fishing on a pristine stream casting to trout or in a duck blind. For you, it might be simply somewhere you can lock out the endless stream of interruptions at your door.
• No matter where it is, turn down the chatter and turn up the amount of intentional, pre-scheduled time you have on your calendar to be in your Best Thinking space.

Q3: Where do you get your best results?

• For those of you who follow sports, you know how obsessed teams are about tracking their efficiency statistics. That is so that when the game is on the line, they can turn to the play or player that has the highest probability of success.

Ask yourself, “What conditions have allowed you to be in the right place for your previous successes?” Perhaps it came from scripting a big pitch in advance. Or over-rehearsing a big presentation three dozen times. Or even from delegating non-essential work to your teammates so you could focus your attention on the projects that you alone could deliver.

To increase your output, repeat putting yourself in your “success zones” to replicate your optimal conditions for achieving your Best Results.

Still Need Help? Contact Bill Kica at bkica@hightoweradvisors.com to learn how to add action spaces in your day so you can do your best work, best thinking, and get your best results.

The Lerner Group

Hightower Advisors, LLC is an SEC registered investment adviser. Securities are offered through Hightower Securities, LLC, Member FINRA/SIPC

This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. No investment process is free of risk, and there is no guarantee that the investment process or the investment opportunities referenced herein will be profitable. Past performance is not indicative of current or future performance and is not a guarantee. The investment opportunities referenced herein may not be suitable for all investors.

© 2018 HighTower. All Rights Reserved.

500 Lake Cook Rd. | Suite 210 | Deerfield, IL 60015

Legal & Privacy | Unsubscribe | View as a Webpage