Are you managing your time or is it managing you?

“I feel like a headless chicken running around” and “I don’t have control of my own time and calendar” says a leader.

The higher up in the organization one is, the more demands on their time will the organization make. But, it’s the leaders who make an organization successful, and leaders need to own their time.

According to Peter Drucker, the father of management thinking – to be effective, one needs to set large chunks of time. Small chunks will not be sufficient event if the total is an impressive number of hours. This is especially true when working with people, as people are time-consumers.

So, how does one find the non-productive, time-wasting activities and get rid of them?

  • Identify and eliminate the things that need not be done at all, the things that are purely a waste of time without any results. Eliminate unnecessary meetings. Too many meetings signify that responsibility is diffused and that information is not addressed to the people who need it.
  • Identify activities that can be done by someone else just as well, if not better. Delegate clearly and move out of the way.
  • Ask your team and others – What do I do that wastes your time without contributing to your effectiveness?