One of the most important issues facing my clients is time management. They are over-scheduled, perennially interrupted, covering for others’ mistakes, and solving dozens of challenges.

I was working with a client in his office and within a brief ten-minute slice of time, four different people “dropped in” to ask something. When the fourth person walked in, he just looked at me and started to laugh. This man’s workday really begins in the evening, and obviously, that isn’t sustainable over time.

Another example is a woman with two young children who catches up on what she didn’t accomplish during the workday while gulping espresso after her children are in bed. How well do you think she sleeps with that caffeine jolt so late in the evening?

This isn’t an issue about being organized, knowing how to prioritize, or struggling with the job itself. It’s about the high expectations that come along with increasing workplace demands.

Truth be told, top performing executives face this challenge more than others. Average performers get things done when they get them done. Their sense of urgency is stratospherically different.

And therein rests one of the keys to the challenge. The expression used to be, “If you want to get something done, ask a busy person.” Today’s variation might be, “If you want to get something done, ask a top performer who is already stretched beyond capacity.”

Helping these leaders is complex; in fact, it’s individually prescriptive rather than one-size-fits-all time management techniques of the past.

The first step is to acknowledge the challenge – you might even feel inspired to say “no” to someone later today. And, if you’d like to brainstorm how you might deal with these challenges more effectively, please feel free to email me.

“Energy and persistence conquer all things.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Header image by Picjumbo.com/Pexels.