The Issue of Time

While reading Small is the New Big, by Seth Godin, more specifically his article on "Relax...., I Mean, Work on the Difficult"; I realized the real issue of why time management is so hard and how to overcome the impossible.

Our efforts to control time, and its delegation towards "top priorities", doesn't always correlate with real life events. We often find ourselves caught up in the immediate urgency of the present. Emergencies tend to pop up unexpectedly and our attention naturally focuses on the current issue at hand. Companies are continually expecting more hours from there employees to make up for unexpected complexities or snags in projects or services rendered. Business owners and entrepreneurs work late into the night to either stay afloat or outrun there competitors.

Is this the way business should be conducted? Is this the only way to be successful in an evermore fast paced environment? Could it be possible that these unexpected shifts of time delegation, be related to careless preparation and decision making? Certainly it would be impossible to predict every possible obstruction in relation to a well structured time outline. However, if just a little more time were spent on proper decision making and preparation for upcoming projects, events, and services, these unexpected delays would most definitely be more few and far between. Would they not?

Ok, that sounds great hypothetically, but who has time to carefully prepare far in advance for these types of occurrences? Nobody does, not while running in this vicious cycle. Instead, break away from the cycle, take a few steps back. Consider this: What if we left work at 4:00PM everyday instead of 5:00, 5:30 0r 6:00, etc. What would that do to our work ethic? What would that do for our mind? If we had proper time to regain our strength and focus intently once again on our work ahead of us on a daily basis, would we not be more sharp in our thinking and our overall productivity?

This vicious cycle of needing more time to pick up the fragmented bits and pieces of urgency while falling behind on future planning and preparation for upcoming events must end. Relax, spend some time away from the fast lane. Look ahead, prepare adequately for upcoming events, reflect on strategies and make wise decisions.

What are your thoughts? In what ways do you overcome the time management dilemma?