Time Management: 3 Short Takes   By Molly Gordon, PCC

Making Meaning, Managing Time
It's been a busy week. For one thing, after sorting the important good ideas from the unimportant ones, I've been eager to complete tasks, flesh out plans, move forward. At the same time, a book I'd placed on hold at the library became available. I picked it up, began to read, and found that the most important thing on my agenda for many days was to finish the story (897 pages).

The name of the book is I Know This Much Is True. It's by Wally Lamb and is described briefly in the Bedside Table reading list. It was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a selection of Oprah's book club, too. Guess I'm not the only one who liked it.

I got to the end this afternoon at about 3. How, you ask, can I justify taking valuable work time to read a sprawling novel, especially on the heels of my recent time-out reading similar, if less elevated, books? I'm so glad you asked.

I'm committed to the premise that life is meaningful. That's one reason why I love coaching, which might be described as a partnership in advancing and deepening meaning in the lives of my clients. One way I live my commitment to meaning is by being present to the gifts of circumstance, to synchronicity, if you will. When a big fat book arrives at the library with my name on it, and when I find that it affects me like seismic currents along subterranean fault lines, then I readily consider that finishing it might be more important than balancing my checkbook. (Which, by the way, was the first thing I did after completing the book, prior to paying my bills. I don't live in fantasy land, you know!)

I won't give away the story, and it might not hit you smack between the eyes the way it did me, anyway, but I will quote from the closing paragraph:

"I am not a smart man, particularly, but one day, at long last, I stumbled from the dark woods of my own, and my family's, and my country's past, holding in my hands these truths: that loves grows from the rich loam of forgiveness, that mongrels make good dogs; that the evidence of God exists in the roundness of things."

How Much to Give?
How do you know how much of your time and energy to give in the interests of building your network and generating new business? Here's how I answered this question when it came up on a coaching mailing list recently.

I am generally energized when I have the opportunity to be a resource for inspiration, information or motivation. I have found that it is important for me to notice these opportunities as just that--opportunities, not demands--and to respond in accord with the time, energy and interest that I have at the moment as well as my expectations of how I will receive energy in return.

Often this means that I give extensive information and answers, knowing that I will benefit by the experience of articulating what I know, by the exchange of energy and good will, and by the opportunity to extend my network. Sometimes, it means that I give brief (even verging on curt) responses. If I discern that a more tangible return is important in order for me to feel good about what I give, then I ask for that, either by inquiring as to the questioners' intentions and purpose or by referring them to one of my free or for-fee services (website, class, group coaching). The important thing for me is to give only what I can give freely.

I trust my whims on this: I have been the beneficiary of many unlooked for referrals and have received plenty of generous assistance from others without strings attached. From this I know that the quid pro quo of balancing energy out and energy in is not always linear and not always obvious. In any event, I avoid doing anything that will cause me to feel resentful, no matter how great the theoretical return may be. That's what works, so that's what's right for me.

Getting to Completion
It's easy to lose focus, energy and attention by letting old ideas and half-completed projects linger in our work or head space. Here are three simple steps to clearing that space and getting to completion so that you can move on.

1. Take a minute and look around you. What tasks are left over tasks from yesterday, last week, last month? Write them down.
2. Classify them:
   1. Those you never really wanted to do and don't really care about.
   2. Nagging commitments that won't go away but that you manage never to do very well or very completely.
   3. Near crisis-status must-do-now items.
3. Take action:
   1. Take 30 minutes to throw out; recycle or otherwise remove visual traces of the things you don't really need to do and won't do. This requires you to get realistic and honest with YOURSELF about what matters to you and what doesn't. (If 30 minutes is not enough, repeat this action daily until you are through.)
   2. Set aside an hour each day to work through the chronic backlog of things that are important but which you've been putting off. Make this the same hour every day so that you build continuity and confidence in this process.
   3. Schedule time to complete important urgent tasks. Be specific, first assessing how much time each task will require. If these are recurring tasks (quarterly taxes, monthly accounting) schedule them in to your planner for the next time they should occur so that these become part of the rhythm of your life instead of crises which interfere with it.

Copyright © Shaboom, Inc.™ 2002. All rights reserved.

U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1530-311X.

About the Author::
Molly Gordon is a Professional Certified Coach in private practice since 1995. She was a forum host at womenconnect.com and has been a longtime contributor to the Career Management panel at findlaw.com. She specializes in helping independent professionals create thriving practices so they can live on purpose and prosper. You can subscribe to her free weekly e-zine, The New Leaf, and find dozens of useful resources at her Web site, www.mollygordon.com