I was fortunate to catch Hitendra Wadha, Professor at Columbia Business School, speaking about time management as a part of personal leadership.
He starts out by telling us we need to “know our rocks from our pebbles”.
Be clear on your priorities and understand how much these will move the needle. He strongly advocates integrating values into everyday life.
Learn to say “no”. That brings with I the need for negotiation, collaborative ideas, trade-offs, approaches that allow everyone involved to feel tall. He give the example of Steve Jobs stripping out product programs at Apple… from well over 100 when he started to a point where today the company really has only a very few products.
Avoid scope creep.
Saying “no” to something means you are saying “yes’ to something else. If I am saying “no”, what am I saying “yes” to?
Do you have a clear sense of purpose? We need to simplify – and look for role models, contemporary or from history.
Eliminate perfectionism….don’t worry about that last 20%. Get rid of the demands and constraints that bog you down.
Re-script yourself and your defining beliefs – and define an alternative. Look for strategic alignments and be sure to ask “so what?” Play devil’s advocate. Identify core issues and learn to delegate…which also means to understand coaching and collaborative tools.
Eliminate multi-tasking This simply reduces the IQ with which you operate since in fact you are switching from task to task rather than focusing in a dedicated fashion….costing a lot of effort.
Consciously adopt mindfulness and meditation – learn to disconnect.
Avoid low energy – and be sure to eat properly.
Adopt forgiveness…and the ideas of assessing right and wrong. Manage your self-esteem.
