Too Little Time

Looking up at my office building.

Sometimes you just don't have the time you need to complete the projects you would like.

We must always evaluate ourselves to make sure we are accomplishing our goals. For several years I have been putting off writing articles about a number of very interesting subjects in leu of working on web application development.

How much time do you actually have?

Time management is something that constantly needs to be guarded among aspiring entrepreneurs and professionals. You may be able to do a fantastic job on a project, but the time it will take you to get certain projects done can make your productivity appear slow.

During the times I was attempting to start my own business I would work very long hours on endless projects that I determined were critical to the operation of the business. I realized I would need more time quickly. Traveling around to clients would steal away from my development time.

The first thing to go when you are looking for more time is sleep. You can eat at your desk, and sometimes even work on your commute, but pure unadulterated time comes during those hours you would normally be resting. These are quiet times to work and enable you to dive right into your projects without interruptions. While it is hardly an issue to steal time from yourself in this way, it is hardly sustainable. You will burn out your brain and have a hard time developing sentences by the end of the week.

Our time is obviously limited by the hours of the day. I learned a very valuable lesson about business and synergy. You cannot start a business entity by yourself, and it would be hard even with a dedicated team. Unless you have the time to do what you do well and still have time to sell it to others you will find that most businesses are off limits to individuals anymore.

Using Your Time Wisely

It is not the length of anything that determines quality.  We also don't always do what we want to do.  Sometimes we must do things that we would rather instinctively not do.  In these times it is best to try to enjoy what we have to do to keep our heads up. 

Whatever your specialty or job is there are aspects of it you hate and those you love.  You will never get away from the things you hate doing, so you might as well learn to enjoy them. 

Given enough time and materials each of us could build our own building.  Buildings go up in a matter of months however.  There are teams of people that swarm in to build a structure.  Each individual does something they have acquired skills doing. They do not worry about learning all the aspects to building a structure because they do not need to.  

Technology is fast becoming the new engineering for information management. Most applications have many different aspects to them.  Not all of them can be done by one individual. Somebody that thinks creatively cannot be counted on for logical right brain thinking such as math, and vice versa.  It is important that hiring managers hire the right person for the right job.  

Delegation and Efficiency

Delegation is the act of assigning responsibility to individuals.  This can be done at random as is a common practice among many managers. They have a staff of individuals and assign task randomly based on how empty the workers plate is. 

We all know our limitations better than others do.  We know whether we enjoy math or not.  Generally we learn about ourselves as we grow older and know what we have become good at and what we suck at.  I can do far more things than I enjoy doing.  My resume list all the things I know how to do, but when you are hired for the less enjoyable things you listed on your resume you are setting yourself up for either a challenge, or depression. 

Ideas to manage your time better

• Do more of what you enjoy doing, and do well.  Master the things you are successful at. 
• Instead of listing everything you can do on a resume, list what you want to do.  Tell them you are not good at the other stuff, and let the hungry man figure it out. 
• Take note of how you spend your time.  Head scratching doesn't do anything. 
• Balance - Remember to use your right brain (logic) and left brain (creativity) alternatively. Too much logic will result in apathy, too much creativity will result in despair. 
• Delegation.  Find out what people do well, and enjoy doing.  Give them more of this sort of work, you will see an increase in productivity and happier employees.

The real truth is that none of us really actually knows what we will be doing tomorrow.  Soon after writing this article my sister went in for emergency surgery and suddenly what I thought I would be doing was nothing like what I was actually doing.  You have to accept change when it happens.  

"Resistance to what is, is the root of all suffering." 

Here is an interesting article from a Buddhist view about suffering. 

Time management is the subject of endless writing. It is our own most valuable possession.  Everything we do is because we love something or some cause.  We go to work to earn money to feed our families and ourselves.  In that respect I believe that everything we see and is made by men was created because men love something.  
Sometimes we overlook such topics until we wonder where all our time went.  There are many great ideas regarding this concept. If you have any wisdom to share about time management please comment below.