Skip to main content

The truth about time management

Of all the tings I don’t get in this world, this particular (myth) confounds more than most. What is time? And can you really ‘manage’ it? Of course time cannot be managed. It cannot even be properly understood.

We perceive it to be and record it as a linear experience that somehow passes us by with supreme consistency. It is how we measure everything, even our lives; yet the great philosophers and the great scientists still grapple with the concept. We all labour under serious fallacies when it comes to the concept of time, but when a Manager pronounces that a certain individual cannot manage ‘time’ we nod sagely and thankfully – glad that it is not us.

Nobody can manage time. Some people might struggle to prioritise – but in the absence of some great Ultimate Truth that definitively determines that one task is more important than another – not many people can point a finger at those who get it wrong. Others simply work more slowly, but that is no sin either.

When you are tagged with this ‘problem’, it is the kiss of death. Because it does not exist, it is incurable!

Many would argue that modern man is time poor. How is that possible when time is infinite? How is it possible if time is constant? There has never been more of it and there never has been less of it. It does not cease when we die. Time does not fly. Time cannot be planned, lead, organised or controlled – hence it cannot be managed. Time is the ONE thing you can stake your life on that does not discriminate and that every single person in the world will be treated the same by ‘Father’ time.

There is nothing any person can do to change one aspect or characteristic of time; but that does not prevent a manager from accusing a subordinate that he or she has poor time management skills. But the fact of the matter is that in the modern society we are not time poor. We are option rich. We don’t have less time; we just have more options that we may or could exercise in the amount of available time. But it does not sound good to say we are option rich because that implies it is something that may be treated very simply. Ignore some options or refuse to exercise them. Simple.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hey Bruce Springsteen; you hypocrite

Bruce, I love your music man. It is old-fashioned, but I like it. My favourite song is actually not Born in the USA or the like, but Streets of Philadelphia. Not only is it a nice tune, I really like the message too. But you know, I don’t like how you play your politics. Make no mistake, I don’t MIND your politics and I am sure we can agree on a lot of things – and even in this case I may even agree with your belief. So the point is not where you stand on the issue.  But I don’t like the hypocritical way you play it. So you cancel a concert and boycott a state that you disagree with. I am sure you think that it is your way to express your support for people who are getting the short straw. I am sure you see it as your right to play in front of whoever and wherever. But Bruce, can I ask you this: Have you refunded all the money you made from selling songs to the states that hold a different view to you? Have you asked those citizens not to buy your...
Post a Comment
Read more

An Open Letter to the CEO

Dear Mr CEO You said your job is to develop a vision and create an organisation with the right values that will make that vision a reality, so I thought I would drop this note in your lap for consideration. It is my contention that what goes for ‘strategy’ and ‘best practice’ in the modern corporate boardroom is a terminal degree of “me too-ism”. I think you have bought into a narrative that is promulgated by people who have a gnostic view of the world and specific agendas that appeal to the pseudo-thinkers of the world, but are in reality going to lead your organisation to its premature demise. OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY Over the years business organisations have been eaten away slowly from the inside by social justice warriors (SJWs). How this happened, requires us to go back a few years and in the evolution of the business organisation. Once you understand that, you will see how it has infested your organisation. Business organisations used to have a simple, clear obje...
Post a Comment
Read more

If not confidence, what is it then?

Confidence almost invariably leads complacency to over-confidence which leads to’ arseholeness’. There must be rare occasions when this progression does not naturally occur, but I can’t think of an example. There is a truism that’s states: Confidence breeds confidence. That IS the nature of confidence. So, by definition, confidence always ‘grows’ – and inevitably people don’t know when to stop. I am sure some self-help gurus will argue that you can never have too much confidence. (I’d say, think ice-cream.) Some gurus will say that the problem is rarely once of too much confidence and that the bigger issue is growing confidence. To this I say: maybe so, but only if you understand the need to manage the confidence growth – and knowing when to stop. THAT is never taught – and that is my issue. I don’t believe lack of confidence is the opposite of confidence. I am not advocating being unsure. What the world desperately needs, is more humility. Old-fashioned and contrary to the culture ...
Post a Comment
Read more