Sep 11
7
time management’s distractions
Distractions are all around us. A flickering neon ceiling light above your cubicle, an overly talkative neighbor, loud music–the list goes on. How we deal with them determines their effect on time management. Lets’s examine how we might tackle time management’s distractions.
The blame game
Your first reaction might be to blame the distraction on someone or some thing. This serves no purpose. To blame a ceiling light for not getting that report done before your meeting is merely pointing out some other weakness that you need to address.
Justification
To ignore a distraction or worse, to attempt to justify it in a positive spin, is compounding the problem. If you justify your neighbor’s constant chatter in the next cubicle by saying something like, “I should listen to him because I might just learn something,” you are only denying the problem.
Complaining
Complaining about a distraction is the worse thing you can do. Negativity is your enemy no matter how it manifests itself in your arsenal to confront everyday life. As soon as a complaint enters your mind smack it down. Replace the negative thought with, What do I have to do to remove the distraction? In the case of the flickering ceiling light, a quick call to maintenance will solve the problem. You should talk directly to your neighbor about his constant chattering. Be diplomatic but let him know that it is an issue with you. If that doesn’t work request to be moved.
Sometimes the distractions in the workplace are so great that it is necessary to get away from it all. No, I’m not talking about a vacation. Find a quiet, serene place that you can escape to during lunch or on breaks. Use this time to organize your thoughts and avoid time management’s distractions.
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Time management skills aren’t always within our grasp and often they need to be absorbed through the intuitive process rather than rote learning. Let’s step back and take a broader look at the meaning of time management.
The phrase “time management” is a bit of a conundrum. For us to assume that we can somehow manipulate time is a bit fanciful (perhaps that should be something left for the gods). What we really mean is “self management.” Ideally, we manage what we do and how it affects other people and processes for a common goal.
Let’s try to broaden our existential horizons in a similar way that a football player learns yoga to improve balance. Imagine you are given a free reign with the Hubble space telescope and are viewing the heavens with one goal in mind—to measure the affects of time.
When we look through the eye of the Hubble telescope we find that time (as we know it) is irrelevant (Einstein had a lot to say about time but let’s save his wisdom for later). The galaxies we glimpse upon have taken millions of light years to arrive in our telescopes lens. We find that the actions of the universe (birth, growth, decay) are more important than time. It is only when we zoom in on the close planets and our moon do we see the end product and the details that makes time more relevant.
Let’s instruct the Hubble telescope to do a one hundred and eighty degree turn. We’ll point it directly at a typical engineering workplace on earth (the telescope has been fitted with a special x-ray lens to see through the building). We focus on a small plaque on an employee’s work desk:
“Perfections of means and confusion of goals seem—in my opinion—to characterize our age.”
—Albert Einstein
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Feb 11
14
The Secret to Time Management
In these times of economic instability everyone is looking for an edge. People want to perform their jobs better, to improve their lives. They want to spend more time with their families and go on camping trips. In short, they want to realize their dreams.
Unfortunately there is no magic bullet that will guarantee success. The best avenue for success is still the tried and true method of rolling up your sleeves and working harder than the other guy (that’s what made America great, right?).
Work Smarter
The key (not the secret) is to work smarter than the other guy. How do you do that? Continue your education by taking night classes at the local college? That would be great if you have the time and your family backs you up. Fortunately, there’s a way to get smarter that’s literally right in your lap.
Your laptop is the gateway to working smarter (that’s how you got here, right?). The world workforce has been given a powerful tool that has grown tremendously over the past few years. The internet has allowed the pooling of minds that just a few years ago had no voice outside their cubicle or office. Think of yourself attending a seminar on software design and instead of just one renowned expert you are listening to hundreds (not all at the same time, of course).
The Secret to Time Management is at the End of a Labyrinth
So what has this got to do with the secret of time management? It’s a kind of puzzle. Do you recall those labyrinth puzzles where you begin at one end and have to navigate through endless dead ends before you find the other end (sometimes it takes hours). That’s what the internet is all about, really. It has your true path but it also allows you to head into dead ends. Let’s face it, there are a lot of voices on the internet that aren’t true.
Sign Up Now for Your Free Pass
My job is to help you navigate through the maze. I have already done much of the leg work as you can see after reading my articles. But articles and pep talks aren’t enough (as aren’t untrue promises and endless rhetoric).
You need a plan to get you through the maze. I have begun by identifying the ten most important steps to improve time management.
Please sign up now. Think of it as a free seat at the seminar that could save your life.
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An engineer would say that workplace uncertainty is directly proportional to the state of the economy. The rest of you would say that when the economy gets worse so does workplace uncertainty. Whether you are a technical professional, a human resources worker, or a salesperson, workplace uncertainty, especially in times of economic woes, can be a monster intent on devouring you.
Here are some outcomes of workplace uncertainty:
- Promotions are few and far between
- Layoffs are prevalent
- Older workers become replaced by younger engineers with lower salaries
- Personnel’s cubicles are continually relocated
- Company’s downsizing means a larger workload
- Less job security, less affordable health coverage, less pay
- More distrust between workers and management
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Before you start the process of prioritizing you should ask yourself a few questions to establish a baseline at which to begin. This will improve time management and make you a more productive worker.
- Why were you hired for this job? Are you accomplishing things that your boss set out for you to do? Have a talk with your boss to make sure you are on track.
- What is it that you do that adds the highest value to your job? If you are not sure, ask your co-workers.
- What are the best results you have achieved on any project you have worked on at work? Think about why you were successful. Can you use this as a blueprint to be successful on future projects?
- How do you make a difference at work? Is there something unique that only you can do? Use it to your advantage whenever possible.
- What is the most valuable use of your time at work? Take a few minutes and think about it. This is a good place to start prioritizing your work to improve productivity.
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time management strategies
I speak to Silicon Valley engineers. Many of you never have the time to enjoy life and could benefit from time management strategies geared toward you occupation. You are locked in a 24/7 job because you need the money (don’t we all) and are caught up in daily routines that don’t lead to advancement or personal growth.
Having worked over twenty years as an engineer in both domestic and international markets I understand the difficulties of the workplace—the stress of overwork, deadlines, and endless meetings—and I have learned through the years that how the engineer improves time management from inside out is a key element to success in the workplace and their personal life.
All I ask of the Silicon Valley engineer (you other engineers, students, and technical professionals are welcome, too) is to keep an open mind. I will pass on my knowledge and lessons learned so that the engineer won’t have to travel down the same bumpy road I did.
Please join up, learn valuable time management strategies and become a regular visitor where I will provide you with articles and upcoming e-books to show you how to relieve the stress and help you “get a life” (you may have noticed that corporations, universities, and consultants treat you as an entity while I will treat you as an individual).
Every engineer should have an opportunity to live a full life and grow as an individual outside of the workplace. It doesn’t mean that the engineer should slough off at work or call in sick frequently. On the contrary, it means to gain control over your life, reduce your workload, and find happiness.
It’s time to improve time management and keep an open mind.
Let me help you now.
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I’ve said all along that improved time management for Silicon Valley engineers begins at home. My personal belief is that TV’s have little value other than showing movies (and broadcasting LA Dodgers baseball games). I know Americans love to tune in every week and find out whose “Friends” are whose and what happened at “Melrose Place” (is that still on? Shows you how much I keep up with TV!).
Obviously, sitting in front of the TV for hours is time wasted and not the best of time management strategies. You could be doing things to promote personal growth that will lead to your dream of becoming a pilot, a rock climber, or consulting in Tokyo. On the other hand, there’s an argument that you’re involved in “quality time” with the family (after all, that’s the intent—to spend more time with the family).
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my e-book
The first draft of my e-book, An Engineer’s Guide to Managing Time for Professional and Personal Growth is complete. The text contains about 18,000 words or sixty-five pages divided into thirty powerful chapters guaranteed to get the engineer on the right track to personal and professional growth.
I tried to put myself in the engineer’s shoes while writing. Twenty-four exercises are geared to make the engineer think and make decisions with some of the exercises designed to move the engineer outside his or her comfort zone.
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One of the best time management strategies begins at home with your family. Let’s face it, your family is your foundation and it may consist of a wife and kids, or for a single person, friends and family. In this article I am peeking into the life of 27 year-old Joe the engineer, who has a wife and two children, and lives in the Silicon Valley.
Joe the engineer had been neglecting his family. He had been leaving early for breakfast at Starbucks—a coffee and a pastry—and had a habit of returning home late. The deadlines had been piling up at work and Joe was really getting frustrated.
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Today is July 4th, Independence Day, a good day to reflect on how my website embodies the simple ways to improve time management. I goggled “time management” and looked at several sites dedicated to the subject, and, as it turned out, other things. They included topics such as corporate relocation, real estate sales, pilot licensing—great stuff, but what does it have to do with time management? And I saw a lot of advertisement, which distracted me from the content.
You won’t find advertisement on my site and every article you read is written solely by me. My site is dedicated to improve time management for Silicon Valley engineers and technical professionals. My audience also includes university students, especially engineering majors such as electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineering. University students today, more than ever need to improve time management and manage stress, which go hand in hand.
My e-book, An Engineer’s Guide to Managing Time for Professional and Personal Growth, is coming along well and I expect to have the final draft ready by the middle of this month. It’s a one-of-a-kind book that speaks directly to you, the engineer. Having worked in the engineering industry for over twenty years both domestically and internationally I have the experience and a unique “slant” on what it takes for the engineer to improve time management. I don’t have all the answers (whoever says they do is not being honest to you) but you can be sure the time management strategies I provide to you will work.
My simple philosophy embodies the simple ways to improve time management: to provide you with the right tools for you to grow both at work and at home and realize some of your dreams.
If you haven’t done so already please leave your name and e-mail address in the box to the right and you will be sent my “10 point Plan,” the basis for my e-book.
Have a safe Independence Day and please enjoy a nice day with your family and leave work for tomorrow.
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Learn the secret to improve time management. Don't procrastinate. Take control of your life. Sign up for my 10 critical steps to improve time management.
• Are deadlines stressing you out?
• Do you procrastinate too much?
• Enjoy more time with your family?
• Want to take charge of your life?
• Would you like a stronger voice?
Let me help you remove the roadblocks that set back your career, allowing you to leap frog past co-workers for that next promotion.
