Time management is a waste of time. Focus on this instead

Time management is a waste of time. Focus on this insteadTime management is a waste of time. Focus on this insteadIt is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. SenecaOnce upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreHis anfhrer gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.Congratulations, the boss said. Go on that wayVery motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.I must be losing my strength, the woodcutter tho ught. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.When was the last time you sharpened your axe? the boss asked.Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees(1)Managing Energy Versus Time Energy, not time, is the fundamental currency of high performance.Imagine this for a second- the trees in this short story represent your goals and the axe representsyou.What can we learn from this?The secret to high productivity that actually lasts is not managing time or working harder- its all about managing yourself, specificallyyour energy.We all have the same 24 hours every day. The main reason why some people achieve 10x more in any given day than fruchtwein people do in a month, is not because they manage time better- its because they manage their energy better.In the book,The Power Of Full Engagement, Jim Leohr and Tony Schwartz state that energy is broken down into these typesPhysical Patterns of breathin g, quality of sleep, when and what we eat, recovery and level of fitness.Emotional Managing levels of self-confidence, self-control, social skills, and empathy.Mental Appropriate mental preparation, visualization, positive self talk, effective time management, and creativity.Spiritual Character, passion, commitment, integrity, and honesty.(2)For example, after a night out boozing and little sleep the average person will most likely be less productive than otherwise- regardless of how well they planned to manage their time the next day.Time management also fails to take into account our natural cycles of energy throughout day i.eUltradian Rhythm.Just like a sprinter, we perform at our best when working in sprints (approx 90 minutes) and then taking breaks in-between intervals to rejuvenate our energy.Evidently, managing our energy plays a significant role in our short-term and long-term productivity.Lets explore some other reasons to focus on managing your energy instead of managing your time.Hi. Before we dive into the main course, Id like to give you a free eBook guide including the best practical ideas and proven science for building good habits and breaking bad ones. If youd like to learn these ideas on how to stick to your goals and stop procrastinating, you can download my free PDF guide Change Your Habitshere.1. Time management systems are inhumaneYes, someone had to say it and I just did.Time management may be a great system for a machine, but for the rest of us who are emotionally driven human beings- we need to take account for our energy levels.Plus your willpower and self-controlreduceswith every choice you make throughout the day.(3)Clearly, we perform at our best at different periods of the day.Time management fails to take into account these emotional, mental and energetic factors that make us human.SOLUTION Schedule around your energy levels not your time.Instead of scheduling around time, schedule around your energy and willpower levels. By mat ching the times of the day you have the most energy with your most important tasks, you can significantly improve your productivity.As a rule of thumb, schedule your most importantdominoand creative tasks at some point in the early hours of waking up when you have the most energy.On the flip side, you could schedule your low creative tasks i.e emails, social media, phone calls in the latter part of the day when your energy and willpower is lowest.Heres a quick example of scheduling around your energy levels, assuming you are an entrepreneur or a creative.Creative energy (best between 4 -11 a.m.)Social energy (best between 6 -11 p.m.)Communication energy (phone calls, email, texts) (best between 2-5 p.m.)Learning energy (any time except afternoon)Physical energy (exercise) (12pm-2pm)(4)2.Time management reduces happiness and creates anxietyTime management systems promote a ridiculously high standard of time efficiency and perfection that is simply unrealistic for any human being.This idea that weshouldmanage every millisecond to a tee is not only impossible, but it also puts an enormous amount of pressure on us.Whats worse is that we often feel guilty or anxious whenever tasks are incomplete or we have any free time whatsoever. No matter how much we cross off our to-do list there always seems to beMOREthings to get done.This anxiety buildup leads to more procrastination on our schedules and goals- apps and phone reminders dont help either, we just ignore them.This is why you may find yourself struggling to sleep, rolling in your bed past midnight worrying about things on your to-do list.Instead of relaxing and winding down at the end of the day to enjoy time with family and friends, youre overwhelmed and anxious. I know this too well, ive been there many times.SOLUTION Schedule regular downtimeIts counterintuitive that periodically spending time away from crossing off our endless to-do lists to instead recharge our energy, can be much more productive than other wise- but its true.(5)I have personally been through a phase where my obsession with time management and getting things done was causing massive anxiety, stress and chronic procrastination.I finally made a decision to sharpen the saw. Instead of filling up all my time blocks with productive work, I set aside regular time to simply do whatever I felt like in the moment- go for walk, watch TV shows etc. In other words, just be human.By doing this Ive been able to alleviate my performance anxiety and significantly improve my productivity.Shortly after doing this, Ive launched several projects, traveled to deliver two keynote speeches, created and delivered a half-day workshop, written and recorded 6+ articles and videos, built my personal network and so on.This is not to brag, but to inspire you to make time for regular downtime to recharge your energy.By doing so, you will practice letting go of control of the outcome and the obsession to be perfect with managing time, which in turn will help you become more productive.3. Time management is literally a waste of timeStop managing your time. Start managing your focus Robin SharmaWe spend all of our precious time planning, reading and plotting to manage our time.Instead of taking action to actually get things done, we delude ourselves into a false sense of achievement because we simply planned our day with a time management calendar or app.The irony is that this is a waste of time and often we dont actually get much done. In the end,execution is all that matters.Ive personally fallen into the trap of spending hours on time management that could have been spent actually being productive.What is more important is building a habit of consistent action which will, in turn, produce real results.SOLUTION Create Rituals That Match Your Peak Energy LevelsConsider these rituals of some of the most successful creatives and entrepreneursWarren Buffett wakes up at 645 am and begins the day by reading over newspapers and book s.Maya Angelou would arrive at 6.30 am to a rented local gasthaus room to write until 2 pm, and then go home afterward to do some editing.Richard Branson wakes up at 5 am, exercises and spends time with his family first thing every day before working on his business.Successful people dont have to manage time, they execute habitually when their energy levels are at their peak- allowing them to perform at their best consistently.You cancreate your own daily ritualsto help you stay productive regardless of whether or not you use any time management system.Your ritual can initially be as small as you need to help you simply get started and maintain consistency every day.RECAPI acknowledge that traditional time management allows for planning, but in truth, for the most part, they fail to account for crucial human factors that drive our productivity.Were not machines or robots, that can perform efficiently and perfectly 24 hours a day. Our emotions, energy, and willpower moves in cycles, plus we dont always perform at our best every day.Instead of focusing on time management, you can instead schedule your most important activities around your highest energy levels, schedule for regular downtime and create habitual rituals that you stick to consistently.In the end, you cant manage time per se, but you can manageyou.This article first appeared on Mayo Oshin.Mayo Oshin writes at MayoOshin.Com, where he shares the best practical ideas based on proven science and the habits of highly successful people for stress-free productivity and improved mental performance. To get these strategies to stop procrastinating, get more things by doing less and improve your focus, join his free weekly newsletter.FOOTNOTESOriginal lumberjack story from Steven Coveys,The 7 habits of highly effective people.Concepts from the book,The Power Of Full Engagement.leistungspunkt to Eric Barker for sharing this concept in his interview with Roy Baumeisterhere.Schedule inspired by Scott Adamsblog po st.Alternating periods of activity with periods of rest has been used successful by high performing athletes since it was first advanced by Flavius Philostratus (A.D. 170245), who wrote training manuals for Greek athletes.Image sourcedeeper dish.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people