Vandaag nog over gesproken: timemanagement en de aquarium analogie. Een leuk voorbeeld hoe je bewust om moet gaan met je tijd om de belangrijke en niet urgente zaken goed in te plannen.
Timemanagement aquarium analogy
Have you heard the time management aquarium analogy? A time management guru places rocks into an aquarium at the front of the class. She asks the class if the aquarium looks full. Everyone points to the spaces in between the rocks. She smiles as she adds stones, which fall between the rocks to fill up the bigger spaces. People then point to the space between the large stones and pebbles. She sprinkles in sand, which seems to fill up all the spaces. When everyone agrees that the aquarium is full, she pours a jug of water into the aquarium. Every drop of it is absorbed between the rocks, pebbles and sand. The moral of the story is not that you can always fit something else in - it's that this is the only way we can fit all this into the aquarium. If we place the rocks in first, everything else fits in around them. If we try any other order, we would have leftover things at the end of each day or week.
This becomes a bigger issue when we're juggling multiple priorities. Our pressures tend to overlap and compete. The children are ready to be picked up when our biggest client calls back. The cell phone is ringing while we're making our business calls and it's easy to get distracted with other issues. Our boss asks for backup when we had planned to spend the afternoon writing a report. Tough choices; competing priorities. It can become easier when we standardize office hours and put a structure in place to guide us. Your daily planner is the most effective tool to use as you build a plan for your week. It helps to work toward weekly goals that are in place to build and maintain the business. These goals are specific and measurable.
These can include phone calls, meetings and serving clients. We may need to package and ship products. Another block of time is spent at the computer, producing reports and articles, or tracking the administrative details of running a business. This leaves time to network, take care of the banking and fit in some research. Family and friends are also very important and we must make time for them each week. Don't overlook the priorities of your personal life. These are important aspects to maintaining a better balance in life.
What are the rocks in your life? Try to become more aware of the priorities, and make conscious choices. Think about what needs to be done each week to keep things on an even keel. What weekly goals can you develop to build upon your plans of last week. What action lays the groundwork for future business? And, the pressing work of the week persists, of course.
Bron: Toronto Business Times, Elizabeth Verwey, 21 september 2006.
