What’s your approach to time management? I call two very distinct and innate preferences for time management, Jupiter and Pluto, (the names have nothing to do with astrology; they simply represent planets that are worlds apart). Below are brief descriptors of Jupiter and Pluto. Respond as if it’s the weekend and you are relaxing, check off √ the overall tendencies that apply best to you. 

Jupiter-preferred tendencies:

(  ) Strive to avoid stress

(  ) Plan and structure your activities

(  ) Keep your desk and files (paper and computer) tidy

(  ) Make to-do lists (and relish checking items off)

(  ) Schedule your time

(  ) Work first, play later

(  ) Procrastinate about leisure and play

(  ) Rely on being organized to “control time”

Pluto-preferred tendencies:

(  ) Act spontaneously

(  ) Keep your plans open-ended

(  ) See structure as restrictive

(  ) Get motivated when a crisis occurs (and get started at the last minute)

(  ) Prefer to have options

(  ) Have an internal timing mechanism

(  ) See play and work as compatible

(  ) Lose lists; love or tolerate piles

Were you able to self-identify from this check list? Could you also assess your closet colleague or family member? Most people can. Join me next time to learn how to listen for the preference clues. 

I would love for you to share your courage comments by posting them below.

Sandra Ford Walston is known as The Courage Expert and innovator of STUCKThinking™. She is a speaker, internationally published author and bestseller of COURAGE, trainer and courage coach. www.sandrawalston.com

Sandra Ford Walston, The Courage Expert

Innovator, StuckThinking™

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook

© Sandra Walston

All Rights Reserved

Diminishing misunderstandings and increasing compassion can be simple if you add self-awareness as a concrete skill. Once when I was leading a program called “Understanding Your Approach to Time Management,” a Certified Public Account participant named Tom shared a fascinating insight into what drove his business partner and him to break up their profitable accounting firm.

It seems that Tom was the type who was spontaneous, flexible, easy-going and reactive. Rather than writing down his schedule he kept it in his head. If a client called and asked him to play golf, he dropped what he was doing and went. “I knew I would get the piles of work done soon,” Tom said.

Tom’s ex-partner preferred a decisive, self-regimented, “just do it now” approach. Using the schedule he kept in his Palm Pilot as his daily guide, he followed the philosophy “work first, and if there’s time left, play.”

The partners’ perceptions of how their firm “should” be run were always colliding — as were their approaches to delegating work to employees and completing client projects. The eventual breakdown was bitter. No one could understand how two high-ability professionals could allow their successful business to shatter. Tom eventually recognized the problem: Their approaches to time management were worlds apart.

In my years of business consulting, I have observed that most employees are competent and adept at their jobs, and are essentially nice people. Yet, I have witnessed hundreds of folks be judgmental, angry, intolerable, and sabotage a team member, colleague or boss who misconstrued how they prioritized and executed their work schedule. As the misinterpretations escalated, so was the direct correlation between precious time being lost and productivity slowing. At this moment in time, everyone loses.

The “real-skill” applications here are simple: First, you need to recognize that time management is really self-management (or put another way: Don’t manage time; manage yourself). Second, you need to develop the following self-awareness tools to help you relate to others’ time-management styles. Join me to read the next blog posting to learn what time management preference applies best to you!

I would love for you to share your courage comments by posting them below.

Sandra Ford Walston is known as The Courage Expert. She is a speaker, internationally published author of COURAGE, trainer and courage coach. www.sandrawalston.com

Sandra Ford Walston, The Courage Expert

Innovator, StuckThinking™

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook

© Sandra Walston

All Rights Reserved