Time is the one thing no one can create more of however, there is a solution to the problem. 20+20=40 but 20×20=400. In general, there are people who see one tree after another, and then we have those who see the whole forest. Most of us look at time from a linear perspective, one minute after the next. What if we also took a broader perspective over time and learned to multiply our time?
What might time multiplying look like? it might look like you determining how soon a matter needs to completed, how important a matter is or how significant a matter will be. These factors will give you power over how you use your time.
Based on your answers you can choose to eliminate, automate, or delegate the task you complete within a period of time. This will enable you to decide on what remaining things you must address immediately in contrast to the things you can intentionally do later. There is no way to create more time, but we certainly can manage how we allow our selves to steward the time we have.
In a specific role, I held there was a demand to meet with students daily, to collect paperwork and grade them daily, to meet with teachers daily to discuss student challenges and write-ups, to answer emails and calls to handle, drops, daily attendance challenges, dress code, attitude, culture, to organize and to stay efficient. This was almost impossible for one person to do without error. So what did I do? Instead of meeting with the teachers daily to tell them who I had written up. I delegated this job to the teachers. I gave them a coaching slip to write up the students who needed disciplinary action and to return them to me daily. Instead of emailing 300 hundred students to turn in assignments and to meet with me to collect the next ones, I built an online class for them to turn in their work and to download the next ones automatically. These are just a few examples of how I multiplied my time in that position. The key to multiplying time is giving your self permission to say no to somethings, the permission to say later to some things, the permission to empower others with some things, and finally to give yourself the permission to say yes to the thing that will give you the greatest return on your time invested.
Concepts adapted from Steven Covey 7 habits of effective people and Rory Vaden procrastinate on purpose.
