TMI US: Time Manager Q & A Corner

Time Manager Questions and Answers:

On Saving Time

James Gleick in his latest book, Faster, The Acceleration of Just About Everything, raises an interesting point about saving time. In a very entertaining fashion, he covers all the books in the field offering tips and techniques for how to save time.

He points out that many of them offer contradictory advice. Personally, I don't have any problem with that. All that means is that some techniques for saving time work in certain situations and are inappropriate in others. The key is not to follow slavishly any single piece of advice.

Gleick's most interesting analysis, however, is when he goes beyond demonstrating the inherent contradictions in the sea of time management advice we all live in. He writes to the issue of why we want to save time in the first place. And herein is a sound analysis for all of us to consider as we become increasingly efficient. Here are some of the questions he suggests:

• Are you saving time so you can use it for more enjoyable activities?
• Are you saving time so you can get more inessential tasks done?
• Do you want to save time so you can get through unpleasant tasks more quickly?
• Are you saving time for others?
• When you save time are you merely allocating time from one purpose to another?
• Do you really want to save time, or do you just want to get more done?

Gleick concludes that you can't really save time. Saving time is a modern day concept, and is similar to the idea that you can't really manage time. You get 24 hours of time a day, and you can't increase it. All you can do is manage the tasks within that space of time. So, before you begin to apply time saving techniques, it might be a good idea to ask yourself why you are doing this? That's a good beginning for saving time.

Janelle Barlow, Ph.D.
President
TMI, USA

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers. If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.

Previous "Time Manager Q & A Corner" pages:

    #1 Key Areas and Interruptions

    #2 Daily Plans and Home Offices

    #3 Result Statements

    #4 Reading and Responding to E-Mail

    #5 Sending E-Mail

    #6 Filing According to Key Areas

    #7 Setting up Files for the Whole Office

    #8 Controlling Loose Pieces of Paper

    #9 The Value of Time

#10 More on Results Statements

#11 Managing Time on the Road

#12 How to Get Time with Someone

#13 The Downside of Goals

#14 Thinking Types and Time

#15 Feeling Types and Time

#16 Intuitive Types and Time

#17 Sensate Types and Time

#18 What's Real about Strategic Planning?

#19 What Does Being Strategic Really Mean?

#20 How Perception of Time Influences Goal Choices

    #21 The Four Immutable Laws of Controlling Your Desk

   #22 Decision Making and Cultural Groups

   #23 Paperless Office: Fact or Fiction?

#24 Exit Planning

#25 Speed: Does It Free Up More Time?

#26 Time in the 21st Century

#27 Open Office Plans

#28 The Costs of E-Mail

#29 How Do Senior Level People Manage Their Time?

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers by fax or e-mail . If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.

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