Why Blaming Others Won’t Solve Your Time Management Problems.
One of my favourite Jim Rohn quotes is: “Don’t wish it was easier wish you were better. Don’t wish for less problems wish for more skills. Don’t wish for less challenges wish for more wisdom”. It encapsulates the mindset of all successful people: whenever they are faced with a problem, they look for a solution, not an excuse.
Sadly, when I read through the comments on my YouTube videos, I see many along the lines of “I wish Apple would add this feature” or “Todoist add that feature”. It’s as if the authors of these comments have delegated their productivity and time management difficulties to others so they don’t have to find a solution themselves.
Apple and Todoist (and other app developers) are working on their own roadmap to develop their tools. Each will have different timelines and features, and the chances are what they are working on will not be a solution to your particular difficulty.
If you want to get better at managing your time and be more productive, the onus is on you to find the solution.
Managing your time boils down to saying “no” to many opportunities. The time part of time management is fixed; you cannot change that, and nobody else can change it, either. So, the only solution you have available is to say “no” more often and be more disciplined with how you use your time.
Some services can help, such as Calendly, where you allocate your availability and share the link with people who want to meet you. They can choose a time that suits both you and them. This also saves time because you are not going back and forth negotiating a suitable time.
Becoming more productive requires you to determine what is essential and what is not. Without that knowledge, everything will appear important, and that is what dilutes your effectiveness. No task manager will ever tell you what is important. That decision is on you. However, you can simplify that process by giving yourself time to write out your areas of focus and core work and ensuring you have time to complete the tasks associated with those crucial areas each week. It is those tasks that are your most important work.
What you will notice is none of these ‘solutions’ involve tools. It’s all about your approach and how you allocate your time each day.
If you saw an opportunity to do your “dream job”, applying for that job would become your top priority. You would likely allocate significant time preparing your application, researching the job and preparing for the interview. You would be dedicated to doing whatever you could to get that job. No tool is going to help you. It’s you, your experience and your suitability for that particular position.
If you were not successful with your application, that would mean something was missing in your application. It could be you don’t quite have the right experience or qualifications. It would not be because Microsoft Word did not have a particular feature you felt you needed. It would mean you would need to change your approach, get those missing qualifications or gain the experience you need so you will be better prepared next time.
If you’ve ever watched the excellent Netflix documentary Drive To Survive, have you noticed that when a driver performs poorly, the successful drivers will always blame themselves? They made a mistake in sector one or two or allowed themselves to get caught behind a slower driver. The less successful drivers blame the car or the strategy. It’s never themselves. It’s always someone else’s fault.
I see this frequently playing out in the workplace. People blame their boss, clients, or colleagues for their poor time management. Successful people don’t do that. They look for solutions they can implement themselves. If your boss, for example, doesn’t respect your calendar, it’s on you to talk with your boss and try and change things. If you have an overwhelmingly demanding client, you should speak with your client and set some boundaries. Nobody else will do that for you.
I know it’s hard to put responsibility for our failings on ourselves. It’s easier to blame the government, the economy or our company. But will blaming other people and organisations solve the problem? No. The only way you will solve these problems is to take action. To look for solutions, research and focus on getting better, more skilled and open-minded. The only way you will lose weight is to change your eating habits and move a bit more. Blaming the food companies for making delicious food that is convenient to order will not help you lose weight.
The best advice I can give you is to look for the areas where you feel you are not performing at your best and ask yourself: “How can I do it better?” With a bit of time, you will find some great solutions.
Thank you for reading my stories! 😊
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