First Level Leadership
Increasing Critical Mass of Your Leadership Skills
Are you engaged in a technological RAM or RAT race…? However, you can never win. Before you become fully competent in the use of one software package, you are bombarded with a new version, making your current software obsolete. You will certainly lose more time if you choose to be in this race all the time.
I know the temptation to engage in this race is too high. I too have been a part of such a pursuit many times. Therefore, I would like to share some time management tips from my personal experience.
We manage to delude ourselves.
Where is all the time you saved?
If you add up all the activities, you are entangled in and accept that technology is in fact saving time for you, then allow me to ask you a vital question:
Where is all the time you saved?
Then, does it follow that you are wasting your time?
Maybe not, but you must be aware of the potential pitfalls.
Even well meaning, assiduous workers who would never think of whiling away their time on the company’s expense may be creating opportunities to send personal emails and browse the net, simply because its convenient. An employee drafting an email to a friend looks the same as one who may be preparing the quarterly report!
The more gadgets you place between yourselves, customers and staff, the more impersonal your interactions become.
In one-sense, emails form a tidy combo between written and oral communication.
However, there is nothing as immediate and effective as face-to-face communication.
Our technology has brought us closer in terms of speed and accessibility; at the same time, it has pushed us apart in terms of actual human contact.
Are you a victim of increased expectation?The computer has increased our expectations of how to present our documents, how many graphics it should contain and how many times you can edit. However, there is always a tussle between good and perfect. The ability to have more choices becomes a never-ending quest.
Choices are good. I like choices too. However, choices take time. When you figure out the true cost of any other modern marvel, don’t just add up the money. You should also take into account the buying time, the time it takes to swim up stream on the learning curve, along with the time spent on making mistakes.
Follow the famous dictum: “Simplify Simplify.”
I recommend that you take a good look at the technology in your life to determine what’s helping and what’s getting in your way. You don’t have to forsake technology but you need to make sure that you are using the technology, and not the other way around.
To regain control of your technology race, begin with this simple premise:
“Just because you think you can does not imply you have to.”
Learn only what you need to know. Don’t get intimidated by what others are doing, and what others know. Assess your needs. Use that judgment to obtain only the necessary piece of technology.
Remember - our technology has also brought us access to a flood of useless and irrelevant information.
If I have to sum up my time management tips in one line, I would say,
“Simplify, Simplify Simplify.”
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