In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Hermione carried a time-turner. This hourglass pendant on a necklace allowed her to travel through time and be in two places at once. Each turn of the hourglass equaled one hour of time. It was essential in using this time-turner that she never be seen by her past or future version of herself, unless of course she was aware she was using the time- turner. This allowed her to attend multiple classes at the same time and accelerate her schooling. Oh some days how I wish I had Hermione’s time-turner!
As we don’t have access to this piece of jewelry, we need to make time in time. We can cleverly use aspects of time to increase capacity by applying several strategies.
Combine activities – Carry a reading file with you so you can always read journals, magazines or best selling books while waiting at your doctor’s office or for the kids to finish their sporting activity.
Walk and Talk – while you walk from one office building to the next, consider inviting someone to join you.
Early in my career I was employed by a large Australian bank, I worked for an amazingly successful women Barbara Woodworth. Barbara was the queen of making time in time. Her busy calendar required walking between our office and corporate headoffice, which was connected by an underground tunnel. Often we would walk and talk to accelerate project process, share learning’s from internal clients and agree on action steps for marketing initiatives. In those ten-minute walk and talks I sometimes felt like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle as Barb and I scurried back and forth but we sure did accomplish a lot during those times!
Leverage mentor time – Never underestimate the power of making time in time with people you want to learn from. I once attended a haircut with my mentor because it was the only time he had available that day and he wasn’t going to be doing anything but sitting in a chair patiently allowing his hairdresser to work his magic – we scoped out a complete project during that 30 minute haircut. Meet your mentor where they are at to maximize time.
Use elevators – While my friend and thought leader Rory Vaden might disagree with me, (his fabulous book about self discipline, Take the Stairs recommends avoiding the elevator), using your time in the elevator ride is productive: collect your thoughts, silence your cell before the meeting and conduct a 30 second check on your appearance: pop in a breath mint, straighten your outfit, check your hair and make up, apply lipstick and adjust jewelry. Gentleman, you might need less than 30 seconds to adjust your tie?
Making time in time is an important skill: leverage all moments you have in a day to increase your capacity for completion – what can you do to make time in time? We’d love to hear your thoughts so please share them here on our blog.
PS. Want a great resource for focusing your time and mastering distractions? We suggest reading Peter Bregman’s book 18 minutes – available here.
