Time Management for Procrastinators
Many of the procrastinators I know don’t necessarily want to be late. Or necessarily want to wait until the last minute to finish something. They’re often simply don’t grasp the concept of time management. So, how do we address that? I’m glad you asked.
In order to address a problem, we first have to define it. Time Management is beyond knowing how much time you do, or don’t, spend on any particular activity. It is not about where the time is going to go. Rather, Time Management is planning for, and executing, specified events throughout the course of a day, week, month, year, and lifetime.
For now, let’s focus on a single day. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. At least not yet.
Practical uses for time management.
In an attempt to better understand time management, I’d like to use a scenario. Going to see a movie with friends.
This is a movie that you’ve wanted to see all year long. Last year, you saw the previews and knew instantly that you wanted to see it. The movie has received a lot of hype. It’s supposed to be a box office hit. You, and your friends, decide that you want to see the Friday night showing at 7:00 pm.
Since this is the first weekend it’s been out, the theatres are going to be packed. Lines will probably be out the door.
What do we know so far? We know that if we want a seat at the showing, we will need to arrive early. Since it’s on a Friday night, there will most likely be a lot of people who also decided to do things. That means a lot of vehicles out on the roads.
The theatre is exactly thirty-five minutes from your house. But that’s with little to no traffic. And you agreed to pick up your best friend on the way. Of course, their place is actually ten minutes out of the way.
You must think and plan ahead.
If you wanted to arrive at the theatre by 6:30 pm, what time would you have to leave?
Picking up your friend will add at least ten minutes. That’s assuming they’re ready when you get there. If they’re a procrastinator too, we might need to add in some cushion. To accommodate them, we’ll add in ten minutes extra. Now for the drive time.
In order to pick up your friend, you’ll want to add in twenty minutes to the thirty-five-minute drive. And that’s not including traffic.
We’ve added the ten minutes to compensate for the additional time to drive to your friend’s. Additionally, we have added in ten minutes to allow them time to finish getting ready. Now we have to add time for traffic.
Depending on your area of the country, what might normally take thirty-five-minute drive could actually take ninety minutes during rush hour. This is evening time, but not rush hour traffic. However, we’ll still need to add in a little bit of cushion. Let’s add another ten minutes for traffic.
Please remember, for the most part, these amounts of time are estimates. Even though the GPS mapping system says thirty-five minutes, that doesn’t include stop lights, construction, accidents, or stop-and-go traffic.
If you know there is construction on your route, or a reported accident, then you will need to adjust your time accordingly. For this scenario, there are no accidents, constructions, or stop-and-go traffic.
Time to take action.
We’ve established you want to be there by 6:30 pm, for the 7:00 pm showing. We have also established that you will need to add twenty minutes to pick up your friend. Ten minutes of drive time and ten minutes of waiting.
We have also added in ten minutes for evening traffic. Everyone else on the road for their Friday evening out.
Therefore, we will need to leave at 5:25 pm to be at the theatre by 6:30 pm. The best way to get to this approach is to work backwards.
If we want to reach our destination by 6:30 pm, then 6:30 will be our end time. The drive time, since we added ten minutes, is forty-five minutes. To compensate for the drive time, we need to leave by 5:45 pm. However, since you’re picking up your friend, you’ll need to add in the twenty minutes.
In order to make it to the theatre by 6:30 pm, you will need to leave by 5:25 pm. Isn’t it funny how time gets away from us? What started out as a thirty-five-minute drive, turned into sixty-five minutes.
That’s why it’s important to think and plan ahead.
That’s why it is imperative to plan ahead. And that’s where time management comes into play. It’s thinking about these other things. If all you considered was the thirty-five minutes to drive to the theater, you would’ve arrived five minutes before the movie started.
Time management is far more than just knowing how long it takes to do something. It takes into consideration external forces that consume our time as well.
For those who are procrastinators in finishing tasks and/or goals, time management is not the problem. Laziness and/or fear is the problem. Individuals who wish to overcome those obstacles, time management can help. But it requires intentionality to face and overcome them.
In order to use time management, to help get beyond laziness (and/or fear), set aside a specified timeframe. During which you would focus on your task, goal, paper, or whatever you’re either afraid of or simply don’t want to do.
Think beyond any mind blocks that might have been built. Time management can be used to overcome procrastination. But it requires intentionality. You have to want it.
Need help making a change? Check out Change Management for Change Haters.
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