Everything You Know About Time Management Is Wrong

The Problem

We have all inherited an approach to time management that has its roots in the industrial age. It is a machine/factory logic that associates rest with malfunction. When a machine is down it’s because something is wrong. You need to fix the problem so it can be up again and productive. Indeed, an idle machine means a loss of profits. Down time for maintenance is a necessary evil, a cost to be minimized.

This machine logic is fine as far as it goes. But when you apply it to people it has some unintended consequences. When you say every hour worked is an hour more of productivity then you get into a messy situation. People sleep less, work all the time, set no boundaries and they do it all in the name of productivity. The unfortunate but predictable outcome is that they get exhausted, their discernment goes down, their ability to make good decisions is weakened, they end up reacting to everything and so you end up doing lots of trivial things instead of the few things that really need to get done. And over the last few years technology has exacerbated the problem by building tools based on the industrial age mindset.

As we have gone from being connected to hyperconnected we have moved into a boundaryless experience where work bleeds over into our personal life so relentlessly people often feel there is no boundary at all. As one recent example, I had someone repeatedly try to schedule a Saturday morning meeting with me. After several pushbacks from me, he finally said, “Okay, how about Sunday evening?” The answer was no to that as well. But it is illustrative of the boundaryless norms of our time. 

In the face of this reality and the work/life balance problems it implies, some people call for the integrated life. They take away all boundaries and just try to figure it out along the way. But often this really means work becomes the dominant force of people’s lives. Having worked for someone with this mindset I know first hand the kind of unintended sacrifices that this model produces. We end up making a millimeter progress in a million directions. That’s not productivity; that’s moving around the mess.

The Solution

Essentialism is the answer to this outdated way of thinking. It is based on the reality that for breakthrough productivity we need to discern the essential few from the trivial many. As a result our priority is to make sure that we have protected our ability to prioritize. After all, if you don’t know what’s most important right now then what’s most important right now is figuring out what’s most important right now.

If you don’t know what’s most important right now then what’s most important right now is figuring out what’s most important right now.

Becoming an Essentialist means perpetually asking “What is essential?”, eliminating what is not and creating a system for making execution as effortless as possible. In this way we can breakthrough to the next level, personally and professionally. 

For example, instead of treating everyday as an integrated experience where we try and fit it all in somehow, the woman I mentioned above, divides her life into distinct days: whole days devoted to three distinct types of work. We need all three types to operate at our highest levels of productivity.

1. Protection Day. In contrast to a Nonessentialist, an Essentialist schedules these days before anything else on their calendar. These are days completely spent in rejuvenation. She said to me, “It’s like charging a Tesla: if you want it to really go then you need to charge it up first.” On a protection day she get’s away from everything: she even bought a second phone that only her EA and her spouse has access to. So she can be contacted in an emergency but otherwise can rejuvenate by going for a run, taking a nap, getting a massage and walking on the beach.

2. Preparation Day. A Nonessentialist treats execution as something that has to be forced all the time. It’s just a matter of exerting sufficient effort to get it done. An Essentialist, in contrast, uses Preparation Days to do all of the things necessary to set up a Productivity Day. It is the time to do email, set up appointments, maintenance items and do the planning necessary to be able to focus on the final type of day.  

3. Productivity Day. A Nonessentialist wants to have these kinds of days but the mindset they are operating out of makes these incredibly rare occurrences. They are simply pulled in too many directions as they try, hopelessly to fit it all in. An Essentialist uses these days to incredible effect: on these days they are able to focus on the hard work to be done with almost no distraction. They have already set up the key appointments with key clients and scheduled key activities that they know will move the needle on their most essential goals.

Becoming an Essentialist is not an event—it won’t happen simply by reading this blog for example—it is a process. It begins with the mindset but to this we have to add the skillset and the toolset. But after working with people all over the world, I say this with confidence: it can be done.