Time Management Tips - Productivity Myths Exploded

Have you ever noticed how time management tips are not about managing time but rather they are about managing yourself? You cannot alter or manage time in anyway.

You can only change the way that you behave and that often starts with a clear examination of what is actually true versus what you ...Have you ever noticed how time management tips are not about managing time but rather they are about managing yourself? You cannot alter or manage time in anyway.

You can only change the way that you behave and that often starts with a clear examination of what is actually true versus what you believe to be true.

Your behaviour is influenced by what you believe to be true. Many people try to improve their time management by practices that have no evidence that they improve productivity at all.

Let's take a look at some time management myths and the beliefs that sustain these practices.

Exploding the myths

There are two big myths about work productivity that are perpetuated by beliefs and not evidence. These two myths are:

Myth #1 - Multitasking improves productivity
Myth #2 - Cell phones improve productivity

Let's examine the beliefs that persist in perpetuating these myths.

Myth #1 - Multitasking improves productivity.

Here is the belief that sustains this myth:

"I believe that when I have a lot of things to do, doing two things at once will make me more productive."

Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact research has shown that humans cannot multitask. While it might look like you are doing two things at once you are actually only concentrating on one thing at a time even if it is just for a microsecond. So what looks like multitasking is really just switching quickly between two (or more) tasks.

Myth #2 - Cell phones improve productivity.

Here is the belief that sustains this myth:

"I believe that my customers or clients expect me to be available when they need me so I need to keep my cell phone on in order to maintain their business."

There is no evidence to support this. In fact recent studies by AT&T have shown that 76% of all business communication is not time sensitive and that a lot of time on business calls is wasted due to social chit chat. Indeed most people now do not expect a live voice on the other end of the phone and expect to be able to leave a voice mail message.

If you leave your cell phone on all the time it is more likely that you will waste time and not be more productive. The research evidence shows that it takes time for the human brain to switch back to the task that was interrupted by a phone call and this is non-productive time. So in fact you are actually wasting time by making yourself constantly available for business.

The same research by AT&T shows that 60% of calls are not as important as the work they interrupt. This means that 60% percent of the time you get a phone call that interrupts your work you are dealing with an issue of lower priority than the work you were engaged in. Think about that!

If you set your priorities wrong 60% of the time what does that say about your ability to do your job competently?

So of all the time management tips that could be offered, here is the one that is based on the research and will improve your productivity...

Concentrate on one thing at a time.

When you start on a task that needs some concentration turn off the phone and turn off the email alerts. Designate a specific amount of time to the task at hand and turn your attention completely to that task.

When the time is up you can either decide to continue or take some time to make a phone call or check emails. You simply do not need to be available to everyone all the time.

By concentrating on one task at a time your productivity will improve and you will feel like you have actually done some good work! And of course it is important to remember that time management tips are not for managing time they are for managing your own behaviour. Time will never change but you can.