CA JEETENDRA MISTRY
SERIES - TIME MANAGEMENT – 7
TIME MANAGEMENT MATRIX
In this series of Time Management, in last 6 articles on Time Management, we identified Characteristics of Time, concept of Time Management and how it shapes out to be Life Leadership, G-D-P (i.e. Goal, Direction and Process) of Time Management, and we identified six Time Wasters and Time Savers. Now onwards, we shall discuss ultimate of Time Management – which is known as T/M Matrix.
There are only three ways to spend time: Thoughts, Conversations and Actions. So watch your thoughts - whether they are positive and concrete towards action-orientation. Words matter in conversation, so consciously bring positivity in words and sentences you speak, and convert whatever you listen to positivity. Positive actions stem from positive thoughts and positive conversations only.
The most important time of your day is the time you schedule time. Schedule appointment with yourself and create time blocks for high-priority thoughts, conversations, and actions, to create and generate positive results. Last time, we started with a story, which ran as under:
Once a professor in class of elite students of Management, started one exercise. He took out a big transparent jar and started putting small tennis balls into it. After putting about 9 balls, he asked class “is there any room to put more?” All unanimously said - “No”. He took out small pebbles and started putting in the jar. After filling few, he asked again – “Is there any room to put more?” Students said – “Maybe”. He took out the sand and poured in jar. He asked again the same question. Students said – “Yes, water.” And he poured in water to make it full. He ultimately asked – “What is the Moral of the story?”
Can we guess what the Moral of the story is? Few considered – Moral is to find the gaps, wherever possible. But real answer is – “Put the First Things First”. This was put in a book of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R Covey. Someone asked – How is this principle connected to Time Management?
The professor answered the same by his actions. He asked to bring in a big vessel in which he emptied all the contents of that transparent jar. He first filled it with water, and then put in sand, then pebbles, and then tennis balls. He could hardly put 7 tennis balls and the vessel was full. Initially when he demonstrated he could put in 9 balls and now only 7? Why was it so? He simply said that this is the principle of “First Things First”.
Putting First Things First means “Execution based on Priorities”. Those things which matter the most in life should be given more priority over the things which matter less. Priority based Time Management is considered is “First Things First”. Stephen R Covey has detailed various angles of Time Management in his book also titled as “First Things First”.
The balls are the important things – your family, children, your health and your friends. The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your home, your car. And the sand is everything that little stuff. If you spend all your time and energy to small stuff, you will never have room for the things that make you happy. Set your priorities, rest is only sand.
If we analyze our time spent in last 7 days out of our Time Journal, we may divide our activities under main 2 categories – URGENT and/or IMPORTANT, to be coupled with another duo – “Not Important” and “Not Urgent”. However, these all 4 components may be classified in matrix as under:
MATRIX OF TIME MANAGEMENT
Let us analyze our time spent in last 7 days to be put under all 4 quadrants of Time Management. I have given suggestive activities to be classified under each matrix.
Quadrant I is “Urgent and Important”, which matrix is bundle of such activities, which must be attended always. If door-bell rings and you are only person in the house, you must attend to it and get up to open the door, howsoever important work you are involved in. So such activities consume our time, but produce no result for us. At the same time, it must be attended, so no other way out, except to get time out of other quadrants.
Another Quadrant III is “Urgent, but Not Important”, which can be avoided by deliberate planning and impeccable execution. Let us consider attending a popular meeting of some club activities, which CAN be avoided, being Urgent as to be attended at given time, but can be avoided, being not much important.
Let us consider last Quadrant IV first – “Not Urgent + Not Important”. This quadrant consists of time-wasters we have discussed in earlier articles. Do you remember which those Time-wasters were? Here is the list:
Procrastination – (a) over action (b) over decision
To do the Best – Always
Overlap or Repetition of efforts
Distractions
Cannot say NO to anything
Belief system” or “I was under impression…”
Lat, but not the least Quadrant II is “IMPORTANT, BUT NOT URGENT”. This quadrant is of utmost importance, but we really do not focus on activities under this category. I would like here to give example of – maintenance of your vehicle which you drive daily. This may not be urgent, but timely maintenance is must. If we do not undergo maintenance at specific intervals, we may have breakdown of vehicle, at time, when things are urgent.
Now consider that if our 100% time is divided within these 4 quadrants, how would each activity affect others? If we spend say 10% in Urgent and Important activities, which is very normal, we may have to allot lesser time to other quadrants. If we spend time more in quadrant IV, not urgent and not important, it would be only at cost of quadrants II and III.
If we spend time on matters of “not important but urgent”, i.e. quadrant III, we get lesser time for quadrant II activities. It is said that Quadrant II is very quadrant of quality in Time Management, as it is not urgent but important.
Now is your Home-work. You may spend this week-end to analyze your last week under each quadrant and analyze based on whether it was MUST/CAN + ATTEND/AVOID. We shall discuss more on activities falling under different quadrants under different circumstances and also results of each quadrant, in next article.
JEETENDRA MISTRY
