Time is the Master

Time is the Master

Phoenix Normand 31/12/2020 5
Time is the Master

Time is the #1 asset we have as humans.

It is incredibly precious as we never truly know how much more of it we have left while on this earth. And even day-to-day, we're constantly running out of it, trying to "buy" more of it, steal some of it from others, or preserve more of it so that we can use it to ideate or give to our loved ones or just devote solely to ourselves.

Americans, specifically, have an unhealthy relationship with time. In a business context, this is painfully obvious. Having supported Executives at the top of the game and now becoming one there's always a struggle to use or allocate it wisely, which often doesn't happen despite best efforts. Meetings continue to run long. Time is wasted on people who aren't prepared. Time is disproportionately spent on running the business vs. growing the business or creating the next-gen product or service.

Time Wasters

Someone asked me the question: "How do you deal with time wasters?" on a recent Zoom fireside chat. In short, my answer was probably not what the asker was anticipating. I'm a big believer that "time wasters" aren't as predatory as people make them out to be. They're simply pushing their specific agenda and willing to wait it out until they get what they want. Calling someone a "time-waster" is essentially exonerating the person whose time is being wasted from any responsibility in said time-wasting. And therein lies the problem.

If you have an unhealthy relationship with time, you invite the opportunity for your time to be wasted. Allowing people with agendas onto your calendar without, first, setting the rules of engagement is a recipe for wasted time. Anytime someone asks for my time I need to feel confident that there is ROI of my most precious resource. As you can imagine, that results in some scorched feelings when the answer is a resounding, "Nope." It's not to be a dick, it's simply to preserve a super scarce resource so that I can use it to make money, spend it with my loved ones, or use it for myself. Additionally, it's to send a message to those who are ill-prepared, unworthy to some degree, or just really annoying that my time is MY TIME, not theirs unless I choose to part with some of it.

Let me be clear. If you allow people to waste your time, that's on YOU, not the time waster. In fact, I say, "More power to the time-wasters!" They are achieving their objective and forcing their agendas right down your throat. If you don't set the rules of engagement for how your time is allocated and hold people to it, then you officially relinquish your right to complain. It's not their fault. It's YOURS.

Mastering the Time Relationship

I believe in the digital age we've truly lost the concept of time and allowed our attention spans to be divvied up in so many ways that the way we measure time has become skewed. How often have you been pulled away from a task and into a web search that lasted way too long and having nothing to do with your original task? In fact, look up to the top of your screen right now. How many tabs do you have open? (I have 5 at the moment, but it's usually double that.) It's so easy to be pulled into random searches, be hooked by a sale ad of that one item you really wanted, or even the latest TikTok compilation video that leaves you teary-eyed...and now late for your next meeting.

In order to master your relationship with time, you need to accept that time is the master. To use it wisely, you need to realize just how precious and expensive it is and respect it accordingly. I always do an exercise with EAs to help them understand the value of time and optimize how their Execs are using it. The example I use is how expensive and wasteful weekly 1:1 meetings are. They're often rescheduled due to competing priorities (and poor time management.) The person asking for or benefitting most from the 1:1 is often ill-prepared because the consistency and laid back nature of a weekly meeting loses its original intent and purpose over time and becomes less valuable and worthy of undivided attention and preparation. As a result, expensive C-suite time is wasted on several meetings per week that warrant a C+ grade at best for ROI. If you run the numbers, companies lose tens of thousands of dollars per year on these meetings. By simply moving them to "as needed" vs. slapped on a calendar each week you achieve 2 objectives: 1. The act of requesting the 1:1 time by the requestor intimates that they are focused, prepared, and ready for a discussion that outlines the purpose and critical result they seek, and 2. Preserves time that can be reallocated to growing the business or much more ideation during the course of the day.

Time is Expensive As Hell

Please get this. Time is more expensive than your hourly rate. In aggregate, especially the time you waste, it gets incredibly expensive over time. And companies and executives who continue to fill their calendars with meetings having no agenda, pre-reads, pre-loaded questions, etc. can expect to keep hemorrhaging company time and money when both could be recouped by simply tightening up their ships. The real reason AGILE exists is to quickly get everyone synergized, assign tasks and accountability, and get back to work. No fluffy, long-ass pontifications by people clearly seeking brownie points but saying NOTHING of actual value or confirming direction. Worse is having an expensive headcount like the CEO stuck in numerous meetings throughout the day that are 1-2 hours long, with far too many unnecessary people in the room sucking up air, energy, and creativity because they're clearly disengaged and not relevant to the conversation. Bezos' "two pizza rule" when scheduling meetings is sheer brilliance and something all businesses should incorporate ASAP. In short, he will only hold meetings in which two pizzas will feed the entire group. If the group is too large, then nothing will get done and time will be wasted.

Let's break it down. Let's say you have a meeting with 15 people, including the CEO of the company. First off, way too big unless it's a town hall. And there's a high likelihood that, at minimum, 5 of those people don't really need to be there. Lest we forget, meetings are meant for decisions to be made then communicated to the rest of the team. Therefore, those making the decisions are the only ones who need to be in the room. (FFS PLEASE include the relevant EA in those meetings as THEY are the ones who need this information to plan/divvy their Exec's time, hold stakeholders accountable to deadlines, and have those nuanced conversations down the chain to suss out and feed their Execs with "what's really going on.") I digress.

Those 5 extra people in the meeting are likely being paid a salary. That one or two hours each one of those people wastes as non-essential attendee, in aggregate and over the span of a year, gets really expensive. Imagine that's only one meeting. How many meetings do you attend every day knowing you're not essential or relevant and will likely not even be called on to answer a question? How many hours per week is that? Per month? When you add up the amount of wasted time and convert that to hard cash, it snaps you into a different way of thinking about time. Time is money. Always has been. Always will be. So just like you value money, which always seems precious and uncertain, you should value time which is equally precious and uncertain. Covet it and allocate it wisely.

In Conclusion

It's a new year. I can't think of a better way to kick it off than to do a hardcore audit of how you're spending (read: wasting) your time. Is your calendar chock full of meetings you don't need to attend? Are you allocating a couple/few hours a day to "ideate" so that you can actually grow your business vs. just maintain it? Are you building time into your calendar for self-care or dedicated, focused time with your loved ones? Are you allowing people onto your calendar without a pre-defined purpose and critical result? Are you still ending your day frustrated because what you really wanted/needed to work on was hijacked by back-to-back meetings?

Developing a healthy relationship with time, respecting it, and allocating it wisely should be at the top of your resolutions list for 2021. This means making sure your most precious resource is being allocated thoughtfully, BY YOU, and ensuring there is conspicuous ROI of it. This means you need to get really comfortable with using the word "nope," or insisting on a purpose and critical result or a pre-read before their allowed onto your calendar. Remember: Meetings don't make you money. The work does. So make sure your meetings lend to the work getting done, and more of it. Get in, hash it out, and get back to the work. Trust your managers, empower your EAs, and hold people accountable to their word and to the rules of engagement you've set for the allocation of YOUR time.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, everyone. Whatever the hell 2020 was, let's use it as rocket fuel for a stratospheric 2021!

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  • Martin Artisien

    I won't panic next year, I promise ! Time is money !

  • Ross Smith

    2020 was awful in all fronts !

  • Daniel Charlesworth

    New Year = New Resolutions !

  • Carly Williams

    I am ready for 2021

  • Sam F

    Happy new year !

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Phoenix Normand

Society Expert

Phoenix is coaching and supporting American billionaires, CEOs and executive teams in tech, retail and banking for over 25 years. He also founded and created MEGA Assistant University, a revolutionary skills and mindset “boot camp” for top Executive and Personal Assistants who want to level up quickly and begin forging a mutually successful business partnership with their executives and teams. Phoenix holds a Bachelors of Arts in European Studies/Civilisation from Trinity College Dublin.

   
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