Episode 4 - Time Management is the Biggest Lie

Transcript

Time management is the biggest lie in the book.

You’ve been told your whole life that if you just managed your time better, everything would work. You’d hit your goals. You’d get everything done. Your staff would perform better.

But here’s the truth: time cannot be managed. You can’t stop it. You can’t move it. You can’t stretch it.

Calendars and apps don’t manage time. They only organize tasks.

Welcome to the Provider Power Moves Podcast. I am your host, Sara Sherman. Here, I leverage my 35 years of experience in the field to give you practical steps that create big results in your agency and in your workday.

Pause for a moment. How often do you blame yourself or your staff for poor time management? I hear it all the time. I continually hear about employees who simply need to manage their time better.

Given that time management is simply not possible, these staff will never achieve success. They’re focused on the wrong thing — and so are you.

Further, think about all the time and energy that would be devoted to nagging, harassing, pestering, and writing up employees who fail to “manage their time.”

Now you may be thinking, Okay, so Sara, if time management isn’t the issue, then what is — and how do we get staff back on track?

Well, I am so very glad that you asked.

Here’s what we know. We know that staff are not getting their tasks done. And right now, that’s all we know. So let’s start there.

Because staff are not getting their work done in the time allotted, something must be getting in the way. Somewhere, there is a barrier that is impeding the completion of the tasks assigned within the allotted time.

This means we have to investigate.

If the work isn’t getting done, there are only two possible reasons.

First, there may be too many tasks for the time available. So you need to think about: is the amount of work assigned to that period of time actually completable in that amount of time.

This is a process issue.

We know before we can identify if we have a people problem, we have to rule out that we have a process problem.

This means that you have to first confirm that the work can be done within the time allotted.

You can complete a formal time study to figure that out. You can observe, and/or meet with staff and discuss.

If the work cannot be done within the time available, you’re going to have to make changes to the work in order for you, or your staff, to be successful.

That means you are going to have to move things. You have to figure out what work is going to be eliminated from the task list and where that work is going to go.

If the work can be done within the allotted time, now you have a different problem. You probably have a people problem.

While we do not control time, we do control attention.

I remember when I was working in case management or service coordination. In social services, we tend to spend a lot of time talking, and not everything we talk about has to do with the tasks of the day.

We sometimes we get a bit philosophical and we talk about it.

And I have to confess, there were days when I was talking to lots of people and I was really tired at the end of the day because I had expended a lot of energy.

But when I got back to my office, I realized I hadn’t done anything on my list — and the day was gone.

And I thought, Oh my gosh, how did I lose a full day?

Was everything I was talking about necessary for the job and for the day?

And I had to be honest. The answer was no. Not all of those conversations were necessary.

I gave my attention to those conversations in error. It was a mistake. I did not have available minutes to have some of the conversations that I had.

This means I put my attention in the wrong place.

Now the good news here is that I have complete control over where I put my attention. And so do you. And so do your staff.

So if the work can be done in the allotted time, then we know attention is drifting. And we have to think about: Where is our attention drifting?

Think about it. Is there anywhere right now that members of your team are experiencing this drift of attention?

If the answer is yes, then let’s do a deeper dive.

We need to ask the question: What is being done instead of the required tasks?

What is being done instead of the required tasks?

Make a list. If you’re supervising someone, have them make the list. Then check that list to see if you agree.

What kinds of things are maybe taking a little too long? What are you lingering on? Write it all down.

You know the work can be done in the allotted time. Now you’re working on figuring out what’s getting in the way.

You’ve got your list.

You’ve reviewed the list with your staff and you’ve agreed with your staff person’s assessment.

The next thing we’re going to figure out is why does this barrier exist?

Is it because someone is confused about the tasks or task execution?
Is it because someone is getting distracted?
Is it because the task is not enjoyable so it gets pulled off to the end — and oops, we’ve run out of time?
Is it because there’s a lot of coworker chatter?
Or is something else getting in the way?

You’ll do this same exercise whether you are the one who’s experiencing this challenge or you have staff that are experiencing this challenge.

Once you identify the barriers, you’re going to make a plan to eliminate those barriers.

And through this process, it’s really important that you do not judge yourself and that you do not judge your staff. 

Shame serves no purpose.

You’ve analyzed the situation, compiled the data, and analyzed the data. And you’ve created a solution.

Now it’s time to implement that solution and confirm that the problem of not getting the work done in the allotted time is resolved.

Now there is one particular barrier I want to talk about, because it happens commonly.

Staff will say something like, I didn’t have time to do the tasks because I was interacting with the people I serve.

In our field, there’s sometimes this perception that hanging out with the individuals we serve forgives other job requirements. And this is not true.

All of the tasks are required in order to effectively serve individuals.

For example, not documenting in favor of hanging out with the individual served robs those individual of having their lives, activities, opinions, desires, dreams, problems, challenges, relationships, etc… documented.

And the individuals we serve have a right to have their lives documented. And they have the right for those who need to know what’s happening in their lives to have the ability to know what’s happening.

And we do that through effective documentation.

By effectively documenting, the people that we serve now have the ability to have their lives continue forward consistently, moving as the person wants it to move.

Without documentation, no one knows what’s happening on the next shift. No one can identify when problems first began. No one picks up what’s happening in a day program and helps the person to have a similar experience in the evening.

Documentation serves so many purposes. This is one.

Through good documentation of the services someone receives and the way they respond to those  services supports the individual to not have interruptions in living their lives the way they want to live it.

So if you hear those words from your staff — or you struggle yourself to know when to step back in order to document — remember the importance of documentation, and how much those you serve are counting on you to have their back.

Alright, let’s do a quick recap.

Time management isn’t real. Don’t shoot for it — you’ll never get there.
Attention management is real. Shoot for that.

Make sure all the tasks can be done within the time allotted. And if not, move tasks.

If yes, they can be done within the time allotted, investigate where attention is going.

What is getting in the way or creating a barrier when you or your team run out of time before all the tasks have been completed?

And hanging out with the people you serve is fantastic. It is not a valid reason to skip other tasks.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Give this a try and let me know how it goes.

Contact me at Sara — (S-A-R-A) — sara@providerpowermoves.com

Until next time — power on.