What if Time Management Kills Efficiency?

We have all been sold into managing our time and that's the problem

Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations

— James Clear

---

It's 9:08 PM and I'm cuddled up on the couch, breathing to my hearing. My body feels like warm water in a heating kettle.

You see, I had quite a day, from the wee hours of the morning to the strength-sapping bustle of Lagos traffic.

I initially planned to write an article centered around one of Bob Dylan's quotes on my way back from work or when I got home.

—Oh how you'd love the article on Dylan's quote, I felt butterflies while thinking of the value in the content—

On the trip back, I could picture the article forming in my head but the strength to put 'em down and work them quickly evaporated from me.

So I slumped into this couch on getting home, unable to lift a pen.

You know those moments where you're worn to the bones and you can only think of your cozy bed.

But I've got to keep the streak alive

The clock is ticking away, a couple of hours to midnight. Should I just relax until tomorrow?

This is the quote on my screensaver that I love so much. It encapsulates the philosophy of time multiplication.

You see, we've been taught the concept of time management all our lives and that only gave us the consciousness of scarcity.

We see time as something so limited that we have to manage the little we have of it.

But you see, there's only so much we can accomplish with this mentality. We find ourselves in a constant race against time.

There's an assignment due in a few hours, there's a test around the corner I haven't read for, and a bazillion things to do in just 30 minutes before work.

The list goes on. It's like an endless race to catch up on the little things that tend to swallow our time.

We constantly try to “manage our time” for those heavyweight tasks, how about the teensy bits of 5 mins here and there?

The great don't see time as a scarce commodity they have to manage, they see it as an asset they have to invest and multiply.

Investment is the secret to multiplication

Back to my situation. I scrolled through my notepad and picked up one of my drafts which I'm writing to you.

Whenever an idea pops, I take time to write it down in a full blown article or in scattered ideas. This process has helped me stick to being consistent so far.

Give yourself the emotional permission to do things today that give you more time tomorrow

You see, at the time the idea pops, I might be resting, eating or doing other tasks, in as much as I want to cozy up or enjoy my meal, I push myself to build of the idea even if it's for 5 minutes.

It's simple really.

Photo credit: TedX

In multiplying your time you:

• Eliminate irrelevant activities like sleeping on YouTube and replace them with working on something that can save you some time tomorrow

• Automate certain tasks with automation tools like posting on social media, auto-pause certain apps after using for a set time limit

• Delegate tasks that don’t need your active involvement

• Deliberately procrastinate irrelevant tasks: "oh I haven't seen Superman 2025, I'll check it out tomorrow"

My best friend in the world, Shal, integrates this effortlessly. She's been learning French on Duolingo and she made significant progress by multiplying her time in bits.

Days when she wants to give in and her reminder pops, she opens up the app to do one or two tasks even if it's 2-5 mins she spends.

You see, she gives herself the emotional permission (or allowance as I like to see it) to spend at least 5 mins on the app... even if she doesn’t feel like it, and then after she can go back to the activity she was on before.

The amazing thing is that at the end she showed up and that would eventually payoff in the long run and save/give her more time tomorrow.

I'm also reminded of Beulah, an amazing departmental mate, She'd spend those little breathing times in between lectures to read her books.

Then I felt, nahhh, it's rather have a whole 3hours+ to manage my time and properly dissect the intestines of it.

Her 5 - 30 minutes paid off when exams came and she only had to revise while I had a heap of pages waiting to be explored.

Consistency beats intensity

That's why I was able to spend less than an hour on this rather than go through series of drafting and revisions which would take hours or days.

So when next you feel idle, remember you can multiply your time by investing it in activities/tasks that'll give you more time in the future simply by giving yourself the emotional permission to leave your warmth for at least 5 mins.

Lore,

Your buddy in productivity.