24 Sep 2018

The 7 Deadly Sins of Time Management | Kate Christie | Time Management Expert

A quote from Kate Christie

Kate Christie is a time management expert and best-selling author. Her job is to find your audience time. As a keynote speaker, Kate’s authenticity is one of her greatest assets – she provides practical advice that can be implemented for immediate time gains. Everything Kate does is intelligently, strategically and enthusiastically focused on maximising your time so you can live the life you love. Kate has a reputation for helping her clients find and harness 30 hours of lost time a month.

In this article, Time Management speaker Kate Christie shares 7 deadly time management sins she has learned to avoid.

 

Guard your time

I’m a single mum to 3 teenagers and a dog; I work full-time running two businesses; I’m a best-selling author and speaker; I’m a daughter, sister, friend, employer, footy mum, cricket mum, lacrosse mum, basketball mum, rowing mum, and taxi driver.

I get the concept of ‘busy’.

But I’m also a time management expert which means the pressure really is on to make sure I manage the juggle without breaking a sweat! You try being a time management expert and being late for a meeting.

As such, I jealously guard my time.

 

1- Lust – What about me?

You are busy. You are frantically spinning dozens of plates at once, rushing between them like a circus performer, trying to keep them from falling to the ground and breaking.And yet when you find yourself with a little spare time, you never spend that time on yourself. It’s time for a little self-love. Schedule time for ‘you’ in your calendar and make sure you turn up.

 

2- Gluttony – You don’t say No

When you say Yes to all the requests that come your way, two things happen: You quickly run out of time; and the requests keep coming because you are known as the go-to person who always delivers.

There just isn’t enough time to do everything, and be everything, for everyone else. It’s time to start saying No (and remember, every time you say Yes to someone you are saying No to yourself).

 

3- Greed – You were told you could have it all. So, what happened?

You might think that you can have it all. You might even think you need it all. Wrong.You don’t need to have it all – you only need to aim for all the bits that are most important to you.

It’s time to focus on what’s most important and forget the rest – it’s just a distraction.

 

4- Sloth – You don’t know where to start and so you don’t

You know you need to start managing your time differently, but you have 1000 reasons as to why today is not the best day to start. Really?

There is never going to be the best day to start. But you do need to pick a day.

It’s time to stop procrastinating – find the space to reframe – take control and circle a date in your diary, or you will put this off forever.

 

5- Wrath – Don’t get angry, get smart

You feel busy. You tell people you are busy. You certainly look busy. It’s driving you crazy. But just what is it you do each day that generates all this busy-ness? Because if you don’t know in detail where you spend your time, how can you know what changes you need to make?

It’s time to map your time so you know exactly what you do with your day, who interrupts you, what tasks you can reject, what you can delegate and what you can do differently.

 

6- Envy – Look at them…

You compare yourself to them (you know who I mean). Facebook constantly rubs them in your face. They seem to be better, smarter, happier, richer, better looking and with kids who are simply too angelic and self-sufficient to be true. It’s time to stop thinking they are doing a better job than you. This is a supreme waste of time. It’s your life – control the agenda.

 

7- Pride – You don’t ask for help

Trying to do it all while attempting to maintain and grow your success is not sustainable. Look at this through a different lens – if you burn out, then in your absence you will be replaced by a team of people who will manage the many facets of your life until you get better. So, if it takes a team of people to replace you, how is it that you thought you could manage to do it all on your own?

It’s time to ask for help – Outsource, Insource, Delegate.

Next time you catch yourself sinning, just pause, rethink what you are doing, and change your course.

Learn more about Kate here

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