Scott Maderer - Redefining Time Management: It's About Energy and Focus

A Leader’s Journey podcast

In this conversation, Joel Gunn and Scott discuss the concept of time management and how it is often misunderstood. They emphasize that time itself cannot be managed, but rather it is our energy, focus, and productivity that need to be managed. They explore the root causes of people's inability to adapt to changes in their plans and offer strategies for better time management. They also discuss the importance of setting boundaries, automating tasks, and using tools to streamline processes. Overall, the conversation highlights the need for individuals to take control of their time and make conscious choices about how they spend it.

Takeaways:

• Time itself cannot be managed, but we can manage our energy, focus, and productivity.
• The urgency fallacy leads us to prioritize urgent but unimportant tasks over important but non-urgent ones.
• Estimating time accurately is challenging, and we often underestimate how long tasks will take.
• Creating buffers in our schedule allows for flexibility and helps us deal with unexpected interruptions.
• Using tools and automation can streamline processes and reduce time spent on repetitive tasks.
• Managing email effectively involves setting boundaries, educating others on when to include you, and using tools to organize and prioritize messages.

Sound Bites:

"Time just happens... It's not really time that we have to manage, it's our energy, it's our self, it's our productivity, it's our focus, it's all things about us."

"It's this kind of false sense of the things that come at me must take my attention as opposed to, wait a minute, evaluating is this actually something that I should give my attention to and then actually acting in accordance with what you've decided."

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Background

01:01 Redefining Time Management

04:09 Estimating Time

06:35 Creating Buffers

12:14 Tools for Time Management

30:16 Final Thoughts