Insights from Grant 'Upbeat' Bosnick: Chapter 11 Time: The Neuroscience Behind Effective Time Management

Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning

Welcome back to Season 12 of the Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning podcast, where we connect science-based evidence with practical applications for improved well-being, achievement, and productivity. I'm Andrea Samadi, your host, and today we're diving into episode number 337, continuing our 18-week self-leadership series based on Grant Bosnick's tailored approaches to self-leadership.

In this episode, we explore chapter 11 of Grant's book, focusing on the neuroscience of time management. Discover how understanding your chronotypes and managing your energy can lead to better productivity and creativity. We'll share insights from Kent Healy's perspective on time management and highlight practical strategies from renowned experts like Stephen Covey and Brendon Burchard.

Learn how to prioritize tasks, avoid common time traps, and use your peak energy periods for deep work. Whether you're an early bird or a night owl, this episode provides valuable tips to make the most out of your 84,600 seconds each day.

Join us as we uncover the science behind effective time management and how it can transform your personal and professional life. Don't miss out on these powerful insights to help you reach greater heights in 2024.

Welcome back to SEASON 12 of The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we connect the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning and emotional intelligence training for improved well-being, achievement, productivity and results—using what I saw as the missing link (since we weren’t taught this when we were growing up in school), the application of practical neuroscience. I’m Andrea Samadi, an author, and an educator with a passion for learning and launched this podcast 6 years ago with the goal of bringing ALL the leading experts together (in one place) to help us to APPLY this research in our daily lives.

On today's episode #337 we continue with our 18-Week Self-Leadership Series based on Grant Bosnick’s “Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership: A Bite Size Approach Using Psychology and Neuroscience” that we first dove into with our interview on EP #321[i] the end of January. The goal was that each week, we focused on learning something new, (from Grant’s book) that builds off the prior week, to help take us to greater heights in 2024.

On today's EPISODE #337 we will cover:

✔ How did Kent Healy, Bob Proctor and Earl Nightingale change Andrea’s thinking on how to manage time?

✔ What is Grant Bosnick’s view on how to manage time?

✔ What is The Neuroscience of Time Management?

✔ How will YOU manage your time, with brain science in mind?

For Today, EPISODE #337, we are moving on to Chapter 11, covering “The Neuroscience of Time Management” which came out as a low, or RED priority for me at 8%, and again, not because this topic isn’t important for me, but I’ve already put strategies for time management into place, so this is not an area I need to focus on this year. It’s interesting to see how each of these lessons play out in our daily life, putting theory into practice. This morning I had to chance to see why this topic showed up as low importance for me to work on this year. I had slotted on my calendar to write this episode, (a Saturday), I started my day at 4am (with early meditation, then some time in the sauna) before hitting the hiking trails for what I call a long 7-mile hike, that I do only if I am fully rested, to guarantee a good day of focused writing. While driving back from this this hike, I had a call from a good friend I had not seen in quite a few years, who wanted to see if we could meet for coffee. I know the time required to write, record and edit this episode, so I told her this was my priority for the weekend, and that I could let her know if I finish earlier. Otherwise, we could plan to meet another time, even though I know it would be great to see this friend. This weekend was not the right time.

So before we even start looking into the Neuroscience Behind Time Management that this topic is important to me. Vitally important. Not just for managing my own time, but also valuing the time of others as well.

If you’ve taken the leadership self-assessment[ii], look to see if Time Management is of a low, medium or high priority for you to focus on this year.

We covered this topic on the podcast in our early days, with someone I came across about 15 years ago, before publishing my first book, on success strategies for teenagers. I wanted to find other success books were out there, and I came across Kent Healy’s Success Principles for Teens[iii] that he co-authored with Jack Canfield.

At that time, I was working with success principals (character and leadership) with students in the classroom and reached out to Kent for some thoughts on something to help inspire our next generation to think bigger, (like I knew he did) and reach for greater heights. Kent created a video for me that we used with students and I featured this video on EP 33[iv] of our podcast that was called “Time Management, the Greatest Asset We Have.” Kent gives a perspective to the amount of time we have, in a way that 15 years later, I’ve still not forgotten his words in this video recording. You can watch Kent’s explanation of “time management”[v] here, with the visuals that he provided, reminding us that “we all have the same amount of time” and he even breaks it down and tells us how many seconds we have every day (84,600 seconds to be exact). While ALL the experts agree that we can’t create more time, or change this number, some will say we can use our time to generate more of something else (like energy) but Kent’s message was about using this time (these 84,600 seconds we have each day wisely) and focus on what we can control, and that’s our personal growth.

He gives an example of adding just 15 extra minutes a day towards learning something new, and that adds up to 3.8 full days a year, and asks us to think of what value we put on 15 minutes of time.

After thinking about Kent Healy’s message on time, my mind went back to when I heard over and over again, the words from Earl Nightingale, through Bob Proctor, who often would quote Earl’s thoughts on time management. Proctor would quote Earl and say “Time cannot be managed! Nobody masters time management. I merely manage activity.”[vi] Which led me to think about the blocks of time (my activity) that I have on my calendar, and the early morning blocks are non-negotiable. Also, my work hours (whether it’s working on the podcast on the weekend), or my full time work (weekdays) my calendar is blocked off, and the time here in non-negotiable.

Kent Healy’s message about paying attention to what I do with even 15 minutes of time, mixed with Earl Nightingale’s message of managing activities (or blocking out what’s important for us to accomplish each day) is engrained so deeply into my daily habits that I have a deep respect for my time, and other people’s.

Think About These Questions:

Do you value your time?

Do you value other people’s time?

Do you think 15 minutes of time really matters?

Let’s see what Grant Bosnick thinks about Time Management in Chapter 11 of his book. He opens up the chapter by asking us to define what it means to “manage time” and says “it’s more about managing our energy through time.” (Ch 11, Grant Bosnick, Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership).

HOW GRANT BOSNICK MANAGES HIS TIME:

Bosnick does mention Stephen Covey’s The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People that we looked at on EP #207 with our interview with Greg Link, who took The 7 Habits Book to incredible heights, saying that Covey’s work influenced his approach to thinking about time. Bosnick created something he calls his 7 Roles Planning Sheet where breaks down his task list into several different roles we might have in our life (like competent salesperson, collaborative team member, parent, etc). I like how his planner breaks down the different roles we all have, so we can separate our work roles and personal life roles, with the next steps (or goals) to move each of these roles forward.

IMAGE CREDIT: Grant Bosnick Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership Chapter 11

I’ve seen the author of the book, High Performance Habits, Brendon Burchard[vii], create something that also helps break down our long task lists, using different projects with his 1- Page Productivity Planner that I’ve put a link to in the show notes.

I’ve personally used this planner for years to keep track of the steps in certain projects, keeping them all separate. Like writing a new book, or building a new website, with the steps needed in order to move each project forward.

IMAGE CREDIT: Brendon Burchard’s 1 Page Productivity Planner[viii]

The part I liked the most on this planner, was the PEOPLE section, where you keep track of important people you reached out to (helping you move each project forward) to those who you were waiting to hear back from. EVERY important person I have ever met with (over the years) was written on this list, until I crossed them off and had finished what I needed to accomplish with them.

Bosnick also covered a concept that Stephen Covey is known for creating where we pinpoint on a graph what is urgent and important to cover immediately. We covered this graph, and Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits on EP 68[ix] “The Neuroscience of Personal Change.” The urgent and important quadrant, or quadrant 1, is for tasks and responsibilities that are critical and require immediate attention. These activities are often time-sensitive and necessary for your existence, such as pressing problems, deadline-driven projects, or last-minute preparations. This concept came from Covey’s Habit #3 Put First Things First: Plan Weekly and Act Daily.

Stephen Covey built his whole career around the 4-quadrant chart called the Urgent and Important Matrix[x] where our attention goes to Quadrant 1 with Urgent and Important Tasks completed first and Quadrant 4, Distractions last. I’ve put the chart in the show notes for anyone who wants to see all of the quadrants.

Quadrant 1 - Crises - URGENT and IMPORTANT

Quadrant 2 - Goals and Planning - NON-URGENT and IMPORTANT

Quadrant 3 - Interruptions - URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT

Quadrant 4 - Distractions - NOT URGENT and NOT IMPORTANT

Whatever method you use to manage your long task list, Bosnick mentions it helps to “see all of the tasks and micro-tasks that need to be done” in one place, and I’d have to agree that it helps to have something printed off where you can see everything that’s important for you to accomplish, in one view.

Bosnick does cover our Circadian Rhythms of Life, and “when we are at our peak energy and peak mental alertness: early morning, late morning, after lunch, evening, nighttime.” (Ch 11, Bosnick) so that we schedule our tasks that require the most cognitive function, in the times we are the most alert, and administrative tasks where less cognitive function in required, around this. This is something I know we are all aware of, but here’s the kicker. What if you had a call from someone you wanted to see, to go meet them for coffee, during the time of day that you know you were the most productive.

Would you meet them, or get your work done first, and then find the time to meet with them? I think the answer to this question is obvious, that high performers, who value their most productive time blocks of their day, would always complete their work first.

I love the section in Bosnick’s book about “Time Traps and How to Overcome Them” as we all could use a refresher on ways to avoid those things that “drain our energy and time.” (Bosnick, Ch 11)

Bosnick’s Top Energy Drainers:

Procrastination Saying Yes to Everything The Perfectionist

There are more, but these ones just made me smile. They’ve come up in ALL of the time management courses I’ve done over the years. It’s funny because over the years, I’ve learned to be a bit more flexible with life in general, but with time management, I refuse the bend the rules.

For procrastination: I say “do it now, or it will never be completed.”

For Saying Yes to everything: I say “no to everything FIRST with the contingency that I can get back to the person if something changes.

For the Perfectionist: I understand this one. When I’m interviewing someone, I want what I put out to the world to be perfect, as it usually represents that person’s life’s work. I will put the time needed to be sure I’m proud of the work I’m doing. Brendon Burchard calls this “Prolific Quality Output”[xi] and this is a High-Performance Habit that helps you to focus on the outputs that matter.

Ask yourself:

What are the outputs that matter the most for your personal or professional career?

For me and this podcast, it’s producing high quality, well-researched episodes, that make a difference for others who listen. In my professional life, everything I say during a presentation matters. I don’t want anything less than perfection, so I’d put the time in to make sure I’m always delivering Prolific Quality Output.

Bosnick suggests “setting your highest priority and focus around this” (Ch 11) and I don’t think there is anything wrong with reaching for the highest standard you can, without burning yourself out.

What does Neuroscience Say About Time Management?

I tuned into Dr. Andrew Huberman’s Episode on “Tools for Better Productivity and Time Management”[xii] and this episode was in agreement with Grant Bosnick’s idea of being aware of our chronotypes. Dr. Huberman mentioned that “For those people who go to bed around 9:30pm-11:30pm and wake in the window of 6am-8am that there tends to be an increase in catecholamines (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, 0-8 hours after waking, which generally speaking leads to increases in alertness, attention and focus that are great for analytical work, great for implementation of strategies that you already understand.”

Dr. Huberman and his guest, Dr. Adam Grant discussed how many people do not take advantage of these brain chemicals that they also said “provides extra energy and leads to more divergent thinking” as many people will use this important block of time to knock out their emails, or have non-productive conversations with their coworkers-and miss this opportunity.

The Neuroscience of Time Management shows me that understanding my chronotype is a crucial component to whether I will be making use of my time and brain chemistry at the specific time of day when I will have access to extra energy and more divergent thinking that involves creativity that generates new and original solutions to problems.

REVIEW AND CONCLUSION

To review and conclude this week’s episode #337 on “The Neuroscience of Time Management”

DID YOU KNOW:

That our chronotype “the natural inclination of your body to sleep at a certain time or what people understand as being an early bird versus a night owl”[xiii] should be factored into our Time Management Strategy?

“For those people who go to bed around 9:30pm-11:30pm and wake in the window of 6am-8am that there tends to be an increase in (dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, 0-8 hours after waking, which leads to increases in alertness, attention and focus that are great for analytical work, great for implementation of strategies that you already understand.” Dr. Andrew Huberman with Guest Dr. Adam Grant

As we are thinking about the best strategies to manage our activities, projects, or even the roles we have in our personal and professional lives, in order to have access to this extra energy, and divergent, creative thinking, we will want to plan our “deep” work 0-8 hours after waking.

This made me think of Grant Bosnick’s Top Energy Drainers:

Procrastination Saying Yes to Everything The Perfectionist

With this extra energy, and creative thinking, I would put it all into creative prolific quality work (the perfectionist in me) and use the extra energy to combat against procrastination, while protecting my time by saying no to everything, (at first). I know I can always come back to projects that I would like to do, that have meaning to me, but by truly managing my energy and activities, I am protecting this commodity that we all have: time.

What about you? Will you change anything you are doing now, with this understanding of WHEN you might be the most alert, creative and have the most energy in your day?

This did make me think that the 84,600 seconds that Kent Healy reminded me that we all have each day, and how 15 minutes a day (that adds up to 3.8 days/year) can be used even more wisely with this understanding of The Neuroscience of Time Management.

IMAGE CREDIT: KENT HEALY on Time Management

I’ll close out this episode with a quote from Benjamin Franklin where he reminds us that “lost time is never found again.”

I hope this episode has helped you to see the questions we asked at the start of this episode with a new light:

Do you value your time?

Do you value other people’s time?

Do you think 15 minutes of time really matters?

I will definitely continue to be mindful of other people’s time, and keep working on using my blocks of time in the early morning hours, when I’m most productive and creative.

With that thought, we will close out this episode, and I’ll see you next time for Chapter 12 of Grant Bosnick’s Tailored Approaches to Self-Leadership on The Neuroscience of Change.

REVIEW

In this 18-week Series that we began in the beginning of February, (after I was inspired to cover Grant’s book after our interview the end of January) we are covering:

✔ Powerful tactics from this Grant Bosnick’s award-winning book that illustrates how change and achievement are truly achievable both from internal ('inside out') and external ('outside in') perspectives.

✔Listeners will grasp the immense power of self-leadership and its transformative effect on personal growth and success by applying the neuroscience Grant has uncovered in each chapter.

✔Explore practical strategies for habit formation and the impact of a self-assessment system.

✔Gain insights from Grant's expert advice on maintaining a balance between strengths and weaknesses while chasing after your goals.

✔Embark on an intellectual journey that has the power to elevate personal achievement and self-awareness to uncharted levels while we map out our journey over this 18-week course.

RESOURCES:

Are you a morning lark, or a night owl? https://www.sleepwatchapp.com/blog/on-the-nature-of-larks-owls-in-their-modern-habitat/

REFERENCES:

[i]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #321 with Grant ‘Upbeat’ Bosnick https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/insights-from-grant-upbeat-bosnick/

[ii] Self-Assessment for Grant Bosnick’s book https://www.selfleadershipassessment.com/

[iii] Success Principles for Teens by Jack Canfield and Kent Healy April 15, 2008 https://www.amazon.com/Success-Principles-Teens-Where-Want/dp/0757307272

[iv]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #33 with Kent Healy on “Managing Our Time, Our Greatest Asset” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/author-kent-healy-on-managing-time-our-greatest-asset/

[v] Author Kent Healy on “Time Management: Our Greatest Asset” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ibHzu751I

[vi] How to Master Time Management by Bob Proctor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yey59NOFNFY

[vii] https://brendon.com/

[viii] http://www.experimentswithsuccess.com/2014/09/darren-hardy-interviews-brendon-burchard/1-page-productivity-planner/

[ix]Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #68 The Neuroscience of Personal Change https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/the-neuroscience-of-personal-change/

[x] The Urgent and Important Matrix https://www.thecoachingtoolscompany.com/coaching-tools-101-what-is-the-urgent-important-matrix/

[xi] https://wakeupitsdayone.com/2018/07/16/increase-productivity-habit-4-of-high-performers/

[xii]“Tools for Better Productivity and Time Management” Dr. Andrew Huberman with Dr. Adam Grant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8B0KWmv_-Q

[xiii] Chronotypes Definition https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/chronotypes#:~:text=Chronotype%20is%20the%20natural%20inclination,bird%20versus%20a%20night%20owl.