I know this is a bold statement, in fact, it is quite shocking, but yes, time management does not exist!

Time management is a buzzword designed to sell books and create a market, but the fact of the matter is that it is NOT time you need to manage, it is YOU that you need to manage. So really, we should call it “Self Management“.

If you can control and manage yourself properly, then your time will be managed correctly as well.

So now that I have shattered that myth for you, let’s move on to the big question:

What is the key to self management?

Myself and Barry Dunlop were recently invited to speak at a marketing and business seminar, and we were joined on stage by Eban Pagan. Eban has a technique for self management that I personally have also used, and it is, in my opinion, one of the easiest yet most powerful self and time management techniques available.

it goes a little something like this:

You get a stopwatch or timer, and load it to 50 minutes, drink some water before hand, and first thing in the morning, find the single most important and valuable task that you can do, and try and do it during those 50 minutes.

Note: Mobile phones, emails, IM etc should be turned off.

After the 50 minutes, do 10 mins exercise/rest. This is very important, so don’t skip this vital 10 minutes.

Then, do the second of the 50 mins, again, with no distractions.

Take another 10 minute break, and then follow this with 20-30 mins with a light snack and a short rest (close your eyes if needed)

Here is the thing, if you do this first thing, you will have achieved the single most important tasks of your day, so you will be on a high for the rest of the day. For the rest of the day, you can work in your usual manner.

So there we have it, the myth of time management has been destroyed.

See you in 50 minutes.

Dean