Why Corporate Needs to Rethink Time Management
‘Time management is more than a tool — it’s a massive industry set to reach 47 billion by 2030’ – Vikki Louise
For busy professionals across the Globe, the one constant plaguing their thoughts is ‘how can I manage my time better?’ With a culture heavily rooted in doing more in less time to ultimately generate greater success, breaking up with to-do lists while overthinking productivity, to become highly efficient in new ways, is almost… unthinkable.
With technology advancements like Chat CPT, coupled with the speed at which tasks can now be completed thanks to remote work opportunities, the Corporate world is being nudged to rethink the way it approaches time, not only for efficiency, but to drive revenue while supporting overall employee well-being.
How do we then break free from the industrialization and glorification of the time-management industry? What will this give professionals, and therefore the organization in return?
Vikki Louise is a reformed ‘Hustler’ turned Time-hacker, who went from 80 hour work weeks, doing all the things, to just 15 hours, with more success, money, and a lot more fun. She is currently taking on outdated time management ideologies by piloting her successful ‘Time Hackers’ program by partnering with forward thinking companies, who understand that strategies which worked 10 years ago, don’t work today.
From 5 am wake-ups, to managing tasks by way of the Pomodoro Method, Vikki compares the Time Management Industry to the Dieting Industry; “it has become an entire task within itself, on top of the normal workload for professionals. In the same way that dieting has been shown to lead to further weight gain and negative body image, I believe more time management tools are actually keeping us time poor!”
- What you focus on, expands: according to Vikki – ‘the biggest time wasters are the time management tools themselves!’ Add those into an already disrupted day, and you have overwhelmed, under-productive and burnt-out employees, trying to keep up with the glorification of hustle culture.
Research shows that the average office worker is interrupted every three minutes and spends only 11 minutes on a task, before their attention is diverted. This constant switching of attention can lead to a phenomenon known as ‘Attention Residue’, where the brain continues to focus on the previous task, even after switching to a new one.
Robin Sharma famously suggests; “Stop managing time. Start managing focus.” By looking at this critical piece, we are reminded that ‘where our focus goes, energy flows’. This is where forward thinking organizations will get ahead of their competitors by allocating resources to enhance employee focus.
- Time management tools are simply NOT made for the individual. Regardless of Industry, Gender, Job Type, Neurodiversity and Stage of Life- for example, Vikki is a new Mum and the way she now works is different to the way she worked prior to becoming a Mum.
“We want to begin learning how to optimize time, rooted in the way WE work best, not operating like we are one of the herd. We are individuals and our ability to optimize our time needs to be approached as such.”
The advantage in leading your work day with what actually works best for you, is the positive results you generate in less time.
The Time Management Industry expects everyone to work at the same capacity: People are not robots and it is up to us to prioritize the humanness that makes our creativity and human innovation key to our success and to that of the organization.
- Juicy company benefits from focused employees: “At the end of the day, this is a revenue play, not a wellbeing play.”
“We’re talking about higher staff retention, differentiation from competitors because of greater staff creativity, employee and brand loyalty, and lower recruitment costs. Because of the changes implemented by rethinking time management, of course the employee’s benefit from improved wellbeing! This is exactly what fuels the overall improvement in company revenue!”
Our time is NOT how we make money. Vikki speaks about our brain being the ultimate time tool, as our brain is the only thing that drives our actions. “Being good with time is not something we are born with, it is a skill that we get to learn. We need to be focusing on getting the next ONE thing DONE, not the time it takes to implement another tool to then get it done.”
Ultimately, there’s no guarantee that time management pays off; It can’t make us actually carry out our important work, and leaves us with a huge margin for error. And the truth is, time is no longer a problem when we learn how to manage our brain and quit being distracted.
