About ten years ago, I was asked to deliver a presentation on Time Management at a national sales conference for the pharmaceutical industry. Because I am fairly self aware, I found the concept of ME talking to anyone about how to make the most of his or her time rather ironic – and more than slightly amusing. It soon dawned on me, however, that I was asked to do this because someone thought I really had my act together in this department. Therefore, I decided I needed to give this whole time management dilemma some serious thought.
Actually, my reaction wasn’t as controlled as all that.
The reality is I completely panicked out of fear that I was about to be exposed to my peers as a complete fraud. Although I always completed my work-related projects on time and somehow managed to project an air of competent professionalism, I alone knew about the all-nighters that had become part of my repertoire during my college days. I was also keenly aware of my cluttered and chaotic home office and the amount of personal time spent working on projects that could have been completed during normal working hours. My personal and professional lives were locked in an on-going battle for supremacy - and my personal life usually lost.
At that time in my life, I was NOT the person to deliver that presentation.
However, the prospect of speaking in front of a room full of people can be a great motivator. So, I committed myself to learning everything I could about the topic of time management. I read everything I could get my hands on to glean tips and tricks and techniques on how to be more productive and organized. I came across a demonstration idea that literally changed my life – or how I approach it, anyway. I took a lot of notes. I wrote a bunch of crappy first drafts. Somewhere along the way, I somehow internalized all this new knowledge and let it simmer on the back burner of my mind in the weeks leading up to the presentation. When the time came to board the plane to Las Vegas, I was prepared and excited … and for the first time in my life, I didn’t have to spend the entire night before I left working on the finishing touches.
In my next post, I’ll write more about the actual presentation – and what any of this means to you.
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