Bending Time with an Executive Assistant (or how to be more effective!)

At about 9:30 pm, after a presentation one Monday evening in 1992, Arthur, a mentor of mine, greeted me with an enthusiastic “How are you, Mark?”

I replied with a well-worn phrase we’ve all been guilty of using, “I’m good, Arthur, but I’m so busy!”

Arthur’s response to my part-bragging, part-moaning claim of being ‘so busy’ has stuck with me some 33 years later…

“It’s easy to be busy, Mark. Are you being effective?”

Arthur differentiated the way we used our time between low-value and high-value activities. He was unimpressed with me filling my day with low-value activities, and especially unimpressed if I filled my day with low-value activities and then proceeded to proclaim how busy I was and that I had no time.

“I have no time” must be the most worn-out excuse in the history of the human race.

We use a lack of time as an excuse to our family; we use a lack of time as an excuse to our colleagues; and worst of all, we use a lack of time as an excuse to ourselves.

And what do people around us suggest we need in order to solve this time shortage problem?

Time management, of course!

Wait, dear reader! Before you get too excited about solving this multi-generational problem…

When it comes to time, you need to accept that we can’t beat it. We can’t stretch it. We can’t manipulate it. We can’t force it into our personal structure and demand its submission.

And we certainly can’t manage time.

“You can’t manage time, but you can manage yourself within it.”

The best we can hope to do is manage ourselves within the same 24-hour-a-day constraint everyone on the planet has.

And that’s the weird thing, isn’t it? Everyone has the same amount of time each day. But some people achieve substantially more than others.

So how do we manage ourselves? What does that even mean?

When it comes to being effective (rather than busy), I consider two things:

1. Energy management
2. High-value activities

Energy Management

As much as I would like to, I simply can’t perform demanding tasks 24 hours a day. I must manage my energy throughout the day.

Take writing for example. There is no way I can write 8 hours a day, and back it up for too many days in a row. My output will suffer. I know this because…well...I tried.

I found an approach that works better for me by forming several blocks of uninterrupted, focused work time broken up with several periods of rest. It looked a bit like 90min/60min/30min. You will need to experiment with your own energy management process. Reach out to me personally if you want access to my more in-depth work on this topic.

High Value Activities

Not all activities are of high value for a particular individual.

I bring that distinction to the individual level.

For example, I used to be a janitor. One of my activities was to clean toilets.

But what about when I’m running a company and leading a large team?

Should I still spend my time cleaning toilets?

Of course not. Most people will intuitively understand that. It’s not that cleaning a toilet is beneath me. I can clean a toilet as good as anyone else. However, it’s just not a good use of my time in my current role.

The way I differentiate high and low value activities is if I can delegate the activity, then it’s low value…to me.

But here’s the problem…

Just because I happen to run the company, it doesn’t mean I don’t have an abundance of low-value activities nagging at me for attention.

Bending Time

Most people in roles that would be considered executive level would be well served by employing an Executive Assistant.

I guard my daily schedule so fiercely that I have two Executive Assistants.

They allow me to almost completely eliminate low-value activities from my life. This gives the perception that I have bent time, so I have 24 hours a day to work. Three people working 8 hours a day.

“My Executive Assistants help me bend time so I can focus on high-value work.”

Imagine how cool it would be to be able to work 24 hours a day.

Welcome to my world!

If you want me to personally send you a list and a bit more detailed structure around all the things my EAs do for me, just drop me an email at [email protected].

Some food for thought. My EAs manage my diary; manage my email; communicate with clients and staff on my behalf; help manage deadlines; capture notes from meetings; schedule calls; shield me from incoming distractions; manage various personal tasks such as medical appointments and related tasks; home repairs, contractors and various tasks; and so on. The list could easily fill a page.

That allows me to focus on leading our management team, writing, preparing presentations, and similar hard-to-delegate activities.

Conclusion

You must decide every day to manage your energy and focus. It’s simply not the case that you set this up and forget about it.

Bending time and operating at this level is a perishable skill that requires vigilance to protect.

Surely you wouldn’t expect bending time to be something anyone can do, right?

Next time you hear yourself say, “I’m too busy,” remember to replace ‘busy’ with ‘effective’ so Arthur won’t scold you.