What will you do if you happen to find the workbook of a performer? What would you like to see in it?
The milestones in his career or how does she spend time?
Time is our most valuable resource—unlike money, once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.
Efficient time management gives us productivity, reduced stress, and reach our goals.
It leads to a more fulfilling, balanced life, where we can accomplish more without feeling overwhelmed.
Are you managing your time, or is time managing you?
Do your days feel like an endless rush, leaving you exhausted and unfulfilled?
But how top performers manage their time.
As we start a new week, today’s episode of Monday Muse is to have a glimpse into this classic elusive concept called time management.
(I have written another couple of episodes on this topic because as some has said – Time management is not one thing. It is the thing. It is about the architecture of performance in life!)
Let’s dive in…
1960…
In late 1960s, Bruce Lee, the martial art legend and the actor, was at the prime of his career. He was in the midst of chaos of film sets, intense training sessions, and public appearances.
He faced an immense challenge—how to manage his limited time effectively.
Very less known was (still is) his meticulous approach to time management, which was as precise as his martial arts techniques.
Bruce Lee carried a small notebook where he planned his day in detail. He broke down his hours into blocks. Each block dedicated to some activity.
Examples? Training, filming, writing, and even rest.
His philosophy was this: “using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation.”
This wasn’t just about martial arts; it was his approach to life.
By planning time for each activity, he ensured that he remained productive and balanced, despite his demanding schedule.
Lee’s dedication to managing his time allowed him to achieve extraordinary success in multiple fields, leaving an indelible mark on martial arts and cinema.
His story exemplifies the profound impact of effective time management. But why is managing time so crucial for us?
First time I read about this, I was floored by the clock-work precision of planning and the work ethic of Bruce Lee but brushed this off as an outlier martial artist.
But as a student of self-improvement, when I read more books on time management, I have realized that this was not about time management, it was about life management. And to do this, we need to ask ourselves three questions:
1. Do we have a purpose?
Lee’s philosophy of “using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation” gives a purpose-driven approach to time management.
We should identify our core goals and values life, and manage our time to serve those higher purposes.
This makes management of time less stressful and more congruent to who we are.
2. How to balance multiple priorities?
One school of thought says that we can’t do deep work as well as manage multiple tasks. The other view states that deep work with varieties of work – balances out our flow state and maintains our well-being.
Lee’s ability to juggle intense training, filming, writing, and rest shows the ability of balancing not just multiple priorities, but being world class if you love them.
We should aim to strike a balance between work, different types of work, personal development, and leisure.
A holistic approach prevents burnout and pushes for high performance.
3. Do we really plan that well?
Do we spend time in scheduling days – down to the hour – meticulously? Like Bruce Lee?
For busy people, this really means creating a precise daily or weekly plan that allocates specific time blocks for key tasks.
May be a weekly Kanban board!
By asking these three questions, we can integrate the three principles of managing our priorities in life and can enhance our efficiency, maintain balance, and make progress towards our goals more effectively.
Manage time just to do more work?
What will you do if you didn’t have the pressing need of a daily schedule? How would you plan your day?
Another story…
Out of 27 years in prison, Nelson Mandela had spent 19 years in the 8 feet by 7 feet prison cell of Robben Island – damp, dark, cold prison cell within the concrete walls.
|
|
In those days, prison inmates used to spent their days collecting shells or hacking stone from the quarry! And they used to survive barely for few years.
The most common reasons for the inmates to die in those days used to be tuberculosis and despair.
In such a situation, time management was not about finishing work in time but was about finding work, discovering meaning in life and doing that every single day….without a goal!
Despite overwhelming despair, Mandela managed his time with unparalleled discipline and purpose.
Each day, he rose before dawn to exercise, maintaining his physical strength.
He dedicated hours to study, using given books and his notes.
Mandela also started teaching the prison guards.
And he prayed. He prayed a lot. Each day, every day – reciting Ernest Henley’s poem “Invictus”! He wrote the poem on a scrap of paper hidden in his prison cell.
When Mandela emerged after 27 years in prison, he was not broken, but stronger, more resilient and more determined than ever to lead his people to freedom.
His discipline in prison was to expand his time beyond his work within prison, beyond his life inside the prison cell.
Meaning of the word “Invictus” is “unconquered”. The theme of the poem was triumph over adversity.
From Mandela, we learn that even in our testing time, time can be a tool for growth and change. And in those times, we manage our time for building discipline and resilience.
A Paradox…
Before ending, let us also reflect on a beautiful paradox that has haunted me in the past.
While managing our time is crucial, the most extraordinary moments of our lives occur when we lose track of time and enter a state of timelessness.
A presentation for a customer! A Speech in front of an audience! A painting!
It’s in these moments that our true potential is unleashed, and our best work is born.
Michelangelo spent four years painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. He was so absorbed in his art that he often lost all sense of time, working tirelessly day and night.
His timeless dedication produced one of the greatest masterpieces in history.
It was Einstein who described his most profound moments of insight as timeless, where he would become entirely absorbed in his thoughts, leading to groundbreaking theories that changed our understanding of the universe.
That’s why – “Relativity” was not about “time” alone, it was about “space-time”!
As Carlos Castaneda explored in his book “The Art of Dreaming,” as the protagonist, he asked his mentor where they hide time? The profound answer from his mentor was that time would disappear from the mind when we become so absorbed in the present moment, so fully engaged in our passion.
May be – the second best thing is to manage our time well.
The best thing is to be lost in our work (”art”)! Like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel!
Let’s be lost in our work for another week!
That’s all for this week.
Till next week!
Please feel free to write to me if you have any views w.r.t. any points above or about any specific topic that you want me to write upon in the coming weeks!