Last week I introduced you to the Time & Space Style Inventory (TSSI) in Discover Your Time and Space Style Preferences. This week we will delve deeper into the managing time flow steps and the time style preferences. When you understand the flow steps and your time style preference, you can save yourself the aggravation of systems that don’t work and focus on your priorities. The TSSI shows you your natural tendencies and gives you the tools you need to have a more productive day.
The Time Flow Steps
There are three flow steps to managing time:
- How you manage your priorities
- How you attend to details
- How you take action
Within each of these flow steps are two time style preferences to describe how you manage your time. Each time style has its opposite, but equal preference. Knowing where you fall on the time continuum will help you manage your time more efficiently and help you to create systems to maximize your productivity throughout your day.
The Time Style Preferences
Learning to assign priorities to tasks helps you to maintain perspective while using your energy more efficiently. When you create effective transitions between priorities, it allows you to balance multiple tasks with more ease. Hoppers enjoy variety and like to switch from one priority to the next. Knowing your priorities will enable you to hop between your most important tasks and still satisfy your need for a change of pace. If you tend more towards Hyper Focus, scheduling periods of time without distraction to focus in on your tasks will help you to stay motivated through the day.
Do you pay attention to the parts or the whole project? Are you producing the necessary results? Big Picture thinkers don’t focus on the details of a project while for a Perfectionist Plus Time Style it is all about the details. If you struggle with the details, enlisting assistance from someone who is detail oriented will be of great help to you. If you have a tendency towards the Perfectionist Plus Time Style, you may overcommit and will benefit greatly by learning to delegate out those tasks that you do not have the time or energy.
The final part of the time style continuum is how you take action. The preferences on this continuum are Impulsive and Cliff Hangers. If you fall on the Impulsive side of the spectrum, you like action and are quick to make decisions. Sometimes those decisions are made without forethought. Cliff Hangers may wait until the last minute and need to feel the pressure to get things done. In both time styles, it is important to know when it is time to initiate action and when significant opportunities present themselves so you can commit yourself to the appropriate priorities.
Using This Information
Knowing what your time style preferences are and understanding the flow steps will help you to focus and create priorities that work for you. Each time style preference has its strengths and weakness. When you understand what these are you can get the help that you need and manage your time more effectively.
