Successful Time Management:
The Einstein Window Traffic Light System© For Workgroups
Trying to find time to accomplish a growing list of work tasks can become somewhat like herding cats. You think you just completed a few of the tasks, and then something darts out — YIKES! It’s something else that needs to be attended to. So how do we go from herding cats to effectively managing time?
To many, the term “time management” seems like an oxymoron as it implies that there is a tangible element to grasp. The truth of the matter is that if we are trying to manage where time is spent, we must focus on the proper element, not time itself, but YOU and how YOU think about and choose to invest your time. Time management then becomes YOU management.
Effective YOU management starts with a vision. What is it that you want to accomplish? Do you desire to accomplish everything that you need to get done with the least stress and drama doing so? Or how about finally experiencing a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day and not smacking your head on your way home from the office after remembering something that you totally forgot to do?
The time management industry is huge and there are many tools and resources available but in all honesty, small changes are those that incrementally add up over time and are much easier to stick with. For this reason, YOU management starts with your decision to take control of where you devote your time throughout the day. Let’s look at this in a two-part approach to dealing with distractions, capitalizing on your most productive time, and getting stuff done!
The Einstein Window
If you were to imaging yourself managing time like a rock star, what would that look like? You might envision yourself effortlessly organizing and prioritizing tasks and accomplishing what you set out to accomplish. What you likely won’t envision is WHEN you are accomplishing or even WHAT you are accomplishing! Let me explain it this way. When we think of time management, we focus on getting things in order, but not necessarily getting our time in order. If we don’t align ourselves with time, we cannot, no matter how hard we try, manage ourselves.
Alright, now that you are completely lost, let’s start YOU management. Let’s start with when you feel at the top of your game. Most of us have a time of day when we are really on point. We are mentally agile and sharp. Perhaps it is right after that first morning cup of coffee or maybe after your afternoon walk. Identifying your peak mental performance time is key — this is called your Einstein Window. Einstein Windows vary in duration from an hour or two to nearly twice that. During this time, challenges are much easier to navigate because we have the mental capacity to focus and problem-solve. What’s important to realize is that it is limited in duration; so to get the most bang for our buck (bang for our brain) we must use this time wisely! This is what I meant when I said that we need to align ourselves with the WHAT and WHEN of time.
You may have heard of the 80/20 rule. If not, goes something like this. The most important tasks that we need to accomplish at any given time typically represent about 20% of our total workload. The other 80% are more routine and less critical. Unfortunately, most people spend the majority of their time on the 80% that is less critical rather than the 20% that really matters!
Imagine an Olympic athlete has had his or her gym hours slashed to just 2 hours from 16, what do you think that athlete would focus on? They would make sure to focus on doing something that was going to help them get ahead. The athlete will dedicate those 2 hours on what is critical to his or her success. During our Einstein Window, our WHEN, is how we gain the upper-hand in time management. WHAT we work on, our critical 20%, is how we change the game!
WHAT and WHEN
Just like the athlete that has had their gym time slashed, every day we are faced with a short window to focus on peak performance capacity, yep, you guessed it — our 20% time. Your Einstein Window is the precise time that you should dedicate to your most critical tasks at hand. More routine tasks, returning a non-urgent email, filing paperwork, and so on are best attended to during your non-peak time. Many of us have been doing this all backwards. We think, “If I just knock out these quick 5 or 6 things off my list, then I can focus on my critical project.” Unfortunately what ends up happening is we run out of time, feel rushed, make mistakes or we lack the mental bandwidth to focus — why? Because we didn’t align our what and when. YOU management begins with YOU identifying and protecting your peak mental time. So how do we protect our Einstein Window? We put signals in place that others can easily understand and partner with you to achieve success.
The Einstein Window Traffic Light System©
If the Olympic athlete were a gymnast and within the new 2 hour time constraint chose to focus on a particularly difficult move on the parallel bars, you would imagine distractions would not be welcomed. You wouldn’t walk up and ask if they filled out their timecard during this critical focus period, but if the gymnast were not going to get paid without it and you knew that each focused bar routine was a 20 minute burst, you would wait to ask the gymnast after the 20 minute focus time were completed. You certainly wouldn’t stop the routine. So why is this different in an office setting? Because we are not signaling both our availability and the critical nature of what we are doing. Rather, we get testy, agitated, and stressed because constant interruptions are keeping us from getting things done or worse yet, we make more mistakes.
By using a simple signaling tool, the Einstein Window Traffic Light System©, we are able to signal to others if we are in an Einstein Window and if and when it is okay to interrupt that space.
The Einstein Window Traffic Light System© consists of 3 color coded squares that mimic a traffic light: green, yellow, and red. On a traffic light, green means go, yellow means yield (not hurry up), and red means stop. In the Einstein Window Traffic Light System© the colors are used as follows:
Green = I’m in a focused time (20–30 minutes) and although I can be interrupted, it would be greatly appreciated if you could wait until this focus period completes.
Yellow = I’m in a critical focus time (20–30 minutes) and I cannot be interrupted for anything outside of an urgent need.
Red = I’m in a critical focus time on a HIGHLY time sensitive project and cannot be interrupted (no longer than 30 minutes). RARELY used!
How to Use the Einstein Window Traffic Signal System©
The Einstein Window Traffic Signal System© works best if the entire office staff uses the system.
Step 1: Each user should identify their Einstein Window. Einstein Windows rarely change, but if you take a trip to another time zone and experience jet lag or at the onset or reversal of daylight savings, your window may shift. As a general rule, if your Einstein Window is the 2 hour period right before lunch, this will likely always be your window of peak brain performance.
Step 2: The Einstein Window Traffic Signal System© colored cards should ONLY be used during the Einstein Window or you will dilute the effectiveness. Keep in mind, everyone’s Einstein Window time vary in duration so it may be necessary in office settings where 1 person has a particularly long window (say 4 hours) and others are shorter (2 hours) and closer to the same duration, that everyone agrees that Einstein Windows will be limited to a specified amount of time (i.e. 2 hours).
Step 3: During the Einstein Window, everyone understands the rules — color code durations are in bursts of 20–30 minutes of uninterrupted focus time. After a burst, the color card comes down. This signals others that if they have a question, this is a perfect time to ask. I compare this to coming to the surface after being underwater in a pool. If someone is talking while you are underwater it is muffled, but when you come up, you can hear and you are present to respond.
What’s particularly beautiful about using the Einstein Window Traffic Signal System© as a group, the entire division or department becomes more productive, people respect boundaries based on visual cues, and groups are united.
Dr. Jolene Church is a best-selling author, success coach, and human resources professional. Her work helps people turn impossible into possible. You can learn more about Jolene’s books and work at www.drjolenechurch.com.
