It's not a question of time management
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2025 6:35 am
've already talked about all these concepts in this podcast. I've read them in a lot of books on time management, productivity, because in the end we're not going to reinvent the wheel, as they say in French. The concepts are there, the concepts of productivity, we haven't invented anything on the subject for centuries. On the other hand, I find that these concepts, which I knew, have been synthesized, presented in a model that is really nice. And it resonates for me in particular because I have understood for a while now that it is not time management that is the most important. We always talk about time management, time management, we manage our time, we optimize our time, but in fact, that's not the real key. The real key is energy management.
And I understood that, I would say, about ten years ago, maybe a little less, by reading the book by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz called The Power of Full Engagement , so, I don't know, the power of full engagement. It's always difficult to translate this kind of title.
Hop, I'm removing bugs from my legs again. I should have worn pants today.
And so, I think that makes sense. it's a question of energy management. There have been many times when I have optimized my time perfectly, that is to say, I have really defined what I had to do, I have left myself plenty of time to do it, I have no distractions, etc. Except that, in the end, I couldn't move forward because I didn't have the energy to be creative and to move forward on projects. And that's a shame. So, the key is energy management. Of course, you have to manage your time properly, but the key to the key is energy management.
So, for each of the four blocks, in defining the peak of the day, focusing, thinking and having energy, well, they give in this book Making Time advice, very applicable, very concrete tips, which are not all, in my opinion, relevant. There are sometimes some slightly strange tips, but hey, the idea is that they give a lot of them and everyone actually chooses a little bit of what they want.
And personally, as I am still very advanced on the subject of productivity, organization, I have read dozens of books on the subject, I created a training course called "Productivity without stress" some time ago, I am very organized, I manage to do a lot of things. So, I did not necessarily intend to completely revolutionize my system with this book. On the other hand, I chose a few small points, which I will share with you and which I would like to either apply, because I do not apply them, or apply a little more.
And the first thing is this whole peak of the day thing. Most people, what they do… Well, there are different stages. Some people, they let themselves be pushed, they let themselves be carried, that is to say they don't ask themselves the question. OK, what am I going to do today? They arrive at work or they get up, and there you go, they have an appointment, they get called or they go somewhere. They don't have a real schedule, a real plan of what they want to do today. Others have what we call "a to-do list". Today, I'm going to do this, and then when I've done it, I can cross it off and I'll do something else.
The problem with this is that it's a bit of a bottomless pit, namely as soon as you finish a task, you cross it off, but you add another one. Because if I finish the task, for example recording the italy whatsapp number data podcast Marchez avec Johan, well I'm going to have to add below empty the card and send the files, update the content plan. So, in fact, a completed task brings another task. That's why I don't really like task lists.
Then there are what we can call "priorities". That's how I work, where I have blocks, I say: "Today, I have these four priorities, these four blocks, these are the things I want to do". The idea is to reduce too, because sometimes we'll have a list with 15 tasks, we'll cross off five, but we'll add eight. So the idea is to have blocks to try to prioritize. That's a first thing. This peak of the day thing goes a little further, that is to say what is the thing, just one thing, that will make today a good day?
And I usually write… so, I had different systems, but today, I have a post-it on which I have my tasks for the day. So, at the top, there is the date of the day. I have my four blocks in general, with sometimes a little reminder if I have to make a phone call to someone. So, I put a little reminder for myself. I have a post-it that is quite… I don't know what size it can be, maybe A6. It's not a square post-it, it's maybe, I don't know, 10-12 centimeters by 7-8, I don't really know. In any case, I have enough space to write these things. I do it the day before. So, we'll see it in the think, reflection section, the reflection block, but so, I have these different little tasks. You can do it in a notebook, a journal, on a computer, we don't really care. I'll tell you why I do it on a post-it note right after.
And I understood that, I would say, about ten years ago, maybe a little less, by reading the book by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz called The Power of Full Engagement , so, I don't know, the power of full engagement. It's always difficult to translate this kind of title.
Hop, I'm removing bugs from my legs again. I should have worn pants today.
And so, I think that makes sense. it's a question of energy management. There have been many times when I have optimized my time perfectly, that is to say, I have really defined what I had to do, I have left myself plenty of time to do it, I have no distractions, etc. Except that, in the end, I couldn't move forward because I didn't have the energy to be creative and to move forward on projects. And that's a shame. So, the key is energy management. Of course, you have to manage your time properly, but the key to the key is energy management.
So, for each of the four blocks, in defining the peak of the day, focusing, thinking and having energy, well, they give in this book Making Time advice, very applicable, very concrete tips, which are not all, in my opinion, relevant. There are sometimes some slightly strange tips, but hey, the idea is that they give a lot of them and everyone actually chooses a little bit of what they want.
And personally, as I am still very advanced on the subject of productivity, organization, I have read dozens of books on the subject, I created a training course called "Productivity without stress" some time ago, I am very organized, I manage to do a lot of things. So, I did not necessarily intend to completely revolutionize my system with this book. On the other hand, I chose a few small points, which I will share with you and which I would like to either apply, because I do not apply them, or apply a little more.
And the first thing is this whole peak of the day thing. Most people, what they do… Well, there are different stages. Some people, they let themselves be pushed, they let themselves be carried, that is to say they don't ask themselves the question. OK, what am I going to do today? They arrive at work or they get up, and there you go, they have an appointment, they get called or they go somewhere. They don't have a real schedule, a real plan of what they want to do today. Others have what we call "a to-do list". Today, I'm going to do this, and then when I've done it, I can cross it off and I'll do something else.
The problem with this is that it's a bit of a bottomless pit, namely as soon as you finish a task, you cross it off, but you add another one. Because if I finish the task, for example recording the italy whatsapp number data podcast Marchez avec Johan, well I'm going to have to add below empty the card and send the files, update the content plan. So, in fact, a completed task brings another task. That's why I don't really like task lists.
Then there are what we can call "priorities". That's how I work, where I have blocks, I say: "Today, I have these four priorities, these four blocks, these are the things I want to do". The idea is to reduce too, because sometimes we'll have a list with 15 tasks, we'll cross off five, but we'll add eight. So the idea is to have blocks to try to prioritize. That's a first thing. This peak of the day thing goes a little further, that is to say what is the thing, just one thing, that will make today a good day?
And I usually write… so, I had different systems, but today, I have a post-it on which I have my tasks for the day. So, at the top, there is the date of the day. I have my four blocks in general, with sometimes a little reminder if I have to make a phone call to someone. So, I put a little reminder for myself. I have a post-it that is quite… I don't know what size it can be, maybe A6. It's not a square post-it, it's maybe, I don't know, 10-12 centimeters by 7-8, I don't really know. In any case, I have enough space to write these things. I do it the day before. So, we'll see it in the think, reflection section, the reflection block, but so, I have these different little tasks. You can do it in a notebook, a journal, on a computer, we don't really care. I'll tell you why I do it on a post-it note right after.