For the New Business people amongst you, I have no doubt you use the words ‘important’ and ‘urgent’ especially when you are in the midst of a pitch and probably writing your lists of what needs to be done on a daily basis, if not hourly! There never seems to be quite enough time to get everything done in quite the way that you want. Sound familiar?

But have you ever considered there are really two types of time? Firstly, time which is important and urgent – this is clock time – driven by the hours in the day and by external factors like the constant writing and replying to emails, or a call from a prospective client saying they need to bring the pitch date forward. With time, there are only ever 24hrs in a day, 186 hours in a week – this is set, cannot be expanded or rolled over. Simply having good time management does not ensure the quality of our output. The other type of time is important but non-urgent… this is compass time ™. In this time you take control; you do the actions you want to and you choose your direction.

In clock time, we have to deal with internal pitch preparation meetings, replying to emails, responding to the prospect issues and challenges. However, in compass time, we can deal with our own important and non-urgent things – such as planning, strategy, our own personal development and training as well as our health and relationships. These are about investing – investing for your future both personally and professionally.

Compass time requires us to be proactive. It’s all too easy to be distracted and put off some of the things that you know are important, yet not urgent, to deal with the pressures created in clock time – we will sort out the pitch or client problem because we know the consequences if we don’t address it!

There are six compass points to consider: career, mind and body, finance, relationships, fun and contribution. For you to feel ‘in flow’ they all need attention.

Clock time and its distractions are often our quick wins – but they take you away from doing your greatest work (that which is often not so easy, but is ultimately where you want to focus your long term energies).

So fix those distractions and ensure you act more from your compass and less from your clock. Remove those barriers so you can simply be the best you can at what you do, doing your greatest work and enjoying it!

Interested in learning more about how you can proactively manage your compass time and achieve the goals you want? Take a look at our half day workshop which will help you to plot where you are currently focusing your attention in life and to highlight any imbalances. You will also receive a free copy of ‘How to be Brilliant’ by Nicholas Bate.

Personal Compass ™  – Nicholas Bate