the 8 fatal assumptions that time advisers make

The 8 Fatal Assumptions

that Time Advisers Make

Francis Wade

and

Janice Russel l

2© 20XX by ACME IncCopyright © 201 3 by Francis Wade and Janice Russell

Being a Time Adviser is TOUGH!

I f you are a coach, consul tant, professional organizer, productivi ty expert or trainer,

you may know what we mean.

Who are we? Francis Wade (a management consul tant) and Janice Russel l (a

productivi ty strategist. ) After working in th is field for 40 years, we have come

together to wri te th is special report.

We probably have a lot in common with you. We serve cl ients (or prospective

cl ients) who have time management issues. They are looking for help.

Their needs vary widely. Some are mi ld ly curious as they look for new ideas to

refine methods that already work. Others are having severe difficu l ties and are

barely hold ing th ings together accord ing to their own standards. They show the

symptoms of weak time management.

But they aren’t interested in the canned, over-simpl i fied kind of help that consists

of l i ttle more than cl ichés and bromides. After al l , lots of places on the Internet

provide shal low tips and tricks that are ti ti l lating but not satisfying. Anyone with a

browser can Google them.

Cl ients want qual i ty assistance that wi l l actual ly make a difference, not merely

rehash the stuff they have already heard or mastered.

They want something new and substantive

But as time advisors, we are very carefu l ,

aren’ t we? We don’t want them to know

one l i ttle professional secretQ we don’t

know where to find new, high-qual i ty ideas

in the field of time management.

I t’s not as if there’s a school for time

management advisors. No webinar series

exists. There is no book on the subject or

piece of academic research to download.

Never before has there been a

downloadable special report that d irectly

speaks to the needs of trainers,

consul tants, professional organizers and

coaches of time management. That is, not

unti l now.

Our Definitions

Time Demand : An ind ividual

commitment to complete a task in

the future; a promise to consider a

particu lar commitment.

Time Management: The actions

taken to create time demands and

manage their existence over time.

Also referred to as time

organization.

Time Management System: an

interlocking set of habits, practices

& ri tuals used to manage time

demands.

http://www.whitepaperdepot.com


We imagine that, l ike us, you came to th is field from another d iscipl ine, and you have

some formal train ing or credentials in a related area of expertise. Like us, you might

have searched for the same level of structured learning in time management

advising that exists in other fields such as coaching, consul ting or professional

organizing.

After years of searching, we can verify the fact: i f certi fication or train ing in time

management advising is going to appear in our l i fetime, i t wi l l be because we (al l of

us) created i t. From scratch.

That’s our goal in th is special report.

Welcome to The 8 Fatal Assumptions That Time Advisors Make.

Why This is Important

As you probably know, the number of demands on our time is expanding rapid ly,

driven by two mega-trends: the avai labi l i ty of information and the increasing use of

mobi le gadgets. Never before has so much information been coming at us and

demanding our attention in an incessant stream.

To i l lustrate, stud ies have shown that we are exposed to more information in a day

than our grandparents saw in a month. In an attempt to cope, the average

professional checks emai l 40-50 times per day and is interrupted by more phone

cal ls, pings, beeps, vibrations and flashing l ights than ever before.

Distraction management has become a new and distinct area of concern.

Our cl ients and trainees are struggl ing to keep up, and their anxiety grows as they

see their Inboxes overflowing, suffer as commitments fal l through the cracks, feel

their weight increasing, regret the lack of balance in their l ives, and fight to prevent

further damage to their professional reputations.

In a desperate attempt to stay on top of th ings, they try the strategies in keeping with

the conventional wisdom:

1 . Buy the latest smartphone, hoping that i ts new features wi l l help.

2. Mul ti -task as often as possible whi le trying not to endanger l ives, annoy other

people too much, or break common-sense ru les of hygiene.

3. Chase down tips, tricks and shortcuts on websites.

4. Copy or mimic the precise habits and practices of a guru who has wri tten a

book or authored a blog.



Your experience as an advisor shows that these solutions don’t last. Cl ients come to

you because they have tried one or more of these four approaches, but they haven’t

worked for more than a few days at a time. They sti l l need answers; their

desperation grows.

They want solutions that match our fast-moving world and speak to the never-ending

increase of demands on their time. The future ahead is scary, because it appears so

relentless: there’s more to do, i t’s coming faster than ever before, and they are

armed only with the same approaches that no longer work.

Your Concern

As a time advisor, you commit to giving your cl ients remarkable, permanent solutions

that last. After a year of work, i t’s d isheartening to hear a cl ient confide, “To be

honest, I ’m not real ly using any of the stuff you taught me. ”

I t’s painfu l .

As professionals, we want to do more than just g ive our advice and deposit their

checks. We want to do a superior job that makes a profound difference – for a

number of reasons. (I f you don’t know any of these reasons, you should probably

close th is special report and do something else with your time. Seriously. The rest of

what we have to say wi l l probably annoy you. )

We didn’ t become time advisors to see this happen over and over again, yetQ it

does. This special report is a first step in getting us to a place where lasting solutions

for our cl ients are possible, where we know how to coach cl ients with a high

probabi l i ty of success.

We just need to give up some of the conventional wisdom, and instead use the latest

research to increase our effectiveness. That’s the way to become the kind of time

advisor people wi l l ing ly refer to others.

Here are the 8 Fatal Assumptions we have to change.

Fatal Assumption #1 : Our clients are like little kids.

There is a big d ifference between the art of teaching chi ldren (pedagogy) and that of

teaching adul ts (known as andragogy. ) Unfortunately, most time advisors have never

heard these terms; as a resul t, they use outdated methods.

When an instructor uses an andragogical approach to time management train ing,

there’s an understanding that the adul t learners already know something about the



subject. They may never have received formal train ing, but they have taught

themselves some of the cri tical ski l ls needed and may

even have stud ied the topic on their own. In other

words, they aren’t brand-new learners.

In kindergarten, grade school and midd le school , a

pedagogical approach makes sense. For the most part,

students have neither knowledge nor ski l ls in the

subjects they are being taught. They are l ike the

proverbial tabula rasa: blank canvases, fu l ly engaged.

You may remember what that was l ike.

By the time you got to high school , however, th ings

started to change. A deep boredom may have set in

when you discovered that you already knew a lot about

the subjects you were being taught. Nowadays, i f a

teacher isn ’ t up to date, students may (with the help of

a Google search) bel ieve that they can find information

and instantly know as much as, or more than, their

instructors. By the time they reach adul thood, they are

convinced they know a lot about many subjects.

Your potential cl ients are no different, as you probably know from trying to sel l your

services. Most working professionals don’t bel ieve they have a time management

problem, even when they are exhibi ting al l the symptoms of weak ski l ls. They

already know a lot about the topic from what they have read and experienced, and i t

is far more than previous generations knew.

They bel ieve (rightly) that their current time management ski l ls have played a major

part in their professional success. To question their ski l ls is to question their success,

meaning that you wi l l not get very far trying to convince them that they need help.

Those who do admit to having time-related chal lenges may tel l themselves that you,

a time advisor, have l i ttle or no new information to give them, and al l you do is repeat

the same stuff everyone knows. They don’t take you seriously.

But the fact is that those who are looking for solutions find that their frustration

mounts as they (unsuccessfu l ly) try numerous random techniques picked up from

here or there.

Then, the very few who decide to read a book or sign up for train ing or coaching

often start out being misunderstood by us, their h ired experts. We focus on tel l ing

them what they should be doing without even mentioning that much of what they are

currently doing IS working and doesn’t need to be changed.

Francis’ Pointer

My professional trainees

relax when I let them

know that they are l ikely

to be among the best time

managers in the world .

The fact that they

attended col lege and

have successfu l l ives in

which the cost of my

professional service is

affordable, tel ls me that

they have already used a

self-made system to

achieve some important

th ings.



I t’s a mistake.

They aren’t novices – none of them, not unless you are train ing ten-year-olds.

Ignoring their existing knowledge and ski l ls and bel ieving that they are not relevant

to the improvements we are trying to help them make wi l l on ly chase cl ients away.

Faster.

The Alternative

Treat your cl ients as if they are already using a time management system of their

own design that has been a corner-stone of their success to date. Let them know

that your goal is to help them preserve the habits, practices and ri tuals that are

already working whi le focusing their efforts on the few that aren’t.

To do it wel l , you’ l l need to develop some diagnostic tools to help both you and your

cl ients see where the obvious faul ts l ie. The better your tools, the faster you’ l l be

able to help them. Additional ly, you won’t waste their time.

I f you want to prepare them for the future, take the further step of teaching them how

to diagnose their own methods at any point in the future. This wi l l prepare them for

tomorrow’s technology and the l ikely increase in time demands they are l ikely to

face. (This kind of train ing is cal led “metacognitive”, which simply means that your

goal is to teach them how to teach themselves. We address th is in Assumption #2. )

Take this further step, and they’ l l thank you for the rest of their l ives.

Fatal Assumption #2 - Clients need us to give them a single answer.

As a time advisor, you have probably spent a great deal of time figuring out your own

personal approach to being productive. You have made important improvements to

the methods you used only a few years ago, thanks in part to new technology.

I t’s only natural to do what we al l do: share the improvements we have made with

our cl ients. More often than not, we start by giving them insight into our own habits,

practices and ri tuals. I f they are having obvious and urgent problems, i t’s easy to

give helpfu l suggestions, because we have solved many of the same problems

ourselves at some point in the past.

After doing th is a few times, we conclude that we could help a lot more people if only

we were to wri te down or summarize the methods we use. I f we had them al l

documented in a single place, we could share them with a large number of cl ients in

train ing and coaching sessions and also help them without being there in person.

When enough people l ike our summaries, we turn them into books, seminars, blogs

and podcasts.



However, the number of people who offer professional

time management coaching far outnumbers those who

have produced books or programs that summarize

habits, practices and ri tuals to be fol lowed by others.

Most of us don’t have the time or incl ination to pursue

the slow, laborious process of creating our own stuff.

I nstead, we use someone else’ book or train ing,

simply passing a system developed by a third party on

to our cl ients.

I n most cases, cl ients are satisfied to receive th is

information. I f they have never heard i t before, they

l ike the simpl i fied approach: “Just tel l me exactly what

I need to do from now on. ”

From a purely business point of view, th is approach

works for many time advisors, who can tel l a LOT of

people the same thing over and over and get paid to

do so in book sales or seminar enrol lments.

However, there is a fatal flaw in th is approach, which

appears in the fol lowing symptoms:

• Cl ients have a hard time implementing a l ist of new habits and practices, even

when they start off being enthusiastic and inspired.

• Cl ients often, without delay, start to tinker with the combination of practices we

provide them, bending and twisting them into new shapes without gu idance or

understanding. This can resul t in frustration and even disaster.

• Cl ients eventual ly ask for an update to our orig inal prescription (a version 2.0)

to deal with new problems (or new technology) when we don’t have or intend to offer

one. They eventual ly come up with “advanced” versions on their own.

• Cl ients get ti red of us tel l ing them they need to be more discipl ined,

pressuring them to stick to the exact formula we gave them. The harder we try to

convince them to work harder to fol low the ru les we gave them, the more they resist.

• Cl ients ignore the coaching we give them on how best to implement the

systems we provide. They accept the big ideas but don’t use them wel l in their real

l ives.

The end resul t is that awkward conversation we mentioned before: “I don’ t real ly use

the stuff you taught me. ” Our conclusion? They just need to do a better job of

fol lowing our instructions.

Some people can really

cook; others need recipes.

Some people write

cookbooks; others read

cookbooks. Even in the

restaurant world, there are

cooks and there are chefs.

Cooks fol low the recipes,

and chefs create the

recipes. Even those who

don’t know anything about

cooking understand that

every ingredient in a recipe

has a purpose. You wouldn't

bake and simply leave out

flour, would you? The key is

to figure out whether you

are a cook or a chef.

Michael Boyle,StrengthCoach.com



But that explanation doesn’t prevent our inner frustration from growing. How many

times can we blame them for these fai lures before we start question ing our own

methods?

To paraphrase Shakespeare, “The faul t l ies not in our cl ients but in ourselves. ”

Here’s the paradox.

We have assumed, correctly, that our system is better than our cl ients’ , but we have

concluded wrongly that they should simply fol low our example. Think of i t from their

perspective:

Of the fol lowing ski l ls, guess which one is more important to your cl ient?

From the cl ient’s point of view, the answer is obvious.

However, from our point of view, Ski l l Number 2 is daunting. The second ski l l

requires way more effort from us whi le giving us a huge chal lenge. Some advisors

would say that i t’s not possible or that i t’s unreal istic, or at least too hard to do. As a

resul t, Ski l l Number 1 seems easier to pass on. However, in spi te of our fear of what

i t takes to del iver Ski l l Number 2 effectively, there’s no escaping the fact that i t’s

exactly what our cl ients want: immunity from foreseeable future changes. They want

to know that they can cope with new increases in demands on their time as wel l as

any new software or hardware they’ l l have to use.

The Alternative Lies in Metacognition

Most time advisors focus on teaching the resul t of their self-made time management

systems rather than the process they fol lowed to create i t in the first place.

Skill Number 1

The abi l i ty to fol low instructions given by a time

advisor and stick to the detai led behaviors laid

out for them.

Skill Number 2

The capacity to consciously develop, modify or

improve their own time management or

productivi ty system, using the best practices

and technologies avai lable at any moment in

time.



Take a simple example. Baking a cake can be an easy process of purchasing a box

of cake mixture and fol lowing the instructions on the back. The end resul t wi l l be a

simple, plain cake. I t’s the way most pre-teens learn to bake their fi rst cakes.

Students attending a French pastry school , however, learn qui te a different process.

By the time they graduate, they are not simply fol lowing the box’s instructions.

Instead, they are creating their own recipes using new technology, processes and

ingredients. They are experimenting on their own and producing unique resul ts that

meet their professional needs.

In other words, they have learned how to teach themselves new baking techniques.

This fi ts the very defin i tion of “metacognition”: th inking about th inking, or in our

appl ied case, the study of the way humans learn to teach themselves new material .

I n terms of time management and personal productivi ty, the average modern

professional is more l ike a pastry chef and less l ike a pre-teen.

I f you fol lowed the argument laid out in Fatal Assumption #1 , you’ l l see that by the

time you meet them, cl ients already have some usefu l , ingrained habits and

practices in place. They’ l l have supplemented their home-grown systems with new

technology, buttressed them with cul tural norms and added a few id iosyncrasies.

Presenting them with a one-size-fi ts-al l solution that’s ten times better than the one

they are using might be interesting, but i t is hard ly usefu l . Imagine the average high-

school student with an interest in science attending a post-graduate lecture on

experimental techniques. Interesting, perhaps, but not very usefu l . Learning

graduate-level scienti fic techniques is too much of a jump.

Your cl ients often fai l because they can’t make the jump from their self-made

systems to the summarized set of methods you want them to fol low. The gap is just

too large.

Also, i f that’s al l you offer them, you’re l ikely to bore them to tears. After al l , do they

real ly need your help to find new “recipes”? I t’s easy to find these “recipes” without

your help: using Amazon or Google, they can download the latest and newest l ist of

habits and practices from the hottest productivi ty guru.

Instead, what they need to learn and practice from you, their expert time advisor, are

ways to develop Ski l l Number 2. The best way for you to respond is to teach them

the process you use to find solutions rather than any particu lar resul t.

I n other words, stop giving them fish. Teach them how to fish.

Spend some time discerning the steps you took to come up with your own

id iosyncratic methods. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to reveal your



own metacognition:

• What was the first step you took in crafting your time management methods?

• How did you experiment with d ifferent ideas?

• How did you measure success?

• What caused you to stop improving your approach, i f you did?

• What were the habits and practices you used before?

• What targets d id you set for yourself?

• How have you assessed new technology?

• How do you know when it’s time to upgrade your methods?

• What process do you use to figure out when you need a sl ight modification,

vs. an upgrade, vs. a complete overhaul?

When you answer these questions for yourself, you can give your cl ients a peek into

something so valuable that they’ l l use i t for the rest of their working careers: your

successfu l formula, as a time advisor, for staying on top of th ings, regard less of what

l i fe throws at you in the future.

Fatal Assumption #3 - Clients Understand the Demands on Their Time

Often, our cl ients attend our train ing or hire us as consul tants because they feel

some combination of negative, unwanted emotions. They struggle to deal with al l the

stuff that’s flying at them each day, feel ing as if they wi l l never catch up and

therefore never feel satisfied.

They look to us for time management solutions, but deep down, we know betterQ

time can’t actual ly be managed.

I t’s a mistake to take their l imited perception as the starting point: they actual ly don’t

understand the nature of the demands on their time or what time management

actual ly is. Here’s why.

1 . They don’t distinguish between “stuff” and “time demands.”

People tend to lump everyth ing they have to do into the al l -purpose basket of “stuff, ”

which they may further describe as “th ings that fly at me each day and I need to get

done. ” The truth is far more subtle.

Consider a new defin i tion: A time demand is an ind ividual commitment to complete

an action in the future.

Triggered by l i fe’s events, we humans create these demands in our minds. They are



psychological creations, even though they do seem to have some physical

properties, such as their abi l i ty to accumulate and feel l ike a burden. This burden

may lead to physical symptoms.

Also, time demands are created one at a time, and at the moment of inception, they

are often tagged with a l ikely start time/date and duration. Most people who are

effective at time management don’t try to store them in their memory: doing so is too

stressfu l .

Time demands are managed as single uni ts. A single new emai l message, for

example, may include 1 5 separate time demands, which must each be disposed of in

d ifferent ways. For the average professional , keeping track of them is essential .

Furthermore, researchers such as M. Ziegarnik in the 1 920’s and, more recently,

Baumeister and Masicampo show that:

• When time demands are created and left incomplete, they are l ikely to prey on

the mind and interrupt dai ly function ing.

• When time demands are created and completed, they are l ikely to be entirely

forgotten.

• When time demands are created and managed so that they can rel iably be

completed at a later time, they enter a state in which they no longer prey on the mind

and hard ly interfere with dai ly function ing.

From the research, i t’s clear: the way we manage (or don’t manage) time demands

affects us emotional ly. For example, people (typical ly young) who decide to “act on

every time demand immediately” are l ikely to th ink th is technique works, not real izing

that i t on ly works when the number of time demands is smal l . As the number

inevi tably bal loons, however, they are l ikely to become stressed as they take on

more of l i fe’s chal lenges: col lege, a job, a relationship, a fami ly and a mortgage.

Seeing “time demands” instead of “stuff” al lows for greater precision as our cl ients

come to identi fy which actions produce the preferred emotions. I t also gets them to

focus on the right th ing: managing “time demands, ” which they have already started

doing, versus “managing time, ” which is impossible.

2. They don’t bel ieve they have any power.

When cl ients are able to d istingu ish time demands, they quickly real ize that they are

the creators, and i t’s not just about stuff flying at them from out of the blue. They

might in i tial ly argue that the real sources are their spouses, bosses, kids’ schools,

newspapers, emai ls, last n ight’s television show or even today’s weather. Your job is

to show them that these events might act as triggers, but accord ing to the defin i tion,



the point of creation always l ies with the ind ividual .

What’s remarkable is that your cl ients may have operated for years without real izing

th is fact, sincerely bel ieving themselves to be hapless victims. When you share the

distinction between “time demands” vs. “stuff” you can help them see their agency

for the very first time. I t’s the start of being

empowered.

When we, as time advisors, also fai l to make this

d istinction, we l imit the help we can offer. We

end up giving them trivial methods to deal with

an onslaught of stuff that they can’t control .

However, when we empower them to real ize

their role in creating time demands in response

to l i fe’s triggers, we invi te them to take

responsibi l i ty for their power. For most cl ients,

th is is a profound transformation.

We show them that their minds create time

demands without conscious effort and without

any apparent l imits. Some wi l l th ink that they

should curb th is creative impulse in an effort to

be more real istic. Even when it’s obvious that

they are creating more time demands than they

can ever complete in a l i fetime, we must be clear: they shouldn’ t try to suppress the

creation of new time demands or l imit their minds.

Instead, we can train cl ients to sort through the time demands their minds have

given birth to, not at the moment of inception, but later in the day or week. They can

learn to consciously perform an act of triage: acting on some time demands

immediately, delaying others unti l later, and revoking a few on the spot.

When cl ients learn that they have more control over what actual ly gets done than

they ever imagined, some of the burden l i fts. They free themselves of the gui l t that

comes from feel ing as if they should be able to complete al l the time demands their

minds create.

(The part of the brain that does th is decid ing is the prefrontal cortex in a process

cal led executive function. )

Cl ients who are led by their time advisors to take this new level of responsibi l i ty gain

a tremendous advantage.

3. They can’t accurately assess their time demands.

Janice’s Pointer

Cl ients with Executive

Function Disorders (EFD)

http: //www.webmd.com/add-

adhd/executive-function have

great chal lenges with time

management. Common EFDs

include Attention Defici t

Hyperactivi ty Disorder (ADHD)

and other Learning Disabi l i ties

(LD). Please be ethical ly

responsible, and get

appropriate train ing before

working with cl ients who have

diagnosed EFDs or for whom

you suspect an EFD.


http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/executive-function


Cl ients who start to see their own efficacy and the process that their minds fol low

might sti l l complain that they have too much to do and not enough time to do it in .

However, when they start to see that they have been stressing themselves out by

creating and mismanaging time demands, they see things differently.

At th is point, you can teach them that they often commit what’s known as the

planning fal lacy: the tendency we humans have to over-estimate our ind ividual

capacity to get stuff done in the future. As a resul t, we make promises that we can’t

fu l fi l l , severely under-estimate the time required to hi t deadl ines, and disappoint

others.

With our help, cl ients can start to see time demands clearly and use advanced

schedul ing tools to plan and execute time demands accurately.

Many cl ients get into trouble when they experience a l i fe change they don’t assess

clearly. I t may range from the birth of a chi ld to the acceptance of a new position or

the need to take care of a sick parent or chi ld . These are al l examples of phases

during which cl ients need to see the impact of new time demands clearly, decid ing

whether or not they need your help as a time advisor to upgrade their ski l ls.

The Alternative

Develop the ski l ls to use these concepts in your own l i fe, and then pass them on to

cl ients for their benefi t. As you both assume greater degrees of responsibi l i ty for time

demands, you wi l l both benefi t from a new level of empowerment.

Further, your cl ients wi l l probably be hearing these concepts for the first time, which

wi l l help bui ld your credibi l i ty as a time advisor who not only knows some cool stuff

but also walks the talk.

Fatal Assumption #4 - Electronic is the only way to go.

I t’s easy to assume that using the latest technology is a must. After al l , we know the

advantages of replacing paper tools with electronic ones, includ ing the abi l i ty to

safely and quickly back up and restore information. Anything wri tten on paper can be

lost, stolen, made wet, burned or faded over the years.

The use of bi ts and bytes is a clear winner from the point of view of the average

cl ient, who has eagerly joined the electronic bandwagon.

However, as a time advisor, you don’t deal with “average cl ients” but with unique,

l iving people. Your job is not to remake them in your image or force them into a

single set of “best” practices.

In Francis’ book, Bi l l ’s Im-Perfect Time Management Adventure, one character



bel ieves that h is way, taken from a popular train ing program, is the one that

everyone should fol low, barring none. He spoi ls l ives of those who have the

misfortune of working with him as he attempts to force them to fol low the rig id “best”

practices described in the program. Some people in the book use the approach with

apparent success, but for the most part, i t’s not a useable universal approach.

The real i ty is that your cl ients are probably doing their own thing. Over time, they

have taught themselves a hodge-podge of techniques that may not seem to make

sense. They are probably inefficient, because their homegrown systems have a

number of holes. As you look at what they do with an objective eye, you can easi ly

see where a few electronic replacements could solve many of their problems.

The problem is that as visionary as your solutions might be, they must be

implemented by a human being who may have spent years practicing and reinforcing

the paper-based habits they use every day.

In terms of brain science, the neural pathways that dai ly repeti tion enforces aren’t

easi ly replaced by new ones, no matter what the conscious, rational mind might th ink

i t should do instead. Some brain science research suggests that our brains actively

fight the creation of new routines.

I t also doesn’t matter what you, their coach, might th ink. Big changes are hard.

The biological fact is that you’ l l be more successfu l asking your cl ients to make smal l

changes in how they do things and to do them over and over again unti l they

become new habits. That includes how (or if) they make the switch to new

technology.

Try to push them to make too many changes too quickly, and you’ l l see them fai l .

They’ l l join the ranks of the many who take a time management program, love the

concepts, implement them ful ly for about a week, and then, in the face of a time

crunch, fal l right back into their former, less effective habits.

The Alternative

Teach your cl ients that regard less of the number, scope or nature of the changes

they need to make, their bandwidth for change is probably much lower than they

th ink. Help them see that i t’s better to focus on a few changes at a time, and

demonstrate your expertise by working with them to find the right pace.

Fatal Assumption #5 - PC vs. Tablet, Mac vs. Windows, Feature Phone vs.Smartphone – “It Doesn’t Matter.”

As time advisors, we often tel l cl ients that i t doesn’t matter what technology they use

or don’t use. We argue that our advice appl ies to any system, whether i t’s based on



paper planners or gadgets.

I t might be true, but i f we give th is advice, we are l ikely to leave our cl ients short of

what they real ly need. The truth is that their choice of tools is tremendously

important: i t shapes the habits they exercise each day.

Case in point: we have al l seen the statistics that surround smartphone abuse and

the ways in which many professionals use

their devices in ways that are dangerous,

unhygienic, rude and unproductive.

Research shows that someone who uses a

smartphone to check emai l wi l l , on average,

visi t h is or her Inbox 50 times per day.

Obviously, someone who uses a feature

phone (with no Internet capabi l i ty) won’t

have continuous access to his/her Inbox and

won’t visi t as often.

Therefore, i f cl ients ask you, “Should I get a

smartphone?” or “What kind of cel l phone

should I buy?” your answer shouldn’ t be, “I t

doesn’t matter. ” I t DOES. I f they adopt th is

technology, they are l ikely to develop some bad habits that they simply won’t adopt i f

they forgo th is particu lar technology. Furthermore, the ramp-up time some cl ients

need to learn how to use the device might set back their time management goals.

This isn ’ t to say that you should encourage your cl ients or trainees to use paper

wherever they can. That’s not the point.

The Alternative

The point is that you must be savvy enough to help your cl ient see the l ikely impact

of their choices and help them mitigate the risks that come from unconscious use.

Here are some helpfu l steps:

1 ) Become a student of new productivi ty technology, includ ing tablet computing,

mobi le devices, software, etc. Don’t try to convince your cl ients that “i t doesn’t

matter. ” I nstead, provide them with the latest research, and use facts and figures to

make your points.

I f you decide not to become proficient in new technology, have some referral sources

for these services.

2) Teach your cl ients how to experiment with new technology and pay attention to

Janice’s Pointer

Know your own technology l imits.

I have a PC and Android

smartphone. I do not know

anything about Macs or iPhones.

I f I ’m asked a question about

those devices, I ’m very clear to

say, “Here’s how I might handle

that on a PC, but I don’t know the

options avai lable on the

Mac/iPhone. ” I then refer them to

someone who knows better.



the new practices they are l ikely to adapt, both posi tive and negative. Strengthen the

habits that matter whi le helping them prevent the patterns that make their l ives

worse.

3) Explore their context with them. What do their bosses and workplaces expect of

them and their mobi le avai labi l i ty? Are there pol icies around timely emai l repl ies?

How wi l l their l ives change if they accept the gift of a corporate smartphone? Help

your cl ients make intel l igent choices and set boundaries that work for them. Very few

employees are most productive when they need to keep checking emai l , just in case.

4) Show them how to use technology to enhance old practices. I f they l ike to use a

wri tten to-do l ist in a 3-ring binder, show them the value of taking a picture of their

current l ist so that i f the book gets lost, they have a back-up to work from.

Your job as a time advisor is to th ink about the th ings they don’t and to offer

solutions to problems they may not have experienced yet. . . but are very l ikely to.

Fatal Assumption #6- Your client understands the jargon you use.

As an expert and a professional in time management, you have developed

special ized knowledge, and with i t, you have acquired terms that are specific to the

profession. There’s noth ing wrong with that: there’s something right, in fact!

Your cl ients, however, haven’t invested the time you have to learn these new

concepts. You have read e-books, blogs and newsletters and attended webinars,

programs and seminars. You use time management terms they have never heard.

Furthermore, you probably use some defin i tions that have no meaning whatsoever

outside the community of time advisors who would

read a special report l ike th is one.

Don’t be afraid to use these terms, but make sure

you explain them first. Your cl ients recognize that

they need to learn new concepts in order to

understand fresh ideas, but they feel resentfu l i f

you use jargon in a way that leaves them in the

dark. Unfortunately, they’ l l ei ther pretend to

understand (which is bad) or bristle with anger

and end the relationship (which is much worse. )

The fact is, as a time advisor, you also play the

role of teacher, a communicator of concepts that

l ie buried in obscure books and research papers.

You share them in simple terms in order to help

your cl ients use them for themselves, which

Janice’s pointer

Whi le i t’s important to

explain terms your cl ients

may not understand, at the

same time you don’t want to

insu l t them if they are

fami l iar with the term. I wi l l

often say, “I ’m bad about

making assumptions. Tel l

me what you th ink <term>

means. Then I can clari fy, i f

necessary, so that we’re on

the same page. ”



empowers them to make better choices.

The Alternative

Don’t shy away from this role, but be carefu l to pay attention to the effect that your

language has by watching cl ients’ reactions closely. You’ l l probably sl ip up now and

then, accidental ly includ ing new terms: just be prepared to back-pedal when you

sense that you have lost or confused your cl ients.

Fatal Assumption #7 - Throwing the book at them should work.

Few time management advisors focus al l their efforts in th is area. Imagine, then,

being in the midd le of a coaching conversation on a topic that has nothing to do with

time management when, out of the blue, your cl ient brings up a time management

problem.

In order to stay focused and achieve your primary objective, you refer them to a

good book. By brushing them off in th is way, however, you do them a disservice,

especial ly as you imply (perhaps not very subtly) that implementing the ideas from a

time management book is easy.

What happens next is predictable. Your cl ient duti fu l ly reads the book and closes the

last page feel ing excited. He or she enjoys some success for a few days, and then

something happens –a sick chi ld , a bad project review, or a rid icu lous deadl ine – that

sets him or her right back to the beginning.

Cl ients feel gu i l ty, as if they did something wrong. Sometimes, they may blame you

for tel l ing them to read something that doesn’t work.

At the heart of such a fiasco might be a flawed assumption on our part as

consul tants. Cl ients might read a time management book and love the 50 new ideas

they learn but vastly over-estimate their abi l i ty to implement these ideas

successfu l ly. Authors of most how-to-be-more-productive books usual ly don’t help:

they make it sound easy, as they are simply describing their own habit patterns.

Aside from that, here’s an uncomfortable truth: your incorrect assumption about his

or her l ikely success got your cl ient into trouble.

The Alternative

I f you refer a cl ient to a book or program, be honest and blunt. Tel l cl ients that the

fai lure rate is h igh, but help them see how you can work with them to be successfu l

where others fai l . Show them that time management ski l ls are complex blends of

habits, practices and ri tuals that don’t change overnight.

Also, don’t miss the chance to extend your work with the cl ient. You may have the



opportuni ty to set up extra sessions or extend your current contract to include a

series of time management consul tations. Help cl ients understand that i t’s a mistake

to try to copy the author’s habits, practices and ri tuals without modification. Let them

know how you can help them, starting with the practices they are already doing wel l

whi le taking into account their ind ividual needs and preferences.

The fact is, your support after the book is closed is probably more beneficial to their

success than the ideas in the book are, so don’t be afraid to tel l your cl ients the

truth: they need a credible implementation plan and a lot of habit-change support to

real ize the resul ts they want. The andragogical research supports th is notion, and

you should rely on i t as you th ink about novel but usefu l ways to help your cl ients

succeed.

Fatal Assumption #8 - It’s about only time management.

As we’ve ind icated throughout th is report, time organization is multi faceted. Throw in

the vast d ifferences that exist between people, cu l tures and technological

preferences, and th ings get even more compl icated.

I t’s a Personal Thing .

People don’t al l learn the same way. Some people process information better visual ly

or aural ly. Others need a verbal or kinesthetic component. Furthermore, people learn

at d ifferent paces; the way a cl ient processes information should influence how you

relay new material to him or her.

Additional ly, some people have brain-based conditions that impact their abi l i ty to

process information. Such conditions include but aren’t l imi ted to Attention Defici t

Hyperactivi ty Disorder (ADHD), depression, anxiety, traumatic brain in juries (TBI ) or

specific learning disabi l i ties.

A cl ient may or may not share such diagnoses with you (in fact, sometimes they

don’t know it themselves). Your abi l i ty to recognize (but not d iagnose) brain-based

conditions and accommodate learning accord ingly may make the difference in a

cl ient’s abi l i ty to modify his or her time management system successfu l ly.

I t’s a Motivation Thing .

Cl ients come to you with a pain, and they want i t to go away. Because of our quick-

fix society, that’s exactly what most cl ients are looking for: a fast solution, del ivered

via a single page of nifty ideas.

Whi le we can give them tips and tricks about any time clutter chal lenge they might

be experiencing, in the long run, those hints wi l l on ly mask the symptoms for a short

whi le. I f they want lasting change, they wi l l u l timately have to upgrade their habit



patterns.

I f they are not motivated toward habit change and insist on a fast fix, you need to

decide whether or not they are a good fi t for your practice. Chances are, they’ l l

blame you when the habits they have developed over decades don’t change

overnight.

I t’s Also a Space Thing .

Organizing time isn’ t just about time; i t’s also about creating a functional

environment. Cl ients waste time if they are searching for th ings they can’t find ,

whether i t’s a bunch of keys to leave the house or a document to d iscuss with the

boss. A dysfunctional environment most l ikely means that other important time

demands aren’t being met.

As a time management consul tant, you may not help cl ients organize their space;

however, you may want to ask some questions to find out i f a cluttered space is

impacting their time. I f the answer is “yes, ” then referring them to the appropriate

organization or productivi ty professional might be helpfu l .

The Alternative

Be savvy. Not every cl ient who tel ls you he or she has a time management problem

is seeing the problem correctly. Train yourself in ski l l fu l methods to recognize al l the

possible causes of the major symptoms, and advise your cl ients accord ingly.



This is Just a Small SliceI f you are a serious time advisor who operates as a professional trainer, coach,

consul tant, organizer or productivi ty expert, these ideas probably resonated with

you. The good news is that th is is just the beginning.

Visi t http: //mytimedesign.com -- i t’s Francis’ website, set up especial ly for you and

other professional advisors in th is field . There, you’ l l be able to access our early

noti fication l ist for other unique content. You’ l l also hear al l about the ideas that the

two of us have been developing since we first met at a time advisor train ing session

in 201 2.

One of the first emai l messages you’ l l receive wi l l g ive you directions to a free onl ine

simulation created for time advisors. I t’s cal led “Wi lma Tackles Time Clutter

Consul ting. ” I t’s a fun way to tackle some of the

concepts we looked at in depth in preparation for

the Insti tute for Chal lenging Disorganization

Conference in Chicago in 201 2.

So be sure to join our mai l ing l ist – we have a lot

to share and a lot more coming! Once again, visi t

and sign up at http: //mytimedesign.com.

Good luck with your cl ients!

Francis Wade

Janice Russel l

P.S. I f you’d l ike to get a hold of the background resources we used to wri te th is

special report, be sure to join the l ist at http: //mytimedesign.com.

Francis Wade is an innovator, content creator and management consul tant who

founded 2Time Labs. The author of Bi l l ’s Im-Perfect Time Management Adventure,

he spends much of his time in Kingston, Jamaica, a place he's cal led home since

2005. Francis is a graduate of Cornel l Universi ty in Operations Research and

Industrial Engineering, where he earned Bachelor and Master’s Degrees. Most of his

energy goes to Time Management 2.0 and turn ing new productivi ty research into

practical ideas that company leaders and ind ividuals can use. He has also

completed several marathons and triath lons.


http://mytimedesign.com




Janice Russel l is an author, speaker, Productivi ty Strategist, organizer coach,

Master Organizer, world traveler and owner of Mind ing Your Matters®. Janice

Russel l , M.Ed. , CPO-CD, COC has a reputation for helping cl ients achieve “flow. ”

“Flow, ” as she cal ls i t, is the bl issfu l state of having an organizational process that

supports your l i fe and l i festyle. Developer of the Flexible Structure Method™ of

productivi ty and organizing, Janice serves the organizational needs and chal lenges

of both business and residential cl ients. Janice uses her practical and caring

approach to special ize in working with people affected by ADHD and chronic

d isorganization.

Books & Articles

Duhigg, C. (201 2). The power of habit: Why we do what we do in l i fe and business.

New York, NY: Random House.

Masicampo, E.J . , & Baumeister, R.F. (201 1 ). Consider i t done! Plan making can

el iminate the cognitive effects of unfu lfi l led goals. Journal of Personal i ty and Social

Psychology, . Onl ine publ ication doi : 1 0. 1 037/a00241 92.

Maurer, R. (2004). One smal l step can change your l i fe: The kaizen way. New York,

New York: Workman Publ ish ing Company.

McGee-Cooper, A. Trammel l , D. (1 993). Time management for unmanageable

people. Dal las, TX: Bowen & Rogers.

Si lber, L. (1 998). Time management for the creative person. New York, NY: Three

Rivers Press.

Wade, F. (201 3). Bi l l ’s Im-Perfect Time Management Adventure. Lexington, KY:

2Time Labs Press. Avai lable on Amazon.com - http: //amzn. to/Xnauu6

Zeigarnik, B. (1 938). On fin ished and unfin ished tasks. In W. D. El l is (Ed. ), A Source

Book of Gestal t Psychology (pp. 300-31 4). New York: Harcourt.

Websites

2Time Labs. http: //www.2time-sys.com/

Flexible Structure Method (organizing and productivi ty).

http: //flexiblestructuremethod.com/organizing-productivi ty-fsm-overview/

Insti tute for Chal lenging Disorganization.

http: //chal lengingdisorganization.com/content/fact- sheets-publ ic-0

Mind ing Your Matters® (organizing and productivi ty).

http: //www.mind ingyourmatters.com/


http://www.mindingyourmatters.com/

http://challengingdisorganization.com/content/fact- sheets-public-0

http://flexiblestructuremethod.com/organizing-productivity-fsm-overview/

http://2time-sys.com

http://Amzn.to/Xnauu6

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