Time Management - Marc Mancini

The Art of Anticipating 97
behavior change: set your
watch a few minutes fast,
for example, or write the
deadline as a few days earlier
on your calendar. Since
reacting to time cues is
often automatic, you’ll act
as if these false times are
real. It’s a weird phenomenon—worthy
of a Seinfeld
episode—but it’s true.
Does this mean that
you’ll start showing up
early to most appointments
or finishing things
prematurely? Possibly. But
handing over a project to a
client or to a boss early is an almost sure way to impress. And
an early arrival will give you time to prepare, to relax, or to
work on mini-tasks or readings. (Consider carrying a sheaf of
such items with you at all times.)
The False Deadline Strategy
How Long
Will It Take?
This bears repeating:
things usually take longer than anticipated.
It would be wonderful if you could
foresee obstacles every time before
they appear. But you can’t. What you
can foresee, however, is the probability
that they will appear.
You should always attempt to leave
“wiggle room” in scheduling each of
your activities. If, by some stroke of
good fortune, nothing arises in the
course of an activity to delay you,
you’ll have a little extra time when
approaching the next task.
You now have allowed for potential problems in what you do.
But how do you manage someone else’s behavior? How can
you boost the foresight ability of those you supervise, your colleagues,
your friends, and family members?
Give false times and deadlines to people, but don’t tell them
what you’re doing. If they end up needing more time, you can
magnanimously award it to them. If they’re on time, all the better.
One other hint: Saying, “I need this in an hour” or “in a few
days” may prove to be too inexact. Strangely, “an hour” or “a
few days” can be interpreted as “three hours” or “a week.”
Better to say, “I need this by 5:00 p.m.” or “This must be completed
by Friday, noon.”