Opportunity Management > Time Management
What if opportunities were more important than our to-do lists?
"Time management is the key to success", we're told.
And so we get busy optimizing our schedules, maximizing our productivity, and squeezing every minute out of our calendar.
But what if, instead of managing time, we focused on managing opportunities?
Opportunity management asks us to:
Prioritize high-impact opportunities over filling time.
Allocate time and energy to maximize effectiveness.
Pursue valuable opportunities by practicing deeper awareness.
Adopt a dynamic, adaptive, and flexible approach to time.
When we invest our limited resources more selectively, and say "no" to distractions, we get to pay attention to activities that create a real impact on our world, and bring meaning to us.
A crucial aspect of this is creating "time slack" in our schedules -- leaving, say, 20% of our time completely free of any tasks. This has big benefits, as it:
Prevents burnout from overwork and the unproductive cycle of intense work, rest and recovery.
Provides space to address unexpected problems, challenges, and opportunities effectively.
Gives us "thinking time" -- when we get to identify new opportunities, create more effective processes, and generate impactful ideas.
Working at less than full capacity enables us to do meaningful work consistently.
While time management emphasizes efficiency and productivity, opportunity management encourages us to be strategic, responsive, and impactful.
How can you shift your mindset from time management to opportunity management in your own life?
Where can you create some "time slack" in your week to make room for high-impact opportunities?
Mindfully,
/rajesh
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I'm not quite understanding the suggestion for focusing more on opportunity management rather than time management. Maybe I am not properly defining the terms, but wouldn't managing opportunities be how you decide where you should focus your efforts, while time management is about making sure that you put the proper amount of time into each task that you've identified as capitalizing on the opportunities?
Thank you for the comment and question.
You are right, "managing opportunities" may not be the clearest term for what I mean. There are two parts to this concept -- parts A and B.
Part A: Before we can decide which opportunities to focus on, we should have habits and processes in place that let us:
- notice new and desirable opportunities and
- have enough resources (time, energy, etc.) to seize one or more of these opportunities.
Part B: Then once we have decided to work on a given new opportunity, we would, of course, need our current habits and processes to let us maintain an ongoing commitment to work with that opportunity. And we would also need a way to prioritize our time between multiple opportunities.
So what you understand as managing opportunities is part B. And what my write-up wanted to point are the points from part A.
Time management does not have to be only about dedicating appropriate time to each of our preset tasks, but should also be about:
- having enough spare time to notice and seize new, higher valued opportunities and
- questioning our tasks and being able to say "no" to the ones that are no longer serving us.
Please let me know if this clarifies things.
Thank you for the clarification. This sounds similar to the "systems vs. goals" I've seen some people online discuss. Spare time is almost non existent in my current situation, but maybe I can force a bit more into my routine. Every morning I wake up and write down certain tasks that I need to complete, and maybe by including a task to specifically create spare time can help me discover unseen opportunities.
A task to specifically create spare time is a brilliant idea!
It may or may not help discover unseen opportunities, but that "me time" could be used in a number of ways that strengthen your "thinking and working toolkit":
- Deep reading on a relevant topic
- Writing down thoughts or making concept maps or noting down ideas
- Noting down questions about your current business initiative or challenge
Thank you for engaging.
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