In reality, we are all promised 24 hours. Whether it is from a watch, clock, or other technological
device that is used to track your usage of the 24 hrs we have within each day- it really does run out
at a point.
We can be poor managers of our time or very good at doing so based on our personalities. In an article by Lauren Zander, entitled "5 Personality Time Management Personality Types: Which Are You?" we realise that by nature, we are all wired up to act, feel, think or function in a certain
way. And this impacts on our use of time. These personality types can also be noted in the Myers Briggs Psychometric Tests that determines which personalities are best suited for certain workplace roles or can be best at delivering results on various tasks.
The good thing is that, in as much as we cannot keep time
from passing by, we can, by nurture and through conscious effort, make
profitable use of our time. An interesting thing research has discovered, is that
based on our different personality types/traits, we tend to look at time
usage through different lenses.
I will focus on research done by the Myers & Briggs
Foundation and highlight aspects of the Myers Briggs Type Indicators, in
explaining how we all manage our time or have the tendency to misuse our time.
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There are 16 types to note according the Myers-Briggs Type
Indicator or MBTI. All the indicators have their pluses and minuses. So the
import of this post, is to help us all mitigate the bad tendencies, and know
how to enhance the positives.
In order for us to understand this better, I picked a few
definitions from the online Dictionary in defining what time is.
To measure the speed, duration, or
rate of something e.g if you tell a shop attendant that they should pick up
their phone before or by the third ring, you are communicating to them “a time
frame within which they should act”. In the same way, if you visit a
restaurant, “the time it takes one waiter / waitress to serve your food, might
differ from how another would act” – in this instance their rates or speed
differ.
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As a
noun, time is seen as system of sequential relations that any event has in
relation to another – so the past, present, and future time periods. An
individual based on a past experience, can decide that it would take them a
certain amount of time to complete a task, and hence might adopt same methods
as before in executing that task. Other personalities would perceive every
event as different, and treat it as such.
And the
last I want to look at, is time in relation to apparent time, mean-time,
Greenwich meantime, or different time zones. So we usually talk about time
zones, and as business minded individuals, it is important that we work with
"time zone consciousness" rather than the my time mentality.
In communicating with others, we need to be clear on the
meanings we are applying to our use of the word time. It is important to gain
clarity from both superiors, colleagues, subordinates, etc., when they make
reference to time. You may be given a task based on a fixed duration. Yet your
understanding of it, might be based on the rate or speed at which the activity must be completed. This can create
conflicting responses. So let us delve into the personality types according to Myers-Briggs,
to understand how we are wired.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicators are based on the following:
E - Extraversion
I - Introversion
N - Intuition
T - Thinking
F - Feeling
The last two indicators we would look at, are the J and P -
the main influences on how we use our time.
J - Judging - If you fall into this category, it means you
tend to adopt a planning, organising or well scheduled approach to life. Sometimes
to a fault.
P - Perceiving - They tend to be flexible and quite
spontaneous, in their approach to life. The prefer to keep options opened.
An individual with a P-indicator would therefore love to go with the flow, play-it-by-ear,
etc.
After knowing about these indicators, it doesn't end there.
These are graded in Very Clear, Moderate, Clear, Very clear categories to
determine your combination of the above. You may need to take a test to identify your true personality type.
By picking the various letters, E, I, S, N, T, F, J, P in
various combinations of 4-Indicators, results in the 16 MBTI types. For most HR Specialists, these are employed in aptitude or psychometric tests - to understand how individuals would act or respond to diverse situations.
How then does your personality type influence your time
management abilities?
When working on a task, an individual who is more of a J-Indicator type,
would usually plan ahead, think through the tasks, they would hardly second-guess their actions,
because naturally they would "dot their I(s) and cross their T(s)".
Hence they hardly waste time on their activities, but have
the tendency to ignore the next best alternatives. That is a downside.
The P-Indicator types would naturally love to weigh lots of options before
taking a decision. Hence they may require some frequent reminders in order to
keep them working within your desired timelines. - as opposed to a J who plans
ahead, noting where they want to get to, planning how to get there - all well in
advance.
Whether you plan ahead, or take last minute decisions, it surely impacts on your usage of time. Meeting timelines at a comfortable rate or rushing through a task just to beat a deadline, all stems from our personality type.
Have you ever worked with a colleague, superior or
subordinate whom you found really hard to get along with, because they wanted
to get every detail in the tasks, projects or other activities you were
involved in? How did that make you feel?
What about that colleague in the office or your association,
who tends to go in for every task that comes through the door, yet never gets
to finish them on time?
Did you ever work with a superior who would simply nod at every suggestion
you make, just so the work gets done, and he doesn't get roped into a long
conversation about how you are going to move from Point A to Point B?
It's all about identifying where our strong tendencies lie
and trying to be better team members. Making better judgements regarding the 24
hours in our time bank, and how it impacts on others around us.
It is more beneficial to nurture the abilities to
be more focused on our use of time, rather than just thinking about managing
time. When you get work done, it equals more time to rest, rejuvenate, learn more, and
perform better. That is why for some institutions, they strategically and
consciously build teams, after aptitude tests are conducted.
Before I participated in a Myers-Briggs personality test, I
felt aptitude tests were just to test your knowledge and skill-sets for the job
applied. But I realised over the years, working with teams that in fact it's more than that. As an Employer, or Employee, or Team member, knowing your own type and that of your team members, helps you manage how you relate with them. The way you
manage your time, and that of others impacts on total output - so you are able to determine who to delegate what tasks to and who would need a little more help to stay on track. But we have the
power to manage our personalities and let it work for us; instead of against
us.
In summary, knowing our personality types enables us to
understand others better. It helps us to know how they use their time, and how
we can help each other to ensure that we are all putting our positive sides to work
better for our organisations, homes, associations, etc. At the end of each day,
what do you need time for? It is to get something done! At the end of the day, did you
procrastinate? Did you over-exert yourself, leading to a stressful day? Did
you accept too many tasks instead of scheduling and learning to say No? More of
that in part two of this post, on Time Management.
PATRICIA DZIFA MENSAH-LARKAI, DTM
FOUNDER, LEAD CONSULTANT - PERISSOS HORIZON
Instagram: @Perissos.Horizon
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