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As a Coach: Why You Need to Toss Away the Tips

As a time management coach, you probably have been perplexed about what kind of advice you should aim to provide a client who doesn’t know that they have a time management problem.  Sometimes a client comes to us for specific advice in this area, but most happen to think that they just need more time (or less work) rather than greater skills.

Before we even start working with a client, it’s a good idea to have the right orientation as a coach, and to have the right approach in place to begin with.  Here are the three most popular.

Lotsa Tips (Time Management < 1.0)

Most coaches who dabble in time management focus on giving out tips:  lists of short, snappy things that a client should do differently.

They are often disjoint and disparate, with little or no connection to each other; the end result is that the client is quickly overwhelmed with bits and pieces of ideas that are impossible to implement in any coordinated fashion. As cool as they might be, (“Just buy an iPad!”) they are not essential to the client’s progress.

Most websites and time management books that you may find as a coach boil down to this kind of content.

Fixed Systems (Time Management 1.0)

There are a handful of books and programs that go a step further and advocate a single, fixed set of habits, practices and rituals.  They represent a vast improvement over the “Lotsa Tips” approach.

However, they fail spectacularly when the client is not already using a method that’s close to the one you’re advocating.  The problem with this approach is that it ignores the client’s current patterns, and further assumes that one-size-fits-all.  Many clients struggle to give up what they have been doing for several years, and fail to adopt new habits readily.  It’s not because they are stupid — most human beings find it very challenging to let go of old habits while learning new ones.

Also, clients have very different needs that depend on a number of factors and when you only have a single pattern or fixed system to offer them, the chances of success are low.

Flexible Systems (Time Management 2.0)

The vast majority of clients need to learn the skill of developing their own system.  As their skilled coach, you can start by giving them an understanding of where they are today, help them see the gaps, and teach them how to gradually take action to close the gap with new habits.

To do this effectively, you do need a sound system of continuous improvement to teach them, and you can take a look at the approach we use here at 2Time Labs and MyTimeDesign by taking these steps:

1. Download the e-book from ChangeThis.com entitled “The New Time Management:  Focus on the Fundamentals and Toss Away the Tips.”

2.  For much more information on the ideas included in this book, visit the 2Time Labs website and search our archives.

 

 

 

 

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A Brand New Game

One of the major upgrades that we’ve made to MyTimeDesign Plus is to add in 2 simulations that radically cut the time it takes to learn some essential lessons in Time Management 2.0

Here is a link to one of them — Brenda Returns from Vacation.   <The link has been closed to give exclusive access to MyTimeDesign Plus participants.>

In this particular game, you have the opportunity to assist a young professional who has just returned to her first day at work after her vacation, and must navigate a mountain of stuff that has accumulated on her desk and in her Inbox.

As you help her make some crucial choices, you can see the impact that they have on her day, and you can play with each choice as often as you’d like, just to see what what happens next.

It’s a new way to deliver training, and we have never seen it used in relation to time management before now.

It’s part of MyTimeDesign 1.1.Plus+ which is currently open for registration here.  (The Free program is closed for registration at the moment.)

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Open House for 2Time Labs Begins

We just swung open the doors to our Open House, and we’re offering a brand new product!

Of course, we are still offering our free program – MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free.

But in addition, we have also done some major design work on our Plus program, and renamed it MyTimeDesign 1.1.Plus+.  By beefing it up with some of the latest e-learning technologies, topics and fresh content we believe it’s simply the best personal productivity program on the Internet.

What keeps our programs fresh are their reliance on the newest findings by researchers, many of which have only been made public in the last twelve months.  We’re not about telling you stuff you already know, in boring formats that you are tired of.

We want to make it worth your while to take our programs, in other words, and never have reason to say “I already knew all of that.”

But the only way to know for sure whether this is true, or just hype is to jump in the middle of our training, and try it out for yourself.

Click here to get immediate access to MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free (http://free.mytimedesign.com) and look for the chance to grab the discount to enroll in the Plus program.

 

 

 

getting closer to the September launch of the 2Time Labs Open House, and the public offers of MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free and MyTimeDesign 1.0.Plus+. MyTimeDesign 1.1.Plus+.

Since we first wrote this update, we decided to put in place a major upgrade to the Plus program. In the past, it consisted merely of add-on Lessons to the Free program, but so much has happened

Stay tuned to this space for periodic updates on the progress that’s being made to upgrade the Plus+ product with the very latest in thinking, and implementation using online tools.

Just don’t forget to add your name to the early notification list below, as we plan to cap the enrollment at a certain limit that we can handle comfortably.

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July 2011 Update

We are getting closer to the August / September launch of MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free and MyTimeDesign 1.0.Plus+.

Stay tuned to this space for periodic updates on the progress that’s being made to upgrade the Plus+ product with the very latest in thinking, and implementation using online tools.

Just don’t forget to add your name to the early notification list below, as we plan to cap the enrollment at a certain limit that we can handle comfortably.

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New Product!

I have some good news about the MyTimeDesign group of products.

I have completes the creation of MyTimeDesign 1.0.Plus+ even as I make a radical change in delivery for MyTimeDesign 2.0.Professional.

As you may know from prior posts, I currently offer MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free to the public three times per year at absolutely no cost to the user.  It’s a do-it-yourself program that covers 7 lessons delivered either in weekly segments or all at once.  It is designed as the best introduction to the introductory ideas included in Time Management 2.0, and gives users a chance to assess and upgrade their approach to time management at their own pace, covering the 7 Essential Fundamentals.

Since developing 1.0.Free, I have made some major enhancements to all my programs, and have focused on putting them all in a follow-up program called MyTimeDesign 1.0.Plus+.  While these lessons cover the 4 Advanced Fundamentals, plus the very latest thinking and methods in changing one’s habits, it won’t be free, unfortunately.

It’s also be a do-it-yourself program, and you can find out more information about it by clicking here.

At the same time, I have decided to make a few changes to MyTimeDesign 2.0.Professional.  While the content won’t change, I am going to provide those who take it with a lot more direct coaching, in order to facilitate the speed of their habit changes.  With my help, participants will be able to take some tremendous shortcuts — the kind I use when coaching executives — and thereby save a lot of time by focusing on the critical elements of their approach to time management.

Everyone’s approach is different, so they’ll benefit from some help in honing in on the weak spots, and implementing changes that will yield the greatest overall benefit.

There will also be a price change… but that has hasn’t been finalized.  Currently I’m coaching a couple of partners from professional service firms using this approach, and I’m using the approach from MyTimeDesign 2.0.Professional to help them make some big changes.

It’s been an exciting journey so far, learning what’s needed and coming up with ways to provide it that are economical, and make sense.  If you have any feedback on the direction in which I’m headed, let me know!

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Starting the Year Off with Time Management 2.0

I have decided to make some changes in 2011 to the way I offer the MyTimeDesign programs.

The biggest change is that I’m offering MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free to the public three times in 2011: now in January, and then again in May and September. These seem to be the natural starting times for making life changes… at the start of the year, summer and the new school year!

I’m also going to offer MyTimeDesign 2.0.Professional to those who have started or completed the free program, as it appears to me that they would gain the most from having me as their coach as they complete all their learning in Time Management 2.0.

If you’re interested in learning more about the program, I have a short video set up at the information page for MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free.

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A New Kind of Quiz

If you’re interested in finding out about the kind of work that people do in the MyTimeDesign programs, take a few minutes to evaluate your skill at Capturing.

In a mere 13 questions you can use this new quiz to determine whether or not you have earned a White, Yellow, Orange or Green Belt in this essential practice.  It should take about 10 minutes to do the test, and I created some short videos to help you evaluate the results at the end of the exercise.

I’ll admit — I’m proud of it, as it’s the first attempt I’ve made to extract the self-assessment portion of my training programs so that they stand alone, and can be used by you to get some quick insights into your skills in this area, and how they can take them to the next level.

At the end of the quiz, you’ll get a good idea which skills you need to work on, if you’d like to take them up a level.

Simply click on the icon at the top right, or click here to be taken to the Quiz on Capturing.

At the moment, MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free will close for registration on Wed the 25th, so if you’d like to get a complete profile of all 11 fundamentals, act soon.

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Webinar Recording and Questions

I have created a brand new Facebook page to help me answer the questions I couldn’t get to on the webinar last night (sorry about that guys!)  The technology just wasn’t cooperating at all, and I had to revert to a backup recording I made at the same time, in order to have something I could share.

After you listen to the clip, bring your questions over to my Questions page on Facebook.  You should be able to see it from outside Facebook by simply clicking here.  As you notice, I am now “The Time Management Guy!”

While this page will be advertised to the public eventually, I’m going to wait until we have gotten all the questions answered from the webinar.

Here is the recording of the webinar — just a warning, there were a couple of gaps when I realized that there was a problem with the connection. It’s an hour long.

After you’re done, remember to fill out the box on the right for early notification, and also to send me your questions to the Facebook page.

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Tackling a Meaty Subject by Video

Somewhere in all the excitement of launching MyTimeDesign 1.0.Free and MyTimeDesign 2.0.Professional I carved out some time to address an issue that I has been growing in my mind — the “Weekly Review.”

It’s a simple idea.

Take some time out of the week to survey all the time demands that are in your time management system.  Shuffle the items around until you’re happy with them, and start the week off on the right foot.

However the problem is that the weekly review has turned into a burden for many people, and a tedium that they find themselves shying away from given the smallest  excuse.

The problem isn’t their attitude, or lack of discipline as some would posit.  Instead, it lies in the way they do their “listing” and their “scheduling.”  Strange huh?

Well, it’s  a meaty subject that is well worth the effort to understand because the result is that if you take my recommendations to heart, you’ll want to start to upgrade the way you manage your schedule.

Follow this link to be taken to “Fixing the Weekly Review Permanently.”

P.S. Remember that I’m closing the doors to the store on Thursday, February the 12th at mid-day.  In the meantime, stay tuned to hear about the bonuses I’m putting in for those who register before then.