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Time Travel: What's Your Speed and Direction?
Our personalities are the key to finding out what kind of time
manager we are. Whether we tend to do too much or too little,
overwork or underwork, buzz around like a bee or freeze through
procrastination, all comes down to one thing: which of the
following Time Travellers are you?
1. The Perfectionist. The Perfectionist is one of the
worst examples of a workaholic. They fill up their days with
work activities in the belief that everything they do has to be
as perfect as possible. George Bernard Shaw was a typical
workaholic. He wrote mechanically every day of his career.
Looking back on his life, he said, "When I was a young man, I
observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. I
didn't want to be a failure, so I did ten times more work."
2. The Socialiser. The Socialiser is not a good time
manager. If you are in conversation with a Socialiser, you'll
know this for they are the hardest people to break away from.
Socialisers simply love to be with people, talk about people,
and be of service to people. This invariably means putting time
and other duties into second place.
3. The Achiever. Achievers have mastered the art of
looking like perfect time managers. They seem to be good at
everything they take on, seem to manage things with effortless
ease, and seem to enjoy themselves in the process. But, beware,
a lot of the impression may be false. Achievers are good at show
and not so good at substance. When you are dealing with an
Achiever, always look under the surface at what they've actually
achieved.
4. The Artist. When you are dealing with an Artist time
personality, you'll know it. They look different, dress
different, and behave different from others. They also have a
cavalier attitude to time which they regard as a constraint and
restriction. They thus arrive late or early, ignore rotas, and
frequently miss deadlines. But the work they produce is
invariably one of a kind and in their eyes makes up for their
lax attitude to time.
5. The Analyser. The Analyser has a touch of the
absent-minded professor about them. They can easily get so
wrapped up in their thoughts and ideas or in conversation with
others that they can forget the routine details of daily life -
such as preparing a meal, going to bed on time, keeping
appointments. But while their outer life may be muddled, their
inner world of thoughts is invariably rich and gifted.
6. The Procrastinator. The Procrastinator is a person who
hesitates to act because he or she is unsure whether they
should. It may be because something hasn't been decided, or
information isn't yet available or because a higher authority
hasn't sanctioned it. Procrastinators are the great doubters,
questioners and hesitators. In workplaces, Procrastinators
prefer to let others own their time rather than own it
themselves. They will therefore drop anything at any time if
asked to, no matter what the cost in piled-up work or stress.
7. The Hurrier. The Hurrier is a person who manages to
combine a wide range of activities in a short space of time.
Everything they do is done at a quick pace: they move quickly,
talk quickly, think quickly. They are multi-talented and never
say No to any job that comes their way even if they move on to
something more interesting before they finish it. They are the
human equivalent of the Hare in Aesop's fable.
8. The Rebel. Rebels are life's fighters. They believe
that time is something to be challenged and beaten. They thus
like to run late for deadlines, coming to life in the tension
this creates and knowing that they will beat it in the end. They
push time to the limit. They embody the sentiments of Edna St
Vincent Millay who wrote: "My candle burns at both ends; it will
not last the night. But, ah, my foes and oh, my friends: it
gives a lovely light."
9. The Wanderer. Wanderers are people who enjoy the
freedom to do what they like. In organizational settings, this
can cause a problem. They may not be totally committed to the
work ethic and may go at their own speed which makes them appear
lazy. On the other hand, Wanderers are far more in tune with the
pace of the world and may achieve a far higher level of
contentment than the rest of us.
When you know the kind of Time Traveller you are, you can make
adjustments in your plans to iron out the features that don't
serve you well and enhance the ones that do. That's the secret
of successful Time Travel!
About the author:
© 2005, Eric Garner, ManageTrainLearn.com
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Written By: Eric Garner
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