I see and hear and read about all the folks looking to manage their time better.
It’s a big deal for lots and lots of people.
Over 4 Billion results for Time Management
In fact, the topic is in big enough demand, that by doing a quick search, Google shows “About 3,620,000,000 results” for Time Management Tips and “About 4,830,000,000 results” for Time Management.
Of course, your results may be a bit different depending on where you’re searching from and whether you’re using a VPN to skew the local results.
I feel this is looking for the wrong answer by asking the wrong question.
In my experience, the question shouldn’t be “How do I manage my time better?”, but it should be restated as “How do I manage myself better?”.
By better managing one’s attention & energy, the management of one’s time occurs more automatically.
By making better and quicker decisions, one’s time is automatically “managed” a bit better.
It’s a side effect.
It’s a much sought after result, but it’s still a side effect.
By altering our mindset a bit, asking a little different question and looking for a little different answer, we improve our chances of accomplishing the “time management” skill so many are looking for.
This is something we’ll look into in future sessions, but for now, it’s time for me to get back to my most immediate project.
We’re working on building a learning center for both you and I.
Thank you for stopping by today and I hope your day exceeds your greatest expectations!
It’s my hope that You will practice patience whenever anyone is asking you for Directions.
Asking for directions is a two-edged sword.
Shouldn’t be, but often it is.
A Little Story
Here’s a little story to illustrate my point.
You see, I’m an American living in London, England.
There’s a lot of great things about this city.
I really appreciate the area … All the museums, galleries, history, “hidden” clubs, parks, palaces … just tons of things to do and see.
However, sometimes getting good, concise, easy-to-understand directions can be a real pain in the arse!
My belief is that it comes from a lot of the locals being so busy with life, it causes them to not be very patient at times.
A few days ago, I was boarding the DLR (Docklands Light Railway) at Canary
Part of the DLR Station at Canary Wharf in London, England. Patience is needed by both passengers and train drivers to navigate these platforms and trains.
Wharf DLR Station, going towards Stratford.
As this journey was about to begin, I heard an elderly lady, apparently of Indian descent, asking a younger man a question.
She obviously was not a native, and the English language was not easy for her, but she was trying very hard to use the right words in asking her question.
She did manage to ask her question in a fairly clear and concise fashion.
His answer, then her reaction, caused me to remember my first few days here.
In those first few days, I discovered, when asking native Londoners directions, it can be a real adventure to get a straight & simple answer.
Back to the lady and her question.
The Scene
The train we were on begins at Canary Wharf and finishes at Stratford, after having made several stops inbetween.
Only once she was on and seated did it occur to her she might not be on the right train (there are several trains & tracks to choose from).
So she turned to the guy beside her, who was looking at his phone very intensely. Probably reading an important email or going over his notes for a meeting.
The Question
She then asked “Sir, can you tell me if this train goes to Langdon Park?”
He could have practiced a bit of patience, and explained which stop it was, and yes, the train did indeed go there.
But she had interupted him and his reading, so he seemed to be a bit annoyed.
His answer?
“Yes, this train goes to Stratford.”
“Yes, this train goes to Stratford.” were the words out of his mouth.
He went straight back to reading his email or notes (or playing a game, as many do) on his phone.
Now I could tell by the look on her face that she was really confused at this point.
To her, not only did he not answer her question, but he’s interjected another place, that she has no idea about it or where it was.
Probably never even heard of it before now.
Let’s Try Again
So she bucked up enough courage to ask the question in a little different way, saying “I’m trying to go to Langdon Park to visit my daughter. Can I get there on this train?”
He should have been able to tell that she didn’t understand his answer, but chose to answer the exact same way again, with no explanation at all.
“Yes, the train goes to Stratford.”
As far as he was concerned his answer was correct, which is was. It was just incomplete.
He answered a question with words that she wasn’t expecting, didn’t understand, and the answer didn’t help her one bit.
Patience & Understanding … Please
Which is where the lack of patience kicks in.
At this point, I got up, walked over to the lady and explained to her that Langdon Park was just the 4th or 5th stop on the way to Stratford, so yes, the train does go to Langdon Park.
She looked relieved, smiled a big smile and thanked me.
Hear the Question while Practicing Patience
He looked a bit perplexed that it actually had to be described in such a way for her to understand.
He acted like I thought he didn’t know what he was talking about.
No doubt in my mind that he knew. He just didn’t fully listen to the question.
To a lot of the natives & locals, getting around is done by sight & markers, not maps.
So they expect others to know the same things they know about getting around.
Now this is not usually an issue in the tourist areas, as folks expect to have to explain things.
In the more “local” and non-touristy areas, one is just automatically expected to know things such as “since this train goes to Stratford, it must go by Langdon Park to get there.”
That’s the way they learned, so that’s what they expect.
Very little patience for those who don’t know.
My request to the “locals”, worldwide, is to practice patience, and when asked for directions (or any other question), try looking at it from the asker’s point of view.
You may just see the world in a whole new way.
Thanks for reading my little story and I hope you have a wonderful day.
That’s right, contrary to what you may have heard over the years, Imitation is NOT Flattery… Imitation is just lazy theft!
Now, before you yell and scream and call me all kinds of names, really think about it for a minute or two.
Today’s post was begun as a way to rant a bit about people (using an Istanbul, Turkey IP address) trying to break into this web site. I looked at my statistics yesterday, and noticed there had been several break-in attempts over a 4 day period… This occurred to a site with absolutely NOTHING on it, except a WordPress installation and the initial “Hello World” post! Continue reading “Imitation is NOT Flattery”
Continuing on from the previous post, let’s stay on the subject of mindset, and especially the mindset needed in marketing.
Too often I hear people use the word “can’t”, as in “I Can’t” or “You Can’t” do that.
As has been said and proven time and time again, “Whether you think you can or can’t, you’re probably right.” Really, it’s self-explanatory and self-fulfilling, but let’s dig into it just a bit.
