Page 31 - Time Management

Time Management
16
• Raise the behavior to full consciousness.
• Recognize that it produces more stress than results.
Mancini02.qxd 1/16/2003 4:21 PM Page 16
• Resolve to try to let go of the habit, since it’s clearly
counterproductive.
• Realize that if you let it go, it will not be the end of the
world.
• Replace it with a behavior that is less stressful but at least
as effective as what it supplanted.
TEAMFLY
• Repeat the new pattern until it becomes neutral, relaxing,
and accepted.
Individual, isolated, obsessive actions are not always the
problem. More common is a general overemphasis on the
importance of time. Indeed, in lay terms, this is what obsessive-
ness is all about. It conjures images of a person who uses a
blender to avoid chewing, who wants to watch 60 Minutes in 30
minutes, who is, deep down, either frantic or a workaholic.
Everyone, at one time or another, gets obsessive about
time. Here are some examples:
• People who feel guilty when they do nothing productive
on the weekends.
• People who stay at work beyond their official work hours
more than once a week.
• A person who tries to arrive exactly on time—neither early
nor late—for appointments.
• A driver who is upset by red traffic lights.
• Shoppers who get upset when the other line at the super-
market checkout stand moves faster than theirs.
• People who (a) subscribe to more than six magazines and
(b) feel guilty if they throw one away unread.
• A person who dreads vacations because work won’t get
done back at the office.
• People who lose their temper at work more than they’d
like to.
• People who, when alone at home, pick up the phone
when it rings, even if they’re busy doing something impor-
tant.

®
Team-Fly