Meet ETMY: The Effective Time Management Yardstick
There are just so many time management systems and apps available today.
Some are great for managing certain aspects of your life — like managing your todos at home, keeping track of your school calendar, or managing work projects). But the real challenge for your time management system (or systems), is to be get you effective across all areas of your life.
Why? Because doing poorly in one aspect (such as relationships, or work) affects effectiveness in other areas. And some systems may make you more effective in one area, but at the cost of another.
And that’s not great time management.
Meet ETMY: The Effective Time Management Yardstick
The ETMY scale is a system-agnostic scale to measure where you are along the scale of effective time management.
You may be using multiple time management methods to overcome the complexity that is life. And often, where one system works for somebody, another may prefer a different approach to managing their time.
Irrespective of the systems you use, the ETMY scale focuses on the overall benefit you are receiving across areas of life. Not just one area.
Each of the horizontal sections in the ETMY scale are ‘Stages’ of time management, starting from the bottom.
For example, the first stage (To-dos and Chores) is Stage 1: Being ahead of your todos and chores — at work and life.
Here are the various stages in sequence:
- Stage 1: You are ahead / in control of your todos and chores
- Stage 2: You are ahead / in control of your commitments. You may even experience the state of flow when you’re working
- Stage 3: You can easily set and achieve near term goals. (e.g. prepare for an exam, get through household and work projects)
- Stage 4: You are able to invest in, and have rich, fulfilling relationships with those around you
- Stage 5: You are able to set and achieve long term goals (e.g. get fit and look great, have a job you love, or earn a six figure paycheck)
- Stage 6: You indulge in creative, open minded thinking. You are in the state of Zanshin: Relaxed, aware and alert, as you get through your day.
More effective systems for you, will rank you higher up in the ETMY scale.
Test Yourself!
So how far along the ETMY scale does your to-do app or time management system take you?
Leave a message in the comments!
