Now that winter is here and unfortunately most of us including myself will be spending more time indoors. I am constantly trying to think of good ways to utilize that spare time to its fullest.
One amazing part of being in the learning and development profession is that my workplace had me certified to facilitate a course called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen R. Covey. One of the most memorable sections of the course that I get great feedback about is called the time management matrix.
Below is a figure of what the matrix looks like:
Source: http://habitica.wikia.com/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_Effective_People
The idea of the time matrix is that we spend time in the quadrants that are most valuable to you which are quadrant II behaviours. These activities can range from spending quality relationship building time with co workers or friends to planning your upcoming week, going to the gym to maintain your health.
The amazing thing about quadrant II is that we may already do a lot of these activities on a daily basis without knowing it!
During our sessions when discussing the time matrix a common comment regarding quadrant number IV is that we need these activities to keep ourselves sane. Or that we need this time to relax our body and our minds after a long and stressful day. I tend to be hesitant to agree with that completely, while I do agree that we need time to refresh that doesn’t necessarily mean going right to the couch and accomplishing nothing all night on TV.
Daily tasks do not magically go away because you are tired!
The best advice I was given was to ask yourself “which quadrant am I in right now and how long have I been here for?”. The skills of being able to recognize which quadrant your in is one we can all benefit from.
Just like a lot of things in life, everything is great in moderation and same goes with the quadrants.
Happy Learning!
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Trevor Lubinski 