Time or Task? by Ann Vertel
When you plan your booking calls, which of these two scenarios makes you queasy?
1. Call twenty people.
2. Call until you book two classes.
3. Make calls for one hour.
If you said #1 and #2 make you uncomfortable you are probably “time oriented.”
If #3 made you uncomfortable, you are probably “task oriented.”
Honoring your orientation will bring you greater results.
If you are task oriented, you prefer to work on a project until it is complete – calls, filing, cleaning, doing inventory, etc. The downside of this is you may become overwhelmed because a task seems too big. For example, the very thought of organizing your office may send you screaming because you believe once you start the work you must complete it. Task oriented people need to break larger tasks down into smaller ones. Where organizing your office may seem too huge, filing one stack of papers, stocking one shelf of inventory, or answering twenty emails might seem just right. Chunk down the task to manageable bites.
If you are time oriented, you prefer to work on a project for a set period of time, whether you finish it or not. This means you make calls, file, clean, do inventory for a set amount of time, such as half an hour, then move on to another timed task. The downside of this is you may not actually finish what needs to be finished. However, if you work on the project in set time spans you will eventually finish if you keep coming back to it. I read a great example of this, used to clean your house, from Marla Cilley, The Fly Lady, in her wonderful book “Sink Reflections.” (You can find Marla at http://www.FlyLady.com). She said to set a timer, clean a room for 15 minutes, then move to the next room and reset the timer. It works wonderfully for time oriented people.
Approach your work with the style that suits YOU. The point is to get your work DONE.
Ann Vertel, MA, CPBA
Marketing Consultant and Business Development Coach
http://www.UnitCoach.com
You may copy this article if credit is given to www.UnitCoach.com
7 Comments
December 5, 2006 at 6:34 pm
Call until you book two classes because you feel like
if you get one ..you are almost there but if you
dont get a second one you get mad. Its different if you call and can book five it doesnt feel so bad if you have two to three that hold
December 5, 2006 at 6:36 pm
I am very task oriented. If I decide to clean my house it takes all day because I go room by room until it is completely clean. So if I am in a hurry I do the time thing, just giving myself certain amount of time for each task.
April 14, 2007 at 4:48 am
I am task oriented. The book 2 scares me because that means I have to actually reach people. I can make 20 calls if I have the names to call.
May 20, 2007 at 1:48 pm
[...] sensible business quotes stuck in my hate these 2 weeks. Now I’m starting to take on my very “objective” (or rather, task) -oriented working style again . [...]
May 20, 2007 at 9:13 pm
I am definitely time oriented—especially when considering that a timer is currently sitting on my desk-courtesy of flylady! I clean my home, work my business, and run my errands all in timed increments! Isn’t that funny! However, if a task has a deadline and needs to be finished, I work my time backwards in order to calculate the approximate amount of time needed to complete a task. If necessary, I kick into task orientation in order to finish!
May 21, 2007 at 12:38 am
HELP! I wish I could answer this with one of the choices given. For the past few months, I have been no task oriented and last minute oriented! Any one want to give me a firm kick in the rear to get me going?? Or better yet, some constructive ideas how to get my mojo working again? All help will be deeply appreciated by not only me but my creditors!
May 21, 2007 at 12:51 am
LOL! Last minute oriented! I can relate to that!
Here is what I do, set a goal, such as get 3 fishbowls out this week. I set time in my mind or on my calendar to work on it. I work on that when I can until I reach the goal. Then I reward myself somehow. Ice cream cone anyone?