Time Management: It’s Not Rocket Science

Follow a few simple ideas to be productive with the time you have.

Charlie Gilkey
Aug 28, 2017 · 2 min read

I once co-led a conversation on the topic “Time Management: Tips & Tools for Managers Who Don’t Have Enough Time” with a team of plant managers. I had five ideas I wanted to foster conversation and teamwork around, and none of those ideas were complex or complicated.

At one point in that conversation, one of the managers mentioned something along the lines of: “It’s not rocket science — we just need to do a better job of practicing these things.”

My gut and head went in two different directions at that point.

My head told me I was wasting their time. Make it harder! Razzle-dazzle them! Throw in a bunch of statistics and graphs! Pull out a few five-syllable words!

My gut told me I had succeeded in what I had set out to do. They have a simple language they all understand and can use to support each other in applying the concepts in their day-to-day activities. Their heads are full of a bunch of other technical, hard-to-work-through stuff — they don’t need another complex or complicated idea.

Luckily, my gut won that day.

It’s not rocket science. That’s why it works. I learned this through a bit of education and a lot of trial by fire when I was a military leader and I’ve done my best to practice and teach it since then.

It reminds me of the line from Chapter 53 of the Tao Te Ching:

“The Tao is broad and plain
But people like the side paths”

We love those side paths. They’re interesting. They give us a convenient justification about why we didn’t . They let us play safe and small or not be responsible for the wake of our actions.

Then there’s Peter Drucker:

“What you have to do and the way you have to do it is incredibly simple. Whether you are willing to do it, that’s another matter.”

Simple, effective ideas incorporated into a team’s everyday communication and practice lead to one of five things:

  1. clarity about requirements vs. capabilities
  2. conversations about priorities, focus, and accountability
  3. an examination of the systems and processes that are relevant to the work in question
  4. honest discussion about whether the team has the right mix of people
  5. great execution

Every manager wants great execution; few are willing to work through the to get there.

Leadership isn’t rocket science, either.

#13: Simple Does Not Equal Easy.


Charlie Gilkey is an author, business advisor, and podcaster who teaches people how to start finishing what matters most.

Thrive Global

More than living. Thriving.

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Charlie Gilkey

Written by

Author of Start Finishing: How to Go From Idea to Done => startfinishingbook.com. Founder of Productive Flourishing => productiveflourishing.com

Thrive Global

More than living. Thriving.

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