Cherish The Possibilities

You know that old axiom, “Quantity versus Quality?” I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. Most people I interact with tell me their plates are running over with meetings, tasks, errands, appointments, etc., and they feel they have limited time or energy in which to accomplish them all. Daily we are all faced with making decisions about how to best manage the array of items that come across our plates that may or may not need our attention. We have to determine which engagements to put on our calendar, which phone calls we will make, what actions to follow-up on and what relationships we will nurture. But, do we make those decisions with the thought of quality and real purpose? Or, do we almost unknowingly manage our time and fill our calendars based mostly upon quantity.  Busyness and having a full calendar is one thing, but managing our time and calendars based more upon quality actions and encounters, in my mind, usually bears more fruit.   

I, perhaps like you, wear multiple hats and have many daily decisions to make as to how to best manage my time and fill my calendar.  As the President of CTP Coaching, a Board Member for the Rancho Cordova Chamber of Commerce, a Planning Commissioner for the city of Rancho Cordova, and as a mom of a teen, I have untold opportunities to manage my time by simply adding quantity to my calendar. I, however, place more value in managing my time by keeping quality at the forefront instead of mere quantity.  

So, as I strive to more effectively manage my time as I fill my calendar, I continue to ask myself whether what I add to the calendar will allow for a quality-filled, fruitful encounter for either me or the other party, or is it simply just more quantity for quantity’s sake.  If the answer is simply more quantity, it doesn’t get added.   

How to best manage our time is a choice we all make daily. The concept of Quality over Quantity is a major tool I use to best manage my time. How about You?