It’s a widespread belief that time management and creativity don’t go well together. Time management seems to favor planning and structure above feeling and imagination which supposedly are the domain of creativity.
We, the makers of MyTime Creator, see this differently. In order to be creative, you need time and space to shape your ideas. Also, you need boundaries to spark your creative juices and strengthen your focus. Time management can help you shape the conditions under which your creativity can flourish.
Time management is never a goal in itself
The purpose of time management is not to control time, but to create time. Time to do the things that matter to you, whether this is advancing your career, your relationship, your sport or a creative project. Is spontaneity important to you? Then you can use time management to add more spontaneity to your life.
For example:
Imagine you and your partner have recently become parents. Your conversations start to revolve around naptime, breastfeeding, and diaper change. At some point, the relationship might start to feel more like a business you run together instead of a romantic set-up. In order to avoid getting into a rud, it’s imperative that you also spend time together without the children. You can leave this up to chance, wait for both of you to feel like going out spontaneously and then try and find a sitter. If you apply this strategy, there’s a good chance that the children will be adults before the two of you go out on a date again. It’s much more effective to schedule a fixed evening with each other. For example, every first Saturday of the month, arrange a babysitter, keep your schedule free, and see what the evening will bring. As a result, you’ll bring more spontaneity into your relationship than if you were to keep things open.
The same principle applies to your work
For example, by organizing your time in such a way that you can work on your most important tasks undisturbed during the first two hours of your working day, you can use your time more flexible during the rest of the day. Maybe you can join your colleague for a spontaneous lunch walk? Work on an unscheduled task? Or finally, sit down to work out that idea that you’ve been playing with since summer? Knowing that your most important work of the day is done, you’ll experience more freedom and more ownership over your time.
Your time, your choice
The lessons in the online time management training do not follow a fixed order. You choose the Module you want to work on and when. By means of a short video and clear instructions, you can put the learned method into practice immediately in the areas in which you want to experience more time and more freedom.
This post was written by Carla Geenen from UX inside.