Have you ever said “it’s faster if I just do it myself”?

I have!

In fact I 100% believed that to be true, but I was wrong.

The truth is it’s not faster to do the task yourself. It’s actually faster for you to delegate.

But it was a belief system that I held on to for a long time that actually kept me stuck, strapped for time and overwhelmed.

That’s why in today’s video I’m talking about some of the common misconceptions or myths around time management that many managers believe that is actually slowing them down and keeping them overwhelmed.

Would you prefer to read rather than watch? Not to worry! You can read the blog post below. 

But first, to really help you stand out in your new role I highly recommend downloading the New Manager Starter Kit. A free downloadable interactive guide to help you show up and stand out and take the right action steps.

It’s very common for me to receive emails, or dms on facebook from specifically new managers who are looking for a fix for the time issues that they are having.

A lot of them feel like there is simply not enough time in the day to get everything done and I certainly remember feeling this way particularly at the beginning and maybe you feel the same too.

But something that I’ve noticed is that there are a few beliefs that new managers have that of course affects their actions that is keeping them stuck in the lack of time trap.

I was certainly guilty of all of this until I was called out by my mentor and coach and so I want to do the same for you today so that you can actually progress past the ‘omg I’m way too busy to do anything’ trap.

New Manager Time Management Misconception #1

“It’s just far easier for me to do this myself. “

Have you said that yourself?? I know I have!

You know this happens a lot particularly if you were an individual contributor on the team before.

Because of the fact that you know the ins and outs of how all things work – you might feel that it’s easier and faster even to just do it yourself rather than to train or help someone else do it to the same standard.
But that belief is 100% keeping you stuck and not entirely true either.

Now yes there are certain things that you have to do – in fact in my new manager accelerator I talk my students through in the delegation module what the exact things are they have to hold on to no matter and that applies across industries so that they know what they can delegate and what they can’t.

But honestly speaking, the majority of the tasks you are doing can be delegated.

And not only does this free up your time but it also helps develop and empower team members which is a critical aspect of your role.

So learning how to delegate is a must for any manager, especially a new manager because there is a lot on your plate that you have to learn and do to keep progressing.

New Manager Time Management Misconception #2 – Believing the answer is in the prioritization list

I don’t know about you but I’m the type of person that loves to plan and organize.

I was talking to a friend the other day about the fact that in school I loved my agenda!

I loved writing down what needed to get done in order of what needed to get done and I took that executive functioning skill with me into the corporate world which definitely helped, but even with that skill – I still found myself constantly strapped for time.

It didn’t make sense to me because I was like well I’m planning out my days and I’m grouping the tasks why am I so behind?

Well if you are experiencing the same thing it could be because just like me you are not setting boundaries.

You see having a prioritized list is great, but if you are saying yes to everything under the sun that passes your desk then that list gets bigger and bigger even though the time in the day isn’t increasing.

So you actually have to learn how to politely and sometimes assertively say no to things to make sure that you are protecting your time because you only get so many hours in a day so you have to be smart about how you use it.

New Manager Time Management Misconception #3 – There is no time for development

I’ve heard this a thousand times.

“I know that I need to get better but I don’t have time”

“I know that it’s imperative for me to know what I’m doing but I don’t have time to learn.”

Listen I’m gonna give you some tough love here – sometimes if we don’t make the time for what’s important then that time will be made for us.

I’ve seen far too many managers not prioritize their own development and the development of their team because they don’t have the time even though they recognize that it’s important – and sadly they were asked to step down from their role or were fired.

The truth is companies will only accept subpar performance for so long. And they simply don’t have the time for you to slowly learn along the way with each mistake you make.

It’s in their best interest to have you performing at an optimal level sooner rather than later.

So learn to prioritize the things that are important rather than just the things that are urgent.

Your development and your team’s development is important.

No one just gets better by means of osmosis -they get better learning and doing.

Besides if time is what you lack, then the training you need whatever that might be will speed you up helping you get further faster rather than stuck in the hamster wheel of reaction.

New Manager Time Management Misconception #4 – If I stay back a few more hours I’ll get everything done

One of the reasons that I experienced burnout at one point was because I was getting to work at 8am and leaving at 11pm.

For weeks I was doing this.

And if you would have asked me why I needed to do that, I would have told you it’s because I have way too much on my plate.

But the truth was that I was just managing my time poorly and a time audit actually proved that to be true.

So here’s the deal, there is always going to be a lot more work than time allows – that’s the nature of the beast.

But you have to protect your energy if you want to be effective.

So again learn to say no, learn to adjust priorities, learn to delegate and most importantly be reasonable.