Managing time: what every communicator needs to know.

Feel pressured by time? You're not alone. We live in the most speeded-up era ever, and futurists say the trend toward acceleration will continue. By now almost all of us can relate to Henry Kissinger's famous quip, "There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full." As a professional communicator, what do you most need to know about managing time in the late 1990s? Read on.

* There's always time for what you do first.

Like "Pay yourself first" in the realm of money, this basic time truth is usually ignored by all but the savvy few. And the consequences are just as severe.

When was the last time you said something like, "I really wanted to work on that merger Q&A (or staff reviews or crisis communication plan) today, but I just didn't have time"? Think back. Did you use the early-morning hours to tidy your office or read and reply to your E-mail? In that case, your actions are speaking a lot louder than your words. They're saying, "My top priorities are tidying up and processing E-mail."

It's gross self-deception to claim we're committed to a certain goal if we're not willing to tackle tasks related to that goal as early in our day as possible. Inevitably, as the day wears on, we're more vulnerable to being distracted by other people's priorities, stress or fatigue.

* The sooner you face your fears, the less time you'll waste.

Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear of rejection. Fear of acceptance.

Like the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, these primal fears gallop over the landscape of our lives, laying waste to precious hours and days. Usually we run from our fears, repressing or denying them. But this is a very short-term strategy. That's because, emotionally speaking, what we resist persists. Or, to use Henry Miller's more eloquent language, "Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end."

The evolutionary choice: Face our fears and take action anyhow. Then do it again. And again. Along the way, celebrate successes, learn from failures and never criticize, berate or otherwise punish ourselves.

When we do this, we learn that we can take steps toward any goal no matter what we're feeling. This frees up vast amounts of time and energy.

* Traditional time management is far too limited for today's complex, holistic world.

Remember classic time-management advice such as "Handle each piece of paper only once," "Have your desk clear of everything but your priority A-1 project" and "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today"?

Turns out that's only half the story.

Old-style time management emerged in the Industrial Age. Assembly-line efficiency became the model for productivity of all sorts. Time-and-motion studies claimed to show the one right way to do each task. That context gave rise to a linear, logical, left-brain approach to managing time and other resources.

In our present Information Age, time management, like so much else, is being reengineered. Creativity, flexibility and visual/spatial skills are coming into their own. Such right-brain traits typically thrive on paper shuffling and project juggling. And though Ben Franklin's ghost may shudder, our intuition will often tell us quite correctly that tomorrow or next week would be a better time to do something than today.

In their book, "Time Management for Unmanageable People," consultants Ann McGee Cooper and Duane Trammell write, "By quickly glancing at [a] letter, you remind your brain to incubate and get ready to write or to keep searching until you come up with the best response." Ditto for glancing at various projects piled around your work space.

Traditional time management is still valid; it's just limited. It doesn't work best for everyone, it doesn't work best in all situations. Today's top time managers, like today's top communicators, equally value and employ right-brain techniques. This creates a far greater chance that they'll respond effectively to the constantly morphing realities of the '90s.

* You can't possibly keep up with all the latest information, and you'd probably be better off to stop trying.

"These days, even the uninformed know too much," one futurist quipped.

Others agree. Neurologist Richard Restak, author of several books on the brain, says that a mind crammed with factoids makes it difficult for a person to focus, set goals and keep track of time.

Ray Petracel of Canada's University of Regina, commenting on the information glut at a recent meeting of the World Future Society, told the audience, "People need to learn how to assess and evaluate information, then work on applying and developing it."

Where do we turn for creative ideas on how to apply and develop all the information we now have access to? Perhaps to those neglected right-brain traits again. Einstein did. He concluded, "Imagination is more important than knowledge" and "The only really valuable thing is intuition."

If you're thinking that, as a writer, you certainly don't neglect imagination and intuition, think again. True, most communication professionals are more creative than, say, most engineers or accountants. But verbal abilities and language skills are left-brained traits. Not to mention that 90 percent of all adults in our society are left-brain dominant.

* Never underestimate the power of momentum.

Often, we put off key actions - ones that would result in the biggest return on our time investment - because of "initial resistance." The feeling may range in intensity from simple balking to near paralysis.

With our reputations as communicators on the line, we're especially likely to experience such resistance when faced with key writing assignments. We imagine that this resistance is going to drag at us during the whole writing session, like a sack of stones tied around our waist. We convince ourselves that nothing worthwhile can come from such heaviness. We'd do better to wait until we feel more inspired, right?

Fatal mistake. We don't realize that initial resistance is just that: initial. If we dig in, we're likely to find that heaviness falls away after the first five or 10 minutes. Momentum takes over, with its irresistible forward pull. Surprise! We may wind up working for hours, feeling plenty inspired. Or at least we get through without struggling.

Likewise, we don't realize that each time we procrastinate, we make the action we're avoiding harder. Putting things off builds backward momentum as strongly as action builds forward momentum. But we don't get to stand still. So, in which direction do you want to go?

* The more fun you have, the more you can get done.

Sound too good to be true? Here's the logic.

We've already cited the right brain as a crucial missing element in the old time-management paradigm. We could also call that side of the brain our "inner child." Just like a real kid, our inner child thrives on spontaneity, variety, play, humor, music, visual stimulation and the company of others. Also like a real kid, it wants our approval and encouragement.

When our inner kid feels bored, rejected or over-controlled, watch out. It will rebel and sabotage the best-laid plans. We experience this sabotage as tiredness, inability to concentrate, lack of ideas or an urge to procrastinate. Or even as illness.

For optimal productivity and satisfaction, we need to keep our right brain happy. Easy ways: Work to music; break up periods of intense concentration with frequent frivolity; work with a partner or team.

Another tactic is to ask the following questions: How can I turn this into a game or challenge? Can I invent a new and better way to do this? What would it take for me to really enjoy this and finish it on time or sooner?

If catering to the needs of your childlike right brain seems trivial, consider this: Research by scientist Robert Orestein of the University of California has shown that using both sides of our brain increases creativity and productivity up to 10 times what we get when we rely mainly on just one side.

* How you communicate with yourself is just as important as how you communicate with others.

Professional communicators know the power of words. When we want to inform, inspire and motivate others, we make sure our language respects emotional sensitivities. We hold up role models, tell moving stories, give lavish praise where due. We scrupulously avoid condescension, exhortation, exaggeration and cliches.

Yet when we communicate with ourselves, many of us are surprisingly cavalier. In the privacy of our own thoughts, we'll use turns of phrase and tones of voice we'd never accept in a newsletter, press release or CEO speech - or with members of our work team.

Instead, we fall back on the type of communicating our parents used with us when we were children. We nag, criticize, command, lecture and guilt-trip. We may even punish ourselves by withholding our own self-approval or denying ourselves pleasures (lunches with friends, evenings out, vacations).

What about you? Do you have a running inner monologue that sounds suspiciously like a critical parent? Along these lines, perhaps: "You should have started that media plan weeks ago! Why do you always put tough projects off to the last minute? This has been going on for years. Won't you ever learn? Now you'll have to do a rush job that won't begin to live up to what you're capable of."

Or perhaps your inner voice communicates a generally negative attitude. Something like: "I'll never get all this work done by the deadline. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I'm expected to do around here! It isn't fair to keep reducing our staff and budget. If only I could get myself better organized. But there's never time, and it looks like there never will be."

The problem is, this type of coercive and negative talk is just as counterproductive with ourselves as it is in our workplaces. Confronted with it, our right-brained self feels misunderstood, unappreciated and resentful. If our inner kid is sulking in a corner - or has run away from home altogether - with it goes access to our imagination, enthusiasm, intuitive problem-solving skills, holistic "big picture" viewpoint and other invaluable abilities.

Remember, to get the two sides of our brain working happily together, the key is good self communication: careful and compassionate phrasing, attentive listening, upbeat tone, clear examples, inspiring models, plenty of praise and acknowledgment and so on. As communicators, we're way ahead of most people; we've already developed these skills and know their value. All we need to do is transfer them consistently to the inner arena.

* Having a plan is vital, but just as vital is the willingness to revamp or scrap your plan without regret.

A compelling vision of the future imparts direction and purpose to our efforts. But without a detailed plan - a series of measurable goals, together with practical tactics and timeframes for achieving them - our sense of purpose can fade and we're likely to veer off course.

A plan provides criteria for selecting daily, weekly and monthly priorities. A plan also embodies a set of specific expectations that we can match against actual results. Then we can adjust our plan accordingly, like a rocket that corrects its own course as it flies.

Be warned, though. With the pace of life at warp speed, planning's not what it used to be. We need to be a lot better at tracking trends, anticipating change and embracing the unexpected. We need to accept that the process of creating a plan is as valuable as the plan itself. Otherwise, we may feel confused or discouraged when our expectations don't pan out. Or we may cling to an existing plan that needs to be revised - or scrapped altogether.

* The busier you are, the more important it is to invest time in managing your time.

"I'll start setting daily priorities after I finally finish this employee annual report."

"As soon as I get caught up, I'm definitely going to design a strategic career plan."

"Once all this downsizing stops, then I'll sort out my goals."

Sound familiar? Where managing time is concerned, many of us have a "wait" problem. We wait for circumstances to arrange themselves into a more convenient pattern. We wait for our energy level to rise or our stress level to drop. In short, we wait to "have" or "find" more time before we'll commit to learning and applying time-management concepts and tools.

Here's how it really works: You don't practice time management when you have more time; you have more time when you practice time management.

Ann Reeves is an Ojai, Calif.-based trainer/consultant specializing in time management and personal motivation and the author of the new audio book, "Seven Secrets of Managing Time."