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October 5, 2015

How to Get that Monkey Off Your Back and Claim Your Time!

15-Oct5

A friend of mine carries this mug that reads “You have the same number of hours in your day as Beyoncé.” In a busy world that prioritizes material possessions less and life experiences more, minutes have become the new dollar.  Similar to money, time is something we were never taught how to successfully manage. The vicious cycle seems to be: The more successful we are, the more we do. The question is: How do we reclaim our time and train others not to hijack it?

While most of my days are spent trying to help companies grow their brand, strategize product launches, or pitch latest marketing technology, there’s one strategy I’ve learned to manage: my own time. This also has benefits for many of the clients we work with, regardless of the business challenges they face.

I’ve learned this time management skill from William Oncken, Jr. and Donald L. Wass book, Management Time: Who’s Got The Monkey. Executives have a unique role in organizations; they are responsible for duties assigned by the boss, their own duties, and duties associated with their team.

Imagine it’s Monday afternoon and you are in your office working on a project, and a junior associate comes into your office with a problem — their “monkey” — and agree to work on finding a solution. In this scenario, the associate’s monkey has officially jumped off his or her back and onto yours. Now imagine this happening all day long. No wonder we claim we don’t have enough time in the day.

Oncken and Wass identify five different outcomes that result from someone trying to put their “monkey” on your back.

  1. They wait until you tell them what to do.
  2. You ask them what to do.
  3. They recommend an action, then with your approval, implement it.
  4. They implement action but advise you at once.
  5. They implement action and update you through routine procedure.

Oncken and Wass recommend that when a team member brings you a problem, completely outlaw options 1 and 2, which waste team. Agree on and assign options 3, 4, 5 to the problem, and make sure to take no more than 15 minutes to discuss the problem.

Just like Beyoncé’s dance moves, practice makes perfect. It is the constant action that creates the habit, and the habit that will create the culture in your environment. As we learn more about how to use our time wisely, our currency with it becomes more valuable. So when you find yourself trading in that gold Rolex for that Amazon rafting trip, the only monkeys you’ll need to worry about are the ones swinging through the trees.