How Do Personality Types Hinder Time Management?
January 8th, 2011 by incom
When thinking about time management, it is important to acknowledge that your personality type can affect how well you manage your time. You may find that you have some characteristics of several of the personality types, or you may find that none of them apply to you. However, you may find that some of your co-workers or employees have some of the characteristics of the following five personality types:
- Procrastinator
Procrastinators put off anything they need or want to do until the last minute, when there is no valid reason for the delay. Procrastination costs companies millions of dollars and prevents countless employees from being as productive as they could be. Procrastinators tend to have lower self-esteem than people who do not procrastinate. Low self-esteem causes creativity blocks and the inability to set and accomplish goals. Since procrastination is a habit, it can be broken. If you are a procrastinator, ask yourself, ”What is the best use of my time right now?” When you determine the answer to that question, you should implement a ”do it now” strategy. - Perpetually Late
Lateness is a habitual behavior that affects everyone. To overcome perpetual lateness, you should first evaluate the reasons for your lateness. Every time you are late, write down how late you are and why. Each day, examine your list to see if there is a pattern to your lateness. Once you pinpoint the reasons you are late, you can then create a plan that compensates for your lateness. For example, you may find the solution to your problem is to spend less time at breakfast and to leave fifteen minutes earlier for work. - Perfectionist
Perfectionists are never satisfied with the work they do. They often work and rework a project so much that they miss deadlines or do not finish projects at all. Perfectionism is a result of fear of failure and success. Perfectionists hesitate to delegate tasks to others, fearing the employees will not complete the tasks properly. To overcome perfectionism, you should learn from mistakes instead of fearing them. Also, know when to quit by allowing yourself only two ”do-overs” for any project, and focus on actual results of your work, instead of worrying about criticism of your work before you have completed it. Learn to trust your employees and determine which tasks you can delegate. - Easily Distracted
Easily distracted people have difficulty completing one project before moving on to another one. The easily distracted are interrupted easily by co-workers, telephone calls, and e-mails and often become bored working on one task at a time. In addition, they are often bored with the work they are doing. To become more focused, you should try to become interested in the work you are doing by seeing your work as a reflection of yourself. If you are bored with your work, try to find creative ways to complete routine activities. If outside distractions are a problem, you should close your office door, limit the time you spend on the telephone, and designate specific times to check your e-mail. - Do-it-all
Do-it-alls have a hard time telling people ”no.” Part of changing this habit is realizing that doing everything all the time is just not possible. Telling someone ”no” does not indicate that you are an incapable person. Often, realizing that you simply do not have time for another project saves you and the people around you time. It is important to understand that realizing your limits is not a weakness. Being honest about your limits allows the person making the request an opportunity to delegate the task to someone else.