It is the lot of a coach to find him- or herself working with clients who are grappling with the very issues the coach is working through.  At the moment, for me, it’s time management.  I am fortunate right now that my client base is growing and I’m running to keep up (remember those days?).  My clients are experiencing a range of issues that make it hard to manage their time.  One issue that is making all our lives increasingly challenging is technology.  Recently I have found myself waking up to the alarm on my mobile and – oh!  finding myself looking at e-mails before I’ve even got out of bed.  Especially when clients work in global organisations there is always somebody sending an e-mail.  This is particularly challenging because, if we’re not careful, we are always just a little “wired”:  ready to respond and never fully relaxed.  Clients also find it hard to manage their time in times of change, or after a promotion.

If you’re struggling with time management what can you do to come back into balance and productivity?  Here are a few thoughts from me:

• Take time out to dream:  You may think I’m crazy and still, this is my number one recommendation.  If you want to create something different, you need to know what it is you want to create.  Put aside all questions of how you might get there and ask yourself what might be true when you have got it right on the time management front.  You’ll probably find it surprising just how much this reveals;
• Set your sights at the right level:  Especially when you’re newly promoted, you will need to  recalibrate your sights.  Maybe it used to be your role to manage the big projects, but now it’s your job to work out which projects need to be managed – and delegate.  Maybe it used to be your job to make sure everything got done, but now it’s your job to set the direction of your area and to engage others in your team in how to make progress in that direction… you get the gist; 
• Set some boundaries:  As long as the amount of time you are willing to work is infinitely expandable you will find yourself giving more time than your contracted hours.  (My brother, currently working in Japan, wrote a blog posting recently – The salaryman – about habits in this area in Japan).  Decide what hours you are going to work and when and then use this as your guide.  The question then becomes:  how can I best use the time available to achieve my aims? 
• Organise, develop or expand your resources:  You may need to take a long hard look at what’s possible in the area of resources.  Maybe you have all the people you need but lack a structure (organisational design, clarity of roles and accountability, ways to monitor progress etc.) that supports effective working.  Maybe you need to expand your resources in one area or more.  Maybe you need to develop the capability of your staff.  Sooner or later you need to come to a view on what you can do and with what resources and establish boundaries for your team as well as yourself;
• Identify and address the big agenda items:  Some of these may well emerge from your dreaming (above).  They may be significant in scope and require effort across the whole team:  if only, for example, you could establish the reputation of your team with your key customer group, you would have clients in the business who gladly come to you rather than making the case for using contractors to do the work of your team.  Or perhaps they’re more limited in scope and still they eat up your time:  if only, for example, you could get John to perform effectively in his role, you would free your own time and that of others to do the job they are paid to do.  I don’t know what the big ticket items are in your area – do you?
• Chip away:  This last suggestion reflects the possibility that there may be all sorts of small things you can do differently in order to achieve a whole set of results without risking burnout for you or your team.  If this is the case, you might like to spend a period of time experimenting with changes you can make or you might want to open up this question to your whole team.  The more you ask the question, the more you will find all sorts of changes you can make including small changes that make a big difference.