July 2025

Written By Sam Totten

Time Management

“There is no such thing as time management; there is only self-management.”

– Rory Vaden

OVERVIEW

How we spend our time is one of the most critical decisions we make as leaders.  Investing time in the right activities at the right time can exponentially drive the impact we have on our organizations.  Inspired by Rory Vaden's book; Procrastinate on Purpose, we want you to spend time this month thinking about how you spend your time and the decisions you make related to how you approach tasks.  In Procrastinate on Purpose, Vaden introduces the Focus Funnel, a mental framework for deciding how to handle tasks:

  1. Eliminate — Can you eliminate this task?  Eliminate unnecessary initiatives, meaningless activity, useless bureaucracy, the wrong people, unproductive meetings and obstacles that are holding the team back.

  2. Automate — Can you systematize it to never have to do it again? Automate regimented tasks, necessary but monotonous work and mechanisms that help reduce "think time" on tasks that are non-creative.

  3. Delegate — Can someone else do it? Delegate work and decision-making authority to the specialized talent you have on the team.  Purposely enable the vast majority of decisions to be heavily influenced and hopefully made by the people who are closest to the issue.

  4. Procrastinate on Purpose — Can it wait until later when it will matter more or be easier? Procrastinate on projects that aren't yet at the "right time" for your organization or anything you aren't sure is critical to the future direction of the team.

  5. Concentrate — Focus on what only you can do now. Concentrate on the next most significant step for yourself and your organizations.  Try to create a culture where every task and decision finds the person who is perfectly appropriate for the condition.

He emphasizes significance: how long will this matter into the future? This goes beyond just urgency and importance (as in the Eisenhower Matrix).  If your team is not familiar with the Urgency and Importance Matrix, it might be helpful to go over it with them. Then you can discuss the following that helps leaders get to three dimensional thinking and factoring in significance.

 

One-dimensional thinking: "Managing your time" by doing things fast and efficiently in order to try to squeeze more into whatever time you have available.  This is like running.

Two-dimensional thinking: "Prioritizing your time" by the Urgent and Important grid to borrow time from one area of your life to focus instead on another.  It's the skill of putting one thing in front of the others.  This is like juggling.

Three-dimensional thinking: "Multiplying your time" by adding in the calculation of Significance.  And to specifically give yourself the emotional permission to spend time on those things today that will create more time tomorrow.  This is like planting seeds.

The Prioritizer Game

Objective: Help your team learn how to prioritize tasks and make time management decisions more strategically, using the concepts of importance, urgency, and significance (as described by Rory Vaden).

Duration: 45 to 60 minutes total

Group Sizes: 3 to 5 people per group

MATERIALS NEEDED

  • Flip chart paper or large sheets for each group

  • Task Cards (print and cut out one set for each group…we’ve included 5 blanks for each team should they want to write-in their own)

  • Tape/Sticky Dots/Etc

  • Individual Worksheets



SET UP (5 min)

  • Divide into small teams (3–5 people each), this could be by department or mixed teams.

  • Each team gets the same set of task cards.

  • Provide each team with a large Post-It poster with the five categories of The Focus Funnel (Eliminate, Automate, Delegate, Procrastinate, Concentrate)


    Review the Focus Funnel and explain each stage

    Emphasize three-dimensional thinking and the importance of Significance (Ask: How long will this matter?)




TASK SORTING (20 min)

Instruct groups to take the tasks and put them through the funnel.  Attach them to the poster sheet in the category they feel like they belong.  Have them organize the tasks that make it all the way through to concentrate into the order in which they would do those tasks.




REVIEW (5 min/group)

Have each group present their funnel and rationale.




GROUP DISCUSSION (10-15 min)

  • Discuss differences in approaches.

  • Reflect on what surprised them.

  • How would they apply these principles to their actual work?



POST-ACTIVITY HANDOUT

After the group exercise, give each participant the Personal Task Prioritization worksheet to help them individually identify:

  • What to eliminate immediately.

  • What to automate.

  • What can they delegate.

  • What is better served at a later time.

  • What to concentrate on this week.

 
Sam Totten
Next

June 2025