Time Management Strategies Quiz: Are You Productive or Are You Just Busy? How Can You Tell the Difference?

By Kathryn McKinnon, Time Management Expert, Best Selling Amazon Author of Triple Your Time Today!

These days, not having enough time has become commonplace. Everywhere you go, people find themselves constantly in a rush, over-booked and over-scheduled with no time off. Life is accompanied by the ongoing stress of not having enough time.

Sometimes doing too much and being too busy can actually be our way of numbing feelings of loneliness or emptiness; not knowing what we want; feeling unfulfilled in our work; masking anger, even depression. Keeping “busy” can be our way of feeling productive. But is this the case?

Are we really being productive with our time, or are we just keeping busy to pass the time?

Though it may not always seem so, how we fill our time and how we spend our time is our choice.

Answer “True” or “False” to the following questions in this time management strategies quiz to discover if you’re caught up in the “I’m too-busy” cycle:

1. I constantly find myself doing “urgent” things and trying to catch up.
2. Even though I’m always busy, I feel like I’m going nowhere with my life, business or career.
3. I rarely take the time to do anything for myself.
4. I allow myself to be interrupted and distracted from what I’m supposed to be doing.
5. I don’t follow a clear set of time management strategies for myself or my work.
6. I never have a moment alone, yet I have this nagging sense of loneliness inside.
7. I have a hard time saying “no” to others.
8. I find myself running from the time I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night.
9. I’ve given up on my dreams because of other obligations to my family, job or business.
10. I allow myself to drift into projects without knowing how much time or energy they’ll require.
11. I’m always tired and never feel like I accomplish enough.

If you answered “True” more often than “False,” then you may want to re-examine whether you choose to spend your time being “busy” or being productive. You may need to make a change in your life in these areas.

One difference between being productive and being “busy” is how you feel about how you spend your time. Feelings create thoughts, which result in actions. When you complete a task or project, do you have a sense of satisfaction? Do you feel like you’ve accomplished something with your time? Does your work make you feel energized and excited?

Another difference between being productive and being “busy” is the result you get with your time. T. Harv Eker says, “You either have reasons or you have results.” Are you making a contribution or are you making excuses? Are you adding value to your business/for your employer? Are you moving forward in your business or career, or are you spinning your wheels?
Being productive with your time requires that you set short-and long-term personal and professional goals. Otherwise you’ll feel like you’re going nowhere and accomplishing nothing day after day.

Being productive means you follow proven time management strategies and set up systems to measure and reward your accomplishments.

When you’re productive, you monitor your progress daily to see if what you’re doing with your time is on track with your goals, priorities and what you want to accomplish with your life. If not, you do something about it and correct your course.

Using your time productively makes you feel energized and excited about the work or tasks you choose to engage in. You’re in alignment with your purpose, values and aspirations.

When you’re productive with your time, at the end of the day, you feel good about yourself and how you spent your time. You feel optimistic about your future even if you don’t always know where you’re going.

No matter what you’d like to accomplish, the secrets to using effective time management strategies and achieving success are the same…

Develop Awareness. This is the first step toward being productive using effective time management strategies.

Decide what you want. Be as specific as possible. What can you change? The clearer you are about what you want in your life, the more you’re likely to achieve it.

Get Perspective. Most people don’t tell anyone what they want or what they’re struggling with. So they don’t have an outside perspective. They can’t see their way out of their current situation and they stay stuck.

Get Support. Very few people achieve anything great alone. Be willing to take responsibility for your life and how you spend your time. Ask for help and support starting today!

If you’re not productive with your time, if you’re not using time management strategies, if you’re not achieving the goals you’ve set
for your personal and professional life, then what’s keeping you busy?

For more information, Sign up for Kathryn’s Ezine and receive a Free Chapter of her New Book: Triple Your Time Today! She shares her secret Time-Saving Strategies, Tips and Techniques at: http://www.Kathryn-McKinnon.com

For help right now, pick up a copy of her New Best Selling Book in its Category on Amazon, Triple Your Time Today: 10 Proven Time Management Strategies to Help You Create and Save More Time!

For personal one-on-one coaching, training and consulting integrating effective Time Management Strategies into your life, career or business, contact Kathryn today at support@Kathryn-McKinnon.com

Copyright Kathryn McKinnon, McKinnon & Company 2010-2011. All Rights Reserved.