From my last post, I will continue to talk about the Time-Math. Having realized how Goal-Fitting can help us hone our skills by keeping time on our side, another technique, Goal-Seeking, can be applied to “seek” a desired outcome within the time available.

If we develop both short-term and long-term planning horizons, there is less likelihood of having to resort to the Goal-Seeking technique. Remember, we intend to plan to succeed. Planning ahead is preferable but, sometimes, in spite of our best efforts we find ourselves in a tight spot and are constrained for time.

So, assuming you have limited time and a definite effort (i.e., we know how much total time we need for the desired outcome), you may follow the following sequence of steps to apply the Goal-Seeking technique: -

1.       Determine the maximum amount of time (generally, in number of hours) you can devote to the desired activity(ies) on a daily basis.

2.       Calculate if the total effort will suffice to achieve the result/outcome by the given deadline. If not, deliberate on Step 1 again to make it feasible. In other words, innovate to spare more time for the effort, e.g., you may find more time than normal on Wednesday evenings and/or Friday mornings (hypothetically speaking). At the end of the re-calc exercise, if the total time available does not measure up to the total effort required, you may conclude that your goal is unrealistic. In other words, it might become impossible for you to make TIME your ally for the desired purpose.

3.       Assuming the calculation (in step 2) works out fine, follow your plan religiously (this is easier said than done, hence, see Step 4).

4.       Constantly work towards diluting the disruptions. This is how you do it: -

·         Try and over-achieve on a daily basis and notionally bank the hours (keep a record of these hours). This will stand you in good stead when, on a particular day, you lose time due to any reason.

·         Have a disruption-dilution plan in place. Assuming you do not have not any banked hours at your disposal, determine in advance the sacrifices you will be prepared to make and correspondingly, the number of additional hours you will be able to devote to bring the execution of your plan back to a state of normalcy.

Ideally, a sound plan should not have any element of the Goal-Seeking technique. And also realistically, once you get down to applying this technique, it is not as easy to implement as it appears mathematically.

There are occasions when you may need to apply this technique to achieve the desired result. For example, on a bigger scale (when the goal is not too personal to you), you may resort to getting help from others, delegation etc. to meet the deadline.

Note that very few people have tasted true success using only the Goal-Seeking technique. The Goal-Fitting technique is a better way to make TIME your ally. You may initially have to apply the Goal-Seeking technique to get into the Goal-Fitting mode, and the sooner you do it, the better it bodes for your success in future!