Time Management: Going slow helps you to go fast

If mastering time management is one of your top priorities in life, as well as it should be for all high-achieving men or women, then you may want to pay attention to the art of “going slow to go fast”.  Have you ever heard that saying before?  Probably not.  I sure haven't heard it in many many years.  It was a very long time ago when I heard that saying, long before I became a life coach and a mentor of time management.  In fact, I heard that phrase while serving in the US Navy and have paid homage to it ever since.

“Going slow to go fast” will make a tremendous shot of improvement to the quality of your daily schedule and of course your individual tasks that must be completed each day.  Your work will completed faster and with better quality, your stress levels will decrease, and you will have more time on your hands to spend with family and friends.

So how in world can moving slower, in order to go faster, actually work?  It is very simple.   You see, I used to work on top of a United States Aircraft Carrier back when I was in the Navy.  Considering it is labeled as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, there was supreme attention to detail and organizational order on the flight deck.  With dozens of jet aircraft coming and going, dangerous steal wires that were moving at over 100 miles per hour, and the possibility of falling overboard into the ocean, one of the constant phrases that the leader of the flight deck was always telling us was to “Go slow to go fast!”.

In other words, for every task or job that an individual had to do, speed and efficiency needed to be implemented.  If fact, it meant life or death in many cases.  But in order to have the most productivity with the highest quality, we always knew to handle each task in a manner that was slow yet safe, carefully done yet efficient, and detail oriented yet expeditiously.  And what was the end result?  We got our work done faster, safer, and with 1st class quality.

You can do the same with your daily activities, starting today.  As you are going t through your daily list of things to do, pick one and attack it single-mindedly.  Take on the task with vigor, but at the same time paying specific attention to detail. 

Get your work done in a timely manner, but slow down in order to maintain the highest quality.  Take every task one minute at at time.  If you are writing a report, concentrate on one paragraph at at time.  If you are organizing your office, work carefully with one section at at time.  If you are running shopping errands, then do not try to rush.  Instead take your time driving, go directly to the location of the item you need, slow down.  Doing so will guarantee that you will have the least amount of sudden obstacles pop up from rushing your time schedule.  Remember, always go slow to go fast.