Which one are you: overcommitted or overpromised?
Most people think that time management issues stem from being overcommitted, but that is not always true. If you are overwhelmed and becoming undone by your current pace, it might be helpful to determine if you are overcommitted or if you are instead overpromised.
Overcommitted is when you have miscalculated the amount of tasks you can complete in a given period of time or when you have scheduled two or more concurrent items which would require the laws of time and space to collapse in order for you to complete them. E.g., you are in a meeting that ends at 9:00 a.m. and you are supposed to attend another one that starts at 9:00 a.m. and is located twenty minutes away. Overpromised, on the other hand, is when you consciously say “yes” to so many things that you cannot possibly complete them all. Overpromised people are all about the word YES. Somewhere in their subconscious minds they know they cannot possibly complete all of the tasks, but they say yes anyway and then hope and wish that it will all work out somehow.
Overcommitted people have to work on being more realistic time planners and on building in buffers between appointments for things that may come along-like needing to go to the rest room, taking an unscheduled call, traffic, and the ultimate stressor for the overcommitted-the forgotten commitment. If you are feeling overcommitted right now, open your calendar, take a look at the next week and make changes to every single appointment that cannot realistically be achieved. You can always go back to your old ways-but I bet you won’t. Realistic scheduling is the best stress buster you can give yourself.
Overpromised people may actually be good at managing time and instead need to work on their use of the word YES. If you are feeling put upon on a daily basis it is probably because you are being put upon. People often take advantage of overpromisers because they always say YES!
I would not suggest that those of you who are overpromisers simply start saying “no” to people-that is too big of a leap. Instead, start by working on creating conversational buffers that can give you time to figure out if you can keep that promise BEFORE you say yes. E.g., “Let me get back to you on that one!” “Can I think about it?” “I would like to, but I am not sure I can do that yet.” Eventually you will make fewer promises overall but will be able to actually keep all of those you do make. That in turn will make you become more reliable and feel more appreciated, making it all worth it.
“Never take a solemn oath. People think you mean it.” ~Norman Douglas
