Using the Enneagram for Time Management

There are many good methods for time management, but all the methods without exception require a discipline. Stephen Covey, who is a self-help guru, mentions about "Big Rocks" regarding time management in his book named “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. By saying “Big Rocks,” he means that we should determine what is important and what has priority in our lives. He says that we often focus on the small stuff and leave the "Big Rocks" for later. What we forget or fail to see is that this is exactly what can ruin everything in our lives such as a relationship, a deal, a learning procedure, and a moment of happiness. Therefore, we need to begin with and attach importance to the big priorities, the "Big Rocks". If you take good care of these and plan them appropriately, you will be able to see that you have time for things that you thought you did not have time previously.

In planning you should look at your week broadly and in the beginning of the week, you should think on each item that you plan and write down, level them up and give priorities where necessary. Write down what needs to be done first, in other words put the "Big Rocks" first. This will ensure balance; prevent you from being overly focused on only one or two areas. In this way, you can balance in work, family, children, health, money, friends and time which are all vital.

Let's look at this in terms of Enneagram types…

Type 1: Type 1s can manage time more easily than others. Their need for rules requires drawing of a very detailed plan to follow during the week. However after finishing the exact weekly plan problems may arise. Life is not mathematics; our meetings and obligations do not always finish at the moment we planned. And so, the temperament of Type 1, which was supposed to help, begins to hinder; they get disturb and begin to criticize harshly.

What to do: Do not give up planning, but be kind to yourself and be flexible. Think on the options if things go wrong and if you are interrupted. Consider a few minutes more for others and maybe a few minutes less for yourself, if you are a person who always elaborate and re-check. It should be remembered that great and good are enemies. Good may be enough for you. If you allow yourself less time, you will reach “good” and will still be ready. Remember that your “good” is some else’s “great.” Spare time for leisure. Put leisure activities in your schedule. This will give you energy and if you plan it, you will feel that you are fulfilling a duty.

Type 2: The time you spend for others will be always more than the time you spend for yourself. The schedule of Type 2 will be filled with meetings and obligations with other people aiming at involving them in your business. The time and energy you spend will be unlimited, especially if this project or task is one of your “chosen” projects. Because there is no limit in helping others you may waste time while performing a task or in creation of ties with the person or people involved in the project. This over commitment may be due to your desire for acknowledgement.

What to do: You should first check your schedule and identify whether your commitments are related to your needs. If you can’t find them, now you should start to balance your schedule with those that have nothing to do with anyone besides yourself. Learn to say no to people, even if it gives you a feeling that you ignore them. Don’t think that they might not like you anymore. In fact, they love you for who you are and not for what you do for them. In this way, you will have more time for yourself. At first it may seem weird, but you will see that it will provide many advantages in terms of time.

Type 3: Type 3s are very busy. They believe that they can only be acknowledged for what they do; therefore they do more and more things. They start very early in the morning to keep their image good and they never neglect their tasks such as going to the gym, having an excellent breakfast or some other productive activities. And then they focus on work whole day until there are no other commitments left to be done. No or very little time is left for having a rest or doing nothing.

What to do: You should immediately start to analyze your schedule. Look through everything and check if everything is in balance. How many hours of the day are scheduled for commitments? Are there hours allocated for resting, leisure, fun, or even for idle time? You should have some down time and you should slow down for a moment. You need to care about your breathing and contemplate on the horizon. Change your schedule to spare for yourself an “idle time.” Plan 10 minutes between meetings to be free and do nothing. Slow down. Go home earlier. Try to have pleasure in everything you are doing. This will help you to see value in another way; as a result you will see that you actually increase your sense of accomplishment.

Type 4: There must always be emotion, depth and value in all activities that of Type 4s do. In this way they can feel satisfied and do everything better than anyone else. However, sometimes things may not happen like this; there may be some duties that we like or dislike in every project or job. The schedule of Type 4 can be well-prepared and very busy, but the tasks that they think that they are “boring” are always left for later. Sometimes, by doing things at the last minute they can add adrenalin in what they do and turn "boring things" into” exciting ones”. So, they always cannot manage their time appropriately. They may idle for a long time and later try to finish a work in a hurry.

What to do: Be eager while preparing your schedule. Be aware of the things that motivate you and have a meaning; even the trivial but very necessary things, such as paying a bill, sending an e-mail, etc. Make a list of columns for that and make sure you include the tasks throughout the week. As much as possible, remember to put the things that you consider boring, or dull in the list. Put these boring but important things between the tasks that you see the reason for doing. In doing so you will feel much more productive and less tired.

Type 5: If Type 5s would make their schedule by themselves they would only plan a few meetings or no meetings at all. They prefer working in the environments that are private for them with sound insulation. But life is not always like that… corporate life requires rooms that are shared and also it means having a lot of meetings. Nevertheless, Type 5s prefer being alone in order to be able to think, analyze, and produce something. As they need to analyze in depth and they want to see the details, they spend a lot of time on something. They may make a lot of preparations because they take the things on themselves or because they feel that they have to take all the responsibility. Type 5s may feel they need more information when less is acceptable. Not all circumstances require submitting a complete or thorough work. In cases like this, the amount of detail means the work is practically done.

What to do: Try to create time to be “alone” and have them between the meetings. It could be 10 minutes, but during this time you should be really alone and “recharge yourself” to get ready for your next interaction. Determine a realistic duration for each topic in meetings you lead, but allocate more time for the topics of your expertise. Also, care about the topics that interest you: you may spend too much time on searching for information about that topic and this may delay your projects. You must set a time limit and stick to it; this will ensure that you meet deadlines. Be sure that you have enough information and expertise and do not be caught up in details when you hand off work to someone else. This will helpful for both saving time and helping the development of others.

Type 6: The schedule of Type 6 is always busy; however it is not for sure that whether all the items in this schedule are necessary. All Type 6s have a certain amount of curiosity and it leads them to ask the question: “What if?” If you spend too much time on “What ifs”, it will cause waste of your time. They always think that they need to ask and consult someone else for the work to be done. Sometimes this could happen in sending an e-mail or sometimes while carrying out a big project. They have the same logic: They are skeptical and therefore they miss the opportunity to be faster and more effective.

What to do: First of all, there is a need to acknowledge that you waste your time. Even this will be the first big thing to start. You often get lost while thinking on different scenarios. You cannot finish the projects on time because you review it again and again as you are always doubtful. Be sure you determine and meet the deadline and trust what you did. Do not try to find any excuse to gain extra time for the work.

Type 7: They like brainstorming meetings where they can be motivated and reveal their creativity; however when it is time for action they may find excuses. They may escape from that work for another work which gives more pleasure and satisfaction. All the activities that are routines and that they need to be focused and be well disciplined are boring for Type 7s. For example, doing the same thing every day and attending the regular meetings might bore them and make them run away.

What to do: The solution is very simple! Never start something new before you finish what you have already started. This requires to be well-disciplined and be focused which is too challenging for Type 7s. It basically means to tell the bee to stay away from honey or the ant to stay away from sugar for their own good. You are creative and you can change boring things and routines into enjoyable activities. Be careful with making jogs; you may find it very amusing but it may not be welcomed by everyone and you may offend and annoy people.

Type 8: They love putting things in order and they want “order” in everything. Order is required for a team who are confused while working on a project or for a messy kitchen at home and these are the things that Type 8s deal with (or have someone else do). They think that the people who lie down on the job are problematic. As they can see the whole they understand the context, they know exactly what to do and therefore they do not waste time. However, there's always a “but" in Type 8s lives and they always consider the things that were done by others are not the best. Usually, they have two things that they do wrong. The first one is the way of doing something; they always think that there is only one unique way to follow, that is their own way. They may disturb people with their way of speech and bringing things under control. The words they utter during interaction may be informal. They may hurt people without noticing. The second thing that they do wrong is about details. Many times they perceive the details as “irrelevant little things” and because they disregard them they need to review the works over and over.

What to do: Care more about details and people. Your ability to fulfill the tasks is praiseworthy; however you must care about how you communicate with people. You must start to listen and try to understand people, to take their point of view into consideration, and get soft on them. It is not impossible. You must practice. If you dedicate more time to interact with people, you will save time in the future. If you do not have patience, problems will always repeat. Also spare some time for details. Start little by little. If you spend 10 minutes for an activity, then add 5 more minutes to check it for the details which you might have missed. This will help you to be less impulsive, and not to have to go over the works again and again.

Type 9: The schedule of Type 9 can be (and many times it is) very busy. They have many works to be done, but most of them are others’ works, i.e. wishes of their children, requests of their boss, and needs of their parents. Even, they make themselves busy with secondary tasks such as daily routines, reading a newspaper, or cleaning the house. These tasks cause them to distract and not to deal with their real priorities. They are the source of distraction, but mostly Type 8s are not aware of it.

What to do: Start with what you focus on and how you spend your time. What prevents you to meet deadlines, postpone projects, or even make you change your schedule? Check to whom you are not saying “no”. You will see that you would have said “no” in many circumstances; however you thought that saying no is inappropriate. And this is the point where you can start saving time: Avoid distractions and learn to say no. This is actually very easy, but it is not for Type 9s because they may not realize that they are distracted (It is difficult for 9s to acknowledge they are distracted.). Ask for help from someone who you know, who you trust and who will tell you the truth in this matter. Start saying “no” and eventually you will see that your priorities will begin to come more into focus.