When you hear the term “dream team,” what comes up for you? Do you think of it in terms of people at work? Or do you think about it in regard to sports? Maybe you think about it in terms of managing your own life, like the supportive people who make it possible for you to be a working mom.
No matter what the context, building a dream team requires helping everyone work together and stay engaged. However, this can be tricky when different people go about their work differently.
For instance, if you were thinking of a dream team at work, you may know someone whose idea of a dream job is sitting alone at his computer, headphones on, and focused on his accounting work, getting more done than anyone else in the office.
And then maybe you know someone who is constantly in motion, chatting with current clients and pushing her latest idea to increase productivity. She also loves meeting with potential clients and growing the business.
While these two may be on your workplace team, their job skills, titles, and requirements are vastly different. If you were their leader, it would be your job to make sure their work styles complement, not conflict.
Whether it’s professionally or personally, without a well-managed team, it can be difficult to meet various goals. Each person on your team has the ability to bring their unique skills and talent to the table, but teamwork is required to truly take advantage of that.
According to one study, 50% of organizations surveyed said employee teamwork helped them attain their operational goals. That means that the other 50% still struggled to reach their goals, showing the importance of having an effective team.
As the saying goes, “Teamwork makes the dream work,” but that requires that the right people are in the correct seats on the bus. It’s important that everyone feels they’re working in their Zone of Genius and support the team as a whole.
When I think about my current personal Dream Team, that would include my husband and children, my chiropractor, my hairdresser, my good friend I talk to every two weeks, Amazon Prime, and my iPhone. This Dream Team makes it possible for me to do what I do, have what I need, look and feel my best, and constantly learn and grow.
When my kids were younger, my Dream Team consisted of the village it took for me to be a working mom. It included my parents, babysitters, children’s teachers, sports coaches, school advisors, friends, and other working moms I spent time with.
Whether you have a Dream Team or not, this week is all about your time management Dream Team. It’s about the people you need to help you manage your to-do list, get your calendar set up, and help you follow through so that you can create more time for the people and the things you love.
This week I’m going to discuss the roles of the 3 people on your time management Dream Team and how to best utilize them.
The roles of the 3 people on your time management Dream Team
If there’s one thing we all have in common as accountants, it’s productivity. It doesn’t matter whether we’re in public or private accounting; we need to be incredibly productive and efficient with our time.
But even though we know the importance of managing our time, it doesn’t always seem like we’re doing a great job. No matter how hard we try to manage time, it just seems to be out of our control.
I’ve talked a lot about time management on this podcast and various methods you can use to better manage your time. I’ve shared some of the things I teach in The Balanced Accountant Program, the time management program I created for accountants, and that I run for CPA MOMS.
But for this episode, I want you to understand that instead of hoping that time management methods will fix everything, time management is more about you than anything else. Successful time management is really all about self-management.
Unfortunately, a lot of us use time management against ourselves. We overpack our calendars, beat ourselves up for not getting everything done 100%, we quit trying, believing we’re not good at time management, and then we judge ourselves for quitting.
And we wonder why our motivation to manage our time decreases. It’s a painful cycle we put ourselves through, it’s not useful or helpful, and we don’t benefit from learning how to better manage our time.
As I said before, the truth is that time management is less about time and more about you. That’s why I want to introduce you to your time management Dream Team – Past You, Current You, and Future You.
You need to know the relationship these 3 versions of you have with each other. You also need to clean up that relationship to make it easier for you to follow through on your time management because your ability to follow through is everything.
The first person we’ll talk about is Past You. That’s the version of you that is writing down the to-do list for the week and planning the week or day ahead.
Let me just say that if you are not setting aside some time to plan your week, you are missing one of the most crucial aspects of time management. Time to plan is not a waste of time; it’s an investment that pays huge dividends in your productivity and efficiency.
As a member of the Dream Team, Past You should sit down to plan your time and always be thinking about Future You that is going to do the thing you put on your calendar. Past You needs to plan with love and not overestimate or overschedule.
Past You needs to create your calendar with the idea that it should be something you would give to someone you care about. She needs to make sure your calendar is realistic and doable.
Past You doesn’t create a calendar that no one could live up to. She is kind to the Future You that will follow the calendar and is the Dream Team member with the energy of love because she wants you to succeed.
The next member of your time management Dream Team is Current You. Current You is the version of you that implements what’s on your calendar.
She gets things done because she trusts that Past You set you up for success. She believes that Past You cared about her and had her best interests at heart, which means Past You had to have done that on purpose.
Current You trusts that Past You believed this would be doable and trusts her motives. Current You is the time management Dream Team member with the energy of trust and determination because she not only trusts Past You, but she also wants Future You to be proud of what she’s accomplished.
Current You brings the grit and determination because of the trust she has in Past You and the love and respect she has for Future You. She believes that Past You wouldn’t have set her up to fail and that following through with what’s on her calendar will set up Future You to succeed.
The last member of the Dream Team is Future You. Future You is the version of you that honors Current You’s efforts.
She thinks Current You is amazing. She knows it’s hard to follow through on what Past You planned, but she appreciates it.
Future You believes in Current you. She’s the cheerleader that lets you know that you’ve got this. You can use her understanding of how hard it is to motivate Current You.
Future You is also super helpful to Past You when trying to prioritize and calendar your to-do list. At planning time, Past You can ask Future You what they think should be prioritized for the week ahead.
Remember, Future You has already done the things and achieved the goals. Past You just needs to tap into that knowledge and support by asking questions like:
What do you think is the most important thing to do first?
What makes the most sense?
Which of these will matter in the future?
Which of these will not matter in the future?
What should I eliminate or delegate?
Future You could be 5 minutes or 5 years ahead. For example, I’m going to finish my workout because, in 5 minutes, I’m going to be so happy that I don’t have to work out now.
The truth is that things can be easier when you work as a team, so access that Dream Team relationship. Leverage their strength, support, and foresight.
Past You brings the solidly thought out plan, created with kindness and love, because she wants you to be in control of your time.
Current You brings the grit and determination because of the trust she feels for Past You and the love and respect for Future You.
Future You brings all the guidance, cheerleading, and gratitude because she knows the sense of accomplishment and amazing things you’ll be able to do.
How to best utilize your Dream Team
So now that you know the 3 different members on your time management dream team, let me walk you through an example of how to use them.
Last year when I was writing my book, The Smarter Accountant, I not only had my public accounting job with all the deadlines inherent in that job, but I was going through a 6-month advanced coaching certification, I was the Community Manager at CPA MOMS, coached the franchisees, coached my own clients, hosted webinars, and created this weekly podcast. To say I had a lot on my plate is an understatement.
When I sat down to figure out how I was also going to write a book, my brain naturally freaked out and tried to convince me that I didn’t have enough time. It tried to create a lot of stress, overwhelm, and confusion because if I felt those feelings, I’d be less likely to take action and expend energy.
So how did I get it all done, even during tax season? By using my time management dream team.
Sundays are when I plan my week, so that’s when Past Me would tap into the executive functioning part of my brain and create a plan that was realistic and doable. The executive functioning part of my brain could see the long-term goal I had of having my book delivered to my mailbox by July 31st, and she was able to create a plan to make that happen.
She truly did believe I could get everything done and still honor my #1 value of balance, so she set up a schedule that made the most sense without sacrificing free time. Past Me felt so much love for Future Me that was going to be following the plan and also reaping the benefits of success in all the things I had on my plate.
Past Me helped me tremendously by making a lot of decisions ahead of time. She knew that decision fatigue was an energy stealer, so each Sunday, she made as many decisions as possible for Future Me, making it easier to just carry out the decisions and not have to waste time trying to decide what to do, when to do it, and how long to take.
Once Past Me did her job, it was up to Current Me to step in. Each day that I would look at the plan for the day, Current Me had to trust that Past Me knew what she was doing when she planned for the things on my calendar.
For example, Current Me on Wednesday needed to trust that Past Me on Sunday had a good reason for what was calendared, so all I needed to do was follow the plan the way it was laid out. I had to trust Past Me knew what she was doing.
I cannot tell you how often Current Me wanted to hug Past Me for making all those decisions ahead of time for me. Even something as simple as what I was going to cook my husband for dinner was a decision Past Me made, making it so much easier for Current Me not to waste time in overwhelm or decision fatigue.
Current Me also learned how to trust that Past Me had my best interests at heart, even when it seemed challenging to do what was on my calendar. When Current Me resisted something or wanted to do something else, I understood that that was just my lower, toddler brain throwing a temper tantrum because that’s what it does.
Current Me began to get excited about the gifts she was giving Future Me, even when it was hard. Current me could see Future Me had the work bonuses throughout the year, finished the book by my deadline, graduated from the advanced coaching certification program, and signed lots of coaching clients, so she knew her hard work would pay off.
Future Me’s role was incredibly important because she was my mentor, guide, and cheerleader. When Past Me was planning how to get things done, she looked to Future Me, who had already finished or succeeded, and asked her for advice.
Future Me lived in the space of done; therefore, she had a lot of wisdom about what would be helpful for Past Me. She felt a sense of accomplishment, gratitude, and pride, offering Past Me and Current Me those feelings to drive my actions, especially at the most challenging times.
Future Me was immensely helpful in helping Past Me prioritize. When Past Me was confused about what to do next, Future Me offered sage advice because she had the gift of perspective.
So hopefully, you now see how this Dream Team works and can begin to implement them in your own time management. There’s really nothing you can’t do when you have such a loving and supportive team on your side.
Summary
Whether it’s professionally or personally, without a well-managed team, it can be difficult to meet various goals.
Each person on your team has the ability to bring their unique skills and talent to the table, but teamwork is required to truly take advantage of that.