Time Poverty vs Growth

​Why are we all so busy?

We are all, without a doubt, busier than ever.

Or so it would seem from scrolling through your LinkedIn feed; we’re constantly bombarded with ‘motivational’ posts from entrepreneurs, businessmen and women, students and the rest of the world who seem to have been to the gym, showered, dressed themselves in a suit and completed thirty other miscellaneous yet extremely productive activities, all by 7am each morning.

I, for one, find myself asking: where do they find the time?

The amount of time we have in each day hasn’t changed – but they way we view it has.

Once upon a time, life was leisurely; work came second to managing the home and family, breaks were taken regularly and workdays were, contrary to popular belief, shorter than we’re used to nowadays. Back in the 1930s, famous British economist John Maynard Keynes even predicted that we’d be working a mere 3 hours a day – and then only if we chose to do so.

How has so-called ‘time poverty’ become a thing?

It seems to come down to mindset – the idea that we already don’t have enough time to complete everything we want to, and therefore time spent not working should be considered a loss.

Not the healthiest way to look at things.

What does this mean as an individual?

It’s pretty simple – whatever your job title or level, being ‘time-poor’ essentially means you’re missing out on many or most things you’d like to do – or, worse yet, need to do. How many of us have put off going to the doctors for want of a ‘convenient’ opportunity to take time out of a busy workday? Have you ever had to cancel important events, holidays or otherwise due to work commitments?

More and more studies are proving that time spent away from the office actually helps us de-stress, and eventually results in higher productivity with less hours worked. Yet, still there’s a vast disconnect in this knowledge once in the office itself.

What does this mean as a manager?

As a manager, whether to a team of two or a team of twenty-five, you’re being pulled pillar to post; from 1-2-1s and performance reviews to resolving problems on the floor, training and everything that comes in between – not forgetting the all-important admin you must complete – it’s no surprise that so many Brits in management positions consider themselves under the cosh and wanting for more time to do their job.

As a manager who feels ‘time-poor’, simply put, you need to prioritise your responsibilities and delegate when necessary. Regardless of your level or job title, there’s no shame in asking for help – be that in delegating to an ambitious employee who might want to earn some extra credit, or looking to your own seniors for support.

Whilst you have a job to do, undoubtedly an important one at that, bringing new talent to your team shouldn’t go by the wayside. After all, aside from developing those you already manage – what could be more important than hiring the right people to move your business forward?

We see it all the time – rushed recruitment processes, hurried offers made and ultimately time wasted because of the urgency placed on finding the next employee, yesterday. When you as a manager aren’t able to dedicate the time it really takes to make the right hire, the best hire, the process isn’t always a smooth nor productive one.

Hiring the right person will undoubtedly take time out of your day. But, utilising the services of a recruitment partner such as us takes away a massive percentage of the leg work – and we’re experts in doing exactly that.

We know you’re busy; so are we, giving you back some of that time you so need in your day to day. From the resourcing process (which is likely to be hours spent researching and subsequently headhunting the market’s top talent, or referring to our database of contacts built over the years) to pre-qualifying each candidate (nine times out of ten involving a face to face interview, conducted by one of our specialist consultants) and then managing the process throughout (from arranging, feeding back, offering and negotiation) – why spend your precious time doing the bits we can do for you?

After all, it’s our job.

If we as recruiters feel as though we’re time-poor, it’s because we’re helping our clients feel the opposite.