Time Management Strategies for High S Personalities: Part 2

Speeding Up Decision-Making

• 🎯 High S personalities tend to make decisions slowly, considering all factors and viewpoints, which is valuable for major decisions but can slow down smaller ones.
• 💡 A recommendation for High S's is to develop a personal rubric for decision-making, setting limits on consultation time or the number of people to consult, similar to organizational sign-off levels.
• 📊 For example, a personal rubric could limit spreadsheet reviews to one round for team members, two for daily users, and three for a boss, with a firm deadline for implementation.
• 🧠 Another approach is to use a scoring system for decisions based on impact, urgency, resources required, risks, and stakeholder support, to gauge the appropriate level of attention.
• ⚠️ Be cautious with risks and stakeholder support, as High S's tend to overestimate these due to a tendency to see more risks and overvalue opinions.
• ⏳ When estimating time, add 50% to your initial assumption, as people often underestimate how long tasks will take.
• 🔄 For decisions where a previous successful approach exists, such as designing a document, following the prior method can eliminate doubt and indecision.

Avoiding Overcommitment and Maintaining Pace

• 🤝 High S's often overcommit due to a desire to help others, feeling the pressure of commitments to their own detriment.
• 🚫 To avoid overcommitment, consider existing promises before accepting new requests; if a new commitment compromises an existing one, either say no, negotiate, or reduce expected quality/deadlines.
• ⚖️ Balancing the short-term joy of serving someone with the long-term ability to serve your organization and maintain mental robustness is crucial.
• 🏃 Maintaining an efficient pace is important; High S's may take longer on tasks due to their thoroughness and desire for everyone's input.
• 📈 Visualizing work progress through tools like a daily achievement log can help High S's see how much they are accomplishing and demonstrate progress during reviews.
• ✅ Moving more quickly allows for greater service to colleagues, customers, and the overall mission of the work.

Understanding Personality Styles

• 🎭 Being a High S, or any DISC profile, is neutral; natural behaviors may or may not support effectiveness in specific situations, and these behaviors can be changed with conscious effort.
• 💡 Effective time management ultimately means being able to serve more people, which may sometimes require adopting behaviors from other personality styles.