Are you happy with your time management skills? Do you feel like you’re getting enough work down with your current ability to allocate time? Perhaps you’re happy and you’re getting all the work done in time. Maybe you finish your projects with spare time left, and that progress is reflected in your career advancement.
Sadly, many people don’t benefit enough from planning and scheduling because of one simple reason called “magical thinking.” Magical thinking is a form of a thought distortion that makes people think they’re able to do much more than they realistically have the band-width for.
As a result, magical thinking can drive you to take on additional work and make a commitment to finish an overload of tasks in a shrinking timeframe. In many cases, this scenario results in some struggle to complete the new or existing result you promised. After struggling to deliver, whether it be on time or after some delay, the quality of work you end up producing is often lacking compared to your capabilities.
Magical thinking also makes you see opportunities that really aren’t what they seem. It can make you grasp for every chance of getting extra work—regardless of whether or not this work brings any true benefits, career advancements, or progress.
It can also make you confuse your priorities and emphasize work in less important areas over others, creating an imbalance in your schedule.
