Time and its management have become familiar components of management books and the self-improvement movement as a whole. The sense of powerlessness we have at the march of time (reflected in the epigraph) and the increasing pace of life mean that often people feel that they are managing their time ‘badly’.

Myers–Briggs types and time management styles

Attitudes to time vary from culture to culture and person to person. In the West we tend to have a linear, ‘time is money’ attitude. We are a product of our cultural upbringing. Your own attitude to time will also be affected by your personality preferences. You may be familiar with the work of Jung and the personality types that can be explored and defined by the use of the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator. The very notion of time management appeals to certain of these type classifications. It can be a useful starting point for you to consider how you manage your time and why this may, or may not, be important to you. The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator identifies whether you take in information with a sensing or an intuitive preference, make decisions with thinking or a feeling preference, and organise your life by judging or perceiving (some detail is given in Chapter 36). It also identifies levels of extraversion and introversion – but this is less relevant in time management. Judgers tend to respond to ideas of structure and planning and perceivers want more of an open-ended free flow of events, with less structure. For the purpose of time management, I will summarise the styles.

Sensing/judging types

Such individuals are often good at time management. They are very grounded in reality but can be rigid when plans have been fixed. They find it hard to relax and the judging preference can make them stressed and time anxious. They will push for a decision to be made and for plans to be clearly established. They like things to be planned in advance, not last minute.