Kairos and Chronos – How are you spending your time?

We often us the term quality time when talking about family and friends, but realistically, shouldn’t all our time be quality time?

I recently read the book, Igniting your true purpose and passion by Robert Michael Fried.  A specific paragraph got me thinking about two words in Greek that represent time.  Not time in the traditional sense of a ticking clock, or quantitative time, referred to as Chronos, but Kairos, the Greek word for qualitive time.

When working with managers and their teams, I regularly hear, we don’t have time for training/meetings/professional development [insert reason or excuse here].  In business, I regularly see minutes, hours and even days wasted without anyone recognising it:

The default in our work day when we have a gap is to try to fill it with more stuff (Chronos) in the belief that we are maximising our time.  Reality is, many people are overscheduled, overworked and overstressed.  Ticking boxes and completing reports but not questioning the quality (Kairos) of the boxes being ticked as opposed to the quantity (Chronos).  After all society has led us to believe that more is better right?

What would it mean if you gave yourself, and your team, permission to take just an hour of Kairos time a week to do something valuable? 

Whether it’s getting together to think or creatively brainstorm ideas for new products, streamlining processes or just for sharing random ideas, or time on their own to reflect on everyday tasks and whether they are adding value or simply filling time. 

So my question is, how are you and your team spending your time? Are you just working on Chronos or Kairos time and is it time to consider a switch?

Want help shifting your team from doing stuff to doing the right stuff?

Find out how productivity and technology speaker and trainer Donna Hanson can help, visit www.donnahanson.com.au