Efficiency is to no avail if you have no destination.

Macro time management looks at your use of time as a whole so your life objectives will be met, while micro time management examines and improves the way you perform specific tasks and activities. Micro Time Management is concerned with speeding up, getting more done in less time, increasing efficiency - but it does little to change what you do. Macro Time Management is more concerned with what you do in the time available. It assumes there is no shortage of time, only poor choices as to how we use it.

Developing life goals, a mission statement and long range plans are macro. Reducing interruptions, improving e-mail efficiency and scheduling individual activities are micro. Career choices, balance and lifestyle are macro. Office organization, file management and the use of technology are micro.

People feel more comfortable working on the nitty gritty, timesaving micro time management suggestions because they are generally easier to implement and usually yield faster results. Also, most time management workshops, books and articles concentrate on efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace as opposed to the life choices that determine the degree of personal success experienced by the individual as a whole.

Theres a danger in having too narrow a focus. Time units are the building blocks of life. Its important to visualize what you want your life to look like before you start rearranging the blocks. Both Macro and micro are important. But dont get so involved with the trees that you dont realize youre in the wrong forest.

So before you spend a lot of time organizing your desk, files and workload, think about your future. How do you visualize yourself spending the rest of your life? What are your dreams, goals and ambitions? What are your unique abilities, skills, and talents? Do you enjoy doing what you are doing now? Will you still enjoy it twenty years from now? What must have happened in order for you to say twenty years from now, “this is what Ive always wanted to do with my life."

If you continue to do what youre presently doing - in terms of your career or job, education, financial and personal habits - will you be where you want to be in twenty years? If not, make changes now. Dont put it off. Set some long-range personal goals and start doing what you have to do in order to get there. That may include registering for some education courses, saving a percentage of your earnings, changing jobs, writing a book, taking flying lessons or any number of things.

It will take more than a messy desk or a disorganized file system to keep you from being where you want to be if you have specific goals, an active plan and the determination to succeed. So first, engage in macro time management. Then once you have your life moving in the right direction, implement all those great suggestions that you picked up from the time management experts in order to make your journey into the future a smooth one.