"I'm so busy!" It's a familiar refrain - and never more so than among chief executives and global leaders (not that we are usually party to such information, but that's the access afforded by Davos for you).
In a session run by behavioural economists it soon became clear that time management is an obsession.
The buzzword was "bandwidth" - as in "how much mental bandwidth do we have?"
I'm translating that to "headspace" - as in "I just don't have enough headspace for all this!"
The idea is that we understand that we need to rest our bodies and give them time to recover, but do we do the same with our minds?
No, was the clear implication.
Therapy
One chief executive made the comparison to lorry drivers - we accept that you can't make them drive all day without break - why not accept that in other parts of the business?
It shouldn't be a question of mental endurance, he said, and we must get rid of the macho notion of having to prove that we can keep going.
We were split into groups to discuss the problem and, of course, because we're thinking positively, find some solutions.
It felt a little like a therapy session.
'No!'
We discuss the constant pressure to answer emails, the amount of unproductive meetings we have and how to stay focused.
This is where the "Time Management 2.0" comes in.
It's about allowing yourself the headspace, sorry bandwidth, to make good decisions.
We are urged to "just say no" to unnecessary engagements.
One participant suggests allowing time before and after a meeting to prepare and process. She also points out that "it's not all about me", so she often delegates to her team.
After all, the clients want a representative from the company not just her.
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