On any given morning, Continental flight 1563 leaves Greater Southwest Florida International bound for Houston. After landing, deplaning and refueling, the Boeing 737-900 takes off for Phoenix, then to Denver, back to Phoenix, on to LAX, ultimately landing back in Houston. In the "old days" a bunch of people with eyes fixed on endless sheets of routing paper watched their scheduling system work in varying degrees. In those days, Continental flight 1563 would likely have refueled in Phoenix and returned directly to Houston. Not today. Routes, times, flights, and millions of people are incremental nano-components of a vast computer-driven labyrinth of hundreds of airplanes crisscrossing skies at 500 miles per hour.
 
Yet, if a single airplane's crew has logged too many hours, gotten too little ground time, they may be flagged on their way up the ramp and the flight delayed by minutes (sometimes hours) while another "rested" crew is found. This is the paradox of "efficiency." Aircraft scheduling like other intricate modern institutions, is a web of people, time, tasks and solutions. While we curse the airlines, in fact they are a metaphor for our time and our individual life and career. There are diminishing returns even with time-saving and efficiency.
 
Time Control Phobia
 
We're often asked, "My schedule is killing me. How can I get it under control?" Usually it's not the schedule that's the phantom, but the failure to execute it that limits us and defeats our day. No one knows why some manage time better than others, or why some people literally fear time management. The plain, un-lacquered truth tells us lost ground can be regained; lost time never can. Just to put this in the airline perspective, one asks, "How can you close the door on a passenger running from three gates down?" only to hear, "Because 320 people on board are looking at their watches." When you let time control you, you're losing the battle of today.
 
Perhaps some of us resist time control because we falsely fear that by practicing disciplined time management we're in danger of losing our personal autonomy; rest, recreation, and release from the surly bonds of work. In fact, it's exactly the reverse. Think about it: in reality, only when we practice consistent time control are we truly free. Those who do it know.
 
Slack time control is the hidden enemy of people and their organizations. Once upon a time when things ran slower and companies functioned with a sort of baroque politeness, disorganization was tolerable. Not anymore. Today someone will lose their place, fall behind, and while consequences seem benign, the team's efficiency will regress in some manner. That means tomorrow starts in negative territory.  There is no miracle elixir for improving your time control. We have technology coming out our briefcase, yet little change occurs for those who struggle with time efficiency, multi-tasking, and closure. 
 
The following may sound insanely simplistic. I've recommended this wide-angle, basic approach to struggling managers numerous times and freely offer it here.
 
Visualize your next 24 hours: consider that all the time therein can be easily divided into three categories: family, sleep, and career. While "family" trumps the others, sleep is important though it varies with each of us. Determine how much time you will devote to the first two, then, firmly commit your remaining time to "career." Never allow one to wander into another, save for obvious emergencies or special occasions.  Once committed to a system, any system, there is no going back; everything would have to slow down, and things are too complicated.