TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING

ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

By

ANIWURA ADEKUNLE DAVID

MATRIC NO: EAA101741

BEING A TERM PAPER

SUBMITTED

TO

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTING

FACULTY OF SCIENCES LADOKE AKINTOLA UNIVERSITY OF

TECHNOLOGY, OGBOMOSO, OYO STATE.

IN FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTERS IN

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)

MARKETING.

DECEMBER, 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of contents -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1 Background to Time Management-------------------------------------------------------
1.2 Objective ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3 What Exactly is Time Management? --------------------------------------------------
1.4 Concept of Time Management -----------------------------------------------------------
1.5 Effective Personal Time Survey ---------------------------------------------------------
1.6 Attributes of Time ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.0 The Myth of Time Management ---------------------------------------------------------
2.1Learning Time Management Skills -----------------------------------------------------
2.2 Why is Time Management Important? ------------------------------------------------
3.0 Principles for Effective Time Management ------------------------------------------
3.1Establishing Time Wasters ----------------------------------------------------------------
3.2 Rules to Managing Time -------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3 Strategies to Effective Time Management -------------------------------------------
4.0 Organizational Approaches to Improving Time Management -----------------
4.1 Effectively Managing Your “Multitasking Day -------------------------------------
4.2 Assessing your Time Management towards Performance -----------------------
5.0 Conclusion --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reference ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO TIME MANAGEMENT

Time is a period of time considered as resources under your control and sufficient to
accomplish something – Isaac (1999), it can also be regarded as the period during which
actions or processes take place- Webster’s Collins dictionary calls time as a system or
measuring duration. A scarce resources which must be properly managed otherwise
nothing can be managed Healthier (2005)
Hence, Time is the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through
the present to the pass. (Anand 2007)

The supply of time is very limited, while the demand for it is limitless. Time lost is lost
forever. Time is life. To waste your time is to waste your life. To a typical European,
time is money, it must be respected. To a Nigerian time is a snail. It must crawl and wait
for him and no event should take place until after two or three hours of advertised take
off time.

1.2 OBJECTIVE

The broad objective of this study is to evaluate the influence of time management of
organizational

In order to achieve the objective, the following specific objectives are also being pursued:

To Learn what effective time managers do

To Practice using the tools and skills of time masters

To Create more time to get more accomplished each day

To Identify common mistakes of time wasters

To Build deeper relationships by spending more time with others and achieving more
in an organization

1.3 WHAT EXACTLY IS TIME MANAGEMENT?

 Time management is a set of principles, practices, skills, tools, and systems working
together to help you get more value out of your time with the aim of improving the
quality of your life.

The important point is that time management is not necessarily about getting lots of stuff
done, because much more important than that is making sure that you are working on the
right things, the things that truly need to be done. Smart time managers know that there
is much more to do than anyone could possibly accomplish. So instead of trying to do it
all, smart time managers are very picky about how they spend their time.

They choose to focus and spend their time doing a few vital projects that will really make
a difference, rather than spending all their time doing many trivial things that don't really
matter all that much.

If you become a good time manager, you’ll not only get a lot more done in less time, but
you’ll feel more relaxed, focused and in control of your life. You’ll be able to use your
time in a much more balanced and effective way and you’ll be able to make time for the
people and activities that you love. When you get to the end of a busy day, you’ll feel a
strong sense of accomplishment from everything that you actually got done. Improving
your time management skills can even help you get better results by doing less work,
because you're focusing on the things that really matter rather than all the low-priority
busywork that just keeps you busy.

If you don’t learn how to manage your time well, you’ll be far less productive than you
could be and you’ll get a lot less done. You’ll also feel much more stressed and
overwhelmed, and you’ll struggle to find time to spend with the people you care about
and to do the things you enjoy.

1.4 CONCEPT OF TIME MANAGEMENT

Time is an essential resource; it is irrecoverable, Limited and dynamic. Irrecoverable

because every minute spent is gone forever, limited because only 24 hours exist in a day
and dynamic because it’s never static. It keeps on moving and does not wait for anybody.
 According to North (2004), Time management is the organization of tasks or events by
first estimating how much time a task will take to be completed, when it must be
completed, and then adjusting events that would interfere with its completion so that
completion is reached in the appropriate amount of time.

Time Management is not about getting more things done in a day. It is about getting the
things that matter most done. Time management is the ability to decide what is important
in life both at work, at home and even in our personal live. In essence, you are the one in
control of your life; you are the driver of your car.

1.5 EFFECTIVE PERSONAL TIME SURVEY

To begin managing your time you first need a clearer idea of how you now use your
Time. The personal time survey will help you to estimate how much time you currently
spent in a given task. To get a more accurate estimate, you might keep track of how you
spent your time for a week. This will help you get a better idea of how much time you
need to prepare for each subject. It will also help you identify your time wasters. But for
now, complete the personal time survey to get an estimate. When deciding if effective
time is Management important, consider why you should manage your time. The old
adage says “all work and no play make Johnny a dull boy” is absolutely true. Practicing
time management at your job is not merely to get more work squeezed into an eight hour
day, but mostly so that you have time for the important things in life.

1.6 ATTRIBUTES OF TIME

• It is a unique resource

• Time is most scarce resource in the universe

• Time cannot be replaced like man

• Time cannot be accumulated like money

• Time cannot be turned on and off like Machine

• Time cannot be stock piled like raw materials

 • Time passes at a pre-determined rate whatever happens

• Everybody is equally endowed with the same amount of it irrespective of his position.

• Time like any other scarce resource must be managed and used judiciously.

2.0 THE MYTH OF TIME MANAGEMENT

Here are three tips to keep you from wasting time on the wrong priorities.

Most people view time management as a way to more effectively use their time.
However, they are focusing on managing the wrong thing. The focus needs to be on
managing yourself and what you choose to do at any particular moment.

The fact is that you don’t manage time. Rather, you control and manage events and the
choices you make about how to use your time. How you use your time is a personal
decision. It’s all about prioritizing. Use the following steps to make yourself aware of the
choices you make every day with regards to your time so you can make the most of it.

1. Chart your time.

Because you need to manage what you do and not time itself, you need to create a
schedule. Detail what you want to do during a day. What are the important things you
must do? What things would you like to do? However, don’t create your schedule as your
day progresses. Rather, do it the night before or in the early morning before you start
your day. If you don’t choose to create a detailed schedule of your day, other unplanned
events will end up stealing your precious time.

While most people realize the importance of scheduling and creating to-do lists, they fail
to realize that scheduling is a two-step process. Once you’ve finished your day, you must
go back over your schedule to see how you did with your planned tasks. Did you spend
the amount of time you allotted for the tasks? Did you spend some of the time you
allotted for one activity on something completely different? You might be surprised when
you examine your schedule at the end of the day to discover how much time you actually
wasted.
 2. Learn to say no.

Realize that it is impossible to be all things to all people. You need to maintain balance in
your life, so don’t overextend yourself by taking on so many projects and tasks that you
won’t be able to properly manage them in your schedule. To do so, you must learn to say
no.

Realize that your time is just as precious as everyone else’s. If you don’t decide what to
do during your day, other people will fill your schedule for you with their agenda. If you
don’t say no, Parkinson’s Law can take effect: Work expands so as to fill the time
available for its completion.

3. Prioritize.

Once you have your detailed schedule of your day and you’ve said no to anything extra
you could not realistically manage, you can prioritize your activities. The more detailed
and specific your schedule is, the more you will have to prioritize what you need to do
during the day.

Rank each item in order of importance and then follow that. Don’t put something off that
you ranked as very important just because it involves dealing with a difficult person or is
very time consuming. If you do, you will just continue to put it off, and it will never get
done. In addition, consider all the time you’re wasting thinking about this dreaded task.
By the time you’ve thought it through, you could have already completed it.

2.1 LEARNING TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS

In the end, time management comes down to choices. Good choices lead to better results,
while poor choices lead to wasted time and energy. The good news is that time
management can be learned and mastered by anyone. All it takes is practice and
dedication. Like any other skill, you can learn time management the easy way or you can
learn it the hard way.
The hard way usually involves years of trial and error and lots of false starts trying to
figure out what works and what doesn't. If you'd like to save yourself some time, money
and effort, I recommend you try the easy way: learn from someone who has already done
it.

15 Best Time Management Tips

Here are 15 practical time management tips to help you get started:

1. Write things down

A common time management mistake is to try to use your memory to keep track of too
many details leading to information overload. Using a to-do list to write things down is a
great way to take control of your projects and tasks and keep yourself organized.

2. Prioritize your list

Prioritizing your to-do list helps you focus and spend more of your time on the things that
really matter to you. Rate your tasks into categories using the ABCD prioritization
system described in the time management course.

3. Plan your week

Spend some time at the beginning of each week to plan your schedule. Taking the extra
time to do this will help increase your productivity and balance your important long-term
projects with your more urgent tasks. All you need is fifteen to thirty minutes each week
for your planning session.

4. Carry a notebook

You never know when you are going to have a great idea or brilliant insight. Carry a
small notebook with you wherever you go so you can capture your thoughts. If you wait
too long to write them down you could forget. Another option is to use a digital recorder.
5. Learn to say no

Many people become overloaded with too much work because they overcommit; they say
yes when they really should be saying no. Learn to say no to low priority requests and
you will free up time to spend on things that are more important.

6. Think before acting

How many times have you said yes to something you later regretted? Before committing
to a new task, stop to think about it before you give your answer. This will prevent you
from taking on too much work.

7. Continuously improve yourself

Make time in your schedule to learn new things and develop your natural talents and
abilities. For example, you could take a class, attend a training program, or read a book.
Continuously improving your knowledge and skills increases your marketability, can
help boost your career, and is the most reliable path to financial independence.

8. Think about what you are giving up to do your regular activities

It is a good idea to evaluate regularly how you are spending your time. In some cases, the
best thing you can do is to stop doing an activity that is no longer serving you so you can
spend the time doing something more valuable. Consider what you are giving up in order
to maintain your current activities.

9. Use a time management system

Using a time management system can help you keep track of everything that you need to
do, organize and prioritize your work, and develop sound plans to complete it. An
integrated system is like glue that holds all the best time management practices together.

10. Identify bad habits

Make a list of bad habits that are stealing your time, sabotaging your goals, and blocking
your success. After you do, work on them one at a time and systematically eliminate
them from your life. Remember that the easiest way to eliminate a bad habit, it to replace
it with a better habit.

11. Don’t do other people’s work

Are you in the habit of doing other people’s work because or a ‘hero’ mentality? Doing
this takes up time that you may not have. Instead, focus on your own projects and goals,
learn to delegate effectively, and teach others how to do their own work.

12. Keep a goal journal

Schedule time to set and evaluate your goals. Start a journal and write down your
progress for each goal. Go through your goal journal each week to make sure you are on
the right track.

Keeping a journal on your computer has never been easier!

13. Don’t be a perfectionist

Some tasks don’t require your best effort. Sending a short email to a colleague, for
example, shouldn’t take any more than a few minutes. Learn to distinguish between tasks
that deserve to be done excellently and tasks that just need to be done.

14. Beware of “filler” tasks

When you have a to-do list filled with important tasks, be careful not to get distracted by
“filler” tasks. Things such as organizing your bookcase or filing papers can wait until you
tackle the items that have the highest priority.
 15. Avoid “efficiency traps”

Being efficient doesn’t necessarily mean that you are being productive. Avoid taking on
tasks that you can do with efficiency that don’t need to be done at all. Just because you
are busy and getting things done doesn’t mean you are actually accomplishing anything
significant.

2.2 WHY IS TIME MANAGEMENT IMPORTANT?

Here are the top reasons why time management is of great importance to your personal
and career success:

1. Time is limited. Time is a very special resource in that you cannot store it or save it
for later. Everyone gets the exact same amount of time each and every day. If you don't
use your time wisely, you can never get it back.

2. Time is scarce. Most people feel like they have too much to do and not enough time.
Lack of time is blamed for everything from not getting enough exercise, poor finances,
unachieved goals, too much stress, bad relationships, and even an unfulfilled life. Time
management helps you use the time that you do have in better ways.

3. You need time to get what you want out of life. You need time to do almost anything
worthwhile in life. Waiting for more free time is a loosing game that almost never results
in getting time for what you want. You need to learn how to make time for the things that
are important to you. Even if you can only afford to give a small amount of time each
week to your goals, you'd be surprised at how much progress you can make.

4. You can accomplish more with less effort. When you become more productive using
improved time management skills and tools, you can accomplish more with less effort.
Reducing wasted time and effort gives you even more productive time throughout the
day. Both of these allow you to make time for a wide range of activities that bring more
balance and fulfillment to your life.
 5. Too many choices. In this day and age, there are so many ways you can spend your
time, that you need some sort of plan to make intelligent choices.

Time management helps you make conscious choices so you can spend more of your
time doing things that are important and valuable to you.

3.0 PRINCIPLES FOR EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT

(A). Planning

This involves the formulation of goals and the definition of practical ways or steps to be
taken to achieving same. If you fail to plan you have plan to fail. If you are committed to
bridging the gap between your potential and your performance, better time management
should become your lifestyle choice. There are three types of plans namely;

(1) Strategic Plan,

(2) Intermediate Plan,

(3) Short term Plans

(B). Organization

Organization means putting all resources you have into plan to achieve personal goal.
Listed below are principles for personal organization at work.

(1) Setting your priorities,

(2) Time targets are set for priorities,

(3) Allow time space for the unexpected,

(4) Do not embark on more than one project at a time,

(5) Be a productive thinker,

(6) Separate duties properly,

(7) Work according to your temperament,

 (8) Do not develop impossible systems,

(9) Allow time for idle minute between meetings and major jobs,

(10) Focus on results not in activity.

(C). Responsibility

The essence of modern management borders on responsibility and accountability. It is

common to find people passing the buck for every iota of failure or irregularity.

Winston Churchill said “The Price of greatness is responsibility. The steps towards
responsibility are:

(1) Being responsible for who you are,

(2) Being responsible for what you can do,

(3) Being responsible for what you have received,

(4) Being responsible to those that you lead.

(D). Accountability and Integrity

It is one thing to have a goal or dream; it is another thing to achieve that same goal. At
the end of specific periods, it is important for every responsible person to take stock of
actual results of his / her actions and compare same with plans

3.1 ESTABLISHING TIME WASTERS

There are established habits and activities that affect the effective utilization of time.
Some of them are listed below:
(1). Visitors
Unnecessary visits by outsiders e.g. friends and relations are a common reason for
ineffective time utilization of many people. Many people do not have the discipline or
courage to stop unnecessary visits. The resultant effect of this apparent weakness is doing
a job that should not take more than 30minites in 4 hours.
(2). Paper Work
Work delayed is work denied. Accumulating papers on the table may bring unnecessary
bottle necks which can arise as a result of:
(i) Not being able to retrieve important ones on time when the need arise
(ii) Forgetting to take action when necessary
(iii)Non – separation of relevant papers from relatively less important ones
(3). Procrastination
It is important to handle problem as they arise. The non- attention to the problems at the
appropriate time can lead to lack of credibility in the eyes of other people.
(4). Gossip
Do not encourage gossip. Do not say what you cannot say in front of the affected people
(5). Indicipline
Unproductively is the resultant effect of an undisciplined life. Good organization,
obedience to rules and focus on goals are the ingredients of success, indiscipline can
cause disruption to work and lead to loss of productive hours.

(6). Telephone Calls

Unrestricted attention to telephone calls can lead to loss of productive hours. It is
common to find executives attending to all calls and spending endless hours discussing
irrelevant unofficial things.
Many executive have all telephone calls screened. It is only those that are absolutely
important that the telephonists refer to them.
(7). Ineffective Delegation
Delegation of tasks requires some planning and monitoring to be adequately successful.
A manager in an organization must take the following guidelines into consideration.
(i) Provide necessary authority, resources and support
(ii) Delegate for results, let your staff handles projects in their own way. You are after
result, not process.
(iii)Make sure a particular staff is not over-loaded with too many tasks
 (iv)Handles important tasks yourself
(v) Review progress and follow-up
Non – recognition of the above principle can lead to unnecessary time wastage
(8). Unnecessary Meetings
Meetings can be huge time –wasters it you do not plan them carefully. First, decide if you
realty need to hold a meeting? If their is a decision to be made, can you make it yourself?
If a meeting is necessary, limit the attendance to only those who really need to
participate. Also, try not to allow colleagues to distract your attention with trivial issues.
(9). Distraction
Poorly organized people always at the mercy of distraction both internally and externally.
Learn to organize yourself and your office in such a way that important papers are not
misplaced. Have control over yourself and be decisive whenever it comes to decision
making.

(10). Confused Responsibility

Some managers lack focus, and desire to be involved in very detailed activity in the
organization. This is coursed by lack of objectivity with clear priorities of tasks. Manager
should recognize what is essential and what is not, and learn to know responsibilities,
decide priorities and have time for everything.

3.2 RULES TO MANAGING TIME

In order to get more work done, you need to invest more time. Working ten hour per day
will make you more accomplished than a colleague that only works seven. Studying three
hours a day will get you better grades than the guy who skims through a few chapters
before the test. More work gives more results.

However, this may not be truly applicable in time management, since in time
management it is believed that working smart beats working hard. In some cases working
more can actually damage the amount you get accomplished. In both cases, the degree
effort matches outcomes have been overstated.
 Working less and accomplishing more isn’t easy. It requires thinking creatively to find
more effective ways of doing things. But first you have to be open to the possibility that
your methods aren’t as efficient as they could be. Once you do that you can look for ways
to get more accomplished without just increasing your to-do list. Here are a few
guidelines that will help manage your time effectively:

1) The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 rule basically suggests that a small amount of inputs contributes to a much
larger amount of outputs. Using this rule means to minimize time spent in the
unproductive 80%.

In application, you can’t simply cut everything that doesn’t directly contribute to your
bottom line. Some things however trivial still need to be done. The purpose of 80/20 is to
force you to be more ruthless in cutting time in areas that contribute little. Here are a few
suggestions:

Cut e-mail time to invest more in larger projects.

Say no to people who want commitments that don’t contribute enough value.

Spend more studying core concepts and key terms than less important details.

2) Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson’s Law states that “work will fill the time available for its completion.” This is a
side effect of focusing on doing work instead of getting projects completed. Give yourself
strict deadlines and cultivate a desire to finish projects, not just check tasks off on a to-do
list.

Here are some applications:

Set a timer for 90 minutes to finish a small project. When the timer sounds, you can’t
continue working on it, so think fast and don’t waste time.
 Chunk mammoth projects into smaller pieces. Strive to complete those pieces, rather than
just working on the project aimlessly.

2) Energy Management

Energy management, as opposed to time management, forces you to think of results as a

function of energy, not time invested. Working intensely for a short period of time can
accomplish more than working for days, tired and distracted.

Working yourself into low energy can actually make you accomplish less than if you
rested. Here are some ideas:

Work in bursts. Divide yourself between complete rest and complete focus. Don’t
constantly switch in-between which leaves you neither rested nor productive.

Kill projects. Don’t spread tasks that only take a few hours over several days. Sit down
and finish them in one sitting. This method of killing projects keeps your energies
focused and time saved.

Rest, health and fun matter. Enslaving yourself to your work can actually accomplish
less. Master the ability to recharge yourself when you need it.

3) Only Use Sharp Tools

There’s an old story of two lumberjacks in a tree-cutting contest. The first picked up a
rusty axe and ran into the woods immediately to start chopping trees. The second spent
almost until the end of the contest sharpening his axe. After which he walked up and
quickly felled the biggest tree.

Don’t waste your time doing things you don’t intend to be excellent at. Delegate them to
someone who does have a sharp tool. And for the things you do want to master, make it a
priority to sharpen your tool beyond what is necessary to cut. Skill saves time.

4) Rule with Numbers

 Assumptions are the biggest waste of your time. When your intuitions about the world
don’t match the way it works, you can never be efficient. The only way to combat false
assumptions is to test them and follow them up with numbers. The results of a test can
save you hundreds of hours if it shows a current process has no impact or suggests a
faster alternative.

Here are a few examples:

A/B Tests – Test out two different methods simultaneously. This can allow you to know
with greater accuracy which method works best.

Track Numbers - Don’t just weigh yourself or count calories, track them. See how they
go up, down or change over time.

6) The Marginal Rule of Quality

Is it better to be a perfectionist or sloppy? One can never get a project finished the other
requires constant repair because they waste too much time. When the extra input you
invest exceeds the output gained, stop working on it.

An even better extension of this rule would be to say you should stop working on a
project when the extra input invested gives less output than doing a comparable task.
Here are some applications to try:

Measure the difference between different amounts of time spent. Try doing your e-mail
for 30, 60 and 90 minutes per day. Compare the effectiveness changes when you change
the amount of time. Can you really justify spending two hours doing e-mail?

Compare the amount of time spent polishing with time needed for repairs. If it takes more
time to polish than repair, you’re better of quitting early. If repairs are draining your time
and polishing is fast, slow down and be careful.

3.3 STRATEGIES TO EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT

Many business people struggle with time management and would like to accomplish
more tasks in a day, or have more time for non-work activities. There are a number of
tips and suggestions for improving time management in a person's workplace and home,
and different approaches work for different people.

Delegate

Many of us attempt to accomplish tasks that can be easily assigned to or contracted out to
someone else. By delegating a task, you can have more time to accomplish other
important tasks. When can a task be delegated and when should you attempt it yourself?
Some guidelines are as follows. A primary concern is that you should only delegate if
there is a person who is skilled enough to do the task at hand. You can delegate to
employees you supervise, those who are your colleagues, and even those above you.
When you delegate a task to your subordinate—downward delegation—you have the
authority to make sure that the task is done correctly, but assigning a task to an employee
who lacks the skill to do it will often require more time than if you did the task yourself.
Delegating to a peer, or a colleague, works well if you and the other person have
complementary skills. You can trade responsibilities if you each have skills that are
stronger than the other person's. Although most employees do not consider it, you can
also delegate to employees above you in the organizational hierarchy—upward
delegation. If you have been assigned a task that should not be yours or a task that is
beyond your abilities, you can ask a superior for guidance or clarification. Your feedback
may indicate to your supervisor that the task is better done by him or herself.

Another consideration when delegating is the type of task that can be delegated. There
are three types of tasks that are best suited to being assigned to someone else:

(1) Tasks for which you do not have adequate skill or expertise,

(2) Tasks that you do not want to do but that others might, and

(3) Tasks that is easy to accomplish but detract from your value to the organization.

First, if someone else can do something more effectively than you can, you will spend too
much time attempting to do it yourself. For instance, if you are planning a retirement
party for a colleague, you could purchase, prepare, and arrange the food and beverages
yourself. However, if you are not very good at preparing food or creating a buffet, it
would be to use your time to hire a caterer for this task. In addition to saving the time it
takes to purchase and prepare food and drinks, by hiring a reputable caterer, you would
spend considerably less energy managing the task and thinking about it.

A second circumstance that benefits from delegation is if there is a task that another
person might enjoy more than you. Again, consider the example of organizing a
retirement party. Perhaps you do not enjoy party planning, but your colleague does. You
can delegate this task to your colleague, perhaps taking on one of his tasks in return,
creating a situation in which both of you feel satisfied with the work you are assigned.

A final situation in which you should delegate is if there is an easy task that takes little
skill to accomplish. For instance, if you are sending a mass mailing, it is poor time
management for you to stuff the envelopes yourself. A lower-level employee, like an
assistant or secretary, might better do this. By allowing this other person to do a task that
is easy to complete, you are freed to complete other tasks that require more skill and
attention. Since the person to whom you have delegated this task is likely to complete it
just as effectively as you would have, then there is no drawback to assigning the task to
another.

When should you not delegate?

First, you should accomplish your major job tasks. For instance, it may be appropriate for
your secretary to stuff envelopes with a letter soliciting business from former clients, but
it is not appropriate for this secretary to write the entirety of this letter without your help
or final approval. If you consistently have others complete tasks that are supposed to be
yours, then you may find yourself replaced by another employee. Second, you should not
delegate tasks in which the outcome is critical. If you have tasks that, if not completed,
can lose the company a client or money, you must be responsible for this task. If you are
accountable for an important outcome, you should use caution when delegating. Finally,
there are some tasks for which delegation is too expensive. While hiring a caterer for a
party does not represent a large cost, there are other times in which hiring others to
complete tasks (e.g., offer training or develop a web site) can be cost prohibitive to some
organizations.

Prioritize Tasks

Procrastination, or putting off a task that must be completed, is common to many people,
even in business environments. Procrastination occurs for many reasons: you may not
know where to start on a task, you may not understand a task, you may dislike the task, or
you may worry that you cannot complete a task successfully. Often a person's anxiety
about a task leads them to avoid it. Therefore, to accomplish more in a workday, it is best
to tackle the most difficult or worrisome task first. This is a beneficial because it allows
you to devote the time and mental energy that is necessary for a difficult or unpleasant
task when you are most able to. Furthermore, by reducing the anxiety associated with this
task in tackling it early, you will find that work becomes easier. When the unpleasant task
is finished, it no longer creates anxiety and worry, which can save time.

If a person leaves unpleasant or difficult tasks until shortly before their deadlines or until
the end of the workday, he or she will have less energy to complete this task.
Additionally, the anxiety and dread associated with the completion of the task that has
been procrastinated may affect a person's ability to complete other tasks throughout the
day. The negative emotions associated with the anticipation an unpleasant task is likely to
distract a person from the other tasks that they are trying to complete. This can make
even easy tasks more time consuming to complete.

Set Goals

Goals can be very effective ways to meet work-place demands in a timely manner. Goals
are measurable, short-term objectives. Simply by setting an appropriate goal, you can
better organize your day or week. Decades of research have supported the effectiveness
of goal setting on performance in a variety of tasks. However, for a goal to be effective, it
must be designed properly by being specific and difficult. Specific goals are much more
effective than non-specific goals, because your progress can be assessed. For instance,
setting a goal of reading 20 pages of a report is a good goal because you can determine
whether or not it was accomplished. If your goal was to "read a lot of the report" then you
might determine 5 pages into it, that you had accomplished that goal, when in reality, you
had not read enough. Goals should also be difficult, but not too challenging. A goal that
is too easy, such as "respond to one e-mail today" are not motivating because they present
no challenge at all. Overly difficult goals (e.g., "improve my sales by 50 percent in one
month") are also not motivational; they are so challenging that a person may give up too
soon, realizing they will never reach the goal. In addition to being appropriately specific
and difficult, you are more likely to reach goals to which you are committed. A lack of
interest or commitment in reaching the goal makes the goal-setting process futile.

One of the advantages of setting goals to improve time management is that, over time,
you gain a more realistic understanding of what can be accomplished in a workday.
People who do not often set goals may not be aware of what their capabilities are;
however, those who have set goals more consistently have a good idea of which goals
they have been able to meet and which were set too high or too low.

Meet Deadlines Early

Some people thrive when working under deadlines. Newspaper reporters operate each
day with a set of firm deadlines. However, many other people find deadlines to be
daunting and stressful. Deadlines are set to help us manage time. By always meeting
deadlines, or even by meeting them early, you can appropriately manage time. If you
complete deadline work early, you reduce the stress associated with your schedule, and
you have more self-confidence about completing work tasks. Additionally, a person's
work is likely to be higher quality if deadlines are met; attention to detail can suffer when
a person is hurrying to finish a project. To meet your deadlines early, you can break
larger tasks into smaller ones and prioritize them. In addition, setting interim deadlines
before a final deadline can help you to set goals and to make a large and seemingly
unmanageable project seem easier to complete. Finally, tackling more difficult tasks first,
as described previously, may increase your ability to meet deadlines.

Stay Organized
Organization and time management go hand in hand. Many people waste time looking for
documents, messages, or other information necessary to complete tasks in a timely
manner. There are a number of steps that can help you stay organized.

First, arrange your workspace in a way that promotes organization. That is, have a place
for everything, and put everything in its place. If you do not have a specific location for
telephone messages, it is not surprising that you might spend time looking for a telephone
message or even misplace one. Additionally, put the items that are most used closest to
you. If you use a reference book (such as a dictionary or a computer programming
language reference book) frequently, putting that book across the room wastes time. You
want to minimize the amount of time you spend getting up from your desk retrieving or
looking for items.

A second suggestion for staying organized is to spend a little time each day organizing
your work-space. Discard paper and electronic documents that are no longer needed, file
documents that will be needed at a later time, and write a to do list for tasks that must be
accomplished that day or the next day. Some time management experts suggest that you
only touch each piece of paper in your office once. That is, if you receive a memo, you
should read it when you receive it and take action based on it only once, rather than
reading the memo, putting it down, and having to reread it several times before acting on
it.

A third suggestion it to use a calendar or day planner to stay organized; this will help you
to remember important dates and deadlines. Without a calendar in which such dates are
noted, some tasks or meetings may be forgotten; instead of planning the time you need to
do certain tasks, you may have to drop everything to accomplish a task that must be done
for a meeting that you forgot was later that day. For a calendar to be effective for time
management, however, you must be sure to note important dates. An incomplete or
inaccurate calendar is useless. This suggestion fits nicely with the recommendation to
spend a little time each day organizing your workspace. If part of your organization effort
includes documenting any important dates and times and reviewing events on a calendar
scheduled for the following days, this can aid time management.
Find your Productive Time

Each person has a time of the day in which they are better able to concentrate or to do
certain types of work. And, most people have a time of the day in which they have
difficulty staying focused and getting things done. Some people are very productive in
the mornings, but less able to concentrate in the afternoons. Others cannot tackle difficult
tasks in the morning and prefer to wait until later in the day to do work that requires
attention to detail. By determining when you are best able to do certain types of tasks,
you can schedule them throughout your day so that you are most productive. For
instance, if you are able to read and evaluate best in the morning, schedule those tasks for
when you first arrive at work. If you find yourself getting sleepy in the afternoons, then
reading quietly is not the best task for this time of day. Instead, you may choose to do
tasks that involve a little bit of physical activity or that do not require as much mental
concentration. Perhaps returning telephone calls or meeting with co-workers is better for
afternoon tasks.

By scheduling tasks during the times of day when you are best able to do them, you are
likely to be able to complete your work in a more time effective manner. Many people
waste time trying to concentrate or solve difficult problems by doing so at a time that is
ineffective for them. Re-reading a memo three times because you lack concentration in
the late afternoon is a poor choice when you could read the memo once in the morning.

Minimize Stress

Stress is a major barrier to effective time management. Stress created by the workplace or
by personal concerns can create anxiety and worry that are distracting from work. Even
ineffective time management can lead to stress, since anxiety over completing tasks in a
timely manner can hinder their accomplishment. To manage stress, it is important to first
recognize what is creating the stress. Is it worried over a particular task, a work situation,
or an issue at home? Once the stressor is recognized, it can be better managed. If the
source of stress is unidentified, then it cannot be managed.

Once the source of stress is identified, you must determine which parts of the situation
can be controlled and which cannot. For instance, if the source of stress is a looming
 deadline for a project, tackling some elements of that project or scheduling some of the
tasks may relieve stress. However, there may be parts of the project that are causing
stress that cannot be managed. For instance, if part of the successful completion of the
project depends on the work of another person, this may create stress that cannot be
controlled unless you have some ability to monitor the work of the other person. For
stressors that are out of your control, you must either find ways to exert more control or
to ignore the issue and focus on those tasks that you can control.

Even when stressors have been identified and controlled to some extent, you may still
experience stress. To reduce stress physically, you can get an appropriate amount of
sleep, exercise regularly, and eat properly. Many Americans are sleep deprived, and
skipping even a couple of hours of sleep each night can have noticeable consequences in
the workplace. Some sleep experts liken working while sleep deprived to working while
drunk. Although many people think that they will get more done by working more hours
and sleeping less, getting appropriate amounts of sleep can instead make a person more
productive during their working hours, requiring less time on the job.

4.0 ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACHES TO IMPROVING TIME MANAGEMENT

Because time management can have an effect on employees' productivity in the

workplace, some employers are now offering information and assistance for employees
who want to better manage their time. Some organizations now offer time management
workshops that teach skills such as those listed above. Additionally, seminars may be
developed around particular models of time management, such as those presented in
Steven Covey's book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Another approach employers can use to assist employees in time management skills is
through wellness programs. Wellness programs are opportunities offered or subsidized by
the organization to promote physical and emotional health and well-being, thereby
reducing stress. They are intended as preventative measures and aim to reduce health
risks and/or emotional stress. One of the outcomes that may be associated with a wellness
plan is the ability to better manage time—if people are more physically well; many of the
stress-related barriers to time management are reduced. Wellness plans may involve free
 or reduced-cost health club memberships, on-site health clubs, relaxation courses, stress-
reduction courses, smoking cessation courses, and even time management courses. Some
organizations even take the step of reducing health insurance premiums for those
employees who participate in a wellness plan.

Finally, many organizations now offer benefits and services intended to help employees
manage non-work activities. Flexible work hours, on-site day care, leave banks, and even
valet services are now being offered in some organizations. These types of services,
while often improving employee recruitment and retention, may also help to reduce
distractions at work, to reduce employee stress, and to assist employees in being more
productive during working hours.

Time management is a challenge for many people, and there are a number of tips that can
help employees to make better use of their time. By learning delegating skills, prioritizing
tasks appropriately, setting goals, meeting deadlines early, staying organized, finding the
most productive time of the day, minimizing stress, saying "no" to some requests, and
reducing the intrusion of technology, employees may be able to improve their time
management. Additionally, many organizations now offer programs to teach employees
time-management skills in order to reduce stress and improve overall well-being, and to
assist them in managing their non-work lives.

4.1 Effectively Managing Your “Multitasking Day”

Do you sometimes feel as though you’re on a treadmill in your professional life? You
were coasting along comfortably at a “five” setting; yet the speed just got bumped up to
10. While you may be able to keep up briefly, you constantly fear being thrown off and
having everything come crashing down. While you may not be able to control what’s
being thrown at you or asked of you, there are ways to effectively manage your
multitasking day.

First, you must admit and acknowledge these three truths:

1. You will never get it all done. While you may feel there is not enough time in the day to
get everything done, it’s not actually a problem of supply. You have the same amount of
 hours that everyone else has—and has always had. It’s a problem of demand. Even if you
work 24/7, there will still be unfinished business: things to do, people to see, reports to
prepare and emails to read.

2. Your day will not always go as planned. That’s OK. Your success at the end of the day
should not be based upon whether the schedule you set was followed, but on how
productive you were at moving toward your goals. Just as a satellite navigation system
recalculates as it goes off course, so will you have to continually reprioritize and adjust to
changing situations.

3. Everything takes longer than you think it will. The high-quality output you demand of
yourself may take a little longer to produce. If it’s on your schedule, it’s important that
you do the best job you can; even if it means you can’t get to everything else on your
plate.

At the end of a long day, do you look at everything you accomplished or do you focus on
the incomplete to-do list? If you focus on the former, you have a feeling of completeness
and self-gratification for a day well spent. If you focus on the latter, you focus on your
shortcomings, never feeling as if you’re doing a good job.

However, to effectively manage your “multitasking day,” you need to:

1. Effectively manage your goals. Before deciding what to work on, you need to know what
you’re working for. If you have not established your goals, you can’t celebrate when you
achieve one. Take a baseline snapshot of how you spend your hours in a typical day and
week and whether it is helping you reach your goals.

2. Effectively manage your priorities. The most important decisions you make during the
day are what actions to take or not to take. This prioritization will determine where your
time, energy and focus will be spent. Ask yourself, “For every action taken or not taken,
what is the intended result?” In choosing what to work on, you need to distinguish
between the urgent and the important. Start to work early on the urgent before the
deadline approaches.
 If the task is not going to immediately make you more knowledgeable, make you more
money, save you time or provide a worthwhile benefit, ignore it.

3. Effectively manage your focus. Your first goal is to filter the noise, which is anything
distracting you from your task. Everyone wants a piece of your time and attention, but
not everyone is entitled to them. Schedule and manage the time for interruptions. “Do
you have a minute?” rarely turns out to be a minute. You can respond, “Yes, I have a
minute, but it will be after 2 p.m.” Turn up your personal and business filters to block
anything that steals your time and attention. If the task is not going to immediately make
you more knowledgeable, make you more money, save you time or provide a worthwhile
benefit, ignore it.

4. Effectively manage conversations. When it comes to communication and managing

conversations, it’s not just what you say, it’s what people hear. Say yes slowly. No single
task you agree to do takes a long time; it’s when you say yes to multiple projects over and
over again that you begin to have the feeling of being overwhelmed.

5. Effectively manage expectations. If you are overwhelmed by having more to do than you
can possibly get done within the time committed, determine the most important priorities
to complete and reset the deadlines with others.

6. Effectively manage technology. With all the new technologies, expectations for response
time have been raised. With emails and texting, people not only expect replies; they
expect quick responses as well. Your responses do not have to be long: “got it,” “no
problem,” “will call this afternoon to discuss” are effective, and responding lets the
sender know you received the message.

7. Effectively manage organization. Being unorganized can lead to your feeling busier than
you actually are. Organization is a process, not an event, and it should be scheduled as a
part of your day. Some people are naturally organized and others have to work at it.
While some people are filers and others pilers, your goal should be to touch each piece of
paper just once.
8. Effectively manage your mind and emotions. Feeling overwhelmed and overworked can
lead to stress. When you find your mind and emotions wandering to the dark side, think,
“Why worry?” Instead of worrying, go back to the source of the worry and write it down.
Then reset your priorities, make a plan and take action to fix the conflict in your mind.

4.2 ASSESSING YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT TO WARDS PERFORMANCE

It is important to determine the success of your time management. This will allow you to
make the necessary changes to the way you use your time to do this.

• Make a daily list of the tasks you wish to achieve.

• At the end of each day review this list as you reach your goals?

• Use this information to make any changes that may be required

• Get feedback on your time management from other employees.

To control your time, you need a very clear understanding of your priorities, not only for
your life. This required constant planning, review, and revision. Take time every day to
determine what tomorrow’s priorities are. Frequently and regularly review your goal;
make sure that what you do forwards them. Do the same things with your life determine
what is important and make sure that you spend time forwarding those things, focus, have
goals, have a plan, and time management will be easier, because you will have some
basis for the decisions and choices you will have to make.

Some managers lack focus, and desire to be involved in very detailed activity in the
organization. This is coursed by lack of objectivity with clear priorities of tasks. Manager
should recognize what is essential and what is not, and learn to know responsibilities,
decide priorities and have time for everything.

5.0 CONCLUSION
 Effective time management is a panacea to organizational effectiveness and not a
placebo. Effective time management will improve staff productivity, make scheduling of
jobs easier, make staff to perform tasks at their highest skill level, help staff to prioritize
and accomplish important task, record and guide the organization towards achieving set
goal.

To control your time, you need a very clear understanding of your priorities, not only for
your life. This required constant planning, review, and revision. Take time every day to
determine what tomorrow’s priorities are. Frequently and regularly review your goal;
make sure that what you do forwards them. Do the same things with your life determine
what is important and make sure that you spend time forwarding those things, focus, have
goals, have a plan, and time management will be easier, because you will have some
basis for the decisions and choices you will have to make.

However, it is obvious from the data analysis that the effect of time management on
organizations is an important factor that management cannot afford to ignore or neglect
as it has a great consequence on the organization’s survival and profitability, which
however is derived from constant productivity.

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