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03 Time Management

The document provides tips and strategies for effective time management. It discusses developing clear goals and priorities, managing tasks, dealing with interruptions and deadlines, analyzing how time is spent, and avoiding common time wasters. Specific advice includes setting realistic deadlines, focusing on important tasks, limiting interruptions, saying no when overcommitted, and isolating time each day to focus on one task without disturbances. The overall message is that with better organization, focus on priorities, and discipline, one can reduce stress and make better use of time.

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Samuel Ogunsanya
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
36 views

03 Time Management

The document provides tips and strategies for effective time management. It discusses developing clear goals and priorities, managing tasks, dealing with interruptions and deadlines, analyzing how time is spent, and avoiding common time wasters. Specific advice includes setting realistic deadlines, focusing on important tasks, limiting interruptions, saying no when overcommitted, and isolating time each day to focus on one task without disturbances. The overall message is that with better organization, focus on priorities, and discipline, one can reduce stress and make better use of time.

Uploaded by

Samuel Ogunsanya
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SKILLSFILE

TIME MANAGEMENT
If you find that there just aren't enough hours in the day, you could probably be using your time more effectively. By organising your life slightly differently, you could lower your stress, achieve your goals and have more time to do what you want

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JUST AS A WELL-RUN BUSINESS SHOULD CAREFULLY develop a strategy to determine how to spend its money, an effective businessperson should learn to plan how to use his time effectively. Most managers will say, I dont have the time to worry about managing my time. But if you were to ask the same people if they would like more hours in the day, guess what their answer would be? to stress, worry and mistakes. Others take you for granted, because you do the same to yourself Organise your workspace Sort paperwork on your desk according to priority, discarding low priority items. Use follow-up files to unclutter your desk and your mind, and if you have read something three times and not acted on it, throw it away can use to see how effectively you use your time, in terms of the things you actually do:

MANAGE TASKS EFFFECTIVELY


Six questions and subsequent actions to help you manage your priorities: Is the task I have to accomplish both urgent and important? Then Ill schedule its completion as a priority to meet the imminent deadline Is the task important with a future, agreed deadline? Then Ill schedule its completion to comfortably meet the deadline Is the task important but with no specific deadline? Then Ill set a realistic deadline and complete the task to meet it Is the task routine but important? Then Ill allocate time, but not as a priority, to complete this task when I need to Is the task routine but unimportant? Ill allocate time, but not as a priority, to complete the task when I can Is the task routine and unnecessary? Im not doing this any more

YOU CANT BUY TIME, SAVE TIME OR STOP TIME ALTHOUGH WE CONTINUE TO USE THESE TERMS. YOU CAN ONLY USE IT WISELY OR OTHERWISE KEY TIME-KILLERS

HANDLING INTERRUPTIONS
One key time-killer is interruptions. Here are ways of dealing with such moments: Let your colleagues and team members know how you plan your day. Establish set times when it's best for people to come and see you Deal with people who routinely interrupt you for repetitive reasons. There may be a need for clearer goal setting or training Use end of discussion body language eg closing a file to indicate it's time for them to go Have the interrupter agree to take action but state it in an actiondecided way eg fax the information to me is better than could you..., which invites further discussion Apologise for not being interruptable at the moment make an appointment for a mutually agreeable future time to talk Limit interrupting phone calls by planning your calls in writing, get to the point assertively, listen actively, and time limit your calls The way you begin a call affects the way you end it. You can start a phone call by stating, "Hi Susan, I only have 5 minutes to talk, but I wanted to let you know that......

CREATE CLEAR GOALS EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT


You cant buy time, save time or stop time (although we will continue to use these terms). You can only use it wisely or otherwise. Consider this: if you could find ways to save 30 minutes per day at work, youd have over four extra days to spend throughout the year or over six months extra in your working life. An effective leader sets and works to clear and established goals. Heres a simple test for you to discover just how clear your goals are: WHAT make a clear statement of the goal in the present tense. This must be specific so that you can recognise good performance WHY note your personal reasons for wanting to achieve it. If your determination ever wavers, you can refer back to these notes to remind yourself why this goal is important WHEN note both start and completion dates (without these a goal is simply a wish). For complex goals, there may also be a series of dated interim steps towards final achievement HOW note the actions required (by you and others) for your goal to be achieved

KEY TIME-WASTERS TO AVOID


Here are a few of the most common ways that many managers and leaders waste time: Calling or attending meetings held through habit rather than necessity Spending time constantly fire-fighting, rather than planning effectively Succumbing to unnecessary or repeated interruptions Suffering from a lack of priorities Attempting to do too much, especially when many of the tasks could be delegated to others Working in a disorganised way A lack of self-discipline An inability to say no to others

DEAL WITH DEADLINES


There may be deadlines set for some of your tasks and duties. Here are some invaluable tips that will help you to deal with these: Dont simply accept deadlines imposed on you. Analyse the reasons for them and look for alternatives where appropriate Dont work to other peoples deadlines set your own, taking others into account Make sure others know your deadline and ask for their help where necessary Develop the skill of effective estimating many people under or overestimate the time needed for any task Dont set artificial deadlines eg I must finish this by 4pm for no good reason Do set realistic ones eg I must finish this by 5pm because the report is to be submitted by lunchtime the following day Set manageable stages for more complex tasks in this way you can see yourself making progress

ANALYSING YOUR TASKS


The first law of time management is to shift your focus away from simply being busy onto getting results. In other words, prioritise. Concentrate your work on those items with the greatest reward. Develop an overview of everything that you want to accomplish and organise your goals according to their priority. Think of priorities in terms of two dimensions urgency and importance. Urgent tasks have short-term consequences while important tasks are those with longterm, goal-related implications. Work towards reducing the urgent things you must do so you'll have time for your important priorities. You should aim to actively undertake important activities rather than simply reacting to other people's problems. In general terms, the more time you spend on important active tasks, the more effective you are likely to be. Heres a simple process you

FIVE THINGS TO CHANGE

COOL QUOTES
Time is a dressmaker specialising in alterations Faith Baldwin A man who dares waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life! Charles Darwin Time is what we want most, but what, alas, we use worst William Penn Theres never enough time to do it right, but theres always enough time to do it over Jack Bergman

Say no to yourself Avoid overload where necessary. Change the emphasis from whats available? to what do I really need? Break a habit every day Always consider why you do those things you regularly do. Is it habit? How might you do it better? Or quicker? Or not at all? Isolate yourself Make some time every day when you can focus on one thing only, without any disturbances Dont take yourself for granted Trying to do too much and being seen as the person who can always handle everything may be great for your selfesteem in theory. But in practice, it leads
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Gordon Veniard is a specialist management trainer. For more information on how to use your time more effectively and other management skills visit www.venworks.co.uk

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