basics of time management

8/14/2019 Basics of Time Management

1/108

Outline

Course intro

Identify your perception of time

How do you use time?

Steps in time management

External disruptors

Internal disruptors

Task ownership

Prioritize goals and tasks

Plan your day, week, month

Conclusion


2/108

Anthony decides today is the day that he will become moreefficient at his job.

He writes a list of unfinished tasks, plus tasks he plans to dplus tasks due next week. He starts with an easy task due

next week. As usual, he is interrupted. His manager asks hto find an address. A co-worker tells him about a new movHe reads each email as it arrives.

He accepts an invitation for lunch at a new restaurant. After lunch, he reserves a meeting room for co-worker who says she is too busy to do it herself. He reads more email while he waits for data forweekly report. He's not sure how to complete a form, so he puts it aside until tomorrow. He doesn'tthink there is enough time to start another task, so he rearranges papers on his desk. At the end ofthe day, his list is as long as when he began.

He thinks, "Where does the time go? Making a list doesn't work! How do people get their work done

How do other people get their work done? What time management advice could you give Anthony?

On the toolbar above, click the next number to move on to the next page.

opyright 2003 DigitalThink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ourse intro


3/108

How could you manage time so you can accomplish more at work? Do you recognize your goals anpriorities, and are you getting to them?

There is no such thing as a person who does not engage in time management. Everybody managestimefor better or worse. Many people feel anxiety about the tasks they must accomplish day afteday. These people feel so overwhelmed that they resign themselves to the feeling of running all daybut never getting ahead.

It doesn't have to be that way. If you learn to recognize some situations and patterns that keep yofrom accomplishing what you want, you can learn to manage your time effectively.

This course will show you ways to identify situations and environments under which you thrive; inaddition, you will learn ways to adjust elements in your work environment and your usual work stythat contribute to inefficiency, over-responsibility, and overload.

In this course you will learn how to:

q Analyze your use of timeq Identify current inefficiencies in your schedule

q Identify external elements that affect your schedule

q Identify psychological factors that affect time management

q Define scheduling, planning, prioritizing, and decision-making

q Define task ownership and responsibility

q Prioritize your tasks and goals

q Plan your day, week, and month

Click the right-facing arrow to move on to your next topic.


ourse intro


4/108

Learn about your work style and your time style.

Is time like money to you, or is it like air? Do you use it,control it, or spend it? Is it just something that's "out thesomewhere" that you measure with a clock in the way yomeasure the temperature with a thermometer?

Do you have spare time, or not enough time? Do you account for every hour, or do you havedifficulty in remembering how you spent your day?

Have you ever thought about your relationship with time, and whether you could be accomplishingmore during your workday with the time you have?

Managing time to meet your needs begins with an understanding of how you interact with time and

how you like to interact with time. As you complete this lesson, you will understand your time styleand collect information about yourself that you can use to plan and schedule your workday and worweek.



dentify your perception of time


5/108

Before you can begin to structure your time differently, you should understand how you are using itnow. Below you will learn some facts about time management and time styles.




Transcript


6/108


8/108

Take a time survey to learn more about your preferred style of combining work and time.

Your answers will be helpful to you as you schedule your workday. Write your answers in the My Notesarea and print them, or write them on paper for your own reference.




Transcript


9/108


10/108


11/108


12/108


13/108


14/108


15/108

pyright 2003 DigitalThink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


16/108

Click the right-facing arrow to move on to the next section.




17/108

Find out how long it really takes to finish a task.

Valerie, Augustine and Dale are having a conversation over

lunch about the value of writing to-do lists to manage theirtime.

Did you agree with them? Or did you recognize the common mistakes that each of them is making inheir time management efforts? To-do lists can be a useful first step in time management if they areealistic and accurate. This lesson will provide you with tips and tools to assess how you spend your time

nd how to use that information to build a better to-do list.


yright 2003 DigitalThink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

ow do you use time?


18/108

Use the suggestions and tips below to find out how you spend your time, then begin to restructure it.



ow do you use time?

Transcript


19/108


20/108


21/108

pyright 2003 DigitalThink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


22/108

The following example shows a part of Dale's time log and Dale's review comments at the end of thweek.

Task TimeEstimated

ActualTime Interruptions? Notes

Send emailinvitationsto clientlunch

1 hour 3.5 hours No Didn't take into account the timespent in locating addresses.*

* Next time I do a task like this, I'll send out the list of names first and request thatthe account managers supply email addresses. Then all I have to do is prepare theinvitations and take the addresses from the lists.

Preparepresentationfor teammeeting

1.5 hour 3 hours Yes I didn't have all the information Ineeded for this, and I had tophone and email several people.The returned phone calls took upa lot of time, because everyoneasked questions about thepresentation. My computer frozehalfway through, and I had tobegin over again.*

* I should have saved my work regularly. That way, I w ouldn't have had to start over.Next time, I'll review the information before I start. I cou ld request the missinginformation and then begin a short task while I w ait.

Brainstormmarketingtasks forthe launchof newproduct

2 hours .75 hour No This is my favorite type of task.No one bothered me while I wasworking and there were no emailsor phone calls. Ideas were reallyflowing! *

* Perhaps I can arrange to reserve a conference room to work on projects like this, soI can cut dow n on interruptions. I think I 'm more productive late in the morning thanin the afternoon when it comes to thinking of ideas.

Answering

email

1 hour 3 hours Yes My email is always turned on. I

didn't realize that I check it sooften. I feel it's important toanswer every email right away,but it's constantly interruptingme.*

* I can program my email program to notify me of messages from my manager andhigh-priority messages and move others to a "Read Later" folder.

ow do you use time?


23/108

Writing anabstract fora paper

20minutes

2.5 hours No I wrote the abstract in the time Iestimated, but every time Isubmitted it, my manager addedmore sections and wanted itrevised! *

* I w on't take the time to prepare a final version next time until I 'm sure that mymanager doesn't have any more changes. I'll email her the draft and let her w rite inwhat she w ants. Then I can edit the draft and prepare the final just once.

Order lunchfor weeklyteammeeting

30minutes

1.5 hours No No interruptions, but I didn'trealize that I needed to considerseveral sets of dietary restrictions.I had to keep calling therestaurant to change the orders. Iwish I hadn't offered to take onthis task! *

* If I do this again, which I 'll try not to do, I'll make copies of the restaurant's menu,distribute them, and have everyone circle whatever item they want and initial the

menu. That way, I can make one call when everyone turns in the menu copies. That'smy best idea of the day!




24/108



ow do you use time?

Transcript


25/108


26/108

Copyright 2003 DigitalThink, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


27/108

Learn how your priorities and goals arrange your workday.

Four co-workers here are trying to determine which one is

practicing time management. What is your idea of timemanagement and how would you explain it?

Oscar: "Time management? It's about setting priorities at work and in my career. Then I check what I'doing to see if I'm still following my priorities. That's how you manage your time."

Francine: "Not really. It's more about the goals you set for yourself. You set up what you want toaccomplish in the future. One of my goals is to use the advanced features of that new accountingsoftware. Then, every week I ask myself if I've made progress on my goals. That's time management."

Marco: "No, that's not it, either. It's about planning activities for the next week or month. First I thinkabout what I have to do on a particular day and time, and then I think about everything else I have todo in that week or month and do it. That way you're managing time. That's why it's called timemanagement."

Janis: "What I mean by time management is scheduling the tasks in my day. Which ones I do first, andtasks I leave for later when I want to do something easy, and which task is more important to do befo

teps in time management


28/108

some other task. That's the time you're managing, right?"

This debate could go on for hours, because each of them is right about one part of time management.Effective time management is a process with four separate steps. In this lesson you will learn moreabout how priorities, goal setting, planning, and scheduling work together based on the decisions youmake.




29/108

The following explanation of the steps of time management will help you understand where you currenare in the process.




Transcript


30/108


31/108


32/108



33/108

The following example shows how some time management problems can be solved by steps in the timmanagement process.




Transcript


34/108


35/108


37/108




Transcript


38/108


39/108


40/108


41/108


42/108


43/108


44/108


45/108



46/108

Learn to accommodate to situations you can't control.

IF ONLY

The traffic lights between home and work had beengreenThe rain hadn't slowed traffic on the highway this morningThey hadn't reorganized my department and assigned me more workMy manager hadn't given this report back to me five times with changes

I would have been able to do more of my work today.

You may not have control over changes to your life or your work environment. As a result, yourability to manage and plan your time can be affected for a short or long period of time. It can be ahelpless feeling.

But, have you ever said IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN?

If you had known, you would have made a different choice. The situation would still be the same, byour actions and your response would be more successful.

When you are able to recognize external disruptions and their impact on time management, you cachoose to respond in ways that return at least some control to you again.



xternal disruptors


47/108

Most external disruptions to time management can be classified into four groups:

q Health

q Change and transition

q Work overload

q Unpredictable environment

Here is a description of each group to help you be aware of external time disruption in your life.



xternal disruptors

Transcript


48/108


49/108


50/108



51/108

Learn more about ways you can respond to external disruption of your schedule in the followingexample.



xternal disruptors

Transcript


52/108


53/108


55/108



xternal disruptors


56/108

Recognize behaviors that can become time managementproblems.

Four managers discuss the common psychological patternstheir employees exhibit when it comes to time management

"This one employee," sighed Clarise, "takes forever to begin a project. Once he's going on it, he's fine.But he needs so much pushing to take the first step. I don't understand it."

"I know what you mean," Bernard said. "I've got someone like that, except she stays on schedulealmost to the end of a project, and then she takes forever to finish the last few details, and."

Jeanne interrupted, "I wish I had those people. One of my assistants keeps re-doing his work until I juabout have to pull it away from him. It would have been good enough three or four revisions ago."

"At least your staff is working on their projects." This was Marco. "Why would someone keep putting oa project? It's at the point where I've got to take some corrective steps at her performance review, anI wish I could understand the problem."

nternal disruptors


57/108


58/108

The following tabs contain information about some of the most common psychological patterns that haan impact on time management.



nternal disruptors

Transcript


59/108


60/108


62/108

The following examples show how negative beliefs and habits can emerge as time managementproblems.



nternal disruptors

Transcript


63/108


64/108


65/108



66/108



nternal disruptors


67/108

Learn how to identify when you're taking on others' work

"It will only take a minute.""Just help me out on this one thing."

"It's just a tiny little project.""I know I should be learning to do this, but you do it sowell."

"You can still finish in plenty of time after lunch.""If I want this done correctly, I'd better do it myself."

Have you ever ordered dessert in a restaurant with someone who won't order dessert forthemselves, but takes spoonfuls of your dessert until it's gone? "Just one more little bit-you won'tmiss it." In the workplace, your time is the dessert and supervisors and co-workers who ask you totake on tasks that they should be doing are the ones with the spoons. Before you know it, you don'have enough time for your own tasks.

Could this be a reason why you feel overloaded with work? Could you be giving away your own timby keeping tasks for yourself that you should delegate to someone else? As you complete thislesson, you will learn to identify tendencies you may have to be over-responsible and some ways toavoid giving away your time.



ask ownership


68/108


69/108


70/108


71/108



72/108

The following example shows people changing their responses in ownership situations.



ask ownership

Transcript


73/108


74/108


75/108


76/108


77/108


78/108


79/108



80/108



ask ownership


81/108

Learn how to select your most important tasks.

"Who's next?"

Anna hears this many times during the week when she'saway from work, and she hears many different answers:"Me. I was here first."

"Me. I've been waiting longer.""Me. This is an emergency.""Me. I don't have time to wait.""Me. I'm next in line."

Back at her desk, Anna looks at a pile of projects to be worked on, a stack of case folders to berefiled, her career development plan, and her daily calendar. As always, she's never sure in whichorder to work on the tasks. She thinks about the ways which other workplaces determine the orderin which customers are served.

Could she use the coffee shop "next in line" model, the emergency room "most urgent first" model,the commodities exchange "whoever yells loudest" model, or the doctor's office "make anappointment" model?

Which model do you use to identify "who's next" to be completed? In this lesson you will learn toidentify your goals and priorities, and how to analyze them in terms of urgency and importance.



r ioritize goals and tasks


82/108

The definitions and procedures below can help you to identify and prioritize your work goals and yourtasks.




Transcript


83/108


84/108


85/108



86/108


87/108


88/108


89/108


90/108



91/108




Transcript


92/108


93/108


94/108


95/108


97/108

Learn how to be creative and realistic in scheduling tasks

You have a convenient, easy to use tool nearby that canhelp you plan your workyour paper or electronic calendor appointment book. Take a moment to think about howyou use it now.

If you're typical, your calendar is a reminder or to-do list, not a planner. You write in appointmentsor due dates for a specific day or time. You may write everything you want to do that day on thepage or screen and "roll" uncompleted tasks to the next day. Your calendar shows you what youcould be doing. Why not use it to show what you will be doing?

If you have already established goals, identified activities, and can estimate and prioritize tasks, tathe fourth step in time management. Place your tasks in priority order in your calendar. Shift them

around to make use of the available time. Now you have a realistic, achievable work plan for theday.

In this lesson you will learn a process and some tips to help you do more with that free planning toyou look at every day.



lan your day, week, month


98/108

The following scheduling steps and tips will help you organize your day's work.



l an your day, week, month

Transcript


99/108


100/108


101/108



102/108




Transcript


103/108


104/108


106/108





107/108


108/108

basics of time management

Documents