Managing
Time and Setting Priorities
Effective
time management
l Use time efficiently
l Select the most important
tasks to do
l Do those tasks efficiently
Steps
in Managing Time
l Record time use
l Control time use
l Using time efficiently
Recording
Time Use
l Keep a log of how your time
is being spent, before you start a time management program
l Write down everything done
in a day and how long it takes
l Record what was done at the
time it was done, not days later
Controlling
Time Use
l Begins with planning
l Don’t be a slave to your
schedule but be free to adjust
l What are you trying to
accomplish? Goals?
l Plan the day and the week,
and even the month.
l It takes persistence to
become effective in planning.
l You will make mistakes at
first, but learn from them and keep planning
l
Plan your work, and work your plan.
l
Those who fail to plan, are planning to fail
l When to plan:
–
Some
do it on Sunday night
–
Some
on Monday morning
–
Some
every evening
How
to plan
l List and prioritize
activities to be accomplished
l List phone calls and emails
you need to make
l List the appointments you
need to make
l List the lower priority
activities you would like to get to if time allows
Prioritize
l When the list of activities
is prioritized, ask yourself, “Can I delegate” some of these.
l If you are finding yourself
saying, “If I want this done right, I must do it myself” you are not
delegating.
l Delegating can be helping
others learn and become more valuable to the organization.
l Eliminate lower priority
items to give more time to high priority activities
l One can either take a large
task and divide it up into smaller daily tasks, or leave the larger task for a
time when it can be done to completion, and do some smaller tasks in the time
provided
l When there are more people
than the tasks to perform, people waste time.
l When people socialize too
much gossip may turn into conflict which requires a superiors intervention
l The director may ask, “What
do I do that wastes your time?” And then listen.
Using
time efficiently
l Who or what controls the
director’s time?
l Sometimes external forces
do, but should not occur too frequently.
l Manager should:
–
Can
accept the request and give it time
–
Say
NO!
–
Make
a compromise to satisfy all parties
–
Share
time
Time
wasters/savers
l Reading and answering mail;
jot down a response on the original letter for the secretary to type a letter
of response; copies filed
l Reading newsletters and
periodicals can be prioritized
l Commuting time
l Cell phones
l Coffee break; use the 15
minutes for relaxation, not 60 minutes of bull session
l Lunches: brown bag,
exercise, reading, run errands,
l Waiting for appointments;
bring some reading material
l Constructive sleeping
Linking
Goals and Priorities
l By setting goals, personal
and professional, the tasks can be prioritized
l One year, five year, etc.
goals
l What do you want to
accomplish?
l Brainstorm – don’t disregard
an idea due to whether you can afford to do it, or how realistic they are, but
whether they appeal to you
l Write them down
l Take the list of common,
uncommon, attainable, and impossible dreams and reality will help you sort them
out
l Now prioritize the
list. What do you want to do first?
What are most important?
l Analyze the factors involved
in each item
Prioritizing
Goals
l Paradigm shift
l Risk
l Courage
l Prioritizing and goal
setting is an ongoing process with some goals or activities increasing priority
and some decreasing
l When a goal is large it is
best to break it down into smaller tasks
Scheduling
l “The best intention is not
as important as the smallest deed.”
l Transform intent into action
l Are your activities
contributing to your goals?
l Keep a daily schedule with
flexibility
l Schedule flex time
Tyranny
of the Urgent
l Most people feel that their
concern is an emergency.
l Phone calls, reading
important articles and journals, meetings, appointments need to be scheduled in
l Schedule large blocks for
uninterrupted work in private when at the optimum creativity and energy
l When do most distractions
occur? Short tasks can be done without strict concentration
Personal
time
l When work goes home with
you, it can lead to an imbalance in life.
l Block out time for family,
recreational reading, exercise, etc.
Posting
the written schedule
l Helps the manager and their
associates
l Show the blocked out time
for private, uninterrupted concentration
l During this time avoid
interruptions
Focusing
on a project
l Review short notes
l Complete light paper work
related to the project
l It takes practice to
concentrate; start with ten minute periods of time
l Sometimes creativity arrives
when least expecting it.
l Mental dumping
Interruptions
l Sometimes you have to say no
l Sometimes you may have to
have a meeting in a place where you won’t be disturbed
Phone
calls
l Try to make calls when the
person is most likely to be there
l Avoid telephone tag
l Leave a detailed message
l Email may accomplish many
things without much cost of time
Meetings
l Duration of meeting is
important
l Concentration time
l Too much information,
schedule two meetings
Fear
and Procrastination
l Fear of failure to be a
perfect time manager
l “Most successful people make
more mistakes than unsuccessful people, because they learn from their mistakes
and are not afraid to try again.” Mahareshi Bergemann
Handling
Fear
l Ignore fear, push it aside
and go forward with plans to achieve a goal.
–
Example:
selling, “Next”
l Containment of fear,
requires that fear be recognized, expressed, and attacked.
l Fear due to lack of
knowledge
l Let your fears run wild and
list all the catastrophic things that will happen to you. They will seem foolish
Procrastination
l “Do it now”
l Place post-its, signs,
objects in your way so it reminds you
l Remove distractions
Managing
others who waste time
l What can I do for you?
l Procrastinators think they
work better under pressure.