1. Planning to manage your time
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

2. Workshop objectives
• Assess the time you spend on your research in a
‛typical’ week
• Develop an ‛ideal’ time allocation for a week
• Remind you of key tools for planning and time
management
• Discuss possible solutions for changing your
‛current’ situation to your ‛ideal’ situation
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

3. A ‛typical’ day
Work
Eat
Sleep
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

4. How do you spend your time?
• Block out time on the handout for activities you
routinely do:
- sleep, socialise, work, research etc
- use a key, colours, stickers, icon etc
• Do this for the whole week
• Once complete, total up the hours spent in each
category
• Then record:
- your most productive time
- your most productive location
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

5. Your ‛ideal’ week
• Allocate time in your ideal week
• Use the categories from the last exercise
• Section off the wheel with the allocation for each
activity
• Make sure you are comfortable with this:
- enough sleep, socialising, research
- think of your priorities
• After the workshop, redo week plan using this as
a basis:
- remember productive time!
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

6. Key planning tools
Plan
Reflect and
review
Do
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

7. Planning tools
• Long-term tools:
- Mind maps or work breakdown structures
- Yearly planners/wall charts
• Mid-term tools:
- Gantt charts
- Milestones and objectives
• Short-term tools:
- Prioritisation quadrant
- To do lists
- Daily schedules
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

8. Planning techniques
• Time estimation
• Setting deadlines
• Stakeholder analysis
• Risk analysis
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

9. Implementing plans
• Make an effort to stick to them
• Use a project manager
• Establish a study routine
• Use incentives
• Communicate your plans, actions and outputs to
interested parties
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

10. Reviewing how it turned out
• The most crucial phase!
• Assess progress:
- Need milestones and objectives to do this
• Reality vs the plan:
- What went right?
- What went wrong?
- What needs to change?
- How do you change it?
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

11. Personal review/reflection
• Why doesn’t your current week match your ideal?
• What is the biggest reason?
• Is it due to planning issues?
– Do you plan? Use planning tools? Estimate and review
estimates? Analyse stakeholders? Analyse and
mitigate risks?
• Is it a problem with implementing them?
– Do you use a project manager? Stick to plans? Set
routines? Reward yourself?
• Is it outside influences?
• Are you easily distracted? Do you never say ‘no’? Do you
allow others to set your priorities?
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

12. Review discussion
• On the top half of a flip chart, record why you are in
your group (2 mins)
• Pass your group’s flip chart to another group
• Brainstorm ways to solve these problems (15 mins)
• Pass back
• Is there anything you can try? (5 mins)
• Action plan; think SMART
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.

13. Workshop objectives
• Planning and time management tips are known
by all but not acted on
• Get into the Plan – Do - Review habit
• This session has been a chance to review…
what most people forget.
Probably THE most important transferable skill
for any career
‛Planning to manage your time’ has been developed by Vitae
© 2009 Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited. Please refer to www.vitae.ac.uk/resourcedisclaimer for full conditions of use.