Time management

TIME MANAGEMENT BY: AMLAN ROYCHOWDHURY

HOW DO WE DEFINE, “TIME” WHAT ARE ITS CHARACTERESTICS

DEFINATION OF “TIME” MEASURE OF UNITS EQUAL OPPURTUNITY--- EVERYONE GETS THE SAME AMOUNT EVERYDAY. UNUSUAL COMMODITY. FEELS LIKE IT PASSES AT VARYING SPEED, (BUT ACTUALLY IT DOESN’T).

NOW WHAT DO WE ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT “TIME MANAGEMENT”????

AN IMPORTANT ASPECT……. An important aspect of TIME MANAGEMENT is to plan ahead. The first step in efficient time management is to organize the workspace or home.

DEFINATION OF TIME MANAGEMENT Time management is the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling, and budgeting one’s time for the purpose of generating more effective work and productivity. Time management is the act or process of exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase efficiency or productivity. Time management may be aided by a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. This set encompasses a wide scope of activities, and these include planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoringorganizing, scheduling, and prioritizing.

Gives us a chance to decide on how to spend a valuable resource. Allows us to get the most out of the least. Helps us organize and learn how to spend time productively.

YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT……. LEARNING TIME MANAGEMENT METHODS IS A SKILL NO DIFFERENT THAN LEARNING TO SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE OR FIGURING OUT HOW TO WORD PROCESS!! IF YOU WANT TO GET BETTER AT IT, YOU CAN.

ARE YOU ALL A GOOD TIME MANAGER???

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD TIME MANAGER

GOOD TIME MANAGERS. Plan for the unplanned. Follow a schedule that can adapt to changes. Get the important things done first. They are productive. Can do multi tasking. Have their short and long term goals in mind. May keep a daily,weekly and a monthly schedule.

WHAT ARE THE METHODS OF TIME MANAGEMENT Realize that time management is a myth…………… No matter how organized we are, there are always only 24 hours in a day. Time doesn't change. All we can actually manage is ourselves and what we do with the time that we have.

Each night write on a 3x6 the 6 most important tasks you have to do tomorrow. Number them in the order of importance. First thing in the morning look at the task listed as most important and start working on it until it is finished. Then tackle item no 2 then 3 and so on. Don’t worry if you have completed only 2 or 3 items on the list.You have completed the most important task. Each night write a new 3x5 card for next day

First. Find out where you're wasting time. Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. what are your time-bandits? do you spend too much time 'net surfing, reading email, or making personal calls?

Tracking Daily Activities explains how to track your activities so you can form a accurate picture of what you actually do, the first step to effective time management.

SCORE INTERPRETATION 46-75 You're managing your time very effectively! 31-45 You're good at some things, but there's room for improvement elsewhere. Focus on the serious issues, and you'll most likely find that work becomes much less stressful. 15-30 Ouch. The good news is that you've got a great opportunity to improve your effectiveness at work, and your long term success! However, to realize this, you've got to fundamentally improve your time management skills.

GOAL SETTING (Questions 6, 10, 14, 15) To start managing time effectively, you need to set goals. When you know where you're going, you can then figure out what exactly needs to be done, in what order. Without proper goal setting, you'll fritter your time away on a confusion of conflicting priorities. People tend to neglect goal setting because it requires time and effort. What they fail to consider is that a little time and effort put in now saves an enormous amount of time, effort and frustration in the future.

TREASURE MAPPING Visualizing your goal for greater achievement When you want to achieve something really badly, have you ever tried closing your eyes and imagining yourself "there"? You touch it, feel it and see it clearly. You scan every detail in your mind's eye. This is a powerful and important technique for motivating yourself and building the self-confidence needed to achieve your goals. Yet when you open your eyes, the vivid image start fades, and it can take real concentration to recreate your visualization each time you want some inspiration. What if you could keep hold of that vivid image and refer to it when ever you need a little motivation, or a reminder of what you are working towards? -----2

--1 It’s a very simple but effective idea: Treasure Mapping involves creating a physical representation or collage of what you want to achieve. It acts as a constant reminder and representation of your goals. And so it intensifies the effects of visualization, which acts on your subconscious mind to motivate and encourage you towards achieving those goals

PRIORITIZATION (Questions 1, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15) Prioritizing what needs to be done is especially important. Without it, you may work very hard, but you won't be achieving the results you desire because what you are working on is not of strategic importance. Most people have a "to-do" list of some sort. The problem with many of these lists is they are just a collection of things that need to get done. There is no rhyme or reason to the list and, because of this, the work they do is just as unstructured. So how do you work on To Do List tasks – top down, bottom up, easiest to hardest? To work efficiently you need to work on the most important, highest value tasks. This way you won't get caught scrambling to get something critical done as the deadline approaches

ACTION PRIORITY MATRIX OR THE URGENT/IMPORTANT MATRIX Using time effectively, not just efficiently Important activities have an outcome that leads to the achievement of your goals. Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are often associated with the achievement of someone else's goals. Urgent activities are often the ones we concentrate on. These are the "squeaky wheels that get the grease." They demand attention because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate. The Urgent/Important Matrix is a useful tool for thinking about this. --2

HOW TO USE THE MATRIX The first step is to list all the activities and projects you feel you have to do. Try to include everything that takes up your time at work, however unimportant. Next, assign importance to each of the activities – you can do this on, say, a scale of 1 to 5: remember, this is a measure of how important the activity is in helping you meet your goals and objectives. Try not to worry about urgency at this stage, as this helps get to the true importance. Once you have assigned importance to each activity, evaluate the urgency of each activity. As you do this, you can plot the listed items on the matrix according to the assigned importance and urgency. Now study the matrix using the strategies described below to schedule your priorities

Strategies for Different Quadrants of the Matrix Urgent and ImportantThere are two distinct types of urgent and important activities: Ones that you could not foresee, and others that you have left to the last minute. You can avoid the latter by planning ahead and avoiding procrastination. Issues and crises, on the other hand, cannot always be foreseen or avoided. Here, the best approach is to leave some time in your schedule to handle unexpected issues and unplanned important activities. And if a major crisis arises, some other activity may have to be rescheduled. If this happens, identify which of you urgent-important activities could have been foreseen and think about how you could schedule similar activities ahead of time, so they do not become urgent --2

Strategies for Different Quadrants of the Matrix 2 Urgent and Not ImportantUrgent but not important activities are things that stop you achieving your goals, and prevent you from completing your work. Ask yourself whether these tasks can be rescheduled, or whether someone else could do them. A common source of such interruptions is from other people in your office. Sometimes it's appropriate to say "No" to people, or encourage them to solve the problem themselves. Alternatively, try allocating time when you are available so that people only interrupt you at certain times (a good way of doing this is to schedule a regular meeting so that all issues can be dealt with at the same time.) By doing this, you'll be able to concentrate on your important activities for longer periods of time. --3

Strategies for Different Quadrants of the Matrix 3 Not Urgent, but ImportantThese are the activities that help you achieve your personal and professional goals, and complete important work. Make sure that you have plenty of time to do these things properly, so that they do not become urgent. And remember to leave enough time in your schedule to deal with unforeseen problems. This will maximize your chances of keeping on schedule, and help you avoid the stress of work becoming more urgent that necessary. 4

Strategies for Different Quadrants of the Matrix 4 Not Urgent and Not ImportantThese activities are just a distraction, and should be avoided if possible. Some can simply be ignored. Others are activities that other people may want you to do, but they do not contribute to your own desired outcomes. Again, say "No" politely and firmly if you can. If people see you are clear about your objectives and boundaries, they will often not ask you to do "not important" activities in the future.

MANAGING INTERRUPTIONS (Questions 5, 9, 11, 12) Having a plan and knowing how to prioritize it is one thing. The next issue is knowing what to do to minimize the interruptions you face during your day. It is widely recognized that managers get very little uninterrupted time to work on their priority tasks. There are phone calls, information requests, questions from employees, and a whole host of events that crop up unexpectedly. Some do need to be dealt with immediately, but others need to be managed.

HOWEVER……….VERY IMPORTANT However, some jobs need you to be available for people when they need help – interruption is a natural and necessary part of life. Here, do what you sensibly can to minimize it, but make sure you don't scare people away from interrupting you when they should.

SCORE INTERPRETATION 46-75 Good news! You're not a systematic procrastinator! If you do, however, occasionally catch yourself procrastinating over something, follow the link below for tips on dealing with this. 31-45 You're a mild procrastinator. You need to understand better why you procrastinate - there are several reasons, for it, and more than one may apply to you. And you need to learn the steps you can take to stop doing it. Click the link below for more information. 15-30 You're a procrastinator, and it's not something to be proud of. It means that you miss deadlines and waste a lot of time. As a result, your boss is not getting from you what you're capable of delivering, and he or she is probably very frustrated with this. Follow the link below to to find out why you're doing this, and how you can stop it.

PROCRASTINATION What is Procrastination? In a nutshell, you procrastinate when you put off things that you should be focusing on right now, usually in favor of doing something that is more enjoyable or that you’re more comfortable doing. According to psychologist Professor Clarry Lay, a prominent writer on procrastination, procrastination occurs when there’s “a temporal gap between intended behavior and enacted behavior.” That is, procrastination is occurring when there’s a significant time period between when people intend to do a job, and when they actually do it. --2

PROCRASTINATION (Questions 2, 10, 12) "I'll get to it later" has led to the downfall of many a good employee. After too many "laters" the work piles up so high that any task seems insurmountable. Procrastination is as tempting as it is deadly. The best way to beat it is to recognize that you do indeed procrastinate. Then you need to figure out why. Perhaps you are afraid of failing? (And some people are actually afraid of success!) Once you know why you procrastinate then you can plan to get out of the habit. Reward yourself for getting jobs done, and remind yourself regularly of the horrible consequences of not doing those boring tasks

HOW TO OVERCOME PROCRASTINATION Step 1: Recognize That You're Procrastinating Here are some useful indicators that will help you know when you’re procrastinating: Filling your day with low priority tasks from your To Do List. Reading e-mails several times without starting work on them or deciding what you’re going to do with them. Sitting down to start a high-priority task, and almost immediately going off to make a cup of coffee. Leaving an item on your To Do list for a long time, even though you know it's important. Regularly saying "Yes" to unimportant tasks that others ask you to do, and filling your time with these instead of getting on with the important tasks already on your list. Waiting for the “right mood” or the “right time” to tackle the important task at hand.

-2 Step 2: Work Out WHY You're Procrastinating Why you procrastinate can depend on both you and the task. But it's important to understand which of the two is relevant in a given situation, so that you can select the best approach for overcoming your reluctance to get going. One reason for procrastination is that people find a particular job unpleasant, and try to avoid it because of that. Most jobs have unpleasant or boring aspects to them, and often the best way of dealing with these is to get them over and done with quickly, so that you can focus on the more enjoyable aspects of the job.

Surprisingly, perfectionists are often procrastinators, as they can tend to think "I don't have the right skills or resources to do this perfectly now, so I won't do it at all."

-3 Step 3: Adopt Anti-Procrastination Strategies Procrastination is a habit – a deeply ingrained pattern of behavior. That means that you won’t just break it overnight. Habits only stop being habits when you have persistently stopped practicing them, so use as many approaches as possible to maximize your chances of beating procrastination. Some tips will work better for some people than for others, and for some tasks than others. And, sometimes, you may simply need to try a fresh approach to beat the “procrastination peril”!

SCHEDULING (Questions 3, 7, 12) Much of time management comes down to effective scheduling of your time. When you know what your goals and priorities are, you then need to know how to go about creating a schedule that keeps you on track, and protects you from stress. This means understanding the factors that affect the time you have available for work. You not only have to schedule priority tasks, you have to leave room for interruptions, and contingency time for those unexpected events that otherwise wreak chaos with your schedule. By creating a robust schedule that reflects your priorities and well as supports your personal goals, you have a winning combination: One that will allow you to control your time and keep your life in balance

EFFECTIVE SCHEDULING 1 Scheduling is best done on a regular basis, for example at the start of every week or month. Go through the following steps in preparing your schedule: Start by identifying the time you want to make available for your work. This will depend on the design of your job and on your personal goals in life. Next, block in the actions you absolutely must take to do a good job. These will often be the things you are assessed against. For example, if you manage people, then you must make time available for dealing with issues that arise, coaching, and supervision. Similarly, you must allow time to communicate with your boss and key people around you. While people may let you get away with 'neglecting them' in the short-term, your best time management efforts will surely be derailed if you do not set aside time for those who are important in your life

EFFECTIVE SCHEDULING 2 Review your To Do List, and schedule in the high-priority urgent activities, as well as the essential maintenance tasks that cannot be delegated and cannot be avoided. Next, block in appropriate contingency time. You will learn how much of this you need by experience. Normally, the more unpredictable your job, the more contingency time you need. The reality of many people's work is of constant interruption: Studies show some managers getting an average of as little as six minutes uninterrupted work done at a time. Obviously, you cannot tell when interruptions will occur. However, by leaving space in your schedule, you give yourself the flexibility to rearrange your schedule to react effectively to issues as they arise. What you now have left is your "discretionary time": the time available to deliver your priorities and achieve your goals.

THE TO DO LIST Now that you all are aware of the type of respondent you all are, having now some knowledge of the Urgent / Important matrix, and the art of scheduling your activities, will it be very difficult to make a TO DO LIST ?

-2 THE TO DO LIST As mentioned earlier, now sit with your 3x5 card at night and write down the things you need to do tomorrow. Then label each task as A B or C A’s on your list are those things that are most important to you. Incomplete assignments or jobs needing completion. B’s on your list are important, but are less than you’re A’s. Someday the B’s can become A’s

--3 THE TO DO LIST The B’s are very important but are not very urgent ( U / I Matrix ) C’s do not require immediate attention. These tasks are often small and easy jobs. Schedule appropriate times for all the A’s TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR TIME AND LIFE

NOW, THE PROCESS PLAN: Specify what goals you want to achieve. Visualize the end result, break large goals into weakly and daily priorities. Be prepared for interruptions and handle them calmly. ORGANIZE: Your activities to achieve your goals, use project boards and organize your work space.

NOW THE PROCESS DIRECT: Use positive reinforcement to motivate yourself. EVALUATE: Monitor your attitude and behavior. Track your accomplishment.

WHERE IS MY CHOICE TIME ? Essentially, your time frame, ie 24 hours minus your commitments = your choice time. Each time frame consists of three types of activities Whether it's a day, week, month, term or year, each time frame can be broken down into three parts: -2

WHERE IS MY CHOICE TIME Scheduled ‘have-to’ activities. Working hours, commuting, classes, meetings, appointments and other routine commitments can all be defined or at least estimated. Unscheduled ‘have-to’ activities. The time available here is defined by what’s left after you’ve accounted for your scheduled activities. Sleeping, eating, family responsibilities, domestic chores and personal care all have to be done, but you decide the extent. Unscheduled ‘want-to’ activities. Whatever time is available after your scheduled and unscheduled obligations have been met. How you use this time is entirely up to you.

SPECIFICALLY FOR STUDENTS Get OFF that damn PHONE Learn to say NO Avoid noise distraction Notice and be alert of the fact that how you misuse your time. CHANGE YOUR HABBITS. Set realistic goals. Pay attention to your attention. ARE YOU FOCUSSING?

-2 SPECIFICALLY FOR STUDENTS Study the difficult or the boring subject FIRST Use waiting time, like waiting for a bus etc. Use a regular study area, at home and at your institution. ASK: Am I doing the most important or the urgent work first. Get your priorities right. If a task is difficult and hard , GET STARTED. Half the battle is won.

-3 SPECIFICALLY FOR STUDENTS Schedule time for errands and fun Start your projects early rather than waiting till the last minute. At the end of the day, ASK. Can I do just one more thing? This way you increase your productivity. Allow flexibility in your schedules. ALWAYS BE AWARE OF THE TIME THAT YOU ARE WASTING.

-4 SPECIFICALLY FOR STUDENTS Chunking: What do we mean by it ? It means that you study for a set period of time. Pay attention to your focus and concentration. When you start to loose the focus on your study that is the time to take short micro breaks. Breaks are important for relaxation of mind and your eyes.

Time management

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