Time Management

Time Management

Doddi Pavan Kumar

Steps for Managing Time Analyze how you currently spend your time  Use a time log  Tally your activities  Determine whether time you spend matches your key responsibilities

Review your goals  Review your organizational, departmental, and personal goals Consider the priorities that you have

Break your goals into manageable tasks  Review each of your goals individually  Put the tasks in sequential order  Estimate the time each task or activity will require  Establish a deadline  Assign priorities to each task  Note which tasks need to be completed in a sequence

Schedule your time  Schedule important work during your peak

 Make sure to add those time wasters you cannot control back into your schedule

Implement your schedule  Carry your to-do list with you during the day  Review your schedule and Reward yourself for tasks completed  Handle unexpected tasks quickly and return to your priority tasks.  As changes occur, modify your weekly schedule to compensate.  Hard to adopt at first

Evaluate your schedule and make adjustments  Monitor the implementation and results of your schedule  Ask yourself some questions  Modify your schedule based on your analysis

Tips for Scheduling time

 Take both a long-term and a short-term perspective  Learn when your "high-energy" and "lowenergy" times occur and schedule your day accordingly  Balance your activities

Tips for Sticking to Your Schedule  Post your goals where you can always see them.  File time-saving ideas and tools.  Take some time today to prepare for tomorrow’s top priority tasks.  Plan rewards for using work time effectively.  Don’t strive for perfection.

Tips for Controlling Time Wasters  Schedule an hour of quiet time when you cannot be interrupted.  Let your colleagues and direct reports know that you are working on managing time wasters.  Allow at least an hour a day of unscheduled time, so you are prepared for time wasters.  Set end times for appointments to keep you focused on the meeting window.  Note how much time a time waster cost you

Scenario: Sharlene's manager, Al, asks her to put together a spreadsheet detailing the payment turnaround time of each of her direct reports. He has the raw data, but would find the information more useful if Sharlene could compile it for a report he's writing. He wants the spreadsheet by the end of the week. Sharlene is happy to create the spreadsheet, but knows she doesn't have enough time to work on it and still complete everything else she has to do. What should Sharlene do? oCreate the spreadsheet. If it's important to Al, it's important to her. oExplain the tasks on her plate and how they relate to her goals, and ask Al what she should do, given that this spreadsheet does not relate directly to her goals. oAgree to write the report, but caution Al that she may not be able to finish it by the end of the week, given everything else she has to do.

Sharlene assigned priorities to the various tasks needed to achieve specific goals. Based on this, she created a to-do list and schedule. However, she finds that she's not completing things as efficiently as she had thought she would. As a result, she's falling behind again.

What should she do to get her schedule back on track? o Identify ways she has been spending time that don't help her complete tasks. Then brainstorm how to control the time wasters and focus on the tasks at hand. oEliminate low-priority tasks. They aren't as important, and it's better to get the high-priority tasks completed on time. She can always do the low-priority tasks later. oPlace a "Do Not Disturb" sign on her door and ignore phone calls and e-mails until she has completed the tasks. Use the sign judiciously, but ask co-workers to take it seriously

Tools Daily Time Log Chart Time Waster/Solutions Chart To-Do List Checklist: Evaluating Your Schedule Breaking Goals Into Tasks Worksheet

1. The time management process in this topic has three phases: analysis, planning and follow up and evaluation. In the first phase, analysis, the key task is to understand how you spend your time. To what aspect of your time usage should you pay particular attention? oWhat drives how you use your time oThe balance between time spent on work and on personal time oThe degree of agreement between how you spent your time this week versus last week.

2. What is a suggested strategy for dealing with factors that are beyond your control (like fluctuations in the stock market or customer calls)? oTrack the daily time consumed by these factors for a month or so. Then build extra time into your schedule to accommodate them. oTake charge of these factors and limit your exposure to them; say no. oDevelop contingency plans for these factors in advance so

3. What’s a straightforward tip for the best way to turn paperwork into a productive activity? oAs soon as you receive it, sort the paperwork into piles of highest priority, medium priority, and lowest priority. oAlways reply right on the paper received rather than create a separate reply. oTry to handle any paper document only once.

4. Once you have logged your activities into categories, you can begin the process of analyzing the log. To best evaluate your time usage, the text suggests that you need to match "what" with "what"? oMatch how you use your time with key responsibilities oMatch the hours and days of the week spent on workrelated tasks with the total hours spent in the workplace. oMatch the ratio between work-related time spent and non-work related time spent.

5. Controlling time wasters is a key strategy to use to manage your time more effectively. How would you describe a "time waster"? oA time waster is any time spent that does not match one of your performance objectives. oA time waster is any activity or time spent that does not have a payoff for the organization's primary goals. oA time waster is anything that keeps you from doing things that have more value and importance to you

6. When you are in the process of developing and trying strategies to deal with time wasters you've identified, what’s recommended? Tell your colleagues and direct reports what you are trying, or experiment first and keep it to yourself? oTell your colleagues and direct reports. oKeep your brainstorming and strategies to yourself until you know which approaches work.

7. Goals are critical to effective time management; they drive how you should be spending your time. To truly plan and manage your time, you need to keep in mind three sets of goals. Name them. oShort-term goals, long-term goals, and personal goals. oOrganizational goals, department goals, and personal goals. oCorporate goals, current activity goals, and personal goals.

8. Once you have identified your goals, what is the next critical task in managing your time? oBreaking your goals down into manageable tasks. oRank ordering your goals. oComparing time spent on goals and key responsibilities

9. One of the acknowledged toughest tasks in managing time effectively is learning when and how to say "no" to non-priority tasks, especially when the request comes from your management. What's the suggested way to say "no" when your manager asks you to work on a non-priority project? oFirst, be clear in your own mind about why you are saying "no" to your own manager’s request. If the request is unreasonable, stand by your decision and avoid guilt. oTry to commit only to tasks that are included in your own goals. Say no and describe how the request will jeopardize your other work. Stand by your decision. oList the projects you are currently working on and ask the requester to decide on the priority of the new project relative to your current ones. 10. One tip for sticking to your schedule suggests: Don’t strive for perfection. If you achieve ---% of your target for the day, you have been successful. What is that percent? o60% o90% o50%

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