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EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT

Chaim Eyal, Ph.D.

Eyal & Associates ceyal@comcast.net (650) 349-5269

WHAT’S IMPORTANT?

Because we don’t know what’s really important

to us, everything seems important.

Because everything seems important, we have

to do everything.

Other people see us doing everything, so they

expect us to do everything.

Doing everything keeps us so busy that we don’t

have time to think about what is really important

to us.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TIME

It’s an economic resource.

It cannot be expanded or contracted.

It is irrecoverable and irreplaceable.

It is expensive and precious.

It is highly perishable.

It flows one way and it’s irreversible.

It’s quantifiable (seconds, hours, days, years).

It cannot be managed. It’s uncontrollable. We can only manage ourselves

and our use of time.

You cannot SAVE time ... you can lose, waste, buy, or spend it.

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THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF TIME

Attitude Analysis Goals Planning

Prioritizing Scheduling Managing

interruptions Effective meetings

Effective correspondence and paperwork

Overcoming procrastination

Delegation

ATTITUDE

How you choose to use your time, your belief in your ability to control what

happens to you, and your determination to be in control form the basis for

effective time management.

It’s all about control and motivation:

Your attitude is the key to success.

Changing habits requires commitment and persistence.

To take control of your time, you must decide to do it.

Control your habits and actions. Don’t be controlled by them.

The more you understand and plan your time-use, the more time you will

have.

Set goals and eliminate time-wasters every day and you’ll gain control

over time.

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ANALYSIS

Understand how you use time.

Discover your time-wasters:

You waste time in the same way every day.

Discover where and how you waste time.

Use a simple TIME LOG to identify your time-

wasters

Do this every day for one or two weeks.

GOALS

Identify and develop clear goals.

Focus on actions that achieve your goals.

Divide your goals into 3 categories:

Daily: Time management goals that become

part of your daily routine.

Company: Long-range goals that have been established by your

management.

Personal: Activities and commitments outside your work activities.

Define your goals clearly:

Write them down.

Prioritize them.

Assign them specific time duration.

Keep them visible.

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PLANNING

Determining beforehand what actions to take

Convert your goals into actions by listing all the necessary steps to

accomplish your goals.

Consider using a structured planning system, such as GANTT or PERT charts

or a computerized planner.

List and schedule activities and convert your goals into a plan of action.

If you listed too many actions, spread the

work over several days, or delegate it.

Impose deadlines on every task you list. Follow up regularly on tasks you

delegate.

Whenever possible, group similar activities together. It could be a surprisingly

major time saver.

Remember "The 5 P's": Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

Spend 15 minutes planning at the end of each day. You'll save an hour the

next day.

An hour of planning will save you four in execution.

Be realistic. Don't take on more than you can handle.

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PRIORITIZING

Deciding what actions to take, based on criteria

of importance and urgency.

Juggling shifting priorities:

Forget Multitasking. Doing two things simultaneously can be a huge time

waster.

“Anytime you switch between two tasks, there’s a startup cost and you are

more likely to make mistakes.”

(Engineering psychologist J. Rubenstein, University of Michigan)

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SCHEDULING

Deciding when to take the planned action

Planning and scheduling are not the same: Scheduling is processing and

allocating time units within which planned activities can happen.

PLANNING is deciding WHAT to do. SCHEDULING is deciding WHEN to do it.

PLANNING is an INTENTION. SCHEDULING is a COMMITMENT.

Things that are scheduled tend to happen - and happen on time. Things that

are not scheduled may never happen.

Tips:

Make a master schedule of fixed

activities for the week. Include in

it the things that you MUST do.

It will tell you what time is

committed, identify the hours that

are free, you have control.

Don’t schedule every minute of the

day. Leave room for the unexpected.

Schedule breaks and “quiet” time for

yourself, when you are not to be

interrupted.

Schedule the most important activities for each day.

Schedule tomorrow’s activities tonight. You will know exactly how to start

your day tomorrow.

Try to schedule related activities together.

Keep to the schedule. Start on time. Every time.

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MANAGING INTERRUPTIONS

Controlling unplanned and unscheduled activities.

Every time your concentration is broken, you spend at least some time

reorienting yourself.

Minimize interruptions as you recognize their causes and learn how to control

them.

Interruptions are not only caused by others. We often interrupt ourselves:

By losing concentration.

When we’ve “got to find out what's going on.”

Through in-basket and e-mail curiosity

Managing telephone interruptions:

Use a support person to buffer you, if available.

Return calls in batches, when you plan to do so.

Don't be a slave to the phone. You don’t have

to respond each time it rings.

Never hold on. Arrange for a later call or leave a

message.

Let the caller know that your time is limited.

Managing visitors:

Set a clear time limit.

The Closed Door technique: You can't manage anything with open access

to your office or workspace. At certain times close the door or close off the

entrance area to your workspace.

Learn to say “no” nicely: “I’m busy, sorry. I’ll be happy to see you in 30

minutes…”

Learn to say “NO”

Most people don’t like tedious or difficult jobs. If they can, they’ll shift

them onto you. Some may have found that the best way to get the

monkey off their backs is to place it on yours. If you are receptive and

overly cooperative, you may find that your time fills with other people’s

tasks. The way to get out of it is to say “NO” in a polite but firm way.

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MANAGING INTERRUPTIONS (Cont.)

Be a good listener, but don’t “fake it.” If you convince others that you are

interested, they’ll come back for more. Say, “As much as I’d like to listen to

you, this is not a good time… I have an important report to finish, and

several phone calls to make…”

Don’t accept unfinished work from your subordinates or assistants. You will

have to complete the job yourself.

If interrupted and you must meet the person, go to his or her office or

workspace ... This gives you better control over when to leave.

Make interruptions productive. When interrupted with a matter that will need

attention, ask them to see you later or to bring the matter up at an upcoming

meetings.

MEETINGS

Running productive, effective, and efficient meetings.

Hold meetings only when needed. Consider: Is it worth the time? Will it be

more effective to hold the meeting only when necessary?

Use the agenda effectively:

Use an agenda to focus the meeting, to

prevent it from drifting off, and to create

organization, structure, and flow.

Distribute the agenda in advance to allow

participants to prepare and be

oriented as to the meeting’s purpose,

objectives, and details.

Scheduling meeting:

Where people tend to be overly talkative,

schedule the meeting just before lunch or

before going home. This gives people an

incentive to be brief.

Where people tend to turn up late, start a meeting at an unusual

time, e.g. 23 minutes past the hour. This tends to improve punctuality.

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MEETINGS (Cont.)

Start exactly at the scheduled time. Don’t accommodate and reward late

comers.

End on time, every time.

Bring only the minimum number of participants to a meeting.

The more people present, the more will want to air their views.

End by summarizing the points discussed, and make action plans out of the

decisions taken. This ensures that everyone understands what has been

decided, and who will do what.

If you have limited time, hold stand-up meetings. You'll be surprised how

fast these meetings are wrapped up.

Attend meetings only if needed. Be on time if you have to be there.

CORRESPONDENCE AND PAPERWORK

Effective management of written communication

A messy desk is a major time waster. (Looking for some piece of vital

information… Reshuffling… Rearranging files and sheets of paper…).

Handle each piece of paper just once. Not important? Throw

it away. Important? Need to take action? Act now.

Will need it later? File it.

Effective use of e-mail:

Use a short, clear, and focused subject line.

State exactly what you want in the first paragraph.

Keep only the relevant “history.”

Insert attachments BEFORE writing the text.

Use a rules macro. It can delete, move, flag for follow-up, print, launch an

application, etc.

Limit distribution: Be selective about “broadcasting” your messages.

Be selective with your reading:

Reading can take up a considerable amount of time.

Delegate to others who can also benefit from the information.

Assign priorities to your reading material.

Schedule a specific time for reading and do it in one session.

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OVERCOMING PROCRASTINATION

Avoiding the habit of spending time and effort on low-priority

actions in favor of high-priority activities.

Why we procrastinate?

Anxiety

Feeling inadequate

Fear of failure

Lack of information

Lack of time

Not knowing where to start

Performance fear

Boredom

Fear of success

Inexperience

Lack of interest

Lack of relevance

Stress

To overcome procrastination:

Work with your energy level. You may work faster

in the morning.

If you’re energized early, take care of the most

demanding tasks early.

If you’re a slow starter, try to complete a few

quick tasks first.

Tell yourself, “I’ll quit in 5 minutes if it’s really

terrible.” It might not be as

bad as you imagined.

Use the “salami” approach: Chip off and cut away

as you find available time.

Start and complete short tasks whenever you have

a few minutes.

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DELEGATING

Getting things done through the efforts of others.

“If you want a job done right you have to do it yourself.” Really?

What should you delegate?

Duties that can be assigned on a temporary basis.

Research and fact-finding; data collection for reports/presentations.

Draft preparation of written material.

Problem analysis and solutions.

Routine tasks.

Small units of work assignments from your

responsibilities and functions.

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SUMMARY

Become aware of time. Know where the minutes and hours go.

Accept that you cannot beat the clock. Work smarter NOT harder and longer.

Use a time log to discover your time wasters.

Start or improve your "to-do" list.

Identify your short and long term goals. Align your activities with your goals.

Plan ahead and allow short periods of time for crises and unexpected events.

Prioritize tasks using the criteria of IMPORTANCE and URGENCY.

Work with your calendar and clock. Schedule activities and execute them on

time.

Try to cut down on interruptions.

Make meetings meaningful, focused, and productive.

Organize and streamline your correspondence and paperwork.

Overcome procrastination through determination and by chipping away

at your tasks.

Delegate as much as possible.