Time Management

By: Toufic Yasmine

What is time management?

• Systematic, priority-based structuring of time allocation and distribution among competing demands. Since time cannot be stored, and its availability can neither be increased beyond nor decreased from the 24 hours, the term 'time budgeting' is said to be the more appropriate one

Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week.

Charles RichardsTime is what we want most, but what we use worst.William Penn

• Never let yesterday use up today.Richard H. Nelson

• One thing you can’t recycle is wasted time.Author Unknown

• The time management 'rocks in bucket' story

• Start with a bucket, some big rocks enough to fill it, some small stones, some sand and water.

• Put the big rocks in the bucket - is it full?• Put the small stones in around the big rocks - is it full?• Put the sand in and give it a shake - is it full?• Put the water in. Now it's full. • The point is: unless you put the big rocks in first, you won't get them in at all.• In other words: Plan time-slots for your big issues before anything else, or

the inevitable sand and water issues will fill up your days and you won't fit the big issues in (a big issue doesn't necessarily have to be a work task - it could be your child's sports-day, or a holiday).

Am I managing my time correctly?• Ask your self the following questions:

• Can you spend your time more effectively?

• How much time is spent on your top priorities?

• Plan your work and work your plan

Why is Time Management so important?

• There are two reasons for this:• This is the era of knowledge worker

Which is why knowledge management is obviously very important.

• This is the era where we need to compete individually more than ever before

How can I manage my time?

• Time management starts with the commitment to change.

• Time management is easy as long as you commit to action. You can train others and improve your own time management through better planning; prioritizing; delegating; controlling your environment; understanding yourself and identifying what you will change about your habits, routines and attitude.

• The key to successful time management is planning and then protecting the planned time.

• If you plan what to do and when, and then stick to it, then you will have time. This involves conditioning, or re-conditioning your environment. For people who have demands placed on them by others, particularly other departments, managers, customers, etc, time management requires diplomatically managing the expectations of others.

• Time management is chiefly about conditioning your environment, rather than allowing your environment to condition you. If you tolerate, and accept without question, the interruptions and demands of others then you effectively encourage these time management pressures to continue.

Overview Matrix

urgent not urgent

important 1 - DO NOW 2 - PLAN TO DO

not important 3 - REJECT AND EXPLAIN

4 - RESIST AND CEASE

Controlling the Demands• Manage the work (use time constructively)• Improve productivity/effectiveness (Spend time on results-

producing activities).• Time wasting activities :• Telephone interruptions• Inefficient delegation• Extended lunches or breaks• Cluttered work space• Poorly run meetings• Socialize on the job• Misfiled information• Poor planning• Procrastination• Waiting/delays• Paperwork • Junk mail• Drop-in visitors• Not setting/sticking to priorities

• You do not manage time, you manage your-self, others and work.

How to use time effectively

• Consolidate similar tasks • Tackle tough jobs first• Delegate and develop others• Learn to use idle time• Get control of the paper flow• Avoid the Cluttered Desk Syndrome• Get started immediately on important tasks• Reduce meeting time • Take time to plan• Learn to say “NO”• Remember that now is the time to put it all together

Making the best use of time

• Decide that you don’t have to please everyone.

• Let go–don’t be a perfectionist.• Resist the temptation to do small, insignificant

tasks too well. • Outsource what you can.

Why do we procrastinate?

• Don’t know where to start.• To avoid an unpleasant task.• We’re afraid to fail. • Waiting for more information.• You may think if you put it off someone else

will do it. • You’re over-committed.

The price of not being organized

• Missed deadlines.• Overlooked opportunities.• Wasted time.• Lost customers due to poor or slow service.• Wasted money.

Eliminating things from your to do list

• What’s the worst that can happen if don’t do this?

• Am I the only person who can do this? • Must it be done now? • Is there an easier way to do it?

Strategic Planning

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there?”

“If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know when you get there?”

Strategic planning solves these proble

• Your goals must be:• concrete• measurable• in written• achievable

List your tasks

• Steps required to achieve the goals.• Prioritize.• Set deadlines.• List resources needed.• Keep your eye on your goals

• after all, time is one of the resources which are not renewable and which availability cannot be increased. All of us have the same amount of time which is only 24 hours a day. Nobody can get more than that, no matter how rich he or she is.