Time Management
Time Management
? What are your objectives of attending this program? Some of the objectives according to us are: To achieve our goals. Feel a sense of control. Reduce stress. Allocate time to areas that are important to us. Feel a sense of balance. Reduce effort. Enjoy life. Feel that we have a choice. Be efficient.
By using Time Management skills you can learn to: Determine which of the things you do are important, and which can be dropped Use your time in the most effective way possible Increase the time in which you can work Control the distractions that waste your time and break your flow Increase your effectiveness and reduce stress
By becoming more effective in your use of working time, you can reduce stress by: being more in control of what you do being productive, and secure in your job because of this enjoying what you do giving yourself more quality time to relax and enjoy life outside work What is Time? Measure of units Equal opportunityeveryone gets the same amount each day Unusual commodity Feels like it passes at varying speeds (but it really doesnt)! What is Time Management? Gives us a chance to decide how to spend a valuable resource Allows us to get the most out of the least Helps us organize and learn how to spend our time It is the skill of taking action for the right reason at the right time in the right way. Time Management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is allocated to the right activity
Time can be of various types Biological time This is the time we spend on sleep, physical recreation and food etc. Social time This is the time we spend on meeting friends, making social calls, talking on the telephone, family occasions, get-togethers, spend on self development like reading etc. Business time This is the time spent on meetings, interviews, data entry etc.
There is enough time: Too little time and too much work to do is common condition for many of us. Every day demands seems to overcome the day , leaving little time to pursue those things to enjoy. But you do have choices about how you spend your time. Balancing what you need to do with what you want to do can lead to happiness and success. Many of us complain, there just isnt enough time in the day! but the truth is that we have enough time to do what is important in our lives. You can always make time for the people you value and for the activities worth doing. All you need do is become a master of how you use your time. Turning time management skills into habits will take time- but what better way to spend it ? With the help of this session , you would able to understand techniques for managing time and your life. What is good time management? Sticky speaking we cant manage time we can only manage ourselves. As we acquired new skills in the time management, we gain control over in our lives. A key to managing yourself is to know who you are and where you are going. Activity 1 Evaluate yourself A good way to being taking charge of your life is to give yourself several good reasons for wanting to manage your time better( for example to earn money, to increase productivity, to free yourself to find the kind of idleness that fosters cultivation of the mind, to spend more time with family and friends) list your reasons below. Focus on what you want and need most in the life. 1 2 3 4 The first step toward turning your desires into reality is to evaluate your current time management behaviours to give yourself a baseline for change. Knowing where you stand is a powerful tool, without that you can not plan where you are going.
Assess your behaviour Instruction : 1. Read each statement and assess how well it describes you and your time management practices. In the second column ( how often?) indicate that how frequently you practice each behaviour 2. Read each statement a second time and assess its value to you. In the third column ( how important?) indicate how important each practice is to you 3. Multiply the second column by the third column and enter the results in the forth column. 4. Circle the values in the forth column that are less than 5.
Sr No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Statement I am more effective when under pressure I feel as though theres never enough time, at home and at work I feel bad when I take time off work, even when I go on holiday I rush between places, people and events I think about other things when Im working on something else It is difficult for me to find time for planning my day/week My main interest is in my work I am uncomfortable when Im late I eat lunch or other meals while Im working. I spend most of my time keeping several balls in the air at once I wish I could spend more quality time with my family I do things quickly; walk, talk, eat and drive. I have trouble delegating, preferring to do things myself I have trouble slowing down to relax and think things over
4 always
Time management test results A 14 25 B 26 38 C 39 - 56 A 14 25 You seem to handle your time well and have mastered planning ahead for optimum effectiveness. You can go further and apply the techniques you use at work to improve your work-life balance. Day to day time management is one thing; how about longer term projects for quality time, health and well-being. Do you relax and reflect enough? Have you considered writing a list of future projects that you could start working on today? B 26 38 You understand the importance of being organised in order to be most effective. But to advance further you could benefit from the following tip: pacing yourself will allow you to reduce the need to go back and correct or change things. We can fall into the trap of doing too much too quickly. Less is more, this applies to time, do less and do it properly. Identify what is important and what is urgent for better time management. The result is more quality time for friends, family and personal interests. C 39 - 56 Try to slow down, relax and reflect. To manage your time, first take some time out for yourself. You may want to learn to say no in a positive way to others needs or demands to save time for yourself. Creating personal time will benefit you as well as writing a plan for your tasks and projects. Address this aspect of your life today to improve your health and well-being
Set Goals
Make sure your goals are: Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time-based
Prioritize
Do Delegate to someone else Delay until another time Delete from your list
Address the tasks that have short-term consequences Accomplish what you can early Attach deadlines to tasks that have to be delayed
Organize
Use a planner, software program on your computer, or a PDA to keep track of your tasks and appointments.
Realize that you cant do everything. Avoid agreeing to do things you do not have time to complete. Make sure your commitments are consistent with your goals and objectives.
Accomplish small tasks like reading correspondence or writing letters while you wait. Look at time you spend waiting as a gift of time rather than a waste of time.
Put your energy into the task at hand. Tune out interruptions. Set aside time when you will not answer the phone or schedule visitors. Dont waste time thinking about all of the other things that need to be done.
Consider
your
personal
Know what time of day you are at your best morning?, evening?, late night? Concentrate on completing your most challenging tasks at your own prime time.
prime time
Celebrate success
Celebrate the achievement of your objectives to maintain a healthy balance in life between work and play. Reward yourself when you complete a task or finish a project.
Productivity
Another great reason to use time management at work is that it increases productivity. With higher focus on projects and timelines employees will find more efficient ways to complete tasks. Also employees who have a hard time in finding solutions for completing tasks will seek help sooner instead of later. Time Management helps an individual to adopt a planned approach in life. For Effective Time Management one needs to be:
Organized - Avoid keeping stacks of file and heaps of paper at workstation. Throw what all is not
needed. Put important documents in folders. Keep the files in their respective drawers with labels on top of each file. It saves time which goes on unnecessary searching.
Dont misuse time - Do not kill time by loitering or gossiping around. Concentrate on the work and
finish assignments on time. We should remember that the organization is not paying us for playing games on computer or peeping into others cubicles. We should first complete our work and then do whatever we feel like doing. We should not wait till the last moment.
Interruptions
An interruption is anything that prevents us from finishing a task on time. We face many interruptions during the day. It might be a colleague who starts talking with us while were working or a fellow passenger on a plane who starts a conversation while we go over our emails. It could be a phone call or an incoming email thats announced by our computers. Sometimes interruptions seem like a minor issue but, in reality, their
accumulated effect is quite serious. In fact, interruptions can cause serious damage to our time management.
Stress
Stress is created when the demands made on a person start to exceed that person's ability (or perceived ability) to cope. A gap is created between what a person needs/wants to do, and what they feel they are able to do. There are several reasons for stress; we will focus on stress and time management.