Time Management

What do you do with your time? Do you accomplish the things you want to accomplish in a day, or do you find that time keeps moving on even though you are not getting the important tasks done. Discovering where you spend your time is important if you want to take control of what is happening in your life. The process of managing your time is valuable. If you want your dreams to come true, it is necessary to create and plan time for your expectations to become reality.

The first step in managing time, is exploring what you are presently doing with your time. This can best be done by keeping an hour to hour monitor of what you do. This can be a simple eight column spreadsheet that has the hours of the day in a column down the left side of the paper, and space for each day across the paper. You will need to mark on the monitor when your activity changes and how long each activity takes. This will include details like showering, eating, watching television, talking on the phone, preparing meals, traveling in the car, getting dressed, work, classes, and any other activity that absorbs time in the day. You should also keep track of how many hours a day you sleep, to determine if you are sleeping too much or too little.

At the end of the week, take time to tally just how many hours you are watching television, or wasting time in other ways. You may be surprised at how much of your time is consumed by meaningless activities. It is important after completing a week of time-inventory that you ask yourself this question, “Do I really want the rest of my time on earth to be spent the way I have this week?” Most people who are not time conscious will respond with a resounding, “No!” One study showed that the average American watches 30 hours of television a week. The average millionaire watches 2 hours of television a week. The difference is that the people who are successful are filling their day with the activities that are significant and productive, not in pursuit of brain numbing entertainment.

Steven Covey, in his book First Things First, suggests reasons why people waste time. He broke time management down into four quadrants. This categorized activities into: urgent unimportant, urgent important, non-urgent important, and non-urgent unimportant. He explains in his book that people spend so much time in "urgent unimportant" tasks that they become discouraged and worn out. This leads individuals to spend more time in non-urgent unimportant escapes like drinking alcohol, television, gambling, and other time consuming vices. Covey suggests that if a person can develop a plan that includes important non-urgent tasks such as: Going to college, developing a skill, pursuing a hobby, exercising, reading inspiring literature, etc.; the outcome of that person’s life will be a great deal more positive.

So what does that mean to the average person trying to manage their life? It means make time for the things that are really important. This entails prioritizing and planning. Many people are opposed to planning, because they say it destroys their sense of spontaneity. If spontaneity is taking you where you really want to go with your life, then you do not need to worry about time management. For the majority of us, spontaneity means waiting for a break in the tedium. Planning eliminates the tedium, and provides movement into a productive life. It does not mean you will not be able to do the things you want to do. It means now you will plan for leisure, work, school, studying, relaxation, relationship building, and any other worthwhile pursuit.

One necessary tool in your journey toward time management is a planner. This can be as complicated as the exclusive Franklin Planner, or as simple as a pocket size weekly calendar. There should be space for each day of the month, and it is important that you carry it with you so that it can be used. You will start each day by checking what is on the list of activities. Perhaps you have not written anything down for the day. Take the time to write down one task you would like to start on this day. Try to include things that are important to you, but do not have a specific deadline. These are the tasks that get forgotten and cause people to get frustrated with what is happening in their life.

Review you planner after a month and look at what activities dominated most of your time. Are you taking time for yourself? Does most of your energy go toward someone else’s goals and needs? If the answer is yes to these questions, you need to schedule some time for yourself. Mothers often find themselves in this situation. It is easier to meet the needs of a family, if a mom takes some time to unwind, and attend to her own priorities. This might be taking an exercise class, reading a book, or planning time for a long bubble bath. It is imperative to see to the needs of the self if an individual is going to be effective in all other areas of life. As you look back at the month of planning, analyze how much time is wasted, and how this waste can be eliminated. Think about tasks you would like to accomplish in the coming month and write them into the calendar. This becomes a pleasant chore as you realize how planning is helping you to get to the activities that hold meaning for you and enhance your existence.

People often complain about their lack of time. It is true that we pack many activities into our day, yet prioritizing and exploring options may lead us to more efficient routes, and goals achieved. It is possible to make better use of your time, but this is an individual choice. Will you make your dreams a reality or allow the majority of your time to slip into clouds of unrealized fantasy?

SARAVANA PRAKASH said...

A quote: "If your a failing to plan, you are planning to fail." It states the importance of plan. Many times, planning is mental creation of physical action. They are like 'preview' of our future actions. Thanks

December 7, 2010 11:18 AM

To get more things done in less time - Part - 4

"Some time I get the feeling that the two biggest problems today are making ends meet and making meetings end "
                                                                                                                                    - Robert Orben

• Only call a meeting when it is absolutely best way to accomplish an objective. Explore all other alternatives before calling a meeting.
• Make the meeting short. Most managers say that at least one half of their meeting time is wasted. That averages out to 5 hours per week, 250 hours per year for each person involved.
• Make it a goal to cut your meeting time in half. If people are prepared before they arrive, most meetings could be accomplished in half the time.
• Write meeting objectives and the scheduled ending time on the board or flip-chart before anyone arrives. This will keep the meeting focused and eliminate the stress caused by overly long meetings.
• If you are leading the meeting, sit at the end of the table so you can control the flow.
• Make sure that every meeting is absolutely necessary. Routine meetings are not a good investment unless they fulfill, or move forward your objective.
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• Look for meeting alternatives. If you can accomplish objectives by telephone, save every one's time and palan aconference call.
• Consolidate meeting with other meetings.
• Make it a personal objective to attend face to face meetings less often.......why not start today?
• Every meeting should have a published agenda answering most obvious questions. Why  am I investing time in this meeting? How long will it lost? Who is attending? What are the expectations?
• If the meeting does not start in time, take the responsibility to say,"Hey ! It is 9 o' clock. let's get going. It is time to get started".
• Invite only the people who have something to contribute to the meeting's objectives. There should be no "vacationers" or "slackers/hangers on" at the table.
• Consider dismissing participants after they complete their portion of the meeting - as long as it is not important that they hear what is scheduled for the remainder of the meeting.
• If you are asked to participate in some one else's meeting, communicate with the meeting leader, that you would prefer to attend only the portion that relates to you. When you have completed your "dog and pony",  ask if anything further is needed. If not excuse yourself .
• Always have extra handouts available for your participants. Better to have too many than hold everything for want of those extra copies.
• Start on time. If the meeting is to start at 8.38, begin at 8.38. One of the largest expenses that never appear on the income statement is the cost of meetings. Figure it out - four Rs.50000/- employees in a four hour meeting costs more than Rs.300/- in employee time. Respect the investment your meeting requires.
• Most of the time, early morning meetings are best. People are fresher, the challenges of the day has not surfaced and the odds of every one arriving on time improve. 
• Do not recap what has been covered for people who are late. Ignore them when they arrive and keep going. If you recap what has been covered, you reward the tardy person and punish the "on time ' folks. 
• Take care of the most important item on the agenda first. If nothing else is accomplished. make sure you accomplish the most important reason for calling the meeting. 
• Set time limits on how long you will allow people to 'sell" their products. a huge time waster is people who continue to fight losing battles. Set limits on the time allowed per item and move forward. 
•  Do not serve breakfast and meet at the same time. They have never added to the productivity of a meeting. If the meeting starts at 9.00 A.M. serve breakfast at 8.30.
• If meeting over lunch, cover general items that do not require focus. It is more productive to take a 30 minute lunch break than try to keep everyone's attention while serving/eating food.  If one of your objective s is to set the scene for social bonding, allocate your mealtime to that objective.
• Complete all your agenda items  before moving to unrelated topics. Put important items not scheduled for the meetingon a "parking lot" flip chart for discussion later. The parking lot issues should be part of the minutes when they are distributed.
• Appoint the last person who arrives for the meeting as the person responsible for taking the minutes. But they will show up on time for the next meeting.
• Want to abbreviate meetings? Have a stand up session. Get rid of the chairs and put some podiums in the room. You are assured that everyone will stay awake and will want to get to the point quickly. 
• Use a special bound note book to capture all meeting notes. This eliminates wasting time searching for what happened at the previous meeting.
• Furnish extra pens/paper to avoid waiting for people who go back to their offices to retrieve supplies.
• Never speak while you are writing, on the flip chart. Wait until you face the audience so you do not have to repeat what you are saying.
• Use the flip chart to maintain the meeting's direction and to record who's responsible for action items.
• Reward participants for telling the truth. If " messengers" are "shot down" for telling the truth, no "truthful messengers" will attend the next meeting.
• Before leaving the meeting, don't assume anything! Do You really think everyone knows what they are supposed to do next? Recap, so everyone knows who is responsible for next steps, when action should take place and how results will be communicated.
• End the meeting on time or END EARLY.  The minute you go past your slated time, stress levels rise and attention levels fall. Every one enjoys the pleasant surprise of getting out early.
• Get organised! Call each participant the day before and confirm attendance. This may not appear to be good use of your time and it should be their responsibility. However, much more time is wasted when all but one person arrives at the meeting and you are trying to "round up that last person"
• Do not allow time in meetings for solving hundred rupees problems when you are spending thousands of Rupees on the meeting. Focus on what is important.
• The meeting is not over until the minutes have been distributed ( within two working days)and all action items have been accomplished 
• Never leave a meeting wondering why you invested your time in the meeting. If the objectives were not accomplished, figure out what can be done differently to ensure that the next meeting does not end the same way. 
• Distribute pre-work for participants. If each person could research for all other participants, you can save a significant amount of time for the entire meeting. 
• Before leaving the meeting, create an action plan for all of the decisions that were made in the meeting. 
• Control dominate participants by reinforcing that you understand their position and ask the dominating person to listen to other participant's point of view so that we can create a course of action. 
• Make every meeting unique. Do something different for each meeting like changing the location, time or room lay out. Sometimes the small changes will add energy to the group.

Meetings without specific objectives tend to achieve nothing specific.

Harisankar said...
I implicitly do this whenever I am taking a presentation. yay.

this is a funny video on what not to do with powerpoints.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2Ck&feature=fvw

Here is something else to save time
a mug that stirs tea for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYy7O1MtArc&feature=player_embedded

hope you find it funny

August 11, 2010 2:44 PM

To get more things done in less time - Part 3

THE PHONE, VOICE MAIL, and  E MAIL, ARE THE INVISIBLE INVADERS.

Time  flies, It is up to you to be the navigator - Robert Orben

Tempted to constantly check your e mail ! Don't do it.  Once or twice daily is usually enough. Check your e-mails, respond and get back on task. E-mails can be a habitual distraction. Do not go the mail box every 30 minutes. Work e-mail deliveries into your personal schedule and do notlet them control your day.

Prioritize your incoming e-mail by sorting the messages by subject or author so you can process related messages together. 

Keep an active address book to save e-mail addresses. Re-typing e-mail addresses for people who you frequently  send messages to is waste of your time.

Check your voice mails  twice a day ONLY. Write down  the messages in your organizer. Return all the calls before you check your voice mail again.

On your voice mail recording, clearly state when the person calling may expect a call back. This will take away  the caller's guess work and will eliminate them calling back two or three more times. 


Return calls at a specified time during the day.  Don't wait until the end of the day ( unless you really don't talk to the person). It is also best to return the calls during your least productive time of the day. You know, that time when you are a little sluggish - return some calls. It takes little creativity to return calls/answer questions.


Stand up when you are on the phone. A USC study discovered that the brain's information processing speed increases 5-20% while standing. Think you may look goofy standing and working? You would be in the company of Thomas Jefferson, Earnest Hemingway and Winston Churchill, all of whom stood while working.

Keep a record of who calls, how often, why? If several calls could be consolidated into one, negotiate with the caller to limit the number of calls.


When leaving your number on voice mail for someone to return your call, state your number slowly and say it twice. It is irritating to listen to a message and then have to repeat parts of it to retrieve the number to return the call.


Want to end a conversation? If the person tends to chatter on and on, politely say, "before we hang up I need to cover one last point...." and then cover your point and get off the phone. 


Be proactive in reducing, "voicemail tag". Answer three questions when you reach the voicemail of the you are calling - why you called, what you need, and when you are available for callbacks.


Unless you are talking to a friend or your co-worker, never talk about the weather on the phone. Who cares? You are assured a long answer when you ask about weather- definitely not a good investment of  your valuable time.



Knock out some of your minor tasks from your "to do" list, while you are holding on the phone. Don;t just sit there and listen to music or "commercials-on-hold".


Invest in a telephone headset for your office phone. It is amazing how much you can get done if both hands are free to take notes  or complete other tasks while you are talking.

Invest in a handle-free car phone and save "friend" callbacks until you are on the road.

Try out the latest gadgets. Keep looking for those that can help you gain a few minutes a day. 


If you have ever dropped loose change into a piggy bank, you 

were probably astonished to find how quickly those coins added 

up to "real money".  has "Think of time in the same way. Each 

of us has small "coins" of time we spend waiting each day: for 

the elevator, at the doctor's office, in the bank line. You will be

amazed to learn how much free time you can buy with this " 

small change of time" - Stephanie Winston

To get more things done in less time - Part 2

What is man's best friend ( besides the dog) ? The waste basket ! - Business week 

Your work space

Okay ! Clear your desk ........NOW. Despite what some people believe, a cluttered desk does not indicate genius. It signals confusion and creates stress. Even mini-clutter will grow and eventually fill every inch. Keep your desk clear of everything except your project du jour and your family photo.


Get rid of that paper. Shuffling and reshuffling paper from pile to pile or file to file wastes time and keeps you from focusing on what needs to get done. Find a gigantic waste basket and fill it up. The larger the waste basket, the more you will use it. Throwing thisngs away then becomes an art. Enjoy !


Files should not be an obstacle course. Put your most often reviewed files at the front of the cabinet. Here is a test to see if your current filing system works. Within two minutes, can you retrieve any paper you need? Go. If you failed the test you are wasting time searching through your files.

Never clear off your desk by randomly throwing things in a drawer. You will eventually have to go through that drawer. Instead, create a logical system for storing these items in your desk.


A picture or two on your desk is probably not distracting, but limit pictures to a special few. The more pictures on your desk, the more distractions and interruptions you invite.

Organise your desktop. If you are right handed, make sure the phone is located on the left side of your desk. You have to keep the right side of the desk ( and your right hand) free to take notes. Just opposite for the lefties. Right handed people should place the calculator on the right side of their desk. Ditto above for the southpaws, the proud and under represented.

Avoid glass desktops. They glare and hard to keep clean, You don't need to spend your valuable time wiping off finger prints.


If a report comes across your desk that you can't use, notify the sender and ask to be deleted from distribution. The key question to ask is " would I pay for this report if I had to?" If not, get rid of it.


If you only use four lines of a report, ask for reformat, if possible. Four pages when you need four lines just does not make sense - does it?

If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keeping putting off doing it

The  work Environment: Make it productive  !

Now hear this ! Never say "  yes"  without considering the time time investment you are committing. Having the courage to say "  no"   to requests that are inappropriate or unnecessary could be your most effective time management tool !

Take the time to understand the role of every department in your organisation. This time invested up front will eliminate your 
"  panic"   when some one has an urgent request outside your department.

 "  Perfection paralysis"    is expensive. Sometimes it is not worth the effort to make things "  perfect"  . Take a look at time costs involved and weigh these against the benefit of perfection. Many times second best in operation is better than first best on the drawing board.


Copy the world every time you send a memo? But, realistically, does "  the world"   really care? When writing a memo or sending an e-mail, only distribute to the people who really need to know the information. Some of  "  the world "   feels obligated to respond and then evey one's time is wasted.  


Want to get your written point across - fast? Limit your sentences to fifteen words.

Are you really listening? Every time you say, "  But I thought you said"   you might as well be saying, "  I wasted all this time doing, the wrong thing."   Listen, clarify, and make sure you understand the task before going forward. It is good time investment for both the parties.

Is it your job to pick up every ball that some one drops? Avoid the label at all costs. Think about it ! 

Don't try to solve other people's problems. You may be empathetic to their situation, but if you spend your time solving their problems, Surprise! Their next problem will become yours, too! The best thing you can do is, help others learn how to solve their own problems. 

Interruptions.....


"  Got a minute?"   never means just one minute. Before you answer, always ask "  What is this about?"  

"  Hey, you got a minute?"  . That is a question, not a demand. Don't get angry with the interrupter if you answered "  Sure"   to their question. General rule. If you cannot eliminate the interruption, make the interruption as short as possible.


When people arrive to interrupt, meet them at the door and talk outside your office. Letting them in may add minutes to the interruption.

Stand up ! When some one shows up unannounced, keep standing until you decide if you want the conversation to continue. Standing is not comfortable to most people and the length of most interruptions is in direct proportion of the comfort level of the interrupter.

Signal the end of the time allotted by politely saying "  One more thing before you go"  . Be respectful but take control. Remember that this is your office and you are responsible for the time here. 


Get rid of extra chairs in your office. You can always pull one from somewhere else if you need it.


Arrange your office so that your desk does not face the door. People are less likely to interrupt if they can't see your face.


Keep track of the origins of your interruptions. Don't be surprised to find your biggest interrupter is your boss ! After getting over the shock, sit down with your boss and see if you can find ways to decrease the number of interruptions so that you can be more productive.

Schedule "  one to one"   sessions with your staff and boss. Gather everything you need to talk about and take care of it at one sitting rather than interrupting each other the minute some thing comes up.


When you don't want to be disturbed, put you candy dish away. It is an interrupter magnet.


Give yourself a break! You can accomplish 60 minutes' worth of interrupted work in just 20 minutes of non interrupted work. Is there better investment of your time?


Want to make a positive difference in the time investment of your company? Ask your peers and subordinates, "  What do I do that wastes your time and hinders your performance?"  


Henry Ford was always dropping into the offices of his company's executives. When asked why he did not have them come to him, he replied,"  Well ! I will tell you. I have found that I can leave the other fellow's office a lot quicker than I can get him to leave mine". 


Guard your own spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds.

To get more things done in less time

Time management is the one thing, many, in younger generation are not able to understand. Here, I am giving some tips collected from various sources. Hope this will be useful to many readers. This is only FIRST PART. Will follow with more tips.

 

Among the aimless you often hear talk about " killing time". 

People who are constantly killing time are really killing their own chances in life. Those who are destined to become successful are those who make time and use it wisely. - Arthur Brisbane

You should get things done faster so you can accomplish more of your long term goals

I wish I could stand  in a busy street corner, hat in hand, and beg people to throw me all their wasted time - Bernard Barenson

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task - William James

It always helps to know where your time is going. So, keep track of how you spend your time for two weeks. Sound dull? Boring, may be? So cut it down to a couple of days. Surprise ! Most of your log will show you are investing your time in people or things not really important to you or your goals.

Focus , focus, focus on STARTING tasks rather than finishing them.The greatest challenge is taking the first step and getting started. ( Ah. yes - does not that feel good) 

Every day something unexpected is going to happen. Count n it! So.set aside some "Oops time !" Don't let these emergencies disrupt the rest of your day. Plan for them, act on them and then get back to work.

Think on paper.  Writing things down minimizes confusion and stress. Write down your goals, to-do lists, and even the problems that you are working on. You will find putting things on paper usually clarifies the situation. Committing things to memory can be a waste of brain power, not to mention a poor storage device as well.

Categorize your to-do list into A, B, and C priorities. "A" priorities are the activities that are critical for your success. "B" priorities are important but not critical. "C" priorities would be nice to do if you get the time. Beging with your"A" peiorities and work your way to the "nice to do" items.

Here is a suggestion that will help every one: create a "talk" file for your boss, subordinates, peers and even your customers. Unless it is real emergency, wait until you have atleast two items in the file before calling that person with your questions.

Get a spiral bound note book, date it, and keep all your notes in the book for future reference. Quit writing on loose papers or sticky notes that tend to get lost.

Try something new. Read (really) the instruction manual that came with your electronic organizer. Even better, try the manufacturer's web site to find new software updates and releases that may further your productivity. Bet, you will find several time management tools you have not used. Let the organizer do the work so you can spend less time organsing yourself.

Use only one management system. Whether you choose an electronic or paper system, one consistent system will eliminate much wasted time spent searching for information.

Abracadabra ! Take a speed-reading course.

How about all those passwords? Tough to remember? Simplify your passwords and have a logical, easy to remember reason for selecting each. Trying to remember a password is frustrating and a total waste of time. You may want to select passwords that can be typed on the keyboard with one hand so your other hand is free.

Take a Saturday and devote two hours to reorganising yourself. Take a fresh look at how you are organised and look for opportunities to improve.  You will probably discover several areas where you can eliminate some personal time wasters simply by becoming a little better organized.

Create a "quite time" for planning. Let everyone know your closed door means "do not disturb" unless there is an emergency ....or some one in your family calls.

Throw things away. Yes. even those ticket stubs from the last movie you have seen. Ask yourself. "what is the worst thing that could happen if I throw this away?" Most of the time, you can live with your answer, so start filling that wastebasket. 

Date stamp every item that hits your desk. This will help you decide when to file or throw away the paper 


If you get heartburn from throwing paper away, create a drawer or file to store your stuff for 90 days. If you have not used it within 90 days, you can safely throw those "keepers" away.


Still not comfortable - even after the 90 days? Then find the "office pack rat" and become their new best friend. Someone around the office has a copy of every memo and report from the past 10 years. Love that person - but throw your trash away.

Trust me on this, too ! Most of all filed materials over a year old are never needed again. Archive the files and get them out of your way. If possible handle the paper only once and avoid the " I will just put it here for now" habit.


The key to paper management - KEEP IT MOVING - ( Now how simple can we get? ) Move the paper to your out basket, your file, your "to read" folder or to your trash. Don't let paper just sit.


Wait ! Do these things before you leave the office. (1) clear your desk (2) plan tomorrow's activities and (3) enter your next day's to-do list in your organizer. Then go home. Planning the next day before you leave reduces stress and allows you to enjoy your time away from the office.