LinkedIn Time + Attention Management

Time + Attention Management
KIK Custom Products Leadership Training
What you will learn today…
You will learn Time + Attention
Management skills to apply and be
more efficient + effective every day

Learning Objectives…
 Learn why Time + Attention Management can
be easy or difficult
 Learn the Time Management Matrix to better
understand and improve our Time + Attention
Management skills
 Learn steps to overcome procrastination –
Eat that Frog

“Time management” is really a
misnomer – the challenge is not
to manage time, but manage
ourselves. The key is not to
prioritize what’s on your schedule,
but to schedule your priorities.”
Stephen Covey

So, what does Time + Attention
Management mean to you?
Time can’t be managed…It just is.
So, time management is really about
managing our attention.

Staying focused on the task at hand is
more difficult than ever. There are…
• Open Workspaces
• Tons of Media Sources vying for our attention
• Individuals acting in crisis mode all the time
What do you think is the #1 enemy of
Attention Management?
Distractions

What are some categories of Distractions?
• Self
• People
• Organizational
Some distractions are ok/good, but
need to be managed
All distractions should fall into Q2/Q1
of the matrix; and if not, re-evaluate

 Groups of 3:
 a distractor
 an employee trying to work or have a
conversation
 an observer/other conversationalist
Role Play
Distractions
The employee’s goal is to try and tactfully diffuse the distraction

Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People, provide us with the Time
Management Matrix. It will help us prioritize
and determine which activities best warrant our
attention and resources…
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
It provides the judgment as to whether activities are
URGENT, IMPORTANT, BOTH or NEITHER.
This is crucial for good time management.

Urgent
Not
Urgent
Important
Not
Important
Q-1 Q-2
Q-3 Q-4
Time
Management
Matrix

Time Management Matrix
Urgent + Important:
These are real major emergencies and crisis issues,
significant demands for information from superiors or
customers, project work with imminent deadlines,
meetings and appointments, reports and other
submissions, staff issues or needs, problem resolution,
fire-fighting fixes, and serious urgent complaints.

Urgent + Important:
DO NOW
(Vying for immediate attention and critical to your success and/or of the
organization.)
What to do:
• Subject to confirming the importance of these tasks, do this
task now…
• Prioritize tasks according to their relative urgency
• If 2 or more tasks are equally urgent, ask what the needed
requirements are from the person requesting the task
• Look for ways to break the task down to simplify
• Plan this task in quadrant 2 for next time

Not Urgent, but Important:
Activities that fall into this quadrant include: planning
an preparation; project planning and scheduling;
research and investigation; networking, relationship
building, thinking and creating; modelling, designing,
and testing; systems and process development;
anticipative, preventative activities or communication.

Not Urgent, but Important:
PLAN TO DO
These tasks are most important yet
neglected:
• Plan time-slots for doing these
• Break big tasks down to separate logical stages
• Use project management tools and methods
• Inform other people of your planned time-slots and
schedules: Having a visual schedule is key.
(not “in your face” but critical to your success and/or that of your organization)

Urgent, but not Important
This quadrant houses trivial and “off-loaded” requests from
others, apparent emergencies, ad-hoc interruptions,
misunderstandings appearing as complaints, irrelevant
distractions, pointless routines or activities, dealing with
accumulated unresolved trivia, duplicated effort,
unnecessary double-checking, and the boss’s whims or
tantrums. Scrutinize these demands and help originators,
even your boss, to re-assess the real importance of these
tasks.

Urgent, but not Important:
REJECT (Diplomatically)
These tasks are tricky:
• Practice and develop your ability to explain why you can’t
• Where possible, reject and avoid these tasks immediately
• Look for causes of repeating demands, so you can stop it
• Educate and train others to manage their own time and
priorities, so you don’t end up getting involved
• Question old policies and assumptions to see if they still are
valid
(“in your face” – but not important to your success and/or that of the
organization.)

Neither Urgent nor Important:
Finally, Q4 contains the many unnecessary and
unchallenged routines, “comfort” activities; computer
games, net surfing, excessive breaks, chatting and
gossip (face to face and phone); social and domestic
communications; silly emails and text messages;
daydreaming and doodling; interrupting others; tidying,
changing screen savers, internet and YouTube surfing;
drink and drug abuse; aimless travel and driving.

Neither Urgent nor Important:
RESIST + CEASE
These tasks are unnecessary + are usually
unchallenged:
• These activities have no positive outcomes
• Often they may be stress related, so find the root cause
• Have a clear structure or schedule of tasks for each day in
quadrant 2 to remove the temptation
• These activities are not tasks and provide a refuge from the
effort of discipline
(the real time wasters – not vying for immediate attention and not important to
success)

Q-1 Q-2
Q-3 Q-4
Time
Management
Matrix
Now it’s time to build your own
based on an average work day
here at KIK. Take the tasks and
prioritize them in the correct
quadrants:
 Daily Tasks…
 Typical fire-fighting…
 Typical interruptions…
 Unexpected items…
 Leadership needs…
 Direct Boss needs…
Do Now. Plan to Do.
Reject
(nicely).
Resist + Cease.

Proactive vs Reactive
Attention Management
Being Proactive means thinking ahead and planning how
to head off or deal with problems before they arise
Being Reactive means that you respond to problems after
they occur
Reactive items live in Q-1
Proactive items live in
You should spend more time in Q2 instead of Q1…

What does Attention Management to you?
Attention management increases the ability to focus
attention.
Four areas of Attention
 Intentional: plan strategically and prioritize
 Responsive: responds and puts out fires
 Interrupted: too much time answering messages and doing
non-valued added work
 Unproductive: waste time at work…Facebook, chatting a lot…

So, how can we manage our attention better?
Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
“Eat that Frog*” is a metaphor for tackling the
most challenging task of your day – the one you are most
likely to procrastinate on, but also probably the one that
can have the greatest positive impact
*Adapted from the book, Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get more Done in Less Time – Brian Tracy

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
Here are 21 great ways to stop
procrastinating and get things done faster…
1. Set the table: Write out your goals and objectives
2. Plan every day in advance: every minute planning can
save you 5 or 10 minutes in execution
3. Apply the 80/20 rule: 20% of your activities will account
for 80% of your results
4. Consider the consequences: most important tasks and
priorities can have the most serious consequences – focus on
these above all else

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
Here are 21 great ways to stop procrastinating
and get things done faster…cont.
5. Practice creative procrastination: learn to
deliberately put off tasks that are low value
6. Use the A B C D E Method: take a few moments to
prioritize on your most important activities
 This is the best method for setting priorities on your list
once you have determined your major goals or
objectives - You place one of those letters in the margin
before each of the tasks on your list before you begin

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
The A B C D E Method…
“A” = “very important;” something you must do
“B” = “important;” something you should do
“C” = “nice to do;” but which are not as important as ‘A’ or ‘B,’ tasks
“D” = “delegate”
“E” = “eliminate, whenever possible”
When you use the A B C D E method, you can very easily sort out
what is important and unimportant - then focus your time and attention
on those items on your list that are most essential for you to do

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
7. Focus on key results: Identify and determine the results
necessary to get your job done well
8. The Law of 3: Identify 3 things that account for 90% of
your contribution and get them done first
9. Prepare thoroughly before you begin: have
everything you need at hand before you start

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
10.Eat the frog one bite at a time: you can accomplish
the biggest task one bite at a time
11.Upgrade your key skills: the more skilled you are the
faster you start and the sooner you get them done
12.Leverage your special talents: Know your strengths
and throw your whole heart into what you do well

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
13.Identify your key constraints: determine the
bottlenecks, internal and external - focus on alleviating them
14.Put pressure on yourself: think you’re going on
vacation and you have to get your tasks completed before
15.Maximize your personal power: get lots of rest so you
can perform your best
16.Motivate yourself into action: look for the good in
every situation – always be optimistic and constructive

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
17.Technology time sinks: use technology to improve the
quality of your communication, but not a slave to it
18.Slice and dice the task: break complex tasks down into
bite-sized pieces and do one at a time
19.Create large chunks of time: Organize your day around
large blocks of time to concentrate and focus
20.Develop a sense of urgency: Move fast on your key
tasks – be known to do things quickly and well

Eat the Frog!
(Take Action!)
21.Single handle every task: set clear priorities, start
immediately on your most important task, and then work
without stopping until the job is 100% complete…
This is the real key to high performance
and maximum personal productivity
Lastly…

 Manage Yourself
 Schedule Priorities
 Focus and Don’t get distracted
 Use the Time Management Matrix to
prioritize and determine what warrants your
attention and resources
 Look for ways to break down the task and
simplify
 Align your priorities with your leader
 Plan your day in advance
 Prepare thoroughly before you begin a task
 Have a sense of Urgency
 Manage prioritized tasks and follow through
on your commitments
 Accept only necessary distractions – Q1/Q2
 Manage Yourself and provide guidelines for your
team
 Set clear priorities for you and your team
 Work with your team to respond and put out fires
immediately
 Help your team live in Q2 as much as possible
 Always be open, honest and be provide clear
direction regarding priorities
 Plan your day in advance and know what your
team’s day looks like
 Help prioritize and ensure follow through of
completion through to the end for your team
 Guard your team against organizational
distractions – Only change course when
necessary

 Learn why Time + Attention Management can
be easy or difficult
 Learn the Time Management Matrix to better
understand and improve our Time + Attention
Management skills
 Learn steps to overcome procrastination –
Eat that Frog
So, did we…?

Additional Resources…
 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful
Lessons in Personal Change
Stephen R. Covey
 The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual +
Organizational Accountability
Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman
 Eat That Frog: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating
and Get More Done in Less Time
Brian Tracy

LinkedIn Time + Attention Management

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