Time management strategies
- 3. What is Time Management? Time management is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity. Finding a time management strategy that works best for you depends on your personality, ability to self-motivate and level of self-discipline.
- 4. Why Do We Need Time Management Strategies ? To save time To reduce stress To function effectively To increase our work output To have more control on our daily work schedule “The Bad News Is Time Flies. The Good News Is You Are The Pilot”
- 5. Time Management Strategies Diagram Showing Key Strategies for Time Management
- 6. TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES ARE DESCRIBED AHEAD
- 7. Prioritized To-Do List Write down all the tasks you need to complete Break large tasks into their component elements Allocate priorities from A (very important, or very urgent) to E (unimportant, or not at all urgent) You need to differentiate between urgency and importance Rewrite the list in priority order Take action immediately and finish them one by one This helps you to focus on the important jobs first
- 8. Urgent versus Important Important activities have an outcome that leads to the achievement of your goals Urgent activities demand immediate attention, and are usually associated with the achievement of someone else’s goals, or with an uncomfortable problem or situation that needs to be resolved
- 9. Planning Write down appointments, classes, and meetings on a chronological log book or chart First thing in the morning, check what's ahead for the day If you fail to plan, you plan to fail and you will waste a lot of precious time while failing “Action without planning is the cause of every failure .”
- 10. Goal Setting To avoid the pitfalls of confusion and lack of motivation, you have to clarify what you want to achieve SMART goal setting guidelines : Specific - Have you clearly defined your goal? Measurable - How do you know if you are making progress? Achievable - Is your goal really achievable? Be ambitious but honest. Rewarding - Is your goal something you are willing to make sacrifices for? Timely - Is your goal achievable in a meaningful timeframe? Write your goals down and be familiar with them
- 11. 80:20 Rule Pareto’s Principle: 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort Focus your time and energy on the high impact tasks to achieve the greatest benefit possible If you have achieved your expected outcome and done what needs to be done, then you may not need to do 80% of the task Otherwise break the task down again working out the 20% that will bring the best results 20% 80%
- 12. Get organized Time is saved if you prepare your work environment and equipment beforehand Tidy your desk, make sure your chair is in the correct position and you have all the information you need close at hand Having your appointments, tasks and key notes in one place Helps you find information faster and also helps prevent stress
- 13. Procrastination What is procrastination? Putting off things that we should be doing Avoid high priority, challenging tasks Seek comfort in doing tasks you know you're capable of completing Causes of procrastination: Have doubt on your skills or resources Do not know where to begin Waiting for “right time” or “right mood” Underestimate the difficulty of the task Perfectionism
- 14. Recognize that you are procrastinating Work out why you are procrastinating Ways to overcome: Find a small part of the task you can do right now Identify the emotion associated with doing it Finish an incomplete Delete it and move on Face your fears and the risks head-on Overcome Procrastination
- 15. Utilize Time Gaps Time gaps are intervals of time free of activities E.g. gaps between classes, between meetings, in a queue, waiting in your car Discover where you are likely to experience small, wasted gaps of time Utilize them to finish tasks that can fit in Examples of utilizing them effectively: Make calls while waiting Read up something Prepare for the upcoming activities
- 16. Avoid Multi-tasking Recent psychological studies have shown that multi-tasking does not actually save time. In fact, the opposite is often true. You lose time when switching from one task to another, resulting in a loss of productivity. Routine multi-tasking may lead to difficulty in concentrating and maintaining focus when needed.
- 17. Learn to say NO Do not say yes when you don't have the time, motivation, interest or skills to do the task Say “no” to tasks that have little impact on your targets Prevent stress Avoid overworking
- 18. Thanks For your Time
Editor's Notes
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