TIME MANAGEMENT Time Management - Start Here!

Work Smarter. Take Control of Your Workload.

Personal time management skills are essential skills for effective people. People who use these techniques routinely are the highest achievers in all walks of life, from business to sport to public service. If you use these skills well, then you will be able to function exceptionally well, even under intense pressure.

What's more, as you master these skills, you'll find that you take control of your workload, and say goodbye to the often intense stress of work overload.

At the heart of time management is an important shift in focus: Concentrate on results, not on being busy Many people spend their days in a frenzy of activity, but achieve very little, because they're not concentrating their effort on the things that

matter the most. The 80:20 Rule This is neatly summed up in the Pareto Principle, or the '80:20 Rule'. This says that typically 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of

results. This means that the remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort. While the ratio is not always 80:20, this broad pattern of a small proportion of activity generating non-scalar returns recurs so frequently that it is the norm in many situations.

By applying the time management tips and skills in this section you can optimize your effort to ensure that you concentrate as much of your time and energy as possible on the high payoff tasks. This ensures that you achieve the greatest benefit possible with the limited amount of time available to you.

Time Management Tools In this section, we start off with simple and practical techniques, so that you can get off to a quick start in taking control of your time. The

articles on Beating Procrastination and Activity Logs help you quickly eliminate the most common time-wasters, while the articles on Action Plans and Prioritized To Do Lists teach simple techniques helping you focus on the most important short-term activities.

We then move onto the really powerful and life-changing technique of goal setting, and then look at the important, well-known, and usually-neglected technique of scheduling, which is fundamentally important if you're going to take control of your workload. (You can learn 14 more, equally powerful techniques in our members area, the Career Excellence Club.)

So follow the links below, and start learning! Discover the tools that can help you - How Good is Your Time Management? Manage time. Get things done - Beating Procrastination. Finding out how you really spend your time - Activity Logs. Tackling the right tasks first - Prioritized To Do Lists. Deciding your personal priorities - Personal Goal Setting. Planning to make the best use of your time - Effective Scheduling.

NO DEATH BY POWERPOINT

THE ART OF START

Overcoming procrastination and getting a hold of your mind

Felix BarbaLeadership Initiative Program AssistantSacramento StateM.S. Higher Education Candidate, Drexel

University

WE ARE NOT MACHINES

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Your expectations as it relates to time management

What you want to learn

1. Procrastination2. Lack of Control or

Perspective3. Lack of system or tools

BARRIERS TO TIME MANAGEMENT

OVERCOMING PROCRASTINATION

Three parts1. Why we

procrastinate?2. A reflection about it3. Procrastination

remedies

WHY WE PROCRASTINATE?

BECAUSE…

Fear Obligations Equating work performance with your

self-worth

REFLECTION

PROCRASTINATION REMEDY

Change the self talk “I don’t have to do anything” “I choose to take one, small, imperfect

step…

“Knowing what to do is simple…

Whether you are willing to do it is another thing." -- Peter F. Drucker

CONTROL AND PERSPECTIVE

GAINING CONTROL

Get it out of your head Decide what to do with it

GETTING PERSPECTIVE

The Big Picture How does it fit into your big picture?

5 year plan; 1 year plan; this semester Professional, social,academic….goals

Make the tough decisions

From Merlin Man “Inbox Zero”

KNOW YOUR TOOLS

To-do list Calendar Smart phones

Alarms Email Write on your hand

SEMESTER PLANNER SAMPLE

Key Activities Date Completed

EDUC 602 Strategic Plan Assignment Feb 10

GERM 200 Essay- Education in German Feb 17

GOVT 435 Outline- International Comparative Education Feb 24

GERM 200 Essay – English Influence in German Lang. Mar 1

EDUC 602 Site Visit Campus Environment Assessment Mar 8

GOVT 435 First Draft – Int’l Comparative Education Systems Mar 15

GERM 200 Presentation – History of a German State Mar 22

GOVT 435 Education Policy Assignment in Europe Mar 29

GOVT 435 Final Essay – Int’l Comparative Education Systems April 6

SEMESTER PLANNER SAMPLE

SET IT AND FORGET IT

23

HOW TO SAY NO!

Trouble saying “No”? Why? The key points

Know what’s on your plate Know your priorities Then you can say NO

OR… RENEGOTIATE Be Real. If you won’t be able to come

through RENEGOTIATE!

REVIEW AS OFTEN AS YOU NEED

Go through the process List all your todo’s Decide on the action Align your todo’s with your goals

PEACE OF MIND

SUMMARY OF KEY CONCEPTS Overcome procrastination with positive

thinking I choose to do __ because I want to…

Gain Control Get everything that’s on your mind in one place

Use Perspective Make sure it fits into your life plan, recent plan

Use tools to make it happen e.g. calendar, To Do list

Make time for reflection to regain control & perspective

Know how to say “No” or renegotiate

REFERENCES

Allen, D. (2003). Getting things done: The art of stress-free productivity. New York: Penguin Books.

Fiore, N. A. (1989). The now habit: A strategic program for overcoming procrastination and enjoying guilt-free play. Los Angeles: J.P. Tarcher