I’m Late, I’m Late For A Very Important date!

What all the money in the world can’t buy you more time

Who are we?

• Rashonda Harris – Associate Director, Research Accounting Services, Temple University

• Albana Cejne – Associate Director, Temple University

• Randi Wasik - Director of Administration and Finance, Department of Urology, Univ. of WA

Tempust Fugit

• A Latin expression meaning “time flees” or as we know it “time flies”

• Virgil: “But meanwhile it flees: time flees irretrievable, while we wander around, prisoners of our love of detail.”

• How then do we maximize time to get the most out of the various pieces of our lives

CONCENTRATE ON RESULTS, NOT ON BEING BUSY

• 80:20 Rule or the Pareto Principle – typically 80% of unfocussed effort generates only 20% of results. The remaining 80% of results are achieved with only 20% of the effort

• When you know how to manage your time, you gain control – you need to choose what to work on and when

• There are a variety of ways to organize your day/life. Just as you have many facets to your life, there are many avenues for time management - you

PRODUCTIVITY

• Productivity – a measure of how much you accomplish – not how busy you are

• Work with intelligence• Organize, organize, organize to be followed

by• Prioritize and re-prioritize

ACTIVITY LOGS

• Activity logs help you analyze how you actually spend your time – this can be very surprising

• Record ALL your activities over several days including not only what you are doing, but also how you feel

• Analyze your activities looking for patterns, what points of the day do you seem to get the most done, your nutrition, breaks for a walk vs. talking, etc.

LEARN FROM YOUR LOG

• Eliminate jobs that your employer shouldn’t be paying you to do – tasks that someone else in the organization should be doing or personal activities

• Schedule your most challenging tasks for the times of day when your energy is highest – your work will improve and take less time

• Try to minimize the number of times a day you switch between types of tasks – block your work

• Reduce the amount of time spent on legitimate personal activities

TO DO LISTS

• A written list of tasks so you don’t forget anything important

• Help you beat work overload• Reduce stress as you won’t feel as if you are

forgetting something• Make it intelligent so you focus your time and

energy on high value activates• This said, an effective to do list can be hard to

create

Preparing a To-Do List

• Write down all of the tasks that you need to complete. If they’re large tasks, break out the first action step and write this down with the larger task – ideally a task should take no more that 1 – 2 hours to complete

• Run through these tasks allocating priorities from A (very important) to F (unimportant)

• Run through the list till you have as even a spread in priorities as possible

Using your To-Do List

• Work through your list in order• Give yourself “short” tasks along the way so

you have a sense of accomplishment as you complete these

• For long-range/term tasks, use the list to spread the energy and resources needed out over time

• Use software/whiteboards/calendars/etc. to help enhance your scheduling

Action plans

• Action plans are for projects – long range activities – short, medium and long term goals

• These need to be documented, discussed and managed along side of your to do lists

• View your to do list as the reminder for the myriad of small tasks we all must accomplish daily and action plans are for those tasks that could take a week or longer

Costing your time

• That’s right your time is valuable – to your employer, to your peers, to your friends and family and most importantly to you

• Figure out how much your time costs – your hourly wage and then apply this to your tasks

• This is a surprising but another gauge when evaluating how you use your time

Multitasking – The Myth

• We all have been on a conference call and been quietly reading or e-mail or doing something else

• We have all typed while talking to someone in our office

• This does not boost productivity and does not show you value those around you

• Studies over the last decade show that multitasking can actually result in us wasting 20 – 40% of our time due to a lack of focus

Leverage

• Archimedes: “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I can move the earth.” or Randi: “If only I could rule the world even for just five minutes.”

• With a little thought, you can accomplish much more than you can without it. Without leverage you may work very hard, but your rewards are limited by the hours you put in. With leverage, you can break through and achieve much more.

Time Leverage

• Leverage Your Own Time;– Practice effective time management.

Eliminate unnecessary activities and focus your effort on the things that really matter

– Learn how to prioritize so that you focus your energy on the activities that give the greatest return for the time invested

– Use goal setting to think about what matters to you in the long term, set clear targets and motivate yourself to achieve those targets

Time Leverage

• Leverage Other People’s Time:– Learn how to delegate work to other people– Train and empower others (through classes,

team building, training, etc.)– Bring in experts and consultants to cover skill

or knowledge gaps – this does not need to cost money – use those around you to help

– Outsource non-core tasks to people with experience to do them more efficiently

Other Forms of Leverage

• Resource Leverage: get the most from your assets and take full advantage of your personal strengths

• Knowledge/Education Leverage: formal training and courses are the best basis from which to work and become efficient and effective

• Technology Leverage: use the computer and all programs available to you to maximize your effectiveness

Organize, ORGAnize,

ORGANIZE!

• Understand yourself and your thought processes

• Once you understand yourself, set-up your files accordingly grouping like things together

• Organize your e-mail like your hard copy files• Set-up pending files• Use a calendar as a reminder tool and

scheduling tool – tickler files• Prioritize

Prioritize

• This is the most essential skill you can have for both you and your team

• With good prioritization (and careful management), you can bring order to chaos, massively reduce stress and move towards a successful conclusion – without it you will flounder around, drowning in competing demands

• Prioritize based on cost, external deadlines, time constraints, etc.

Prioritization Tools

• Paired Comparison Analysis: compare items on your list and decide which is the most important and then set-up the to do list based on that analysis

• Grid Analysis: when you have many factors to consider, lay all the factors out and then set the action items

• Action Priority Matrix: allows you to select “quick” wins that will give you the greatest rewards and “hard” drags which will soak up time and reap little reward

• Take on no more than three major tasks at any one time – research has proven beyond three we loss the ability to be successful

Effective Scheduling

• Be Realist- Understand what you can actually achieve with your time. Plan to make the best use of the time available

• Leave enough time for things you absolutely must do• Preserve contingency time to handle the unexpected• Minimize stress by avoiding over-commitment to

yourself and others

Managing Interruptions

• Keep an interrupters log: Person, date and time, description, rating – valid/urgent/etc.

• Analyze and conquer interruptions: review your log; politely but assertively deal with your main offenders; could you pre-empt a truly urgent interruption

• Put your phone to work for you: use divert if you are under a deadline; get a “spy” phone

• Catch your breath: do not react to urgent demands, take a deep breath and assess the situation/request

Managing Interruptions

• Just say “NO”: if you are facing a deadline or a truly urgent request, it is ok to say no, but be courteous and sincere and offer a reason and a promise to follow-up

• Ask your supervisor and peers to help • Available and Unavailable time: let people

know when you are available and unavailable• Invitation Only time: For those you talk with

most often, schedule regular meeting time; make a list of discussion items for the meeting time

Managing Interruptions

• Uncontrollable interruptions: for your frequent offenders you can say things such as “I only have five minutes right now” and stick to it; do not ask them to sit; get right to the point and if you can solve it prior to the end of the story – do it

Employee Time Drains

• Lateness can be a drain on your time – they are late to work, late with a report, etc. – deal with this directly, set guidelines and if not met/changed engage in corrective behavior

• Organizing disorganized people – if you have a peer or employee who is disorganized they can hinder your success as you will need to spend time making up for the lack or organization

• Concise conversations – a must

Minimize Distractions

• E-mail: schedule times; turn off• Disorganization• Instant Messaging• Phone Calls• The Internet• Other People• Work Environment• Tiredness

Improve Your Concentration

• Environment – comfortable; put up pictures; shut out distractions

• Nutrition – drink water; eat breakfast; talk walks – get up

• Mindset – set aside time to deal with worries; focus on one task at a time; switch between low and high attention tasks; prioritize

• Take short breaks• Do hard tasks when you are most alert• Reward yourself

Personal Goal Setting

• Goal setting is a powerful process for thinking about your ideal future and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into a reality

• By setting sharp, clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of those goals

• Start with your “big picture” goal(s) – 10 years out and then break these down into the smaller and smaller targets

Personal Goal Setting

• Stay the course – review and update daily your short term objectives and periodically review the long term plans

• Smart Goals:– S – Specific (or significant)– M – Measurable (or meaningful)– A – Attainable (or action-oriented)– R – Relevant (or rewarding)– T – Time-bound (or trackable)

Personal Goal Setting

• Additionally:– State each goal as a positive statement– Be precise– Set priorities– Write goals down– Keep operational goals small– Set performance goals, not outcome goals– Set realistic goals

5 Golden Rules of Goal setting

• Set Goals That Motivate You• Set SMART Goals• Set Goals in Writing• Make an Action Plan• Stick With It – remember The Little Engine That

Could

QUESTIONS/ANSWERS??

Rashonda Harris – Rashondajh@tample.edu Albana Cejne – albana@temple.edu Randi Wasik – randiw@uw.edu