Managing Time and

Stress

Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.

—Carl Sandburg, U.S. biographer and poet

Chapter 13

Copyright © 2010 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Learning Objectives

1. Discuss how supervisors can evaluate their use of time.

2. Describe ways to plan the use of time.

3. Identify some time wasters and how to control them.

4. List factors that contribute to stress among employees.

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Learning Objectives (cont.)

5. Summarize consequences of stress.

6. Explain how supervisors can manage their own stress.

7. Identify ways organizations, including supervisors, can help their employees manage stress.

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Time Management

• Time management– The practice of controlling the way you use

time.

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Time Management

• Time is the only resource we all have in equal shares.

• Supervisors who are in control of their time find that their jobs are easier and that they can get more done.

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Understanding How You Use Time

Keep a time log for at least one typical week, then ask yourself the following questions:

• How much time did I spend on important activities?• How much time did I spend on activities that did not

need to get done?• How much time did I spend on activities that someone

else could have done (perhaps with some training)?• What important jobs did I not get around to finishing?

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Planning Your Use of Time

• Make sure that the most important things get done each day before you move on to less important activities.

• Set priorities

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Planning Your Use of Time

• Establish objectives for the year.– Specify when each must be completed. – Figure out what must be accomplished when

—each quarter, month, and week. – Review objectives regularly, using them to

plan weekly and daily accomplishment objectives.

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Making a “To Do” List

• Record all activities that must occur at a set time.

• Find times for your remaining A-level activities.• Schedule the most important activities for the

times of day when you are at your best.• Learn to use electronic scheduling tools.• Schedule time for thinking as well as doing.• Don’t fill up every hour of the day and week.

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Common Time Wasters

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Meetings

• When you call a meeting:– Start promptly.– Focus on the goal of the meeting.– Set an end time for the meeting.– Schedule a follow-up

meeting if necessary.

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Telephone Calls and E-Mail

• Schedule time each day for making calls, and be prepared.

• Prioritize your e-mails.• Delete junk mail unread.• Limit the number of messages sent and the

number of recipients.• Avoid responding to non-business

correspondence.• Consider scheduling one time a day to check e-

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Paperwork and Reading Material

• Try to handle each item only once.• Set aside time each day. • Determine the most efficient response.• Evaluate the publications you receive and

cancel subscriptions that are not useful.• Review tables of contents first rather than

reading every page of a publication.• Ask to be removed from distribution lists that

send information that is not useful to you.

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Handling Unscheduled Visitors

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Procrastination

• Force yourself to jump in.

• Focus on one step at a time.

• Reward yourself for completing each step.

• Pick one area at a time in which you tend to procrastinate and attack it.

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Procrastination (cont.)

• Compartmentalize your work and force yourself to get through the task one task at a time.

• Do the biggest job first, when you have the most energy.

• Give yourself deadlines.

• Don’t pursue perfectionism.

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Perfectionism and Failure to Delegate

• Determine the highest standard you realistically can achieve.

• When you find yourself avoiding a difficult task, remember your realistic goals and give it your best.

• Supervisors may resist delegating because they believe only they can really do the job right.

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Inability to Say No

• If your supervisor asks you to take on an urgent task, request help in prioritizing your workload or ask what should be given up to accomplish the new task.

• Ask yourself, “What activity am I willing to give up to make time for this new one?”

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Inability to Say No

For those times when you can’t say no, try these tips:

• Ask the person making the request how the two of you can plan better for the next time.

• Remind the person that he or she now owes you one

• Suggest your own timetable. • Put a time limit on your participation.

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Stress Management

• Stress – the body’s response to coping with

environmental demands – change, frustration, uncertainty, danger, or

discomfort.

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Job Factors Linkedto Stress

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Personal Causes of Stress

• Personal Factors– General feelings of negativism, helplessness,

and low self-esteem– Type A personality– The inability to let work go in off work hours

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Personal Causes of Stress

• Work-family conflict– Women are particularly vulnerable– Not associated with what they achieved or

how hard they worked but with the degree to which they felt a conflict between career and family

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Stress Levelsand Performance

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Consequences of Stress

• Burnout– The employee feels emotionally exhausted.– The employee’s perceptions of others become

calloused.– The employee views his or her effectiveness

negatively.

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Possible Signs of Stress

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Personal Stress Management

• Time management

• Positive attitude

• Exercise

• Biofeedback

• Meditation

• Well-rounded life activities

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Organizational Stress Management

• Behavior of the supervisor– Prepare employees to cope with change– Foster a supportive organizational climate– Make work interesting– Encourage career development

• Changes in the job

• Environmental changes

• Wellness programs

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A Word About Personality

• The degree to which a person will succeed at using any particular technique depends in part on that person’s personality.

• Knowing your personality type (Myers-Briggs) can suggest suitable techniques for managing your own time and stress.

• Recognizing different personality types can help you understand the behavior of other people.

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A Basis for CategorizingPersonality Types

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