master your time book

Time Management

© Eleanor Shakiba September 2008 PAGE 1

Time Management

Your toolkit for getting more done in less time

www.thinklearnsucceed.com.au

Master YOUR Time

By Eleanor ShakibaTrainer, Facilitator, Coach & NLP Practitioner


Time ManagementTime Management

Why Time Management Matters 3

Food for Thought 3

NEW TOPIC: Avoiding Time Traps 5

NEW TOPIC: Sorting Out Your Priorities 6

Is It Urgent Or Important? 7

ACTIVITY: Reviewing Your Work Habits 8

Setting Priorities 9

Keeping Your Piorities in sight 10

18 Tips For Successful Priority Management 11

NEW TOPIC: Planning Your work 12

Keeping the Plan alive 13

Example To Do List 14

Top Tips for Managing 15

Top Tips for Beating Timewasters 16

About the Author 18

Table of Contents



Time Management

Why Time Management MattersDo you sometimes feel that there’s never enough time to get your work done? Maybe you’re spending more and more time each week sorting through emails. Perhaps your desk is covered with little jobs you never get around to doing. Or maybe you spend most days rushing between meetings and struggling to keep up with the paperwork piling up in your in-tray. Well, you’re not alone. And you can learn how to overcome the issues you’re facing. Here are some examples of what other people have achieved by using the ideas in this book.

Brett was CEO of a large manufacturing business. He learned how to prevent staff interrupting him with questions all day.

Anita was a help-desk officer in a large government department. She learned how to manage a very demanding client who kept making unreasonable demands.

Selina was a writer working from home. Her biggest challenge was balancing deadlines and the demands of a young family. She learned how to set and stick to priorities so she could work more effectively.

From here on, we’ll be focussing on what you want to learn about time management. Generally, the term “time management” refers to the development of processes and tools to increase efficiency and productivity. The goal of doing this is to experience a happier, more productive and more efficient work-life. So let’s find out what gets in the way of effective time management, before we consider how to master the essentials of planning, organising and using your time productively.

Food For Thought...Time management studies show that most people can only work for six minutes at a time before being interrupted. On average, we spend 3 hours each day on interruptions, up to 4 hours per week looking for things on our desks and 11 hours a week in meetings. Comparisons of today’s work habits with those of the 1990s show that:

• Average working times have increased by 20% • Leisure time has decreased by 32% • 43% of managers find it difficult to delegate • 81% of managers suffer stress at least once per week • In 2006 we had to manage 600% more information than we had to in 1986

So it’s no wonder that you might feel overloaded, rushed or pushed for time. Think back over your last week at work. Were there any major tasks you had to leave to the last minute? Did you find yourself in crisis management mode every day? Or did you have to make important decisions on the run because you couldn’t afford the time to sit down and plan? All of these are signs that poor time management habits are impacting on your ability to work effectively.



Luckily, there are ways to turn this situation around. By mastering time management techniques, you can reduce the amount of time you spend doing things that get little return (e.g. long-winded telephone calls, colleagues dropping by for a chat, conversations around the coffee machine, doing subordinate’s work, checking for spelling errors, attending unnecessary meetings or working on projects that go nowhere).

You will also find that as your time management skills improve, you get better results from the effort you put into your work. Using time management techniques can help you:

Improve your productivity so you can accomplish more with less effort

Focus your time and resources on what is most important

Make time for the things you want and value

Improve your performance while reducing stress

Find greater balance between your work and personal life

Set and stay focussed on long-term goals

The skills, tools and systems that contribute to effective time management are easy to pick up. As you try them out you’ll discover how easy it is to achieve outstanding results without being exhausted at the end of the working day.

The steps for improving your time management habits are quite simple. First you need to set some goals and action plans. Then you need to develop some new habits which will support a more strategic way of going about your work. Read on to find out how to use simple time management processes and tools to vastly improve your efficiency and productivity.



Time Management

NEW TOPIC: Avoiding Time Traps There are many assumptions that influence the way you manage your time. Some of these assumptions are useful, but others might hold you back and prevent you working effectively. Research shows that three common beliefs underpin poor time management habits. Do you recognise any of them?

“Do the urgent tasks first”

This belief leads to the ‘urgency trap’ as you focus on problems, crises and issues ought to you by

other people

To avoid this trap: MAKE TIME FOR IMPORTANT

TASKS EVERYDAY

“No-one else can do this”

This belief creates failure to delegate. You become more and more overloaded as you take on tasks others should

be doing.

To avoid this trap: LEARN TO DELEGATE

“Planning is boring”

This belief generates unnecessary work. You end up duplicating the efforts of others, correcting their

mistakes and making bad decisions.

To avoid this trap: START EVERY DAY BY PLANNING



NEW TOPIC: Sorting Out Your Priorities To avoid the Urgency Trap, you need to be able to distinguish between tasks that are important and those that are urgent. This allows you to allocate time to the work that really needs to be done, rather than spending your whole day reacting to problems, emergencies and interruptions. The concept of distinguishing between “importance” and “urgency” was originally developed by Stephen Covey in his classic book The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People.

Covey claims that “important” jobs are those which relate directly to your objectives and/or the long-term success of the business you work in. Planning, process improvement, staff training and budgeting all fall into this category. “Urgent” jobs are those with a time deadline. Customer requests, directives from your manager and accidents or emergencies are examples of “urgent” issues.

Stephen Covey claims you need to consider the importance and urgency of every task you take on. He uses a Task Management Grid to determine which tasks to take on and which to delegate or abandon.

QUADRANT 1 ~ IMPORTANT AND URGENT

This quadrant includes:Handling emergenciesDealing with problems

Working on deadline driven projects

Deal with it by:Checking the task really is importantCompleting the task at ‘survival’ level

Seeking assistanceManaging the most urgent aspects first

QUADRANT 2 ~ IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT

This quadrant includes:Initiating new ways of doing things

PlanningCompleting long term projects

Deal with it by:Setting aside time on a regular basisCommunicating how important it is

Reporting against your goals/objectivesManaging the team’s time

QUADRANT 3 ~ URGENT BUT NOT IMPORTANT

This quadrant includes:Interruptions

Assisting colleagues or staff with their workHandling pressing matters

Deal with it by:Pushing back Saying “no”

Delegating tasks to others

QUADRANT 4 ~ NOT URGENT OR IMPORTANT

This quadrant includes:Trivia

Non-strategic project workRecreational phone calls

Deal with it by:Planning your work before starting it

Keeping a time log Saying “no” to yourself and others



Time Management

Is It Urgent Or Important?Quadrant 1A task is important if your success depends on it. It’s urgent if there is a tight deadline attached to it. Quadrant 1 tasks are both important and urgent. Everyone needs to spend time in this quadrant. It’s where you problem-solve and respond to challenges. Both of these activities are critical to your success at work. But don’t let them dominate your workday or you’ll end up in constant “crisis mode.”

Write your examples here.

Quadrant 2Some tasks are vital to your work but do not have immediate deadlines attached. Examples of such tasks include strategic planning, quality improvement and problem prevention. All of these activities sit in Quadrant 2, which is a highly important quadrant for business success. Spending time in Quadrant 2 will improve your ability to achieve long-term objectives and make a major contribution to achieving organisational goals. Plan to spend at least 20% of your time in this Quadrant.


Quadrant 3This is the quadrant of deceptive urgency. Tasks falling into Quadrant 3 are not vital to your success but they may appear to be so. Unexpected visitors, phone interruptions and staff who delegate their problems to you are all examples of items which belong in Quadrant 3. Managing your time effectively means recognising these sorts of tasks and saying “no” to them.


Quadrant 4This is the quadrant of tasks that are not really important. We often engage in Quadrant 4 activities when we’re procrastinating. Learning to eliminate them is a very important part of improving your time management. On the next page, you’ll find an exercise which will help you identify and eliminate Quadrant 4 tasks and focus on more strategic issues.




ACTIVITY: Reviewing Your Work Habits

Here’s an exercise to help you work out which quadrant you are spending the most time in at the moment.

1 Review the tasks you did yesterday. 2 Consider the importance and urgency of each task.3 Write each task in the appropriate sections of the grid below.4 At the bottom of the page, write down what you have learned from this exercise.

QUADRANT 1 ~ IMPORTANT AND URGENT

QUADRANT 2 ~ IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT

QUADRANT 3 ~ URGENT BUT NOT IMPORTANT QUADRANT 4 ~ NOT URGENT OR IMPORTANT

WHAT I LEARNED



Time Management

Setting Priorities

Covey’s Task Management Grid can also be used to set priorities and design action-focussed To Do lists. Setting priorities is all about deciding how you’ll use your time instead of just flitting from task to task. It helps keep you focussed on doing things that really matter instead of getting sidetracked. The important thing to remember about prioritising is that you won’t always have time to do everything but you will have time for the most important things.

Steps For Prioritising

1 Write down everything you know needs to be done.2 Transfer the tasks into the appropriate sections of the importance/urgency grid.3 Put a priority number against every task in the Quadrant 1 list. Then work through the remaining quadrants in numerical order.4 Your tasks are now in priority order. As things change, you can assess where new tasks that emerge sit on your list. This makes sure you are always working on the tasks which will be the most fruitful.

Here’s an example. It shows tasks from a To-Do list which have been transferred to the importance/urgency grid and then assigned priorities.

This is the quadrant of deceptive urgency. Tasks falling into Quadrant 3 are not vital to your success but they may appear to be so. Unexpected visitors, phone interruptions and staff who delegate their problems to you are all examples of items which belong in Quadrant 3. Managing your time effectively means recognising these sorts of tasks and saying “no” to them.

QUADRANT 1IMPORTANT AND URGENT

3 Write management report1 Sign off leave forms2 Follow up customer complaint

QUADRANT 2IMPORTANT BUT NOT URGENT

5 Edit newsletter 6 Sign leave forms4 Finalise team meeting agenda

QUADRANT 3URGENT BUT NOT IMPORTANT

7 Respond to email8 Phone Amanda about new caterer

QUADRANT 4NOT URGENT OR IMPORTANT

11 Cull old emails9 Empty recycling 10 Finish reorganising bookshelf



Keeping Your Priorities In Sight

Once you’ve set your priorities for the week or the day, it is important to keep them clearly in view. Visual reminders help us keep our priorities in mind when interruptions and distractions occur. Try pinning your prioritised to-do list beside your desk or leaving it in front of your computer monitor. That way you’ll see it whenever you take a momentary break in your work.

David Allen, author of How To get Things Done, suggests setting aside time once a week to conduct a weekly review. This allows you to recap your major objectives for the week, to assess your progress against them and to establish new priorities for the following week. Allen suggests including the following tasks in your weekly review.

1 Integrate all loose papers Bring together all the loose paperwork you have in your bag, notebooks, in-tray, pockets and desk drawers. Put it all in one pile and process it straight away. Throw out what you don’t need and action anything that is left.

2 Process your notes Review diary entries and piles of reading material that you have accumulated through the week. Process everything.

3 Review the past week’s calendar Note any remaining action items and transfer them to a future date.

4 View upcoming events on your calendar Look at both long and short term events you have scheduled. Note and summarise logistics and arrangements for events in the next week.

5 Review long term goals and project objectives Evaluate the status of each item. Then make sure you have one action point planned for every live goal or project.

6 Review action lists Mark off items which have been completed. Note reminders about pending actions.

7 Review follow up lists Check for items which required follow up and have not yet been actioned. Mark off items which no longer require follow up.

8 Check work in progress files Double-check that you’ve taken action where needed and filed items which are no longer current.



Time Management

18 Tips For Successful Priority Management 1 Write down your major work objectives. Then set monthly, weekly and daily priorities which will support those objectives.

2 Make a To-Do list every day. Be sure it lists items in priority order, not just randomly.

3 Think about every task you do in terms of your major goals. Ask yourself what would happen if you didn’t do each task. If the answer is nothing, then stop doing it.

4 Set aside a block of uninterrupted time for your most important tasks each day.

5 Make sure that the first hour of your workday is productive.

6 Set time limits for every task you undertake.

7 Periodically keep a time log to work out how you’re using your time and how to increase your efficiency.

8 Each week, get rid of one time waster from your work habits.

9 Eliminate recurring crises by working out what causes them and dealing with the real issues rather than the symptoms.

10 Develop the habit of finishing what you start instead of jumping from one task to another.

11 Allow time for interruptions and distractions. Time management experts often suggest planning to occupy just 50 percent of the time available each day. This leaves you time to deal with unplanned events.

12 Identify the time of day when you work best. Then set that time aside for doing your most important work.

13 Eliminate or delegate trivial tasks. Only work on the tasks which you alone can do.

14 When you are avoiding something, break it into smaller tasks and do just one of the smaller tasks.

15 Close every telephone call with a summary of the action you’ve agreed to take. For example “Great. I’ll meet with you at your office at (insert location) at 10 a.m. tomorrow and we’ll go over the program notes together.”

16 Keep a small notebook and pen handy to jot down ideas or appointments as they come up instead of trying to keep them in your head.

17 Use waiting time to read or plan.

18 Handle paperwork only once. Action it, file it or throw it out.



NEW TOPIC : Planning Your Work Time spent thinking and planning is time well spent. By thinking ahead, you will be able to invest your time wisely rather than being caught up in the urgency trap. This will make you more productive over the long-term. It will also help you maintain a healthy balance between work and leisure time.

Research has shown that planning reaps huge benefits. A study of Harvard Business School students discovered that only 3% of them had written down their personal goals before starting their studies. Ten years later, those 3% were earning ten times the other 97% combined.

Companies that create annual business plans markedly out-perform those that “wing it.” For example, one transport company saved $250,000 in 9 months by involving truck drivers in a business planning exercise.

Individuals who invest 1% of their time in planning benefit from a 16% increase in personal productivity. So it is worth spending 10 minutes a day planning your work. You might even finish early!

Often, when people become overloaded they say “I have no time to plan.” Yet this is precisely when planning becomes essential. It helps you to:

• Sort out what matters from what doesn’t• Ensure you put your effort into the critical 20% of tasks with the highest return• Identify top priority tasks to complete• Eliminate unnecessary work and prevent re-work• Avoid making mistakes• Keep your workload under control

When planning your work, it pays to keep the research of Vilfredo Pareto in mind. Pareto was an Italian economist who noted that 80% of income went to 20% of the population. Business expert Joseph Juran used Pareto’s research to develop the “Pareto Pinciple.” This states that 80% of results come from 20% of the activities we engage in.

For example:• 80% of your sales come from 20% of your client base

• You wear 20% of your wardrobe 80% of the time

• 20% of your product-line accounts for 80% of your profits

• Socially, you spend 80% of your time with 20% of your friends

• 80% of customer complaints are about 20% of your staff

• 20% of your staff will produce 80% of the team’s results

• 80% of peas are produced by 20% of peapods on a farm

The Pareto Principle suggests you should put 80% of your effort into the 20# of your work that is really important. The trick to effective planning is to identify that valuable 20% of high return activities and spend more time working on them. What activities produce the best return on your effort?



Time Management

Keeping The Plan Alive To ensure that you work on your 20% high impact tasks consistently, you will need to set up a sound reminder process. There are a number of tools that you can use to keep your action plan alive. The most important are summarised below. Thinking and planning is time well spent. By thinking ahead, you will be able to invest your time wisely rather than being caught up in the urgency trap. This will make you more productive over the long-term. It will also help you maintain a healthy balance between work and leisure time.

Calendar When you use a calendar to record appointments and deadlines, you free up your mind to concentrate on tasks such as problem solving, creating and planning. This is because you don’t need to dedicate your conscious attention (which can only hold between 5 and 9 items at any one time) to remembering where you need to be.

A calendar can also be a great tool for communicating your priorities to other members of your team. For example, you might choose to block out time for project work on your online calendar. This will let others know you are busy and reduce the risk of interruptions while you complete your project tasks.

Checklists Checklists help you remember important details without having to rethink them every time you repeat a task. They are also great tools for ensuring that everyone in a team complies with procedures. A well designed checklist promotes consistent quality irrespective of who is doing the work and can be used to detect errors quickly and effectively.

Cheat Sheets Cheat sheets help you access information you use regularly without having to rely on your memory. If you find yourself looking up the same information over and over again, a cheat sheet is a useful tool for collecting this information in a format that is more accessible and easier to search. Put it in an accessible spot and you’ll find you work much more quickly and productively.

To Do Lists A well structured To Do List is essential if you are going to keep your time under control. The key to making To Do Lists work is to record the amount of time you spend on each task. Avoid the temptation to just dump your ideas onto a piece of paper or into your PDA. Instead, sequence and structure your activities on your To Do List. Map out the major tasks you need to do and when you will work on them.

Schedule the jobs that require a lot of concentration during your high energy periods. Plan to complete less demanding tasks (like checking your email) at your less “peak” times of day. Remember to leave gaps in your schedule to cater for unexpected items that crop up during the day. An example of a good To Do List is illustrated over the page.



Example To Do List 8.00 8.00 – 10.00 Plan newsletter Phone Calls

Sandra Coles re case file system

Heather re newsletter

Doctor re annual check-up

Web designer re newsletter

9.00

10.00 10.00 – 11.30 Write project plan

11.00 11.30 – 12.00 Prepare for working party meeting

Back up front desk/filing

12.00

1.00 – 2.00 Lunch.

1.00

10.00 – 11.00 Phone calls and emails

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.30 Drop off computer for repairs

5.00

Drinks with Leanne

6.00

The benefits of using To Do Lists include:

• Freeing your mind so that you can get on with your work• Less likelihood that you will forget to do something important• Priority setting becomes quicker and easier• Distractions are not as likely to take us away from what needs to be done• The satisfied feeling that comes from ticking things off!



Time Management

Top Tips for ManagingEmail1 Only check your inbox two or three times a day. Set a limit on how long you spend dealing with email each time you check it.2 Don’t check your email during your periods of peak alertness. Use this time to complete complicated or difficult tasks.3 Turn off your email alert. This prevents distractions caused as mail arrives.4 Deal with each email as soon as you read it. Reply, delete or save and empty your inbox. 5 Set up rules to filter and manage incoming mail, so you don’t have to do it manually.

Phone Calls1 Plan your calls. Know what you need to say, what information you need and how you will close the call before you ring. 2 Screen and delegate calls. Don’t spend time on calls you can get someone else to make. 3 Group outgoing calls. Batching saves time. Call between 10.00 – 12.00am and 2.00 – 4.00pm to increase the chances of catching the person you need. 4 Only make calls that bring results. 5 Summarise at the end of calls. This ensures that everyone understands what has been agreed.

Paperwork1 Touch each piece of paper only once. This prevents you wasting time shuffling papers around your desk.2 Colour-code files so you can quickly find live files, historical information and administrative vs. project work.3 Use the four D’s approach – dump it, delegate it, do it partially or do it completely.4 Where possible, dictate file notes or general correspondence whilst completing another task. This allows you to multi-task.5 Keep a pile of reading material (articles, books) near your door. As you leave for appointments, grab something to read if you are left waiting.

Meetings 1 Only attend meetings when you will play an active role. Where possible, delegate meeting attendance.2 Clarify the purpose of the meeting before attending and be sure that a meeting is the most effective way to meet that purpose.3 Always set an agenda. Set time limits for each agenda item and stick to them.4 Hold meetings standing up. Research shows these meetings are shorter than those in which people sit down.5 Stay in control and on target. Make sure that the meeting is well chaired and that discussion remains on topic.

Organising Your WorkspaceUse the “Kindergarten Layout” technique. Divide your space into activity zones (e.g. writing, meetings, research). Then place the equipment you need for each activity in the appropriate zone. Use containers to keep equipment neat and easy to find.



Top Tips for Beating Time Wasters

In his popular time management book The Time Trap, Alec Mackenzie identifies the top ten time wasters we engage in at work. No doubt you will recognise some of them! So here are some tips for overcoming each one. Which will work for you?

Lack of objectives, priorities and plans• Manage events, not time• Identify your key objectives• Create action plans for meeting those objectives• Schedule actions into your diary

Crisis Management • Review how much time you have available, then plan your work to fit into it• Identify tasks you don’t have time to do• Delegate those tasks• Create procedures to streamline repetitive tasks. This will free up time to handle unexpected, urgent work• Delegate the authority to handle problems to your other members of your team• Get your staff into the habit of bringing you solutions rather than problems

Telephone Interruptions• Make it a habit that you don’t take calls during the time allocated to a major task• Divert your phone to someone who can take messages when you need to work uninterrupted• Set aside a specific time each day to make and return calls• When you do answer the phone, let the caller know you need to finish the conversation quickly• Time your calls and keep them to 3 minutes each

Taking on too much • Set priorities. When new tasks arise, work out where they fit in relation to those priorities.• Say “no” to requests which do not match your priorities• When saying “no” make sure it is to the task not the person• Delegate as often as you can• Set a limit on the number of meetings you attend each week

Disorganisation• Put aside time to clean up your office and your desk. Then keep them tidy• Maintain your diary• Ask your team how procedures and workflows can be improved



Time Management

Drop-in visitors• Sit with your back to the door – lack of eye contact prevents passers-by from walking into your space• Set aside specific times that you are available. Make sure everyone knows these are the times they can drop in• Tell unexpected visitors you are busy and make an appointment to talk later

Lack of delegation• Analyse your current workload and decide what can be done by someone else• Delegate routine, detailed or low priority work• Set aside adequate time to train the people to whom you are delegating • Use delegation to build the talents of your staff – don’t just dump boring jobs on them

Procrastination• At the start of the day, tackle the task you least want to do and get it over with• Reward yourself when you finish tasks you’ve been putting off• Just get started!

Inability to say “no” • Say “no” to meetings you don’t need to be at, unnecessary travel, appointments others can keep and committees you don’t need to be on• Be courteous when saying “no”• Remember you’re saying “no” to the task not to the person• Say “I can do this later” rather than saying “no” directly

Lack of self-discipline• Focus on the big picture• Review your goals regularly• Provide your manager with regular progress reports • Change one habit at a time


Time Management

Eleanor started her career as a writer and theatre director. From there she moved into a large library, where she supervised a customer service team and developed quality management programs.

In 1994, Eleanor entered the training and development field, occupying roles as a staff development officer and then as a training manager for the University of Sydney.

She now works as a training consultant, specialising in the areas of presentation and communication skills, creative thinking, management development and business applications of Neuro Linguistic Programming. Eleanor’s qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts degree, Graduate Certificate in Adult Education and Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment. She holds Master Practitioner certification in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and is accredited to administer the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Management Team Roles Indicator (MTR-i). Currently, Eleanor is completing a Masters in Counselling. All of her workshops are highly interactive and aligned with her personal vision of “creating success stories” with her clients.

To find out more about Eleanor please visit www.thinklearnsucceed.com.au

About The Author Of This Book

Eleanor Shakiba is a Sydney-based trainer and personal effectiveness coach. You can book her to run a time management course for your team by calling 0433 126 841 or at www.thinklearnsucceed.com.au

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