Time Management Essentials

Michelle BakerJanuary 2012

“The surest way to be late is to have plenty of time.”

- Unknown

Today’s To-Do List:

-Common Time Wasters

-Assessing Your Time

-The Energy Cycle

-Personality and Time Management

-Tools and Resources

With your group, discuss a time when you had a “time management challenge”.

• Personal or professional

• How did you overcome it?

Choose one experience to share with the

group!

People working in an office setting are interrupted about 7 times per hour. That’s 56

times per day!

People spend an average of 11 minutes on a project before being distracted. Once distracted, they don’t return

to the project for 25 minutes…if they return at all.

Using time-diary studies, people claiming to work 60-69 hours per week clocked an average of 52.6 hours, while those who believed they worked 70-, 80-hour or greater weeks totaled 58.8 hours.

Prof. Robinson, 2006-2007 comparisons, American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

How do you spend your time?

Common Time

Wasters

Common Time Wasters

Focusing on the wrong tasks

Misjudging time

Socializing

Procrastinating

Focusing on the wrong tasks…

Focusing on the Wrong Tasks Spending more time on

enjoyable, but non-essential tasks

Focusing on tasks that don’t help you reach your goals

Spending time in unnecessary meetings

Underestimating time spent answering personal email or on social media

Misjudging time…

Misjudging Time

Spending more time waiting around before you can continue the task

Underestimating commute time…are you always running late?

Scheduling too many tasks in a day, taking work home, or over-booking your calendar

Socializing…

Socializing

In person

On the phone

Email, IM, text

Social media

If you find yourself spending

a lot

of time socializing, you may s

truggle

to complete more necessary tas

ks!

Procrastination

Putting off important things until later…even with long deadlines

Focusing on other tasks that aren’t as important (or totally unrelated)

Reasons We Procrastinate

1. Not knowing where to start.

2. Avoiding unpleasant tasks.

3. Being afraid of failure.

Overcoming Procrastination Consider the consequences

of procrastinating!

Identify and remove obstacles

Setting a deadline and stay accountable (make it public!)

Prioritize tasks

Reward yourself for completing tasks

…and other time wast

ers!

The Key?

Baby steps.

Create a Time Journal for one week:

• Write it down.

• Categorize.

• Prioritize.

• Summarize!

Look for opportunities to

become more productive!

Using time-diary studies, people claiming to work 60 to 69 hours per week clocked an

average of 52.6 hours, while those who believed they worked 70-, 80-hour or greater weeks totaled 58.8 hours.

Prof. Robinson, 2006-2007 comparisons, American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

Not everyone is a morning person. And that’s okay.

The Energy Cycle

MorningEarly

Afternoon

Late Afternoo

nEvening

The Energy Cycle

Morning Early Afternoon

Late AfternoonEvening

•Energy levels at their highest

•Best time for decision making

•Best time to schedule meetings and conference calls

•Good time to focus on reading, problem solving, and handling difficult issues

The Energy Cycle

Morning Early Afternoon

Late AfternoonEvening

•Energy levels begin to dip

•Pain threshold highest – ideal time to schedule dental visits!

•Avoid mentally challenging tasks and work that requires short-term memory or quick thinking

The Energy Cycle

Morning Early Afternoon

Late AfternoonEvening

•Energy levels at their lowest

•Avoid mentally taxing work or meetings

•Ideal time to work on creative or reflective projects that utilize long-term memory:• Reading• Writing• Preparing for

presentations

The Energy Cycle

Morning Early Afternoon

Late AfternoonEvening

•Energy levels begin to increase, but still not at the same level as earlier in the day

•Focus on repetitive work, foll0w-up calls, or physical exercise

•Work should require concentration, but not analytical skills

Use your Time Journal to assess the time of day you work on tasks.

Can you adjust your activities to

match your energy levels?

Personality & Time Management

Introvert or

Extrovert?

Personality & Time Management

Introverts:

Work best when not distracted by others

Usually able to stay focused for lengths of time

May neglect or overlook new developments or projects

Personality & Time Management

Extroverts:

Good at multi-tasking

Enjoy collaboration

May forget to plan ahead or clarify goals

More easily distracted

•The Pomodoro Technique www.pomodorotechnique.com

•MindTools www.mindtools.com

•Time Management Blog www.timemanagement.com

•Time Management Statistics www.keyorganization.com

•YouTube (search: “Time Management”)

•Julie Morgenstern (Facebook, Twitter (@JulieMorgenstrn, web, books, etc)

•Twitter #timemanagement

Tools and Resources…

Key Messages:

•How we manage time affects us in our personal and professional lives.

•Knowing how you use your time can help you identify wasted time.

•Finding a good time of day to complete tasks can help you be more productive.

•Your personality can affect how you manage time.

“Time is the scarcest resource of the manager; If it is not managed, nothing else can be

managed.”

-Peter F. Drucker

Any questions?