Time Management Strategies for ELT Professionals

1. Time Management Strategies for ELT Professionals Christine Coombe Dubai Men’s College Higher Colleges of Technology

2. Introduction • Time Management is mostly common sense. • So why is it such a problem? • It’s almost as if there is something inside us that makes us rebel against it • 60% of Americans feel they don’t have enough time to get everything done

3. Workshop Objectives • By the end of this workshop you will: • Identify three of your most pressing time management challenges • Develop at least three strategies for managing your time better • Develop a simple action plan to help improve your management of time

4. The Importance of Good Time Management Strategies • People who use time management techniques routinely are the highest achievers in all walks of life • At the heart of time management is an important shift in focus: • Concentrate on results, not on being busy! • Establishing your own definition of time and understanding your relationship with time is an essential part of learning to use your time wisely. • Just as everyone’s relationship with time is different; all strategies for managing time will vary accordingly.

5. Establishing a Relationship With Time • Do you try to fit a double workload into a single day more than once a week? • Do you have difficulty saying no to requests? • Do you have a tendency to procrastinate? • Do you own a wide variety of personal organizers? Or none at all? • Is your day filled with matters that must be attended to immediately? • Do you often have more than two things going at once? • Do you rush around the house while others seem to enjoy their leisure time? • Do you show symptoms of perfectionism? • Do you enjoy starting projects but have difficulty finishing them?

6. Tracking Your Use of Time • The best way to begin the discussion of time management is to • Take a look at your life and develop a plan • Keep a time log • record of every activity you engage in throughout a 24-hour period. • Three column chart • Time Began; Activity; Time Ended; Completed (Optional)

7. Where Is Your Time Spent? • Record your findings • group time spent into categories • productive and wasteful • Breaks, family time, work time, interruptions, and complete waste of time • You will either find that you do much more than what you thought or you waste more time than what you thought • Now that you know where your time is going, you can begin to plan your strategy

8. What Are Your Priorities? • A recent survey asked Americans to list the most important elements in their lives. • Priority % • Family Life 68 • Spiritual Life 46 • Health 44 • Financial Situation 25 • Job 23 • Romantic Life 18 • Leisure Time 14 • Home 11

9. Evaluate Your Priorities • If you’re not spending enough time on the three elements that you’ve listed as your most important priorities, then • You misrepresented your priorities • You aren’t’ putting your time where your heart is

10. Cornerstones of Time Management • Many believe the schedule is the forefather of time management • To-do list is the foundation of an effective schedule • Create a healthy to-do list • Begin by writing down the urgencies • Consider the want-to-do items as well • Once you’ve created a list, reasonably estimate the time each task will take you

11. The Healthy To-Do List • Rank each task into four categories/quadrants: • Urgent and important: relates to your core values and needs immediate attention • Big presentation in two hours • Important but not urgent: no sense of immediacy • Regular exercise or long-range financial planning • Urgent but not important: doesn’t touch core values • Colleague needs to talk to you ‘right away’ • Neither important nor urgent: everything else • Catching up on office gossip; doing a crossword puzzle • Take a look at the last two categories; you might be doing too much of this

12. Time Management Matrix

13. To-Do List Tips • Don’t jam the list • master this one and the rest will fall into place • be realistic in your estimates of time and make a real list not a fantasyland list • Do not rank everything number one • your list should reflect reality • Order creatively • vary your pace , alternate difficult tasks with easy ones; long tasks with short ones; routine with tasks requiring creativity; attack mentally taxing jobs when you’re most alert • Break the boulders into pebbles • Schedule breaks, time outs and rewards • many schedule rest last if they schedule it at all • By the time you get to it, it’s too late to do you any good. • Set long-range and short-range goals

14. More To-Do List Tips • Estimating time is another factor people often find difficult • Be realistic • Keep the list accessible • list is no good if you spend a lot of time on it and then leave it lying on the kitchen table • Cut yourself some slack • Don’t forget that we all have moments in our life when we are disorganized. Nobody is perfect. Try not to be discouraged by occasional setbacks. Instead, quickly get back on course. • Be ready to abandon the list • the most important things you do probably never appear on any list or in anyone’s planner • never become so organized that you stop being alert to life’s possibilities

15. Accomplish More In Less Time • Know the shortcuts • The 80/20 Rule (Pareto’s Principal and The Vital Few) 80% of your results will come from 20% of your work • How can this rule work for you? When you consider time well spent, what is it you have accomplished? This value scale will vary from person to person

16. Time Bandits • Distractions • Lack of delegation • Phone calls • E-mail • Paper • Procrastination • Disorganization • Inability to say ‘no’

17. Distractions • Interruptions • “Got a minute?” • Most interruptions are people in one way or another • Look for ways to dodge drawn-out interruptions without hurting other’s feelings or being labeled a recluse or antisocial

18. Dealing with Distractions • Hide • Find an out-of-the way low traffic zone • Stand up when someone approaches you. • They will be less inclined to sit and stay a while; if you relax so will the person • Keep books or paperwork piled on the chair next to you • Always keep a bit of busywork nearby. • an imaginary fax to be sent; keep it within reach if you see a long-winded colleague approaching, grab it and head to the fax machine or to the restroom • Set time limit • Let visitor know how much time you have available • Don’t be afraid to shut the door!

19. Lack of Delegation • Distribute the work • Make a decision on what needs to be delegated • Choose with care (the task and the person) • Give specific instructions • Trust the person to get it done • Communicate effectively • Allow for mistakes as they are good learning experiences • Above all, praise the person for a job well done • Those who truly want to be better time managers must learn to delegate

20. Phone Calls • Let voice mail or answering machines pick it up • Screen calls using caller ID • Designate a period of time in your day to return and make phone calls • Get right to the point • Set time limits • Use a stopwatch if necessary • Don’t humor a salesperson just to be polite

21. E-mail • Sometimes I feel half of my life is spent on email • Tips for using email: • Use message filtering • Set up a web-based account for purchases and joining e-lists • Don’t assume your own emails will be read! • Set aside a time for reading email • Use a stopwatch if necessary

22. The Paper Avalanche • Learning to control the paper flood is a must • You spend 50-70% of your working time dealing with paper • writing it, reading it, grading it and filing it. • Even with email and digital storage, the volume of paper has increased 100% since 1995 (MacFarland Payne, 2003)

23. Dealing with Incoming Paper • From the very first time you touch a single-page memo or a 50-page article, decide what to do with it. • 4 R’s • Reroute • Respond • Read • Recycle

24. Dealing with Paper • RSVP ASAP • Note meeting and appointment times on your calendar immediately • Create the file now…don’t put it off! • Develop a system for storing journals/newsletters • Affix the deadly red dot (for papers that you can’t decide what to do with); every time you encounter that paper, stick another dot on it

25. Procrastination • Putting off tasks that need to be completed is a perfectly human trait • Even successful people must learn techniques to avoid procrastination. • Getting started may be the most difficult part • Break down the task into manageable segments. • Recognize and avoid escape routes. • Reward yourself when you start something that you have been procrastinating about.

26. Disorganization • Minimize clutter • Deal with paper/messages daily • Try to the handle them only once • Institute the ‘Clear 180 degree Principle’ • As you sit at your workplace, all surfaces in the 180 degree area around you should be clear of everything but the following: • Work tools you use on a regular basis: telephone, computer, pen, notepad etc) • A limited number of decorative items (plants, photographs, and other items that have a positive association for you) • Only the project you are currently working on. • Clear Clutter Daily. Take a few minutes to put things away each day.

27. Scheduling and Planning • Use an organizer that works best for you. • Calendars, agendas, PDAs, telephones • Keep it with you or visible at all times • Understand your body rhythms • Mark all important dates in advance • Don’t schedule big tasks in small time frames • Expect the unexpected and book a little extra time • Balance work and personal time • Plan long-term as well as short-term goals • Establish routines

28. Inability to Say “No” • N-O spells No. Kids say it, why can’t we? • Make yourself a priority and say NO to someone who is taking you away from yourself and your priorities • Why do we have difficulty saying NO? • You feel you can’t refuse extra work? • Taking on more advances your work? • Not assertive enough? • Do you find some people easier to say NO to? • Do you feel guilty when you refuse people? • How do you feel when people refuse your requests?

29. Saying No • A good rule is never to say yes immediately unless you really, really want to do something. • Ways to say NO without saying NO: • “I’ll have to check my calendar/schedule and get back to you…..” • “I’ll get back to you after I confer with……” • “I’d be happy to if someone will take ________ off my plate so I can have time to work on this project.”

30. Time Savers • Layer Activities • Multitask (Read or talk on the phone while exercising) • Streamline your errands • Let go. Don’t be perfect. Do things just enough. • Stock up. • With a well stocked kitchen or desk, last minute runs to the store will be minimized. • Limit Interruptions • Use computers for routine, repeating lists: address/phone, passwords, family info • Use checklists to keep from forgetting things

31. More Time Savers • Exercise • Essential for superior academic performance. • Many say NO ‘time’ for exercise! • Your brain won’t function well if you are tired. • Floating Tasks • Things that can be done anywhere, anytime. • Carry around a book you need to read, work to review, or a letter that you need to write. • Survival • Self-sacrifice and denial are necessary at certain times • Scrap everything that's not absolutely essential for survival.

32. Plan the Work and Work the Plan

33. Final Thoughts “Take care of your minutes, and the hours will take care of themselves.” --Lord Chesterfield

34. Presenter Contact • Christine Coombe • christine.coombe@hct.ac.ae