The Time Imperative: Efficiency vs. Effectiveness

1. The Time Imperative:Efficiency vs. Effectiveness Time Management for Project Management de Vries - 2012

2. Tyranny of the Urgant • Some things you can’t control • Inability to say: • No, Enough, It can wait • Productively being Busy?

3. It is Later Than You Think • What about relativity? • Perhaps Albert Einstein explains it best: • When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute • But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute, then it’s longer than any hour

4. Time Management • Skills, tools, and techniques utilized to accomplish specific tasks, projects and goals

5. How We Use Time Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present

6. Time Can Be … • Spent • Used • Wasted • Killed • Saved • Passed

7. How Do You Use Time? • One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time — Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874 – 1936) British journalist, novelist, and poet • With things • Fast is fast and slow is slow • With people • Slow is fast, and conversely, fast is slow • It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste- Henry Ford (1863 – 1947)

8. Time Bandits • Drugs • Idleness • Busy-ness

9. Time After Time • It is vital that we establish meaningful traditions • It not only helps develop a familiar pattern but also establishes expectations

10. Time Is Money • Money can be earned back, • however time once gone is gone • We invest time when we take time now to save time later • Can 1 hour of planning can prevent 24 hours of work?

11. Efficiency and Effectiveness • What’s the difference? • Which is more important? Efficient: you have managed your time well, but we don't know if you have achieved your purpose. Effective: you have achieved your purpose, but we don't know how you have managed your time.

12. Be Present I look to the future, and learn from the past, but I live in the present

13. Present-Moment Living • Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed -Wayne Dyer

14. Are You Present? • When texting • SecondLife • Surfing Web • Facebook/MySpace • When you are not present or late, it says your time is more valuable than others • It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.

15. Quantity AND Quality The number of years in one’s life AND the amount of life in one’s years

16. Time is the scarcest resource available • Everyone gets the same amount each and every day • Why is it so scarce? • We must use time as a tool, not a couch • Time cannot be controlled, it is what it is • Time stays long enough for those who use it- Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

17. Time Management: An Illusion • The theory of time management sounds good – giving the promise of achievement and a sense of hope – but it doesn’t deliver • There is no agreed upon and definitive methodology of time management; • however, in a broad sense it implies both planning and execution

18. Contemporary Approach toTime Management Step by Step

19. Begin With the End In Mind • This is the most basic, fundamental, and essential rule • Always keep this in mind: What is the objective? • How do you effectively answer that question?

20. Goals The Framework for Motivation

21. Get the Big Picture • Identify a few broad categories (i.e., career, family, health, finance, education, etc.) and make columns for each • Next steps vs Projects • Keep the next step in mind and you will keep moving • Less than 2 minutes? Just knock it out!

22. Beware of Incompatible Goals • For example, wanting to be a salmon fisher and living in Florida • Walt Disney turned down great ideas because they didn’t fit in with his goals. He was even willing to fund them, but for a different company

23. Tips for Goal Setting • Know Your Values • Forethought is a great time saver - it gives a framework to decide what is a primary value and what is not • If you have no ground, how do you know how to stand? • Keep It Simple

24. Activities Act or Be Acted Upon

25. Take Action • The only way to turn goals or imagination into reality • First, brainstorm; create a list of all possible goals and activities that might help reach those goals • For developing yourself , you might decide to read a good book , or pay attention in class  • Next, prioritize • Seek feedback from a significant other or good friend who cares and can remain objective; this helps you be realistic about which activities will work

26. Task Lists • Often tiered • Good, better, best

27. Prioritizing Techniques & Methodologies • The Eisenhower Method • What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important • ABC Analysis • A – Tasks that are perceived as being urgent and important, • B – Tasks that are important but not urgent, • C – Tasks that are neither urgent nor important. • Pareto Analysis (80-20 rule)

28. Prioritizing Techniques & Methodologies • POSEC Method • Prioritize by Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing • Prioritize - Your time and define your life by goals. • Organizing - Things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful. (Family and Finances) • Streamlining - Things you may not like to do, but must do. (Work and Chores) • Economizing - Things you should do or may even like to do, but they're not pressingly urgent. (Pastimes and Socializing) • Contributing - By paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference. (Social Obligations).

29. Delegation • Delegation is a valuable investment of time • When we delegate, we teach someone to perform tasks we usually perform • While the training process takes time now, the investment pays off later; freeing up time to perform higher-payoff activities • The goal is to look for ways to save and invest time

30. Eisenhower Time Management Matrix

31. Closed Lists • A completely different approach which argues against prioritizing altogether was put forward by Mark Forster • Based on the idea of operating closed to-do lists, instead of the traditional open to-do list, he argues that the traditional never-ending to-do list guarantees that some of your work will be left undone • This advocates getting all your work done, every day

32. Recommended Method Use a hybrid of these methods using one that you are comfortable with, while leaning more toward the closed to-do list approach

33. Calendaring Use a calendar

34. Calendars • A calendar can stimulate vision, aid long-term planning, and help measure personal planning success • Use a calendar to schedule your time and know your schedule

35. Scheduling Schedule Your Values

36. What We Do & What We Want • Often our highest priorities are not reflected in our actual daily activities • In 1990, the Barna Research Group found that most consider close friendships their top priority - yet little time was consistently given to relationship-building activities • Matching our activities with our values is not easy! • Yet, to develop a balanced life, this connection is crucial

37. Planning & Preparation • Before I end each everything, I plan my next anything • Anticipation • It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent

38. Planning Suggestions • Place in your schedule only the events that actually match the goals on your goal sheets • Plan to plan! • Each week, schedule fifteen to thirty minutes to plan for the following week • It has been said that every hour in effective planning saves three to four hours in execution and results • Review your schedule daily • Place your daily goals at the top of your schedule for quick review

39. Planning Suggestions • Schedule open time for flexibility, correspondence, and crisis management • A study determined that worker’s productivity declined proportionately as the number of work hours increased past 50 • Evaluate your schedule weekly; begin keeping a journal of how time is actually spent • Druckerpoints out that astute managers constantly assess where their time is going for increased productivity

40. Manage a Task List • A list of tasks to be completed, such as chores or steps toward completing a project • It is an inventory tool which serves as an alternative or supplement to memory • When you accomplish one of the items on a task, check or cross it off

41. Write It Down • It has been said that the palest ink is better than the best memory • Some may need to write down EVERYTHING! • Keeping a task “journal,” so to speak, will really be beneficial when it comes to performance evaluations, making a resume, etc. • Skills list in excel

42. Tips for Effectiveness Develop Patterns and Habits; Competencies and Character

43. Tips for Staying Effective • Goals, schedules, and to-do lists are helpful • but only if we actually USE them • Task lists should be short (3 items or less) and renewed daily with a what-am-I-going-to-getdone-today approach • We are all different • Discover relationships that refresh you (as opposed to those who drain you)

44. Tips for Staying Effective • It is most productive if you are able to utilize your time twice • e.g., having a journal with you while riding the bus, or listening to CD’s while driving • Ask yourself regularly • Am I making the most of my time right now?

45. Be Careful of Multi-Tasking • I’ve always felt that multi-tasking only allows you to do twice as much half as well • Forget multi-tasking. It doesn’t increase efficiency at all and taxes the brain cells in the frontal cortex, which has a terrible impact on performance — Efficiency expert Julie Morgenstern in O magazine • Finish a project before picking up the next (even lunch). Cuts down on start over time

46. Tips for Staying Effective • Keep contact phone numbers on the to-do list (saves you from repeatedly looking them up) • Handle things only once • e.g., if you receive an email message, decide now if you want to respond or delete it • If it doesn't require immediate action but can't be discarded, put it away for later attention • Don't put off challenging tasks just because they feel overwhelming • Do-it-now workers always rank highest in efficiency

47. Barriers to Scheduling Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week

48. Procrastination • About 30% of listersspend more time managing their lists than completing them • Procrastination is akin to analysis paralysis. As with any activity, there's a point of diminishing returns • The best way to attack procrastination is the Swiss Cheese Method: • Focus on one issue at a time by breaking major projects into smaller steps that can be handled in shorter time slots • You may not have five hours to work on a paper but in 20 minutes you can outline a section • Set up rewards for the completion of each task

49. Interruptions • If you find yourself frequently interrupted, you may need to leave • On average we are interrupted once every seven minutes • Generally less than five minutes including the time it takes to get refocused • This adds up: 68 disruptions = 340 minutes = 5.6 hours/day = 28 hours/week

50. Stress • 75% of all worries never actually happen, yet stressing over what-ifs can waste many hours • I have been through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened — Mark Twain • Stress can be managed; allow flex time in your schedule to deal with demanding issues