Time Management

1. Time Management

2. What’s My Motivation? • What clear goals do I have in mind to manage my time better?

3. What’s Holding Me Back? • Level 1 – Technical Errors • Tasks have no “home.” • Your space is disorganized. • There is an absence of planning time.

4. What’s Holding Me Back? • Level 2 – External Realities • Other people’s chaos.

5. What’s Holding Me Back? • Level 3 – Psychological Obstacles • Unclear goals and priorities. • Conquistador of crisis. • Need for perfection.

6. Making Time Tangible • Multitasking slows you down. • For most people, working in a scattered way makes it difficult to get on track, stay on track, and finish all that’s started. • Multitasking makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to estimate accurately how long it takes to get things done.

7. Time Saving Tips • Email & Alternatives • Understand NLP for Business Writing

8. Making Time Tangible • How long will it take? • The difference between good and bad time managers is asking this pivotal question. • Underestimating this will make us take on more than we can handle.

9. Making Time Tangible • Making more accurate estimates. • Consider transportation and “staging” time before the actual task. • Are there preliminary tasks that must be done before the “main” task? • Should you reserve some time for an imperfect first result? • Are there follow-up tasks that need to be done to “completely finish” the job?

10. Making Time Tangible • Making more accurate estimates. • Will you most likely need some “stewing time” to think out issues or methods? • Will you most likely have an interruption or two during the work? • Will you need to add break, lunch, dinner, or other refreshment time?

11. Making Time Tangible • Notice how other people estimate time and learn to “convert” their time to yours. • If a co-worker always says they need 5 minutes for a quick meeting, and it always takes ½ hour, then budget, or make allowance for the ½ hour. • If you can, give an estimate of the time you have for an impromptu meeting, to set an up-front boundary.

12. Making Time Tangible • Break larger tasks down into smaller tasks!

13. Quick-Start Program W rite it down A dd it up D ecide E xecute your plan

14. Quick-Start Program • Write it down • Find a type of planner or system that you like and use it. • Use a planner that will let you assign a to-do to a date(s), not just a long list of things to do.

15. Quick-Start Program • Add it up. • Look at each day and realistically estimate how much time in the day these tasks will require.

16. Quick-Start Program • Decide • You’ll most likely have more tasks than you can do in some days. • Choose to: • Delete • Delay • Diminish • Delegate

17. Quick-Start Program • Procedure to delegate • Present the job • Explain what needs to be done. • Be available for input and advice. • Let them know where you are. • Review and evaluate the result. • Demonstrate respect for the time and effort they have put in by reviewing the work, providing feedback, and expressing your gratitude.

18. Quick-Start Program • Execute your plan. • Plan your work, then work your plan. • Make a commitment to do your adjusted task on the days(s) you’ve planned.

19. Killing off the paper backlog Killing off the paper backlog Assess the backlog: Organize the paper into three categories • To act on • To file • To throw away

20. Killing off the paper backlog Add up your To-Do’s • Look at each piece of paper and decide: • What is this document? • What is the next action required? • How long will it take me? • Total all the time needed.

21. Killing off the paper backlog After Adding up your To-Do’s • Apply the four D’s • Delete • Delay • Diminish • Delegate • Try to reduce the “active” pile to about 1/3 of the original pile.

22. Killing off the paper backlog • Toss whatever you can • Schedule / delegate anything left over.

23. Improve your filing system. • Your files should be physically accessible from your workstation. • Label flies as you work on them, so you know where to file later. • Schedule daily time for mail, reading, and filing. • Don’t take work home if you’re really not going to work on it.

24. Analyze – Tuning in to who you are • Choosing the right planner for you. • Take your time to select the right planner for you. • Take the time to master the planner’s features and customize it. • Make it the one and only place to record your appointments and to-do’s. • Use it for your personal and professional information.

25. Analyze – Tuning in to who you are Choosing the right planner for you. • Paper or Digital?

26. Analyze – Tuning in to who you are • Understanding your unique relationship to time. • Take an assessment of what is working well for you. • Take an assessment of what is not working well for you. • Assess your time-management preferences. • Identify your energy cycles.

27. Analyze – Tuning in to who you are • Understanding your unique relationship to time. • Track your time for two weeks. • Identify each thing you do with one of your life categories. • Count up the totals for each category. • Divide each total by 168 to determine the percent of a week you spend on each category. • Evaluate if you are spending your time in the ways that you want.

28. Strategize – Designing the life of your dreams • Create a time-map • A default “template” of how you desire to spend your weekly time to support the activities that will lead to fulfilling your goals.

29. Strategize – Designing the life of your dreams • Adjust your time map until you can answer “True” for all of the statements below. • My time map reflects my big-picture goals. • My time map includes time for all the categories I want to get to. • I am able to concentrate on my chosen activity. • I am doing my activities at the right times for me. • My schedule makes me feel balanced and energized.

30. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Sort – Group potential activities and tasks by category and goal. • Purge – Eliminate the excess, the duplicate, meaningless, ineffective, cumbersome. • Assign a home (specific day/time) to the tasks you decide to do. • Containerize tasks to keep them in the time allotted. • Equalize – refine, maintain, and adapt your schedule to your changing needs.

31. Attack – The SPACE Formula • For every task that crosses your path answer these questions. • Which of my big-picture goals will this help me achieve? • Map distasteful tasks to the “best” big-picture goal/life category when you can. • Where in my schedule does this task belong? • How long will it take?

32. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Purge • Delete • For time • To reach more important goals • Learn to say “No” • Diminish • Find a more efficient way • Sufficiency is “good enough”

33. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Purge • Delegate • Don’t feel “too busy” to delegate • Don’t feel guilty to delegate • Don’t feel “ashamed” to have to depend on others. • Don’t think you’ll make yourself dispensable • Delegate to the most expert available • Delegate to an equal • Delegate to a beginner

34. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Purge • Delay • Conscious delaying is not “procrastination” when you choose it willfully and with commitment to accomplish it.

35. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Assign a Home to Each Task • Leaving the timing to chance leads to reactive modes of coping. You will not feel control and confidence. • Setting specific days, start and end times leads to proactive modes. You will feel control and confidence. • If you are unable to find a “home,” you will know instantly that a task or activity will throw your calendar off balance. • You will have a clearer sense of priority when there are strong conflicts.

36. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Containerize • Conquering procrastination • If your procrastinate only on some tasks, your problem may be technical. • If you procrastinate on most tasks, it’s most likely psychological. • What to do? • Trust your instincts. • Focus on your goal. • Do a different step. • Break it down. • Impose a deadline. • Combine it with something you like.

37. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Containerize • Lateness for meetings • If your lateness is for different amounts of time, your problem may be the inability to judge durations. • If you are late for the same amount of time, it’s most likely psychological. • What to do? • Improve your time estimating skills. • Avoid the “just one more thing before I go” syndrome. • Find your motivation – what rewards your lateness? • Understand how your lateness affects others.

38. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Containerize • Interruptions • Do not schedule yourself so tightly you can’t tolerate interruptions. • If your job requires you to handle a large volume of phone calls, you may need to allow six hours of unplanned time each day to take care of them (p. 252). • Let people know when you’re available. • Use voice mail when appropriate. • Schedule time to read and respond to e-mail.

39. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Containerize • Interruptions • Create “quiet time” for yourself. • Avoid eye contact. • Turn off instant messaging. • Schedule regular meetings for communication. • Honor the decisions you have made. • You have thoughtfully worked out your plan, you need to respect it for it to work.

40. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Equalize • Monitor your schedule daily. • Make more major tune-ups bi-monthly • Major life changes require re-visiting your Life Categories and Maps. • During crises, try to step back, take in the big picture, and make the best adjustments you can. • Use the SPACE formula to triage the immediate situation.

41. Attack – The SPACE Formula • Equalize • Plan your work and work the plan. • Forgive yourself for failures. • Be kind to yourself and others. • Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t succeed. Learn and go on!