Personal Time ManagementThirteen Timely Tips
by Kathy Prochaska-Cue, Extension Family Economics Specialist
1.
SPEND TIME PLANNING AND ORGANIZING.
Using time to think and plan is timewell-spent. In fact, if you fail to take time for planning, you are, in effect, planning to fail.Organize in a way that makes sense to you. If you need color and pictures, use a lot on your calendar or planning book. Some people need to have papers filed away; others get their creative energy from their piles. So forget the "shoulds" and organize your way.2.
SET GOALS.
Goals give your life, and the way you spend your time, direction. Whenasked the secret to amassing such a fortune, one of the famous Hunt brothers from Texasreplied: "First you've got to decide what you want." Set goals which are specific,measurable, realistic and achievable. Your optimum goals are those which cause you to"stretch" but not "break" as you strive for achievement. Goals can give creative people amuch-needed sense of direction.3.
PRIORITIZE.
Use the 80-20 Rule originally stated by the Italian economist VilfredoPareto who noted that 80 percent of the reward comes from 20 percent of the effort. Thetrick to prioritizing is to isolate and identify that valuable 20 percent. Once identified, prioritize time to concentrate your work on those items with the greatest reward. Prioritize by color, number or letter — whichever method makes the most sense to you. Flaggingitems with a deadline is another idea for helping you stick to your priorities.4.
USE A TO DO LIST.
Some people thrive using a daily To Do list which they constructeither the last thing the previous day or first thing in the morning. Such people may combinea To Do list with a calendar or schedule. Others prefer a "running" To Do list which iscontinuously being updated. Or, you may prefer a combination of the two previouslydescribed To Do lists. Whatever method works is best for you. Don't be afraid to try a newsystem — you just might find one that works even better than your present one!5.
BE FLEXIBLE.
Allow time for interruptions and distractions. Time management expertsoften suggest planning for just 50 percent or less of one's time. With only 50 percent of your time planned, you will have the flexibility to handle interruptions and the unplanned"emergency." When you expect to be interrupted, schedule routine tasks. Save (or make)larger blocks of time for your priorities. When interrupted, ask Alan Lakein's crucialquestion, "What is the most important thing I can be doing with my time right now?" to helpyou get back on track fast.6.
CONSIDER YOUR BIOLOGICAL PRIME TIME.
That's the time of day when you areat your best. Are you a "morning person," a "night owl," or a late afternoon "whiz?"Knowing when your best time is and planning to use that time of day for your priorities (if possible) is effective time management.7.
DO THE RIGHT THING RIGHT.
Noted management expert, Peter Drucker, says "doingthe right thing is more important than doing things right." Doing the right thing iseffectiveness; doing things right is efficiency. Focus first on effectiveness (identifying whatis the right thing to do), then concentrate on efficiency (doing it right).8.
ELIMINATE THE URGENT.
Urgent tasks have short-term consequences while importanttasks are those with long-term, goal-related implications. Work towards reducing the urgentthings you must do so you'll have time for your important priorities. Flagging or highlighting items on your To Do list or attaching a deadline to each item may help keepimportant items from becoming urgent emergencies.1
9.
PRACTICE THE ART OF INTELLIGENT NEGLECT.
Eliminate from your life trivialtasks or those tasks which do not have long-term consequences for you. Can you delegate or eliminate any of your To Do list? Work on those tasks which you alone can do.10.
AVOID BEING A PERFECTIONIST.
In the Malaysian culture, only the gods areconsidered capable of producing anything perfect. Whenever something is made, a flaw isleft on purpose so the gods will not be offended. Yes, some things need to be closer to perfect than others, but perfectionism, paying unnecessary attention to detail, can be a formof procrastination.11.
CONQUER PROCRASTINATION.
One technique to try is the "Swiss cheese" methoddescribed by Alan Lakein. When you are avoiding something, break it into smaller tasks anddo just one of the smaller tasks or set a timer and work on the big task for just 15 minutes.By doing a little at a time, eventually you'll reach a point where you'll want to finish.12.
LEARN TO SAY "NO."
Such a small word — and so hard to say. Focusing on your goalsmay help. Blocking time for important, but often not scheduled, priorities such as family andfriends can also help. But first you must be convinced that you and your priorities areimportant — that seems to be the hardest part in learning to say "no." Once convinced of their importance, saying "no" to the unimportant in life gets easier.13.
REWARD YOURSELF.
Even for small successes, celebrate achievement of goals. Promiseyourself a reward for completing each task, or finishing the total job. Then keep your promise to yourself and indulge in your reward. Doing so will help you maintain thenecessary balance in life between work and play. As Ann McGee-Cooper says, "If we learnto balance excellence in work with excellence in play, fun, and relaxation, our lives becomehappier, healthier, and a great deal more creative."
Resources
Drucker, Peter. The Effective Executive. New York: Harper & Row, 1966.Lakein, Alan. How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life. New York: Signet, 1974.McGee-Cooper, Ann. Time Management for Unmanageable People. Dallas, TX: Ann McGee-Cooper & Associates, 1983.
TIME MANAGEMENTHOW TO STOP POSTPONING YOUR LIFE
Here are 20 valuable time-management strategies that can help you accomplish more with lessstress and pressure.By Jan Yager, Ph.D.(This article originally appeared in Working Women, May 1985. It is based on Creative TimeManagement, originally published in 1984 by Prentice Hall Press and now published in a 2ndedition, revised and updated, until the title Creative Time Management for the New Millennium,2nd edition, revised and updated, by Jan Yager, Ph.D. (Hannacroix Creek Books, Inc., 1999, $14.95trade paperback). Available through local or on-line bookstores. For credit card orders, call (toll-free) 800-431-1579. This edited article is reprinted for educational purposes only. All rightsreserved. Dr. Yager is a workplace expert who speaks, consults, conducts seminars, and writes ontime management issues. On the web: http://www.JanYager.com E-mail: jyager@aol.com (For reprint consideration, have the editor or permission department of the publication contact the author at: 1127 High Ridge Road, Suite #110, Stamford, CT 06905.)2
We all have the same 24 hours in a day, as everyone else--no more, no less, no matter what your IQis, your personality, or your family background. You might envy one of your friends who somehowfinds the time to do research in her field, present papers at conferences, exercise, entertain, and stillhave great personal relationships as well. You might admire another colleague for his rapid rise atthe brokerage firm and be impressed that he also finds time to spend with his family and dovolunteer work. You might wish that you, too, could put in a productive day at work and rush off toa movie--but when YOU when you’ve trying "doing it all" your professional or personal performance suffered.People who exemplify creative time management do exist; they are not Supermen or Superwomen.What they do, and what you can do, too, is to clarify goals so that as many of your professional or personal high priorities as possible will be accomplished.Why is better time management so important? Poor time management causes missed deadlines,unfinished projects, disappointed employers, cancelled appointments, burnt dinners, miffed friends,and postponed vacations. Mismanagement of time also can lead to low self-esteem, depression,unfulfilled career aspirations, or children growing up strangers to their parents (and vice versa).Poor time management is also the cause of potential friendships that never progress pastacquaintanceships, such self-destructive habits as overeating, smoking and inactivity, and evenunsatisfactory intimate relationships ('I'm too tired tonight, dear," or, most pertinent of all, "There'snot enough time.").
HOW TO LEARN TIME MANAGEMENT
Fortunately, effective time management is a skill that can be learned. Unlike genius in music or precocity in mathematics, expertise in time management uses skills that can be acquired andimproved. Thus, for most of us, developing effective time management techniques meansunlearning some poor habits (usually acquired haphazardly) and replacing them with more purposeful better-systematized patterns. The payoff is not only greater satisfaction in one's work and personal activities but better performance and, ultimately, greater achievement of goals in lifeas well. Ironically, it is those who effectively manage their time who appear more relaxed and self-satisfied; it is those who am constantly underestimating how long something will take or, who are poor planners, who seem frenzied, driven, and in terror of "the clock."Those who handle their time well does it creatively; they show certain characteristics that separatethem from those who are usually in a state of unprepared frenzy.You can learn to develop time effective habits such as skillful short- and long-term planning, settingand keeping realistic schedules, taking efficiency breaks and viewing tasks to be done asopportunities, not dreaded obligations. If you feel your time management needs help, you canchange, if you really want to.You may need to alter the way you view your time, your work, your personal commitments, andyour hobbies, or you may only need to by a daily calendar in which to record your current andfuture appointments. The benefits of "doing it right" – of being on time, of making (or even beating)deadlines, of following-up and following through on short and long-term goals-- are quicklyobserved-by you and by others-and that reinforcement encourages you to make those changes stick and to go further. You will wonder how you ever tolerated so much wasted time before: time youcould have spent doing something else—reading, socializing, dancing, day-dreaming, learning anew instrument, going back to school, getting additional clients, attending trade shows, inventing anew product, catching up with old friends-whatever your pleasure.3
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Personal Time Management
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