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TIME MANAGEMENT - 20

Do any of These Sound Like You?

Burnt out, stressed out, rundown and tired? Out of balance; out of control? Too much to do;not enough time for my family and me. I'm not able to get it all done. Too many interruptions. Iprocrastinate important items. Too many priorities; often feel unprepared and pressured.

Need a solution?

Time management skills can help you make the most effective, efficient use of your time. Thegood time manager is not necessarily the person who gets the most done. Rather, the goodtime manager is a "macro time manager" who knows the activities that contribute most to hisor her long-term life development. Time management enables a person to minimize thestress of work overload and to prioritize work and leisure time activities. Organizing andprioritizing may be the two most important time management skills for successful peoplemanaging very busy activity schedules.

Organize and Prioritize

Time Management only has to do with making up a good "to do" list and following through.Right? Not really. Time Management has a lot more to do with what we are NOT doing rather that what we ARE doing.Good Time Management requires that we get what we "have to" get done but, moreimportantly, what we "want to" get done.This requires balancing our lives in all of life's Seven Vital Areas: Health, Family, Financial,Intellectual, Social, Professional, and Spiritual. If we are out of balance on one (never mindtwo or three!) it is going to adversely impact on the other legs. This is where we organize andprioritize.Prioritize - I start most days with a good "to do" list! Possibly I am not - very organized. If Idon't make out that list, I get sidetracked. Categorizing my tasks by priorities eliminates a lotof wasted time. If you always start with the number one priority on the list and work your waydown to the least, you will be accomplishing the most important tasks for yourself and your business.That list should include what we are NOT doing, i.e. exercising, spending time with lovedones, spiritual growth. In the past, I was considered a workaholic. I was determined that if there were obligations to be met, they had to be met today! Through many mistakes, anddisappointments I came to realize that the tools for increasing productivity there lied in acomplete well rounded lifestyle.I did some research on REMs (rapid eye movement) sleep. If you get twenty minutes of aerobic exercise a day, you will enter into REMs sleep. This is the fifth stage of sleep, whereyou dream. You can get by with less hours of sleep, because you are getting better quality of sleep. What a concept! I could exercise for an hour and get by with two or three hours lesssleep. The real bonus was that I felt more energetic and coherent. So guess what was first onmy list of priorities?How about your diet? Fatty foods and junk food tend to be the diet of people with busylifestyles. Again, I researched information on the outcome of productivity related to diet.Guess what the outcome was? Sugar and fatty foods slow your metabolism down and makeyou very sluggish. Fish and grapes were high on the intellectual diet. As I eliminated the junkfood, I was able to recognize that I was a Carbohydrate addict. I needed to eat more oftenwhen eating so many carbs, because I was addicted to them. Once I cut my carbs down to40 grams a day, I reduced the need to eat as much and as often. My cholesterol levels wentdown, blood pressure went down, and I'm spending less time eating.Down time! Take a minimum of one hour a day for yourself. I read one of the most interestingbooks I have ever read in about five minutes. The title is "Be Good to Yourself". Whether it's

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taking a bath, going for a walk, or leisurely reading, make time every day. You will be amazedat how much more productive you will be when you return to work.Lunch time! Do you stay at work - you don't want to miss a customer, or pay someone else towork through the lunch hour! It's like the parent that never gets a baby sitter. You will be moreappreciative of your business and more productive if you take breaks and get completelyaway from your work. The person who takes work with them on their vacation and calls theoffice everyday, never really had a vacation. Breaks and vacations are for the purpose of reviving you.

AN ILLUSTRATION OF TIME MANAGEMENT

One day an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and,to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood infront of the group of high-powered overachievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then hepulled out a one-gallon wide-mouthed Mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. Thenhe produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes". Then he said, "Really?" He reached under the tableand pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causingpieces of gravel to work themselves down into the space between the big rocks. Then heasked the group once more. "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probablynot," one of them answered."Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He starteddumping the sand in the jar, and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and thegravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" No! The class shouted. Onceagain he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of thisillustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how fullyour schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!" "No," thespeaker replied, "That's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't putthe big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all." What are the 'big rocks' in your life? Your children, your loved ones, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others, doing things that you love, time for yourself, your health, your significantother.Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. If you sweat thelittle stuff (the gravel, the sand) then you'll fill your life with little things you worry about thatdon't really matter, and you'll never have the real quality time you need to spend on the big,important stuff (the big rocks).So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself thisquestion: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Then, put those in your jar first.Cheryl DrangstveitBusiness Support SpecialistWomen's Business Center

Time Can't Be Managed, But You Can Organize And Manage Yourself

A WORKSHOP WRITTEN BY: Charles H. Storm, Roswell New Mexico, Prosperity TrainingPrograms.SUBMITTED BY: Wesst corp, Roswell, New Mexico

WORKSHOP OUTLINE

I. Combine Time Value Awareness with a Blueprint for Action

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a. Develop and Maintain a Time/dollar value awarenessb. Ask yourself, Am I a positive investment or a negative expense?c. Create Your daily blueprint for accomplishmentII. Be More Effective. Clear your Desk for Action.a. How to fight the battle of a cluttered desk and WINIII. A "Bakers Dozen" of timely T.I.P.S. for better time usea. Three Minute Memory MethodIV. Procrastination is Poison. Problems and Remediesa. Why people procrastinate-in-generalb. The many costs of procrastinationc. Three Common forms of Procrastination (Poison at your business)d. Individuals aren't the only ones who procrastinate

I.

COMBINE A "TIME-VALUE AWARENESS" WITH A "BLUEPRINT FOR ACTION."

1. Develop and Maintain a Time/Dollar Value Awareness.A. Immediately compute a dollar per-hour value for your time. (based on gross annualincome or salary.B. For 3 consecutive days, preferably mid-week, keep a 15-minute segment "time-use log"from 8:00 am to 5:00 p.m. (See sample form attached)C. Tally up the time used for specific work activities performed. Also, include coffee or other breaks and wasted time. Apply you dollar per hour value to the expensive items on your log.Be as accurate as you can. You'll be in for a surprise.2. Ask Yourself, "Am I a Positive Investment or a Negative Expense?"A. Analyze your "time-use/dollar-cost data" and you will discover just how costly time leaksbecome per day, week, month, and year.B. Think of it in this manner. No matter what your role in your firm, you actually conduct "your own business" within your organization's business.C. Plugging time leaks means "your business (YOU) will be more effective. i.e. A positiveinvestment rather than a negative expense.3. Create Your Daily Blueprint for Accomplishment.A. Map out your DAILY WORK PLAN for accomplishment. If you wish, call your plan a "TODO LIST." (See sample form attached)B. List no more than 6 "TO DO" items. Rate them in importance as "A's" or "B's". A's areMUST-DO items. B's are OUGHT-TO-DO items. Break down major projects into A's or B'sand proceed to do them as you would your regular items.C. Do your A's first. If B's don't get done, make them your next day's A's list (if the qualify).D. Develop the habit of doing your "TO DO LIST" everyday. If possible, prepare the list beforeyou go home in the evening. This process gives you a running start on the next day's work.E. If you have a secretary, it is wise to give him/her a copy of your daily list. If you get tied up,he/she can work on the list for you.

II. BE MORE EFFECTIVE. "CLEAR YOUR DESK FOR ACTION."

1. How to Fight the Battle of a Cluttered Desk--And WIN.A. Get all the bric-a-brac, mementos, pictures, pens, pen holders, calendars, etc...off youdesk--immediately.B. Set an appointment with yourself for at least 2 hours. Allow NO interruptions. Have aLARGE trash can handy, and, close your office door.C. Put all the papers on, and in, your desk in a pile on top of your desk.

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