Time Management

Najibullah Safi, MD, MSc. HPMNPO/PHC, WHO, Afghanistan

04/11/23

Objectives of the session

• By the end of the session participants will be able to:

• Define time management• Identify the benefits of time management• Discuss the causes of failure to manage time • Identify the factor affecting effective time management• List the tips of effective time management

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“TIME IS LIFE. TO WASTE YOUR TIME IS TO WASTE YOUR LIFE, BUT

TO MASTER YOUR TIME IS TO MASTER YOUR LIFE AND MAKE THE MOST OF IT”.

Alan Lakein

THE BAD NEWS IS TIME FLIES, THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU’RE THE PILOT

Michael Althsular

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Introduction

Introduction

• Time is increasingly at a premium • Pareto principle (80:20 Rule)

• How can we take the 80% of our efforts that are currently producing 20% of our results and become more effective?

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Allocation of time

• Office work• Admin work, meetings, research, report writing…

• Personal life• Family, friends, exercise, relaxation….

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Major time wasters in office

• Attending unnecessary meetings• Attending unnecessary calls • Office interruption• A major cause of stress and poor time management

is unwillingness, or inability, to delegate responsibility to people who work for us

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Why effective time management matters?

Success in school, and life in general, depends on one’s ability to efficiently manage time

There are only 168 hours per week, but so many different ways to spend it! • Some ways clearly help achieve your goals• Others might seem productive but won’t help you

in the long run Your own priorities determine whether your use of

time is efficient or inefficient

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10 minutes exercise

• List at least 5 things that are the most important to you

• List at least 5 things that you spend your time on • Most of us don’t have the luxury of spending the

majority of our time on the things that are most important to us

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Time management is nothing but ….

SELF MANAGEMENT It requires self discipline and control

What is time management?

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Time management GOAL

Concentrate on results, not on staying busy

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How you manage your time?

• Goal setting• Prioritization• Managing interruptions• Procrastination• Scheduling

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Goal setting

• Principles• Clarity (measurable) • Challenge• Commitment• Feedback• Task complexity

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Prioritization

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Important Not Important

Urgent 1. deadline-driven tasks, important daily tasks, crisis management

2. Preparation, planning, relationship building

Not Urgent 3. Interruptions,some phone calls, emails, reports, requests for help

4. busywork, some phone calls, time wasters, “escape” activities

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Managing interruption

• Some interruptions are inevitable • Take responsibility for interruption you cause • You use interruption as excuse • You try to work on multiple projects at once • You procrastinate • You are distracted • You accept non-work calls at work• You often have co-workers stopping by to chat• Immediate response to emails

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Managing interruption cont.

• More tips• Before calling a meeting:

• Determine if it is truly necessary • Be sure to have specific result in mind

• Before attending a meeting: • Get adequate information

• Use do not disturb • Stand up to visitors • Learn to say NO • Priorities your emails

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Managing procrastination

• Procrastination is the gape between the time that we intend to perform a task and the time that we actually perform it

• Indication of procrastination• Filling your to do list with items of low importance • Filling your to do list just to look busy• Handling papers repeatedly • Reading emails repeatedly• Finding reasons to leave your desk • Leaving something on your to do list which is important • Saying yes to help others on less important tasks

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Why you procrastinate?

• You simply find the job unpleasant• You are disorganized • You find the task overwhelming• you are a perfectionist • You are having trouble making a decision

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Strategies for overcoming procrastination

• When the task is unpleasant• When you are disorganized • When the project feels overwhelming• when you are a perfectionist • When you are having trouble making a decision

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Scheduling

• It ensures you allotted time for all important tasks• Cut off unproductive interruptions• Limit meetings to their schedule time • Demonstrate that your plate is full• Allot time for yourself for breaks • Leave some time open to handle the unexpected

tasks

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Time management strategy

Daily activity log•Guideline to follow:

• Use one sheet per day• Be accurate/specific • Bo honest • Watch prioritization of your tasks

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Time management strategy

• Make quality time for your priorities• Prepare a to do list

• Once created, stick to your time schedule• Be flexible

• Unexpected demands will occur…but if you spend too much time on non-priority tasks, your performance will suffer and you may not meet your goals

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Time management strategy cont.

• Meetings: – Assign a time keeper– Prepare a detail agenda and follow it– Use visual aids (slides, diagram, charts)– Delegate attending meeting unrelated and less

important to people work with you

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Office interruptions

• Stand when people come in to chat. This will prevent them from getting comfort

• Ask them if it’s important• Ask them if you can talk later in their office, a place

where you can control the length of the conversation• Walk out long enough to get them out of your office

and then sneak back to continue your work• Close your door

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Time management strategy cont.

Telephone• Leave complete messages for people who are not

available so they won’t have to call back• Install a voice-mail system• Train your associates to deal with routine issues on

your behalf and to screen your calls when you are under pressure

• Avoid unnecessary chitchat

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Time management strategy cont.

Delegating• Good managers never put off till tomorrow what

they can delegate today• Delegating responsibility to others allows you to

concentrate on your duties as manager: planning, problem solving, and other proactive matters

• Failure to delegate forces you to spend too much time on trivial issues and neglect critical opportunities

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Benefits of delegation

• To yourself • Reduce stress• Additional time to yourself

• To other person• Opportunity to learn something new• Feel useful and part of the team• Show his talent

• To organization • More than one person to do a task• Adding a new perspective to a situation • Less stress to employees due to shared responsibilities

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Time management summary

• Identify your core goals and organize your time around them

• Make a calendar with all important due dates• Break big projects into specific, small tasks that can be

done in a short time• Prioritize a daily to-do list, do important chunks FIRST• Make quality time for your priorities

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