Time Management

“मैं समय ह ूँ....”Narrator, Mahabharat Serial

Objective

To help you introspect and find

clues to improve your time management & thereby enhance effectiveness

Time management : What is it?

• Doing the Right things and not setting Things right

• In control of Life, not driven by circumstances

• Enjoying JOURNEY of life: every day of it, not waiting for a perfect day in future

• Having right balance in wheel of life

Time Management

• To get most output within given resources

• To get time for important issues in life

• To feel fairly satisfied , secure & on top of things

• And thereby enjoy stress free life

Time Management

• The issue is not Awareness but Action

• The Action happens when we say

I can’t live with this any more.

I need to find an answer fast

Common Problems• I am very busy. The second crisis comes in before the first

has finished

• I wish I have more than 24 hours per day so that I can get more things done

• The system overloads me with work. There is no time to breathe

• I don’t feel I have achieved anything this year/in my life

• I don’t have control on my life. Things pile one on top of the other

Where are You…..

20% people feel they are short of time. They feel so concerned that they self find answers to Time Mgmt

10% people feel they are short of time. They realise this and are keen to get help and see

how they can improve Time Mgmt

70% people feel they are not short of time. Though they don’t mind

listening to someone. And thentell him why all that is impractical

Balance your life

• Balance in Life is important

• Recognize each aspect of life

• I am not getting enough time for family/personal life because of Work

• 80% of day is spent at work

Family

Work

Health Finance

The "Three Ps" of Effective Time Management

1. Planning.

2. Procrastination.

3. Priorities.

PERSONAL GOAL SETTINGPLANNING TO LIVE YOUR LIFE YOUR WAY

I Don’t Have Time! • Have you ever thought to yourself, “But I don’t have time

to set goals! I’m too busy working!”

• In the long run, it’s one of the most effective time-savingstrategies you can pursue.

• It simply isn’t possible to maximize the use of your time ifyou don’t have a clear idea of what you’re trying toaccomplish—both short term and long term.

• Carving out a small amount of time each week to devoteto reviewing your goals can work wonders for providingthe focus you need to allocate your time productively.

Why Set Goals?

• Goal setting is used by top-level athletes, successfulbusiness-people and achievers in all fields.

• Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation.

• It focuses your acquisition of knowledge, and helpsyou to organize your time and your resources so thatyou can make the very most of your life

• You also raise your self-confidence, as you recognizeyour own ability and competence in achieving thegoals that you've set.

Starting to Set Personal Goals

You set your goals on a number of levels:

• First you create your "big picture" of what you want to do

with your life (or over, say, the next 10 years), and

identify the large-scale goals that you want to achieve.

• Then, you break these down into the smaller and smaller

targets that you must hit to reach your lifetime goals.

• Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it

to achieve these goals.

Define Your Life’s Key Areas

• Career - What level do you want to reach in your career,or what do you want to achieve?

• Financial - How much do you want to earn, by whatstage? How is this related to your career goals?

• Education - Is there any knowledge you want to acquirein particular? What information and skills will you needto have in order to achieve other goals?

• Family - Do you want to be a parent? If so, how are yougoing to be a good parent? How do you want to be seenby a partner or by members of your extended family?

Define Your Life’s Key Areas• Artistic - Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?

• Attitude Is there any part of the way that you behavethat upsets you? (If so, set a goal to improve yourbehavior or find a solution to the problem.)

• Physical - Do you want good health deep into old age?What steps are you going to take to achieve this?

• Pleasure - How do you want to enjoy yourself? (Youshould ensure that some of your life is for you!)

• Public Service - Do you want to make the world a betterplace? If so, how?

• Spiritual – Do you want to achieve Nirvana

Goal Setting Example

• Financial - Buy a House/Car

• Career - Be a manager

• Pleasure - Go on Europe Tour

• Artistic – Learn Guitar

Setting your goals…

• Must be Concrete

• Must be Measurable

• Must be in Writing

• Must be Achievable

• Must be Deadlined

SMART Goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time Bound)

CONVERTING GOALS INTO ACTIONABLE

Breaking Goals into Smaller ActionablesCareer Goal- "To be managing editor of the magazine that I

work for."

• Five-year goal: "Become deputy editor."

• One-year goal: "Volunteer for projects that the current Managing Editor is heading up."

• Six-month goal: "Go back to school and finish my journalism degree."

• One-month goal: "Talk to the current managing editor to determine what skills are needed to do the job."

• One-week goal: "Book the meeting with the Managing Editor."

EIGHT COMMON GOAL SETTING MISTAKES

Common Goal Setting Mistakes

• Mistake 1: Setting Unrealistic Goals

• Mistake 2: Focusing on Too Few Areas

• Mistake 3: Underestimating Completion Time

• Mistake 4: Not Appreciating Failure

Common Goal Setting Mistakes

• Mistake 5: Setting "Other People's Goals"

• Mistake 6: Not Reviewing Progress

• Mistake 7: Setting "Negative" Goals

• Mistake 8: Setting Too Many Goals

Procrastination

Procrastination is the Art of putting things off…

Procrastination – What is it?

• To voluntarily delay an intended course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay (Piers Steel)

• Put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done (Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary)

• To postpone doing something, especially as a regular practice (Encarta World Dictionary)

Cycle Timeline

“There are 2 weeks until the assignment

is due.”

I II III IV

False Sense of Security

Deadline is Set

“I have plenty of time.”

“I will get started soon,I only work well under

pressure.”

“Oh no! The assignment is due

tomorrow! ”

Panic & Stress Set In

Time Passes

Typical causes of procrastination

Internal Forces

• Note that four of the causes (those in theshaded boxes) are primarily inner rooted.They arise, for the most part, from theprocrastinator’s psyche.

Is procrastination embedded in your personality?

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you mayhave the tendency to procrastinate embedded in yourpersonality:• When you were in school, did you usually cram before a

test?• Do you often put off returning a call to someone you

don’t like, even if it’s important?• Do you wait until you have dental problems to see your

dentist?• Have you had an unintentional late finance charge in the

last three months?• Do you wait until a deadline

External Forces• Even if you usually don’t procrastinate, your

environment can impose procrastination onyou. Figure below gives, in the clear unshadedboxes, the four typical external reasons forprocrastination.

To overcome procrastination:1. SWAP.2. Perfection is not always Good3. You do not work best under pressure. 4. Define exactly what needs to be done.5. Prioritize the Task.6. Divide the cake- tackle the job in smaller steps.7. Decide the dead line.8. Eliminate interruptions.9. Reward yourself

SWAP

• You cannot be good at everything

• Know when you can exchange work with a fellow colleague

• Take part of project work which you know you would enjoy

• Good Enough is Good Enough-Stop trying to make things perfectly as you will end up never doing it.

• Get it right the first time – Plan the work so well that you will make the least mistakes. This also saves time.

Perfection is not always Good

Making the Best Use of Time

• Decide that you don’t have to please everyone.

• Let go–don’t be a perfectionist.

• Resist the temptation to do small, insignificant tasks too well.

• Outsource what you can.

You do not work best under pressure -Timing

• Knowing when not to work is as important as knowing when to work.

• Save the easiest tasks for the end of the day.

Am I trying to Tick when my Body Wants to Tock?

Circadian Rhythms -–Circadian rhythms are internal biological clocks that regulate many functions and activities, including sleep, temperature, metabolism, alertness, blood pressure, heart rate and hormone levels and immunities.

– About every 24 hours our bodies cycle through metabolic and chemical changes.

– These Circadian Rhythms are reset by sunlight each morning.

– Whether you are a “Morning Person” or a “Night Owl” is determined by these cycles.

Maximize your EfficiencyWork With Your Body Cycles-not Against Them

• If we learn to listen to our bodies, we can work with these natural rhythms instead of fighting them.

• We can make more efficient use of our time by scheduling certain activities at certain times of the day.

Cognitive Tasks8am - 12 noon*

Cognitive, or mental,tasks such as reading,calculating, and problemsolving are performedmost efficiently in themorning.

*If you are a Night Owl, shift these times about 3-4 hours later in the day.

Short term memory6 am - 10 am

Short term memory taskssuch as last minutereviewing for tests arebest performed early inthe morning.

Long term memory1 pm - 4pm

Longer term Memory taskssuch as memorizingspeeches and informationfor application are bestperformed in theafternoon.

Manual Dexterity2 pm to 6 pm

You are most efficient attasks involving the use ofyour hands such askeyboarding and carpentryin the afternoon and earlyevening.

Physical Workouts4 pm to 9 pm

– Because of Circadian Rhythms it is best to engage inphysical activity in the evening when your large musclecoordination is at its peak.

– Studies show you will perceive the workout to be easier inthe evening.

– Exercising about 5 hours before bedtime improves thequality of sleep.

Prioritizing - The ABC System

• A tasks: Critical and time-sensitive

• B tasks: Important, but slightly less

time-sensitive than A Tasks

• C tasks: Not time-sensitive—yet

• D tasks: Optional—nice, but neither

important nor time-sensitive

Urgent Important Matrix

Urgent Non-Urgent

Important Do it nowA

Timetable it or later

B

Unimportant Delegate or do it later

C

Don’t do it D

Conquer Procrastination

• Why is “C” fever as common as the cold?

– The “A” tasks may :

• Produce minimal endorphins

• Be too lengthy

• Be too difficult

• Be too threatening because of the possibility of failure

• Be too threatening because of the possibility of success

It’s All about Endorphins -The Feel Good Hormone

• Develop a Conditioned Response to the Tasks you Procrastinate

• Set a goal to complete a task/project

• After completing the task, reward yourself with something that is pleasurable for you

• The body releases endorphins- the feel good hormone

• Over time with repetition, you will come to associate feeling good with completing a task/project

• You won’t procrastinate as much

Eating the Elephant• Question:“How do you eat an

elephant?” Answer:“One bite at a time.”

• There’s great wisdom in this venerable saying. Overwhelming responsibilities or projects that seem indigestible—the very kind we often dangerously procrastinate on—become easier to deal with when we nibble away at them one bite at a time.

»Break It Down

Divide and Conquer Procrastination• A father gave his son a bundle of sticks and asked

him to break it. After the boy struggled, the father took the bundle, untied it and broke one stick at a time.

• We procrastinate because the “A” tasks seem too lengthy or too difficult– Divide a lengthy task into smaller, shorter parts that

seem easier to complete

– Divide a forty page chapter into 10 page sections

– Reward yourself after completing each section.

Managing Interruptions…

• If no one asked questions we wouldn't have jobs.

• Anticipate the most common questions.

• Try closing your door or arranging your office to discourage drop- ins.

• If all else fails, hide.

Reward yourself

• Pre-decide some sort of reward for the work you have been procrastinating

• Higher the Priority – Higher the award

• Celebrate even small completions

Benefits of Overcoming Procrastination

Peace of Mind

Feeling strong

Taking charge of your life

Feeling competent

Experience personal freedom

Eighty Six Thousand Four Hundred

• Picture this:– Each day your bank deposits

$86,400 in your checking

account.

– There’s just one catch.

– You have to spend it all in one day.

– You can’t carry over any money to the next day.

What would you do?

• DUH?

• You’d spend it all, Right?

24 hours per day

X60 minutes per hour

X60 seconds per minute

=

86,400 Seconds

Every Second Counts

• Spend every second in an efficient and productive way

• If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

To Realize the Value of:

• ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.

• ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.

• ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.

• ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed.

• ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

• ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.

• ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.

• ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Decide to be on top the situation

rather than be part of the mess

Wish you all the Best