Definition
The modern concept of time
management – the act of planning
the amount of time you spend on
which activities – really began with
Frederick Taylor’s scientific
management techniques. His goal
was to increase worker
productivity. To do this, he
conducted time and motion
studies and began to focus on the
best ways for jobs to be
performed to maximize the work
completed in a given amount of
time .
Technology Time-Wasters
Every day new technology is introduced that is supposed to save
us time or make us more efficient in the things we do. Keeping up with
changing technology can be a full-time job in itself. Television, cell
phones, computers, mp3 players, and video games allow us to
communicate and be entertained 24 hours a day.
* The Statistical Abstract for 2007, predicts that in the coming
year adults and teens will spend:
● 65 days watching TV.
● 41 Days listening to radio.
● A little more than a week on the Internet.
● About a week reading a daily newspaper (adults).
● A week listening to recorded music (teens and adults).
Learn to say ‘’ NO ‘’
Learning to say no, as simple as it sounds, is the
most difficult aspect of time management for many of us.
But you must develop this skill because without it all other
time-management behaviors are of little value. The ability
to say no permits you to exercise greater control over your
own life.
1- Be clear about what and what you do not want to do in
your own mind and in your communications with others.
2- Evaluate requests: Do you have time to participate?
What will you have to give up to take on this new
responsibility?
3- Reject requests as soon as possible. Avoid giving
answers such as “We ’ll see” or “I ’ll get back to you”
These responses that you will be forced to deal with the
question again in the future.
Challenge
We are motivated by the reward that we
believe we will receive for completing tasks. So if we
know that a goal is a challenge and is also perceived as
such by those that assigned it to us, we are more
likely to be motivated to achieve it.
A goal should be challenging, but must still be
achievable. If I don’t believe that I can meet a goal that
you ’ve given to me, I might not even be motivated to
make an attempt.
● We are motivated by the reward we believe we will receive
for completing tasks.
Set Strategies
A - Set goals ‘’ short-and long term ‘’
You set yourself up for failure with
vague, changing, or impossible goals .
Your goals become more powerful
when you put them into writing . Write
your goals are, the greater your
chance of reaching them . Write your
goals down, and refer to them often.
Decisions are easier to make when
you know what you want .
* Choose only a few goals to begin with. Following are tips for
setting
achievable goals.
● To accomplish each goal, you must perform a series of
actions, so make the language of your goal reflect action. Start with
“to” and include an action verb: to build, to learn, to find, to travel.
● Give specifics . Add details to your action statement. “To
complete studying courses “ .
● Note how you will measure your success . “ To walk four
times around the walking track three times a week ‘’ .
● Make sure that your goal is realistic and achievable and that is
doesn’t depend on factors beyond your control.
● State the end , outcome , or Key result of accomplishing your
goal― What you are working toward . “ So that I can spend more
time with my family “ .
B - Avoid Multi-tasking
Recent psychological studies have shown that multi-tasking
does not actually save time. In fact , the opposite is often true .
You lose time when switching from one task to another .
● You lose time when switching from one task to
another , resulting in a loss of productivity .
Schedule Your Time
Scheduling is not just recording what you
have to do “ meetings and appointments” , it is
also making a time commitment to the things you
want to do. Good scheduling requires that you
know yourself.
Plan your most challenging tasks for when
you have the most energy. Block out time for your
high priority activities first and protect that time
from interruptions.
Try to limit scheduled time to about 3/4ths of
your day, leaving time for creative activities such as
planning, dreaming, thinking, and reading.
To-do List
1- Write down what you have to
do.
2- Decide in what order to do it.
3- Delegate tasks that can be done
by someone else .
4- Begin with the job that has the
highest priority .
conclusion
● “Block out time for your high priority activities first
and protect that time from interruption .”
● “Prepare an agenda and stick to it. Use a timed
agenda, if necessary.”
● “Handle each item only once, if possible.”
● “Begin with the end in mind or Know why you are
doing something.”
● “Check yourself, before you wreck yourself “
→ Translating goals into tasks.
→ Capturing tasks.
→ Translating tasks into actions