Manage Time Effectively

Time
Management
BY HUMAN RESOURCES

BUSINESS ACUMEN © 2016 SHRM. All rights reserved.
Introduction
Employers are striving to increase productivity:
 increasing competition
 rising health care costs
 labor shortages
Best ways to increase productivity:
 make sure that employees are effectively managing their time.
 Training all employees in the principles & techniques of effective
time management is essential.
This presentation provides that training and will help you make the
most of that most precious commodity – your time.
2

Agenda
1. The Importance of Managing Time Effectively
2. The Ways We Waste Time
3. Tips for Effective Time Management
4. In Just Two Minutes
5. Final Message
3

The Importance of Managing
Time Effectively
“By labor we can find food and water, but all of our labor will not find for
us another hour.” Kenneth Patton, Author
In other words, time is finite – there’s only so much of it.
By effectively managing our time, we can avoid a stressed and less
productive workplace and avoid cramming work and family and other
personal needs into finite hours.
Just as we spend so much effort managing money, we need to spend
equivalent effort managing time.
4

Did You Know…
The average person gets one interruption every eight
minutes, or approximately seven an hour, or 50-60 per
day.
The average interruption takes five minutes, totaling
about four hours, or 50% of the average workday.
80% of those interruptions are typically rated as "little
value" or "no value" creating approximately three (3)
hours of wasted time per day.

Prioritize
The first step is to list all the activities and projects
you feel you have to do.
Assign importance to each of the activities
Once you have assigned importance to each
activity, evaluate the urgency of each activity.

Time Management Quad
1
Important & Urgent
You will spend most of your time
on these items as they are viewed
as “red hot”
2
Important & Non-Urgent
Don’t overlook these items or they
will become “1’s” very quickly
3
Urgent & Non-Important
Often times we focus on these
items and neglect 1’s & 2’s
4
Non-Urgent & Non-Important
Check this list carefully. Are there
items here that could be handed off
to someone else?

Strategies for Different
Quadrants of the Matrix
1 - Urgent and Important
There are two distinct types of urgent and important activities: Ones that you
could not foresee, and others that you have left to the last minute.
2- Not Urgent, but Important
These are the activities that help you achieve your personal and professional
goals, and complete important work. Make sure that you have plenty of time
to do these things properly, so that they do not become urgent. And
remember to leave enough time in your schedule to deal with unforeseen
problems. This will maximize your chances of keeping on schedule, and help
you avoid the stress of work becoming more urgent than necessary.

Strategies for Different
Quadrants of the Matrix
3 - Urgent and Not Important
Urgent but not important activities are things that stop you from achieving your
goals, and prevent you from completing your work. Ask yourself whether these
tasks can be rescheduled, or whether someone else could do them.
A common source of such interruptions is from other people in your office.
4 - Not Urgent and Not Important
These activities are just a distraction, and should be avoided if possible. Some
can simply be ignored. Others are activities that other people may want you to
do, but they do not contribute to your own desired outcomes. Again, say "No"
politely and firmly if you can.

Activity
The Ways We Waste Time
We waste time due to factors beyond our control
but also due to factors within our control.
• What are some of the factors beyond our control
that result in our wasting time?
• What are some of the factors within our control
that result in our wasting time?
1

The Ways We Waste Time:
Factors Beyond Our Control
• Interruptions – phone calls, questions from coworkers and
customers
• Computer and other equipment problems
• Attending unnecessary and unproductive meetings
• Staffing shortages – covering for absent coworkers
• Unplanned work and changed priorities/Emergencies
1

The Ways We Waste Time:
Factors Within Our Control
 Lack of good planning and organization – jumping from
project to project without completing any
 Holding unnecessary and unproductive meetings
 Spending too much time on phone calls, e-mails and the
internet
 Procrastinating until a project becomes urgent
 Inability to say “No” when appropriate – taking on too
much
 Failure to delegate when possible
 Socializing too much
1

Tips for Effective Time
Management
To manage your time effectively:
• Plan and organize your day and week
• Manage and control interruptions.
Above all, planning is the most important activity in
managing your time effectively.
As the old quote goes,
“Failing to plan is planning to fail”
1

10 Common Time
Management Mistakes
1.Failing to keep a To-Do List
2.Not setting Personal Goals
3.Not Prioritizing
4.Failing to Managing Distractions
5.Procrastination
6.Taking on too Much
7.Thriving on “Busy”
8.Multitasking
9.Not Taking Breaks
10.Ineffectively Scheduling Tasks

Mistakes cont.
 Are you usually late to meetings?
 Late to work?
 Always apologizing or making excuses?
 Asking for more time?
Think about this, why?
Look back at your list of what you checked.
Are there things we are talking about today that you can work on?

Management
Plan each day in as much detail as possible.
o Ideally at the end of the preceding day or the first thing at the beginning of
your day.
o Plan your week on a “big picture” basis making notes in your calendar/planner
or app.
Make a daily to-do list of your objectives in order of priority.
o Use whatever system you prefer to record this list – sticky note,
calendar/planner, or app on your phone.
 Cross out items as they are completed.
 Move items that cannot be done that day to another day in the week.
1

 Record ideas and reminders using your smart phone.
 Create a “to read” file.
 Make an appointment with yourself to complete a task & block off
time.
 Save up trivial matters for a three-hour session once a month.
 Group phone calls together.
 List what you want to say before placing the call.
 Batch routine tasks together – separate from your high priority
tasks
 Break any large task or project into smaller pieces
Management

Management
 Give yourself a break or several breaks during the day.
 Get up and stretch, leave your desk for lunch.
 Last but Not Least -- Maintain your work/life balance.
 Put family and other social activities on your daily and weekly lists.
Avoid the habit of ignoring these for work!
1

Scheduling
 Understand what you can realistically achieve
with your time.
 Plan to make the best use of the time available.
 Leave enough time for things you absolutely must
do.
 Preserve contingency time to handle “the
unexpected.”

Scheduling
 Scheduling is best done on a regular basis, for
example at the start of every week or month.
 Start by identifying the time you want to make
available for your work.
 Next, block in the actions you absolutely must
take to do a good job. These will often be the
things you are assessed against.

Scheduling
If you manage people, then you must make time available for
dealing with issues that arise, coaching, and supervision.
You must allow time to communicate with your boss and key
people around you. Set aside time for those who are important in
your life.
Review your To Do List, and schedule in the high-priority urgent
activities, as well as the essential maintenance tasks that cannot
be delegated and cannot be avoided.

Scheduling
Block in appropriate contingency time. You will learn how much of
this you need by experience.
The reality of many people's work is of constant interruption:
Studies show some managers getting an average of as little as six
minutes uninterrupted work done at a time.
What you now have left is your "discretionary time": the time
available to deliver your priorities and achieve your goals.
Make it a priority and protect your time!

Action Activity
- Let’s Brainstorm
2
Remember to….
 List actions you can take to help manage your time!
 Select three reminders from the list that have the
most relevance to you.
 Place them on a card to be posted in your
workspace.

Summary
Time is finite – there is only so much of it. That is why it is so
important for us to manage our time effectively at work.
By effectively managing our time, we can avoid a stressed and
less productive workplace and avoid cramming work and
family and other personal needs into finite hours.
2

Summary (cont’d)
There are ways in which we all waste time. Some are beyond
our control. But many are within our control and these are the
ones we need to work on.
To manage your time effectively plan and organize your day
and week.
Do our best to manage and control interruptions.
2

Final Message:
2
Time management is not doing the wrong things quicker.
That just gets us nowhere faster. Time management is
doing the right things.
The average person today receives more information on a
daily basis, than the average person received in a lifetime
in 1900.
One hour of planning will save 10 hours of doing.

Manage Time Effectively

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