Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 3
4. Prioritization: ........................................................................................................................ 17
5.3 Visualization................................................................................................................... 27
6. Procrastination ...................................................................................................................... 30
7. Organization .......................................................................................................................... 32
1. Introduction
“Don't work harder work smarter”
Personal time management skills are essential for effective people. People who use these
techniques routinely are the highest achievers in all walks of life, from business to sport to public
service. If you use these skills well, then you will be able to function exceptionally well, even
under intense pressure. As you master these skills, you will find that you take control of your
workload, and say goodbye to the often intense stress of work overload. At the heart of time
management is an important shift in focus:
Time is finite. We have only so many hours available in a day to live our lives, accomplish the
tasks that we need to accomplish, and enjoy our lives. Every minute we waste in frustration over
a task that seems overwhelming is a minute subtracted from the time we have allotted to enjoy
life. Even our jobs should provide us with pleasures— a sense of accomplishment, the
gratification of recognition for a job well done, and financial rewards, too—that enable us to
enjoy our personal lives even more. It can be done. Less stress, more confidence, reduced
frustration, greater fulfillment— these are all benefits that flow from leading a time-managed
life. Our hope is that Time Management will help you achieve all these things and more.
This guide is intended to assist you with Personal Effectiveness. It is specifically designed to
help you understand the nuances of various aspects of training on improving personal skills.
Module Objectives
Stage I.
ANALYSIS
Imagine a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. But since it does not carry
over a balance from one day to the next, any money you fail to spend today will be deleted from
your account. What would you do? You would probably draw out every penny, every single day,
before closing time. And—if you are smart—you would invest some of it for your tomorrows.
Write down a list of what you would do or buy to spend the money.
Each of us has a bank very much like this imaginary one. It is called TIME. Every morning it
credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever seconds you have
failed to use to your advantage. It carries no balance. It permits no overdrafts. If you fail to make
full use of the day‘s deposit, you lose what you do not use. Each of us has the same number of
seconds to use as we think best, but we do not all use them to best advantage and we do not all
invest them wisely. The clock is ticking. Do not let those precious seconds slip away.
Those who fail to properly manage their time often end up with a list of things left undone.
These individuals also are often stressed out, edgy and simply not living up to their potential.
Time management is a crucial component for anyone who desires to truly get the most out of
life. Check out the list below and increase your knowledge of how time management can benefit
you.
1. Control: Proper time management allows you to take some measure of control over your life.
By pre-planning your activities you help your days to become ordered. Things come up and you
may be forced to change your plan at times, but for the most part, knowing exactly what you
need to achieve each day and having a plan to ensure that these things get done, will help you be
more in control of your destiny.
2. Productivity: Proper time management allows you to be more productive. When you don‘t
properly manage your time, you often have too many activities and not enough day. Time gets
away from you. To counteract this, write down what you need to get done and allocate a definite
and realistic period of time to achieve it. When the time period is up for each activity, move on.
Doing this will mean that you at least get some things finished and have moved towards
completing the other activities.
3. Confidence: Proper time management gives you confidence. This is partly because you have
taken back control of your life. Checking things off your to-do-list will cause your confidence to
soar as you realize that you can finish what you start. As your accomplishments grow so will
your confidence.
4. Fun: Proper time management allows you to have more time for fun. By prioritizing and
getting the most important and pressing things done first, you then have time to do the things you
really want to do. This might be a favorite hobby, going dancing, enjoying time with your
family, or simply resting.
5. Ability to Meet Goals: Another one of the benefits of time management is the ability to meet
your goals. It is nearly impossible to meet your goals when you fail to properly manage your
time. This is because you never get around to doing what needs to be done in order to achieve the
goals you've set for yourself. Something always comes up, or you spend too much time on
frivolous tasks, eating away time that should go toward meeting your goals
The benefits of time management are pretty obvious. Deciding what needs to be done,
prioritizing your tasks, and then following through is a way of giving yourself the greatest
chance of reaching your goals, taking back control of your life, having some fun and building
confidence.
To realize the value of one year, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of one week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper/the person
who survived a natural disaster.
To realize the value of one day, ask the grandmother who is dying of cancer.
To realize the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of one second, ask the person who just avoided a traffic accident.
To realize the value of one millisecond, ask the person who won an Olympic silver
medal. Time has a value greater than any currency. We may leave our children the
money we do not use in our own lifetimes, but we cannot leave them one millisecond
of time.
Thus, time is money
Ben Franklin, 1748
It is an old cliché that we all know and understand, but to what extent do you really apply it in
your business?
But time really is money. What it is worth may vary from person to person. Minimum wage is
currently $7.25 an hour. Bill Gates makes about $200,000 an hour, depending on how
Microsoft‘s stock is doing. But every second of every day has monetary value, whether you are
punching a time clock, running a business, or brushing your teeth. Every minute of every day
that you are not doing something to earn money, you theoretically could be.
Have you figured it out? If not, you should. To figure the minimum, figure out how much money
you are making per year and divide it by 2,000. To figure the maximum, consider how much you
make for your most productive time -- closing a deal, a speaking engagement, billable client
time, etc. Somewhere in between there is the real value of your time.
There are only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, and you have to spend some of
that time sleeping, eating, playing, relaxing and growing with yourself, your friends and your
family. Time is an entrepreneur's most precious resource, because it is the only one that is truly
scarce. Be stingy with it.
"Yesterday is History
Tomorrow is a Mystery
But today is a Gift
That is why they call it
The Present"
Time Management is the ability of using time well to increase job productivity and life
enjoyment. It can also be defined as "understanding exactly how much time we have and how to
use it effectively."
Before you can decide what kinds of changes you want to make—both in your professional
career and in your personal life—you need to understand what kinds of choices (many of them
subconscious) you are already making. You need to ask yourself some hard questions, delve
deeply, and be brutally honest with yourself in answering them. In short, you need a picture of
both your natural organizational style and the ways in which that style both supports and
undermines your relationship with time.
Answer the following questions to find out how effective your time management skills are. Start
by taking a ―snapshot‖ of your time management style. It will be a good first step on the way to
understanding your behavior patterns. Check each item you answer “yes” to:
Do you:
Congratulations! Others can learn from your positive time management techniques.
If you answered YES to 4-7 questions Reasonable, but no cause for bragging! Start working on
those YES responses.
If you answered YES to more than 7 questions then It really is time you manage your time more
effectively!
External Internal
Phone call Inability to concentrate
Unscheduled meetings Indecision
Email Frustration
Instant tasks given by your managers. Procrastination
Noise and distractions Lack of overall objective
Lack of objectives, priorities, deadlines, daily plan - It is hard to hit a target with your eyes
closed, and it is just as hard to accomplish something when you are not exactly clear about
what you want to achieve
Indecision and procrastination.
Inability to say “NO” - We all want to be as helpful as we can when others need us, but this
can mean taking time away from other priorities to do something we may not have planned.
Cluttered desk and personal disorganization - It is easy to see when your desk is too messy,
but sometimes you have to step back and ask yourself if you are taking an organized
approach in completing all of your tasks.
o Ineffective delegation and involvement in detail
o Leaving tasks unfinished
o Attempting too much and unrealistic time estimates - Many of our tasks are not
routines. They require concentration to detail. When we are attempting to do too
many different things at one time, each individual task suffers as a result.
Stress and fatigue – Everyone experiences stress from time to time, and sometimes we
actually operate a little better when there is some level of stress. Too much stress, on the
other hand, causes our work to suffer and wears us down physically and mentally. Dealing
with stress is an important part of time management.
Periods of inactivity – As much as we think we are busy, there are times in our day when we are
not really doing anything. Recognizing and making use of these times can have a positive effect
on our efforts.
All work and no play – Most successful people know how to balance work and play. When
work takes over your life, you not only give your body little time to re-energize, but you may end
up sacrificing the really important things in life like family and friends.
Stage II.
PLANNING
4. Prioritization:
There are certain things that are fundamental to human fulfillment. If these basic needs are not
met, we feel empty, incomplete. We may try to fill the void through urgency addiction. Or we
may become complacent, temporarily satisfied with partial fulfillment.
The need to live is our Physical need (food, clothing, shelter, economic well-being, health).
To love is our social need (to relate to other people, to belong, to love, to be loved)
To leave a legacy is our spiritual need to have a sense of meaning, purpose and contribution
Mental
Spiritual
Any one of these needs, unmet, reduces quality of life and could drive you to Urgency addiction.
These needs are real and deep and interrelated. Sometimes we think of balance as running from
one area to another fast enough to spend time in each one on a regular basis. But the ‗‘touching
bases‘‘ paradigm ignores the reality of their powerful synergy. It‘s when these four needs
overlap that we find true inner balance, deep fulfillment and joy.
If we see our mental need to learn and develop as separate from our social need to love and be
loved, we may not seek to learn how to really, deeply love other human beings. While we
increase our academic knowledge, we may shrink in our ability to relate meaningfully to others.
Only as we see the interrelatedness and the powerful synergy of these four needs do we become
empowered to fulfill them in a way that creates true inner balance, and joy.
Work has meaning, relationships have depth and growth, health becomes a resource to
accomplish worthwhile purposes
By seeing the interrelatedness of these needs, we realize that the key to meeting an unmet need is
in addressing, not ignoring the other needs.
If you have a problem in the social areas, maybe you‘re going through a divorce-attention to
physical, mental, and spiritual areas of life increases your ability to handle it. By exercising and
taking care of your health, studying and learning more about the nature of relationships, and
strengthening your sense of purpose and meaning in life, you nurture the conditions that
empower you to face the social problem in the best possible way.
Fulfilling the four needs in an integrated way is like combining elements in chemistry. When we
reach a critical mass of integration we experience spontaneous combustion-an explosion of inner
synergy that ignites the fire within and gives vision, passion, and a spirit of adventure to life.
The key to fire within is our spiritual need to leave a legacy. It transforms other needs into
capacities for contribution. Food, money, health, education, and love become resources to reach
out and help fill the unmet needs of others.
Abraham Maslow has revised his earlier theory of “needs hierarchy‘‘ and acknowledged that
this peak experience was not “self-actualization” but “self-transcendence‘‘ or living for a
purpose higher than self.
2- True North
Could you close your eyes right now and point north? Without familiar land marks, you may not
find the task so simple.
The reality of “true north” gives context and meaning to where we are, where we want to go, and
how to get there. Without a compass or stars or a correct understanding of our location, we may
have trouble locating it, but it‘s always there.
How we can create an inner compass that empowers us to align our lives with it.
The focus on values is one of the major illusions of the traditional time management approach. It
essentially says “first things are your priorities. You decide what you value and go after it in an
efficient way “. This could lead to arrogance-to thinking we are a law unto ourselves, and to
looking at other people as “things‘‘ or as resources to help us accomplish what we want to do.
They include principles such as service and reciprocity. They deal with the processes of growth
and change. They include the laws that govern effective fulfillment of basic human needs and
capacities.
The problems in life come when we‘re sowing one thing and expecting to reap something
entirely different through quick fix illusions.
As human beings, we have unique endowments that distinguish us from the animal world.
Self-awareness, conscience, creative imagination, and independent will create our ultimate
human freedom: the power to choose, to respond, to change. They create the compass that
empowers us to align our lives with true north.
Each of these endowments-and the synergy among them-is necessary to create quality of life. It‘s
not enough to be self-aware-to recognize we‘ve been scripted in ways that are not in harmony
with our deep inner conscience-if we don‘t have the creative imagination to envision a better
way and the independent will to create change. It‘s not enough to have the independent will to
“white-knuckle‘‘ our way through life if we don‘t develop the conscience to discover true north
and cut through the rationalizing and justifying that keep us on dead-end paths. Imagination
with-out independent can create an idealistic dreamer; imagination without conscience can create
a Hitler.
The question is: how fully have we developed our unique endowments and how powerful is the
synergy in our lives?
Our security is not based on the illusion of comparative thinking- I‘m better looking, I have more
money; I have a better job. Our security comes from our own integrity to true north.
Over time, it became evident that there was a real difference between what people wanted and
what they apparently needed in their lives; many were achieving more and more goals and
feeling less and less happy and fulfilled. The way we see (our paradigm) leads to what we do
(our attitudes and behaviors), and what we do leads to the results we get in our lives. So if we
want to create significant change in the results, we cannot just change attitudes and behaviors,
methods or techniques; we have to change the basic paradigms out of which they grow. The goal
of time management is using it effectively to achieve our goals where human relations and
enjoyment of spontaneity is not lost to mechanical obsession with so called efficiency.
IMPORTANT: These are activities that lead to the achieving your goals and have the greatest
impact on your life.
URGENT: These activities demand immediate attention, but are often associated with someone
else‘s goals rather than our own.
Since first introduced by Stephen Covey, the four quadrants became so popular. As everyone
knows, these four quadrants help us identify tasks that need attention by tagging them with their
importance and urgency. Here are the four quadrants and their significance at a glance:
Quadrant I:
Represents things that are both “urgent” and “important” – we need to spend time here-
Quadrant of Firefighting
The activities need to be dealt with immediately, and they're important. This is where we
manage and produce, and where we bring our experience and judgment to bear in responding to
many needs and challenges. Many important activities become urgent through procrastination, or
because we do not do enough prevention and planning.
Quadrant II:
Includes activities that are ―important, but not urgent‖- Quadrant of Quality
Although the activities here are important, and contribute to achieving the goals and priorities -
they do not have to be done right now. As a result, they can be scheduled in when you can give
quality thought to them. Here‘s where we do our long-range planning, anticipate and prevent
problems, empower others, broaden our minds and increase our skills. Ignoring this Quadrant
feeds and enlarges Quadrant I, creating stress, burnout, and deeper crises for the person
consumed by it. Investing in this Quadrant shrinks Quadrant I. For example, preparing for a PHD
another good example would be the preparation of an important talk, or mentoring a key
individual. Prayer time, family time and personal relaxation/recreation are also part of this
Quadrant.
Quadrant III:
Includes things that are ―urgent, but not important‖ - Quadrant of Deception
Quadrant III is all about distractions. They must be dealt with right now, but frankly, are not
important. For example, when you answer an unwanted phone call, - you have had to interrupt
whatever you were doing to answer it. The noise of urgency creates the illusion of importance.
Actual activities, if they are important at all, are important to someone else. For example, many
phone calls, meetings, and drop-in visitors fall into this category.
Quadrant IV:
Reserved for activities that are ―not urgent, not important‖- Quadrant of Waste
We often ―escape‖ to Quadrant IV for survival Some meetings could fall into this category –
they have been scheduled in advance, but if they achieve nothing, or you do not contribute to
them, then they have simply wasted time. Other examples could include driving time and low
quality relaxation or family time. Reading addictive novels, watching mindless television shows,
or gossiping at office would qualify as Quadrant IV time-wasters. Watching ―mindless‖
television shows is also a good example.
Is it bad to be in Quadrant I?
If urgency dominates, when importance fades, you will slip into Quadrant III. But if you are in
Quadrant I because of importance, when urgency fades, you will move to Quadrant II.
When urgency is the dominant factor in our lives, importance is not. What we regard as ―first
things‖ are urgent things.
Time spent in Quadrant I is both urgent and important- we already know we need to be there
We know we should not be there in Quadrant IV. But Quadrant III can fool us
One thing you can do to determine its significance is to analyze the negative effects that may
occur as a result of not doing it. If you consider the consequences are too immaterial upon
nonperformance of the task, then just do not do it at all.
5. Setting Goals
“If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”
Yogi Berra
Goal setting is critical to effective time management strategies. It is the single most important
life skill that, unfortunately, most people never learn how to do properly. Goal setting can be
used in every single area of your life, including financial, physical, personal development,
relationships, or even spiritual. According to Brian Tracy‘s book Goals, fewer than 3% of people
have clear, written goals, and a plan for getting there. Setting goals puts you ahead of the pack!
Some people blame everything that goes wrong in their life on something or someone else. They
take the role of a victim and they give all their power and control away. Successful people
instead dedicate themselves towards taking responsibility for their lives, no matter what the
unforeseen or uncontrollable events. Live in the present: the past cannot be changed, and the
future is the direct result of what you do right now!
SMART is a convenient acronym for the set of criteria that a goal must
have in order for it to be realized by the goal achiever.
Specific : Success coach Jack Canfield states in his book The Success
Principles that, ―Vague goals produce vague results.‖ In order for you to
achieve a goal, you must be very clear about what exactly you want. Often creating a list of
benefits that the accomplishment of your goal will bring to your life, will you give your mind a
compelling reason to pursue that goal.
MEASURABLE: It‘s crucial for goal achievement that you are able to track your progress
towards your goal. That‘s why all goals need some form of objective measuring system so that
you can stay on track and become motivated when you enjoy the sweet taste of quantifiable
progress.
ACHIEVABLE: Setting big goals is great, but setting unrealistic goals will just
de-motivate you. A good goal is one that challenges, but is not so unrealistic that
you have virtually no chance of accomplishing it.
RELEVANT: Before you even set goals, it‘s a good idea to sit down and define your core
values and your life purpose because it‘s these tools which ultimately decide how and what goals
you choose for your life. Goals, in and of themselves, do not provide any happiness. Goals that
are in harmony with our life purpose do have the power to make us happy.
TIMED: Without setting deadlines for your goals, you have no real compelling reason or
motivation to start working on them. By setting a deadline, your subconscious mind begins to
work on that goal, night and day, to bring you closer to achievement.
5.3 Visualization
Emotionalizing and visualizing your goal will help you create the desire to
materialize it into your life. One of the best visualization tools is a vision
board.
Simply find a magazine, cut out pictures that resonate with the goal that you want to achieve,
glue them onto a piece of poster board, and place that board somewhere that you can view it
several times a day.
In order for visualization to work, it‘s necessary that you emotionalize your goal as much as
possible. Create a list of the benefits you will see when you achieve your goal and concentrate on
how that will make you feel.
Stage III.
IMPLEMENTIN
G AND
TRACKING
6. Procrastination
Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary defines the word "procrastinate" as: "to keep delaying
something that must be done."
Unpleasant Task
Unclear goal
Fear of Change Procrastination
Fear of Failure
Tendency of
overcommit
No clear deadline
Inadequate resources
Don’t know where to begin
Task feels overwhelming
Delete!
Delegate!
Do it now!
Ask for advice!
Chop it out!
Obey the 15 minutes rule!
Have a clear deadline!
Give yourself a reward!
Remove distractions!
For example,
"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."
7. Organization
There are 3 types of documents:
Working files: these are files related to your current projects/clients. They are used and
referred to on daily basis, e.g. list of requirements…etc
Reference files: these are files related to your current projects/clients. They are used and
referred to less frequently than working file, e.g. agreements..etc
Archive files: these are files of projects/clients you have finished working on/with.
1 To regain control over your time, you need to keep your desk neat and tidy. These are the
things that you need on your desk:
A set of 3 trays (in, out and pending for action)
Standard office supplies
Computer with an internet connection
Telephone
8. To-D0 Lists
To-do lists are formulated daily. They help achieve all the objectives of the day.
Plan the day in the morning of the same day or in the evening of the day before
Plan the week ahead in the weekend
Plan the year in advance
9. General Tips
1. Keep it Clean: A clean workspace is a key to maximum productivity
2. Keep it organized: A fixed commitment schedule helps you get everything done
3. Keep it Goal Oriented: Even setting short term goals helps keep you motivated
More Tips: