Mastering Your Time

Jagannathan S
 Before we start…
This session is not meant to be a comprehensive alternate to
the ubiquitous trainings / resources on time management
I strongly urge you to spend some time seeing this
YouTube video from Tony Schwartz – “Manage your energy,
not your time”
Seriously commit to applying some of these practices in your
daily life – Else this session and these resources will not
improve your life
Many of the techniques mentioned in this session can be
easily converted to habits
This session applies equally to professional and personal life
Energy Quadrant

This is where we
desire to be

© 2010 The Energy Project. All rights reserved.

 Desired Behaviors
Periodically analyze how you spend your time –
AWARENESS PRECEDES CHANGE!!!

Become ORGANIZED – This is the most important habit

to master your time!

Quick test: Can you

locate something you
want within 30 mins?
 Desired Behaviors
Strive to become PROACTIVE – don’t Procrastinate

Learn to politely say “NO”

 Desired Behaviors

DIFFERENTIATE Tasks

V/S

URGENT IMPORTANT
 What works for me ?
“URGENCY MATRIX©” to organize and prioritize tasks

PROACTIVE ZONE

© Stephen Covey – The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

 What works for me ?

Build a single view of all your tasks –

PROFESSIONAL & PERSONAL

and

Place them on the “Urgency Matrix”

 What works for me ?

Consciously filter your tasks

through the “Urgency Matrix” till it
becomes a sub-conscious HABIT!

My observation: Doing anything

repeatedly for about a month
makes it into a habit!
 What works for me ?
LIMIT the # of tasks in the “Proactive” Zone

There are only

24 hours in any person’s day!

If something extra comes IN, something else needs to go OUT

 What works for me ?

Learn to say NO along with the reasons

Int
e rr u led
e d
up
tio nsch sks
ns U ta
Commitments
New
 What works for me ?

Define WEEKLY / MONTHLY GOALS

and

SCHEDULE it – What gets scheduled gets done!

 What works for me ?
E-Mail Clearing Techniques

Check e-mails only on a schedule

Organize e-mails – Important / Urgent

Sort e-mails by subject line and read from

the top of the thread

I have a notion of a “clean” Inbox at the end

of each day
 What works for me ?
Speed Reading

Use technology / tools as aids to keep you in the

“Proactive” Zone
 What works for me ?
Avoid disruptions when focusing on IMPORTANT tasks

DELEGATE and create bandwidth when needed

 What works for me ?
Review your calendar at least once every 6 months

Create your own “personal time” for self-development

and investing on hobbies/passion – Sharpen your saw
 What works for me ?
IDENTIFY & ELIMINATE Time Wasters

Interruptions
Gossip / Frequent socializing
Poor planning
Stress and anxiety
Frequent task switching
Unscheduled visitors/phone calls
Un-wanted meetings
Internet browsing with no objective
…
Urgency Matrix - Actions

Image © http://www.ashpfoundation.org
 Multi-Tasking
Not necessarily an innate skill
Tools can help us stay on top of multiple things
Helps use “wait time” productively
Very harmful when tasks need focus
Might avoid boredom at work
Might be sometimes a “necessary evil”

However
Not all jobs need this skill
Frequent task-switching is counter-productive
 Important Don’ts
 Over-schedule your day – you become
inflexible and stressed

 Attempt to do too much

 Frequently switch between tasks

 Always attempt to be a perfectionist – be kind

on yourself
THANK YOU