Time management

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Time management helps you to get the things done which need to be done and to have enough time for enjoyable activities. It also helps to maximize the experience of being alive, and to reduce unnecessary stress and worries. If you want to manage yourself, your project, your success, you need to manage the time available. This requires self-discipline and self-control. It means you are in control. It is fine to waste time every now and then, but you should actually also plan that.

Generally, time management is very personal and dependent on your personality traits. The biggest problem appears to be procrastination. Time management is part of planning which again is a concept from project management. This means you have to take a few steps before time management makes sense. In a nutshell: define your goal and plan the steps you have to take to reach your goal. The SMART criteria are already a good starting point for time management, because they avoid some typical problems as follows.

  • Not knowing what to do can be avoided with a specific goal.
  • Procrastination and Inability to get started or to finish a task can be avoided when the goal is attainable and measurable.
  • Distractions (mobile telephones, social media, music, TV, friends and visitors that drop-in) and the inability to say ‘No’ to other peoples’ requests can be avoided with attractive goals that are relevant.
  • No plan, chaos management, fire–fighting and crisis management are handled with goals and tasks that are time-bound.

How to handle procrastination

Procrastination or "I'll do it tomorrow." is intentionally putting off tasks, doing pleasant activities or tasks instead of urgent and less pleasant tasks. Procrastination is delaying something you do not want to do. It is a common phenomenon. Surveys have established that procrastination chronically affects up to 20% of the adult population (Tykocinski et al, 2003). Procrastination strongly predicts less success. Poor time management is often actually just a symptom of over-confidence. Past success, despite a ‘last minute work’ attitude and techniques that are familiar and used to work in the past may not work in the future. To simply re-use old attitude and techniques in a new and changed work environment may be a recipe for failure and disappointment. So be aware: you might need to reassess your old time management strategies (Persau, 2005). Here are some possible reasons for procrastination and possible remedies for them.

  • Procrastinators tend to believe that they have more time available to complete a task than non-procrastinators; this time distortion explains their dawdling (Wolters, 2003). Remedy: break a long-term deadline into nearer mini-deadlines to give yourself the pressure necessary to achieve their goal.
  • Hesitation to make decisions. Reasons are fear of failure and/or excessive perfectionism. Successful people make more mistakes than non-successful people, however they try to learn from their mistakes through reflection.
  • Uncertainty about how to perform a task. Remedy: seek help from your colleagues or friends.
  • Having more pleasant tasks or more enjoyable alternatives readily accessible. Remedy: make distractions less accessible.
  • Perfectionism and fear of failure. Remedy: focus more on getting started rather than doing well (Perkins, 2002).

Non-procrastinators hate frenetic last minute work. Procrastinators however have the ability to work successfully very hard which is encouraging them to do so next time around (Dewitte, 2002). If you want to ward off procrastination, please have a look at the following 10 tips.

  1. Whatever you have to do, think first how you can make it more fun and then do it. Work smarter, not harder.
  2. Problems getting started? Just say: only 10 minutes. Most likely you will be sitting and work longer.
  3. Break the mountain down in smaller hills.
  4. Reward yourself for doing things you usually avoid, but work first and than enjoy the reward.
  5. Minimize distractions: switch off phones, close Facebook and other social media, and find a hideaway.
  6. Set your own goals.
  7. Be specific and realistic about your SMART goals.
  8. Prepare to get started: tidy up your desk.
  9. Don’t try to be perfect. Focus on getting started (Perkins, 2002).
  10. ‘Don’t wait until you have finished to have fun. You may never finish’ (Pickin & Singer, 1999).

Golden Rules to organize yourself better

Remember, nobody can create more time, you can only make better use of the time you have. You most probably cannot and should not apply all the rules. Give yourself time to implement some of them, pick out the ones that are most helpful to you. Start small and don’t forget to celebrate your successes on the way. These rules may not only improve your busy work schedule, but will apply to time management in your life in general. It is all about prioritizing. If this is too vague, please read the tips below.

  • Compile an activity log or a personal time survey: you might be stunned to see precisely how much time you squander – memory is a very poor guide when it comes to this, as it can be too easy to forget time spent reading junk mail, talking to colleagues, dealing with interruptions etc.
  • Be aware of what interrupts you from work and take steps to avoid it e.g. learn to say ‘No’ (in a nice way) ten times a day or find a hideaway. You may also reduce the impact of the interruption by fixing a later meeting, or limiting the time for the interrupt. Finally, if you can’t avoid interruptions: enjoy it and have a break.
  • Check first if a task needs to be done. If so, first do what is important and urgent, then what is important and not urgent. Try to forget about everything that is not important, even when it is urgent.
  • Do what is difficult but important first on a day.
  • Be prepared for the worst-case scenario: not enough time to complete a task sufficiently? ‘Do your best, hope for the best, but prepare for impact.‘ (Scotty, Star Trek). Or using a saying of Portuguese fishermen: ‘When the storm comes, pray to God (Plan A) but don’t stop rowing for the shore (Plan B).’
  • Develop a working routine. It helps you to prepare your mind and body for work. It reduces the usual resistance to shift from one task to another.
  • Bundle similar jobs together at the same time. For example: plan time slots for making phone calls or answering emails.
  • Take short breaks at regular intervals: 5 minutes every 30 minutes; after 2 hours work take a break of at least 15 minutes; after 3 hours take a break of an hour. Breaks help to increase your performance. Moreover, ‘a change is as good as a break’. Instead of doing the same thing such as reading hour after hour it is better to vary your activities. For example: read 30 minutes and make notes, then type findings in your draft document. The more different the tasks, the stronger the refreshing effect.

To-Do Lists

To-do lists are overrated. They may help some people, but they can become just another excuse for procrastinators: "If I start a to-do list, I don’t have to start something else". For some project managers it is easy to get lost in the details of handling to-do lists without doing the real tasks. Nevertheless, here are some tips. Read them and decide when and where you can benefit from them.

  • Most new tasks will take longer than you think: by a factor 2 or 3 (if a computer is involved by factor 5). So allow for this.
  • 80/20 rule. The first 80% of work to be done takes up 20% of the time and effort. The remaining 20% of the work takes up 80% of the time and effort. Maybe you can consider the task done after 80%?
  • Keep 25% of your weekly time table free for emergencies or as added breathing space.
  • Find out when you work best: are you a morning type or an evening person?
  • Set your own deadlines. It makes you feel more in charge and less opposed to them.
  • Only start things if you feel that you will be able to make good progress on them.
  • Prioritize: decide what MUST be done, what SHOULD be done and what can wait. Underline or use different colours to group your points quickly. By prioritising your work you make sure that if you run out of time you have at least covered the most important points.
  • After completion: tick each task. It will make you feel better.
  • Draw up realistic, achievable task lists. Avoid too many points, this will keep you motivated throughout the day.
  • Be aware: work can fill all the available time. Therefore, set time limits for each task and try to stick to them.

External Resources on Time management

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