Time management For Dummies - Identify and List Your Priorities
What has to get done today? What is important in your life to achieve a balance? Identifying and listing your priorities will be a huge step in your effective time management. Priorities are different from goals. Priorities are the more immediate tasks, things that you should do or are required to do. Goals are the steps you use to reach your dreams.
Setting priorities will depend on a number of variables such as tasks with time limits, other people involved in the task and daily routines which must be adhered to. Identify, define and prioritize your workload and daily needs. What needs to be done immediately? What can realistically wait another day? What appointments (work and family) have been scheduled in for the day? All these variables must be taken into account.
Making a ‘To Do’ list can be helpful at this stage. It will enable you to focus on your immediate priorities, alerting you to what is possible for you to achieve that day. Your To Do list is a reminder of the path you’ve set yourself. Include everything on it that you wish to carry out today, including personal activities. Do you need to make a dental appointment, pick up milk on the way home, advise your boss of your vacation dates, finish writing a report or chair a meeting? Write it all down.
Hang on! Every item on your list is screaming at you that it is the most important thing to do that day! You can only do one thing at a time. How are you going to handle this crisis? Easy - you must rate your priorities. Are they urgent, important or a combination of these qualities? Those tasks that are urgent AND important should be high on your priority list, whereas those that are neither urgent nor important should be a long way down the list (are these possibly time wasters?).
Now you have your priorities for the day written in front of you. Is it possible to achieve all that in one day? Is there anything that can wait until tomorrow? Can you delegate any of your priorities? Some lists may need revising throughout the day, but try and stick to your plan as much as possible. If you have eliminated your time-wasters, getting through your daily To Do list should seem easier than before. You are managing your time effectively. You know what your priorities are.
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Time Management For Dummies - Identify and List Your Goals
What do you really want to get out of life? Do you know where are you headed? Do you just have a vague idea or is your life plan set in concrete? Goals are the steps you take towards achieving your dreams. You can set long and short-term goals, ones that are lofty and ones that are attainable in the next hour. Goals can be thought of as your road map in life, whether it is which street to get to today or how to fly to the moon! Goal setting is an invaluable tool, one that will help you with your time management and reaching your dreams.
So how do you identify what your goals are? Some will be obvious to you and jump straight to mind. Most people will be able to name a long-term goal. It might be running a marathon by the time you turn 40 or getting your Masters degree. Short-term goals can be as specific as finish a report or clean the refrigerator. It is wise to list goals that are both short-term and long-term.
Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely or SMART goals are the ones to aim for. The SMART principle if often used in goal setting.
Specific: A clear goal that is recorded in some way (on paper, in your diary, on your computer) is termed as a specific goal. Having a specific goal will make it seem more realistic. It is a goal that has a clear path. For example if your goal is to run a marathon before turning 40 you will write it down and take steps to achieve it. If you are 39 this is a short-term goal and your steps will be quite different from a person who is 25 recording this as one of their goals.
Measurable: Running a marathon by age 40 is easy to measure, but to be sensible you will need small, measurable steps along the way. Get a medical check-up before starting training, increase running distances over a certain period or join a running club. These might be all measurable steps towards your marathon goal. If you measure your steps you will be able to see the progress you are making. This will keep you motivated and focused on your goal.
Attainable: goals are realistic ones. If you turn 40 next week and haven’t exercised for the past decade, then running a marathon might not be possible. You may have to change your focus. Your goals can be flexible, as long as they are attainable. Begin training for a marathon when you turn 40 might be more realistic.
Rewarding: Goals should be rewarding, otherwise why would they be goals for you? Cleaning the refrigerator may not be the most fun thing to do, but keeping it clean will help in keeping your food fresh and healthy to eat. That is a reward in itself. For long-term goals, the focus should be on not only the journey to attain your goal, but how good you are going to feel once you reach it. Can you imagine the euphoria you’ll enjoy once you cross the finish line at the end of the Boston Marathon? Sensational!
Timely: Goals should have a time limit (well most of them - having a goal of living a healthy life is an on-going one). Set a time limit to reach your goal. Are you going to clean the refrigerator today or tomorrow? Have run a marathon by the time you are 40. Timely guidelines will stop that dreaded procrastination setting in and keep you focused on the job at hand.
Once you have identified your goals, list them and follow the SMART guidelines. It will amaze you how much more attainable your goals will seem once you have completed this list.
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Time Management For Dummies - Creating An Action Plan
An Action Plan is more than a to-do list. On your to-do list is a list of everything that needs to be done. An Action Plan shows you the steps you need to take in order to complete your goal. Creating an Action Plan will break down your goal into stages, each one being a step towards the completion of that goal. Once you have broken down your goal into stages it will seem more obtainable. You can focus on each stage and keep track of your progress in manageable steps.
Creating an Action Plan is an easy process. Focus on your goal and break it down into tasks that will lead to the completion of that goal. Make each task a simple one, breaking them down to as easy a task as possible. If the tasks appear too difficult it is easier to fail, so be specific. Once you have broken the goal down into manageable steps, identify the action/s you need to accomplish for each step.
You may have several goals at once that you have action plans for. That’s okay. Remember to set a time plan for each goal and it’s subsequent action. Always keep your goals realistic. And don’t forget the all-important mantra - be flexible!
So here are the steps you should follow in creating your Action Plan:
1. List your Goals
2. Break your Goal down into achievable steps
3. Determine what Actions you will take to carry out each step
4. Determine what constraints (if any) there are to carrying out the Action
5. What help do you need to complete the Action? (from other people, technology, etc)
6. A time frame for the Action to be completed
Creating a table to record all this information is the best way to set up your Action Plan. Using the 6 steps above as your guideline you can keep all your goals in the one table. For example if one of your goals is to buy a car you would set your Action Plan up like this:
Column 1 - Goal: Buy a car
Column 2 - Steps: 1. Decide how much to spend 2. Decide what type of car to buy 3. Choose car dealership to buy car from 4. Buy the car!
Column 3 - Actions for each step: 1. Work out how much money you can put towards a car each month. 2. Investigate different payment options (do the same for each step)
Column 4 - Constraints: Do you have enough money for the car you want? Have you accounted for insurance costs? Will a bank lend you the money?
Column 5 - Help: Can anyone help you raise the money? Can you buy your car over the internet. How can you tell if the car is reliable?
Column 6 - Time Frame: Step 1, 1 week
Do this for every goal and keep it somewhere you can refer to it regularly. Follow your Action Plan and see how well you remain focused on your goals and how quickly you achieve them!
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Time Management For Dummies - Good Communication Skills Can Save You Time
Communication skills are a two-way thing. The person sending the message must communicate effectively what that message is and the receiver must be willing to receive the message and act upon it. If you communicate effectively it will certainly save you time.
As humans our communication skills are quite advanced, yet sometimes we slip up in sending competent messages because of impatience to get the message across. Watch the receiver of the information as you are giving it. Did they get the message? Do you take on board their response and act on it? If you listen to what people are telling you, rather than assuming you know what is coming, your overall effective communication will be enhanced.
You communicate through verbal and non-verbal language. Your eyes, posture and tone of voice all contribute to the message being portrayed. While you are speaking consider where your eyes are. Are they looking directly at the person you are communicating with, or are you abstaining from eye contact?
What about your posture? Are your arms crossed, effectively providing a barrier between you and the person you are talking with? Or do you have a relaxed stance, inviting open communication? What about personal space? Are you invading the personal space of the person you are communicating with? This can be very intimidating. Is your face open and honest or are you scowling at the person you are talking to? How would you react if being spoken to in such a manner?
Consider this. If you are communicating in an aggressive manner with a colleague, how do you think they will feel? And how will this effect the way they ‘hear’ your message? If really intimidated they may not hear the message at all and at some time in the future you will have to re-communicate your point. The spent communicating has been wasted. But what about if the communication environment is relaxed and open? The person listening does not have distractions and does not feel threatened by the way in which you are delivering the message. In this manner, the communication should work far better.
Think back to the last meeting you ran. What were the participants doing while you were talking? Were they sitting up paying attention or were they doodling on their pads or talking amongst themselves, therefore not paying attention to your message? Were you boring in your presentation? Had they heard it all before? I bet that meeting was a complete waste of time.
When communicating keep instructions short and to the point. If you labor on with complicated instructions, they will be forgotten. Invite participation from those you are communicating with. If they feel a part of the communication process, they are more likely to remember what was talked about.
If you have got your message across, you will have conveyed your ideas effectively. The receiver will have understood your message. Time saved in communicating effectively will increase, as you become a better communicator. And when it’s your turn to listen, do it as effectively as when you are the messenger.
Be Decisive About How You Use Time
Effective time management helps you decide how to use your time. Being decisive in your daily decision making leads you to becoming a more proactive worker. But learning to be decisive can be difficult, especially if you are used to others making decisions for you.
How often in the day do you dither in reaching a decision? Do you weigh up all the pros and cons and still find it difficult to make a choice? Are you hampered by the fear that your decision will be the wrong one? Let’s start with something as simple as going through the daily mail. You’ve put it in a pile to do something about it, maybe later. But you have to act on it. The pile is overflowing and you need to decide what to do with each piece of paper. Try the DRAFT technique and see if it helps with being decisive about the mail.
DRAFT -
Delegate the task OR
Read the mail, THEN
Act on it OR
File it OR
Toss it
See? You’ve been decisive about the mail. Being decisive means you will assess the risks involved in each task (with the mail you’ll be worrying whether that bit of information is important or not. What happens if you toss it and was it important?). You will act on a task, rather than react to events around you. Being decisive helps you manage your tasks and goals more effectively. Once you’ve made your assessment you’ll be able to decide on a course of action and do it.
Avoiding decisions often seems the easiest path to take, but all you are doing is making more work for yourself and not managing your time well. Be decisive and accept the consequences and you will stay in control of your life.
Think about these steps when making a decision:
1. Identify the problem you are trying to solve. Why do you need to solve it?
2. Find out what you can about the problem
3. Identify the alternatives
4. List the consequences of each alternative
5. Select the best alternative
6. Action plan your decision
7. Do it!
Effective decision making involves keeping your eye on the goal you are trying to achieve. Sometimes we make our choice by analysis, other times it’s a gut feeling that this choice is the right one. However you decide to spend your time, be decisive. Don’t waste time by dithering.
Timemanagement For Dummies - Avoid the Trap of Procrastination
It’s easy to put things off, to tell yourself you’ll get to it later. Especially if that task is particularly hard and you are not sure how to start it. Consequences of procrastination can be many. Things such as: loss of opportunities (not tendering for the job you’ve wanted to try but haven’t had the courage to attempt), failing exams (put off studying until the night before and having to cram), or even medical problems (avoiding going to the dentist). Procrastination is the one of the main things good time management will help you eradicate.
It is rare that a procrastinator will do nothing. They might do smaller simpler tasks such as writing out a shopping list or filing away journals - things that need to be done. But what they are really doing is not doing something more important. How can you avoid the trap of procrastination?
Most importantly, you want to work on your high priority tasks. Often these are difficult ones that require a lot of effort in some way. You need to make these priorities more attractive. One way to do this is not to say ‘I have to go to the gym because I’m trying to lose weight.’ Replace ‘I have to’ with ‘I want to go to the gym because I’m trying to lose weight’. That sounds like a much more inviting proposition, doesn’t it? Remember no one is forcing you to do anything. You are in control of your actions. If you want to do things, the drive to do them becomes much stronger.
Breaking down your goals into smaller steps helps take the enormity out of some tasks. Your action plan tells you how to do things. It will also tell you how to start a project. If one of your goals is to become a photographer you may be tentative to get started on this goal because you can’t see how you are going to get there. If, however, you have action planned this goal the first thing for you to do is staring you in the face. You have already decided on the steps that you will take so you go and enroll in a photography course. Focus on the beginning of your journey towards your goal, rather than the end. This makes the task more manageable.
Are you a perfectionist? Perfectionists make great procrastinators. They can’t do the job because they want it to be perfect first go. You can’t write a manuscript of publishable standard first go. No one is that good - not even Stephen King. Having a time limit for a task and knowing that everyone makes mistakes will help the perfectionist in you to let go. You want to write that book so do it and give yourself a time limit for the first draft to be completed.
If you need an extra reason to do that job you’ve been putting off, give yourself a reward when you’re finished. Promise yourself something tempting on the completion of the task. You’re guaranteed to really enjoy your reward when you’ve finished the job you’ve been procrastinating over.
Reduce the pain of the project at hand by making it seem more attractive. You want to do it, because it is a part of your goals. You can take small steps to begin your project, focus on the journey, rather than on falling over the finish line. Nobody is perfect; just do the best you can. And look forward to a little reward at the end. There now, that wasn’t worth procrastinating over - was it?
Timemanagement For Dummies Anticipate Obstacles and Plan for Them
Planning for obstacles that will hinder your time management plan will help you stay in control, even when things appear to be spinning madly out of your grasp! Obstacles such as over-scheduling, perfectionism, procrastination and being a slave to the call of ”urgent” can all be planned for.
Let’s have a look at them in more detail.
Over-scheduling, as discussed before, is a huge obstacle. When creating a realistic schedule don’t try and cram too much into your day. Set time estimates and make sure you are working on your high priorities at the time of day when you have the most energy.
Are you a perfectionist? If you don’t think that anyone can do the job as well as you, you’ll end up doing everything, or re-doing tasks until they are perfect. Being perfect is a psychological barrier to successful time management. It will give you an excuse for poor performance ‘I wasn’t happy with the outcome anyway’ or ‘I didn’t have enough time to get it exactly right’. Remember, not everything has to be perfect.
Procrastination appears to be everywhere and can be a huge obstacle. Do you put things off because they aren’t high on your priority list or do you procrastinate because you aren’t quite sure how to do a task? Are things of very high importance hard to get motivated for? Avoid procrastination by making sure the stages to reach your goals are in small measurable steps. If fear of failure is making you procrastinate work out how you can overcome this fear. Is there anyone who can help you with this task? Do you need to learn more before you tackle the project?
How urgent is the job you are working on? Is it the one you want to be working on right now? Some people are slaves to the call of urgent. Can you ignore the telephone ringing? Do you have trouble identifying priorities? It may seem to you that every task on your to-do list is urgent. If you can learn to differentiate between urgent and non-urgent tasks and perhaps delegate some of the non-urgent ones you will no longer be a slave.
Other obstacles that need to be planned for include being over-accessible. Everyone wants a piece of you and you want to help everyone. Is that possible? Learn the art of saying no. It doesn’t make you a bad person. Everyone has their limits as to how much they can do.
Do you get distracted easily? This can also be an obstacle to effective time management. Working on your concentration or making your workplace free from unwanted distractions can help.
Fear of failure and depression are also obstacles for some people. Negative thoughts can lead to both these obstacles. Depression can be a passing thing or a more serious illness. Medical intervention may be necessary.
Meeting an obstacle well prepared will give you the tools to deal with it. Obstacles will test you and your time management plan. Meet them head on and deal with them. Then move on to those things high on your priority list and remain in control.
