I really do not have time for this

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I really do not have time for this!

• Shelley UptonMay 2006

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Some sad truths

• Everyone has the same amount of time
• No more, no less
• 24 whole hours of it every day
• 384,384 in a working lifetime
• We spend 128,128 asleep!
• and 70,400 at work ?

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Time isnt scarce

• Good management of it is here are the 3 Ps
• Poor planning
• Personal Disorganisation
• Procrastination
• He who fails to plan, plans to fail

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Making a start

• What do you want to change?
• Ask yourself
• Do I feel short of time?
• Do I need to make changes?
• What do I want to spend more time on?
• What are my priorities?

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Where do I want to be?

• Ask yourself
• What do I want to achieve this year?
• In the next three years
• In the next five years
• These are your life goals
• Identify work goals too

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Making a start

• What do I do with my time now?
• Keep a time log to find out
• Are my expectations realistic?
• Am I trying to do too much?

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Lets start with your Diary

• Begin by identifying known commitments
• Public Holidays
• Regular meetings
• Working hours
• Deadlines
• Travelling time
• Dont forget breaks!

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Diary

• By putting commitments into your diary you can
  see clearly how much disposable time you have
• Think ahead too
• Birthdays
• Sports schedules
• Concerts
• Classes

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Goodbye Pending Tray!

• Prioritise
• Schedule tasks as they come in
• DO it or
• DELEGATE it or
• DUMP it or put it in the
• DIARY!

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To Do lists

• At the end of each day, review your to do list
• Bring forward anything you havent done
• Create a new list for tomorrow and schedule the
  task in your diary
• Sleep on it!

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Making time

• Identify
• Progress tasks
• Maintenance tasks
• Am I making progress?
• Do I spend time doing things I dont need to?

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Questions, questions

• Ask yourself
• Why am I doing this?
• Could I be doing this better?
• Should I be doing this at all?
• What if I stopped?

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How to say No! I Recognise your need and
I Understand your problem However, put
Simply, this is my current Situation. Id like
to help perhaps we could achieve it by
this Action
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Prioritise

• Whats high or low priority?
• Whats urgent or important?
• Classify your tasks as
• Important and urgent
• Important but not urgent
• Urgent, but not important
• Not urgent, not important

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The Matrix
Training Development PlanningProblem
preventionSleep, RR
Crises and problems real deadlines - usually
high profile
Arbitrary deadlinesPhone, emailInterruptionsMen
ding that puncture
If youre lucky, thesell disappear of their own
accord!
Stephen Covey 1992 - The 7 Habits of Highly
Effective People
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Making time

• Identify inefficient work practices not just
  your own!
• Is my desk covered in paper?
• How long do I spend searching for things I know
  Ive put in a safe place?
• Tidy your working environment
• Feng shui and filing cabinets!
• How about tickler files?

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Tickler files
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Making time

• Identify your strengths and weaknesses
• Time of day

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Pareto Principle

• 80 of your really productive and creative work
  will be done in 20 of your time
• But what could you be doing with the other 80?
• You need to find out where your time actually goes

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Time log example categories

• M meeting or committee
• I interview, pre-arranged
• D discussion talking about work rather than
  chatting
• TD training or development e.g.education
• lectures, courses, seminars

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Time log

• F figure work
• E dealing with email
• P phone conversations
• C computer based work
• W writing
• R reading
• Q travelling
• T thinking
• O - other things

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Speed read

• Learn to skim and thus read faster
• Read abstracts, contents
• Use your finger as a guide
• Pick out only the relevant bits
• You dont need to read every word!

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Beat the time thieves

• Interruptions
• Phone calls
• Email
• Procrastination
• Stress
• Tiredness

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Project Management

• Planning
• Goal oriented
• Tasks can be connected and sequenced break them
  down
• Limited duration beginning and end
• Unique and non-routine

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Multiple projects

• Colour code each project
• Work on one thing at once
• Use post-its for status reports
• Plan a week ahead and update every Monday
• Keep a journal for each project
• Use SMART goals

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Review but dont beat yourself up!

• Every month, look back
• What have you achieved?
• What havent you achieved yet?
• Why not?
• Circumstances beyond your control
• Circumstance within your control
• Insufficient motivation
• Insufficient skill in setting objectives

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Grasp the nettle!

• Take control of your life
• Identify your goals
• Plan ahead
• Plan your day
• Organise your working environment
• Dont procrastinate!
• Manage your health and work/life balance

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Over to you!
Good luck and please let me know whether any of
the strategies weve looked at today have been
useful. smu_at_aber.ac.uk
i measure only the sunny hours
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Personal Mission Statement for the next three
years

• Three personal goals
• Three work goals