Time Management - Value of time, Diagnosing time management, Weekly planner, To do list, prioitising work

Time Management

Time Management:

1. Value of time

2. Diagnosing Time Management,

3. Weekly Planner,

4. To do list,

5. Prioritizing work

Value of Time

Time is the most precious thing in life. We are often told that time is money. But I would say that time is much more precious than money. It is more precious than all your jewels, your land and buildings, in short anything that you consider valuable in life. You can buy anything with your money. But you cannot buy time at any cost. The loss of other possessions can be made good. But time once lost can never be regained. Wasting anything is considered bad. But wasting time is the worst sin that man can commit. A man who does not realise the value of time can never make any great achievement. What is more, such a man wastes not only his own time but also that of others.

Definition: Time management means planning the use of time at your disposal and dividing it among the different tasks in such a way that you can get the maximum results in the minimum time. It involves decisions fixing priorities, as well as allotting time to different activities and then sticking to that schedule.

It helps you to get the best results even when the time you have is very short and the tasks you have to perform are many. Good time management can enable you to accomplish more in less time. It means being smart rather than being busy. The motto is smart work, not hard work. To do so, you have to change your focus from activities to results. You have to divide time in such a way and order the tasks in such a way that you may be able to achieve maximum results in the limited time at your disposal.

Benefits of Good Time Management

1. Stress relief – Piled up pending tasks are the root cause of stress in one’s life. When you manage your time well, you are always in a position to do everything that you are expected to do at the right time. You have a well-planned time schedule and your priorities are fixed. As a result, there are no pending tasks at any time. This eliminates worries from your life. As a result, you are never under stress. 

2. Plenty of time at your disposal – An expert in time management is never short of time. He always has plenty of time for every job that needs to be done. He is able to find time not only for the tasks at hand but also for some recreation and refreshment which then enables him to work with redoubled energy and make greater achievements.

3. More opportunities to rise in life – Good time management increases your efficiency and improves your reputation as a worker or executive. Efficient people always get more opportunities to rise in their professional career than their inefficient counterparts. They do not have to run after promotions. Promotions run after them.

4. Ability to achieve goals – Good time management enhances your ability to achieve your goals easily. There is virtually nothing that you cannot achieve if you plan and use your time well.

5. Better decision-making,- Good time management improves your ability to make decisions. Because you have plenty of time to think, the decisions you arrive at always the right decisions because they are not arrived at in a hurry.

6. Increases the motivation level – Good time management makes you more motivated. When you are not stressed and have plenty of time at your disposal as a result of good time management, you are able to keep focused on the task in hand and feel like giving your best to the job you are doing. 

7. Greater productivity – Good time management increases your productivity. You are able to achieve more in less time. It enables you to focus on those 20% tasks which give 80% of the results. You do not waste time on those 80% tasks which produce only 20% results. You are able to prioritize those tasks which can be accomplished in less time but give greater results.         

8. Improvement in the quality of work - Good time management improves not only the productivity but also the quality of the work done by you. Since you are not stressed for time, you can devote proper time to the task in hand instead of rushing through it in a hurry. It naturally improves quality.

9. Improves your professional reputation

It helps you to improve the quality of work and meet deadlines. The superior quality of the goods and services provided by you and their timely delivery improves your professional reputation and helps you to get more customers or to get promotions

Disadvantages of Poor Time Management

1. Poor workflow, reduced efficiency and low productivity – You cannot plan the tasks you have to perform properly. You can get better results if you schedule related tasks together. If you do not, you have to shuttle back and forth between tasks resulting in loss of time and poor productivity.  

Poor work flow results in reduced efficiency and low productivity which ultimately lead to lower profit or even losses.

2. Wasted time – You may spend a lot of time on tasks that are unnecessary and the net result will be wastage of your valuable time.

3. Loss of control – You will not be able to plan your life and make the achievements you want to make. Your life will get out of your hands. Instead of you making things happen, things will be happening to you. And you may not like the way they happen.

4. Missing Deadlines – You are not able to complete tasks in time. Tasks keep piling up. Orders are not delivered on time. The situation gets out of hand and becomes difficult to manage.

5. Poor quality of work – 

As a result of bad time management, you will not be able to complete tasks on time and meet deadlines easily. Consequently, you will have to rush to complete the job as deadlines approach. As a result, the quality of work will suffer.

6. Loss of reputation – 

Clients always want quality and timely delivery of services. 

When your quality deteriorates or you are not able to meet deadlines, your reputation suffers. Loss of reputation, in turn, ultimately leads to the loss of customers which then leads to financial losses.

7. Reduced efficiency - Poor time management reduces our efficiency. We take more time to do the same amount of work. Our output  decreases. 

8. Increased stress -  

Decreased efficiency results in many pending tasks which keep piling up with the passage of time. We are always worried when and how we will be able to perform the. As a result, we are always under stress which goes on increasing as more and more tasks are added to the pending list.

Diagnosing Time Management

The first thing for a man who wants to benefit from the time management principles is to find out whether he has any issues regarding time management. In case he finds any, he has first to admit it. You cannot get rid of a weakness until you admit that you have it. Once you have accepted this fact, the next step is to find out the details of the problem. In the case of time management, you have to find out what those factors are which stand between you and time management.

To be able to spot those factors, you have, first of all, to note down the details of how you have utilized your time for a week. And mind it, you have to do it honestly. Do not try to hide anything that you may feel you will be ashamed of. This record is for your own use. It is not to be shown to anybody else.

When you have a complete record of how you have used your time during the last one week, the next step for you is to analyze it to find out if there is any problem with it. You may find that sometimes, you are very active and work very hard trying to do what was to be done in a week in just two or three days. At other times, you may discover that you were very lazy and took several days to do what you could have done in just a few hours. It will help you to find out whether you have wasted any time doing nothing or in trivial, useless pursuits, whether you have been spending time on unimportant tasks or ignoring or procrastinating important tasks.

To be able to conduct this analysis, you can ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly.

1.     Do you devote most of your time to tasks which enjoy high priority?

2.     Do you find yourself rushing to complete tasks at the last moment as the deadline approaches?

3.     Do you take time out for planning and scheduling?

4.     Do you know how much time you spend on performing different tasks?

5.     Do you have to spend time on dealing with interruptions? If so, how much?

6.     Do you set goals for yourself and prioritize tasks in keeping with your goals?

7.     Do you reserve some time in your schedule to deal with unexpected contingencies?

8.     Do you know the value attached to the tasks you perform? Whether they are high, medium or low value tasks?

9.     When you get a new task, do you analyze its importance and prioritize it accordingly?

10. Do deadlines and commitments become a source of stress to you?

11. Do you get distracted while working? Does your attention wander and you are unable to focus on critical tasks?

12. Are you unable to finish work in office hours and have to carry office work home in order to complete it?

13. Do you have a ‘to do list’ and do you prioritize the tasks that are waiting to be done?

14. Do you discuss the priorities fixed by you with your boss and get them confirmed?

15. Before undertaking a task, do you try to confirm that the results will be worth the time and energy spent on it?

Answer these questions as follows:

i. Not at all -               ii. Rarely               iii. Sometimes    iv. Often              v. Very often     VI. Always

On the basis of these answers, award yourself marks – 0 , 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 points depending on whether your answer is on the positive side or on the negative.

Your total score will show you how good a time manager you are.

80 – 100 – Excellent

60 – 80   - Very good

40 – 60  -  Good

20 – 40  - satisfactory

Below 20 - Poor

How to improve time management

1. Set goals correctly –

Use the SMART method of setting goals. Set goals which are specific, not vague. Set goals which are challenging but achievable. It should be possible to measure the progress you have made from time to time. The goals should be relevant to your ambitions and aspirations. Also set a time limit for the achievement of the goals. It will keep you focused and not allow you to waste time

2. Prioritise wisely

You must prioritise the tasks you have to perform on the basis of their importance and urgency. Several ways have been suggested for this purpose.

I. ABCD Analysis –

Divide the tasks into four groups as follows:

a. Urgent and important

b. Not urgent but important

c. Urgent but not important

d. Neither urgent nor important

Tasks that are urgent and important should be given the highest priority. The second priority should go to tasks that are not urgent but are still important. Tasks which are urgent but not important should be given the third priority. Those tasks which are neither important nor urgent should be given the last priority.

The Eisenhower Method

  The Eisenhower method is similar to the ABCD technique because it also divides tasks into four groups in the order of priority to be given to them as is clear from the figure below.




Box 1 contains tasks which are important as well as urgent. They cannot be ignored or made to wait.

Box 2 contains tasks which are urgent but not important. They can wait till you can find time for them. 

Box 3 contains tasks which are not important. They can be made to wait and be attended to when you do not have anything urgent or important to do.

Box 4 contains trivial tasks which need to be eliminated. They may be attended to if you have nothing else to do.

 

 

II. The Eighty Twenty Rule or the Pareto Principle:

80 percent of the tasks can be accomplished in 20 percent of time and the other 20 percent require 80 percent of our time. We should give higher priority to the 80 percent which can be completed in 20 percent of the time. The other 20 percent which demand 80 percent of our time should be kept waiting till we have finished the 80 percent which can be completed in 20 percent of time.

On the other side, 20 % tasks we perform give 80% of the results and the remaining 80% yield only 20% results. It is simple logic that those tasks which give higher results should be undertaken first.

This principle is known as the Pareto Principle because it was first advocated by an Italian scholar named Pareto.

III. POSEC method

POSEC is an acronym for "Prioritizing, Organizing, Streamlining, Economizing and Contributing"

.  

1.    Prioritize – Your time and define your life by goals.

Decide which goals are more important and which are less important. Give greater priority to the more important ones.

2.   Organize – Things you have to accomplish regularly to be successful (family and finances).

Devise a methodical way of doing these tasks regularly so that they do not get ignored.

3.   Streamline – Things you may not like to do, but must do (work and chores).

Find out a way to perform these tasks in the minimum possible time. They cannot be avoided. The only solution is to evolve a technique to do them in the minimum possible time using the minimum possible energy.

4.   Economize – Things you should do or may even like to do, but they're not pressingly urgent (pastimes and socializing).

Minimise the things that are desirable and which you may like doing but which are not important. Although doing them gets you the appreciation of your fellowmen and gives you pleasure, not doing them will not do you any harm.

5.   Contribute – By paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference (social obligations).

Contribute by doing certain things which help society and make a difference to the life of the society as well as the human race at large. It is a moral obligation as well as a source of happiness. But these things may be done if you can find time for them after attending to the important things that you have to do to be successful in life.

3. Set a time limit

Decide the time you are going to give to different tasks depending on their importance and the level of difficulty. By doing so, you will keep focused on the job you are doing and it will increase your efficiency. The time you spend on this exercise will be more than compensated by the time you will save by increasing your productivity.

4. Take a break

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. If you keep on working continuously without a break, you will definitely get fatigued. Fatigue, in turn will reduce your efficiency and productivity. You will be working hard all the time without producing proportionate results. Taking a break will refresh and reinvigorate you. After the break, you will be able to work with greater energy and accomplish more in less time. Your increased productivity will more than compensate for the time lost in the break.

5. Organise yourself

Learn to do things in a systematic and orderly manner. It will save you time lost in locating things and taking decisions. You must have a plan and a schedule of the things you have to do. No time should be wasted in thinking what you have got to do next and in finding the tools to do them with. Keep things in the right places so that you may find them easily when you need them.

Besides, you need to write down deadlines for the completion of projects or tasks that need to be performed as a part of a long term project. You must also decide and note down what time or day will be most suitable for a particular task. For example, if you have to discuss a financial matter with the finance officer, find out when he will be available and schedule the meeting accordingly. Similarly, some things are better done in the morning and some in the evening or after dark.

6. Remove non-essential tasks

There are many things that are neither important nor urgent. Such trivial things can be eliminated from your schedule so that you may be able to find time for tasks which are important and urgent. These things may be done only if you have time enough and to spare.

7. Plan ahead. Make a ‘To Do List’ in advance

Plan in advance what you are going to do when. You can prepare a ‘to do list’ for each day, each week and each month, even for each year.

8. Focus on the task in hand –

When you are handling one task, concentrate only on that task. Do not let your attention wander. Do not think of the other tasks that you have to perform. Divided attention will reduce your speed as well as impair the quality of the task that you are currently engaged in.

9. Learn to say no –

Enough is enough. There is a limit to your capacity. If you overstretch yourself, you invite tension and stress and the quality of your work suffers. Stress may prevent you even from doing what you could otherwise have done easily and admirably. So, do not let yourself be burdened with too many responsibilities. Learn to refuse to accept more work than you can do.

10. Learn to manage time wasters

There may be many things which you do but which do not yield any worthwhile results. Indulge them only if you can easily find time for them after fulfilling your responsibilities. You do not gain anything by doing them. And leaving them unattended will not lead to any harm or loss. Social media like facebook, whatsapp, twitter, Instagram etc. are major time wasters. Even unnecessary use of the phone is a time waster. Visitors can also prove to be time wasters. Learn to manage these things in such a way that they do not interfere with the urgent, essential and important tasks that you have to perform.

11. Have enough sleep, healthy diet and regular exercise

Not having enough sleep can make you feel drowsy at work. Drowsiness not only decreases your efficiency but can result in endangering your life or limb. You can work to your full capacity only if you are feeling fresh after having had enough sleep.

Healthy diet keeps you in good health and thus improves your stamina for work, increases your working capacity and improves your efficiency. An ill-nourished man can never do as well as a well-nourished man because of his poor health.

Regular exercise also improves your health and increases your stamina and efficiency. It keeps your physically fit for doing arduous tasks and mentally fit to think and decide wisely and be able to concentrate on the job in hand.

12. Do not procrastinate

Do not put off till tomorrow what you can do today. That is what the wise people say. Delaying things simply because you do not like them and find them uninteresting, or you do not feel like doing them, or you doubt your ability to do them or you are afraid of doing them because they are difficult or for any other reason is a very bad habit. When there is a job to be done, just get up and get going. Pending tasks are a source of stress. They keep weighing on your mind. And you may even find them easy and interesting once you start doing them.  

13. Learn to delegate

It is not essential for you to do everything personally. You can delegate some tasks which do not require your personal attention to others. For example, if you have an unimportant meeting to attend, you can assign this responsibility to one of your subordinates.

                      To do lists

Business executives are very busy people. They are burdened with stupendous responsibilities. To discharge those responsibilities, they have to perform almost an endless number of tasks. Consequently, they are always overwhelmed by the jobs at hand. Remembering to perform all these tasks and performing them on time requires a superhuman memory. To do lists help them to perform their responsibilities by remembering to do the right things at the right time.

To do list is a list, often written on a piece of paper, of the pending tasks or jobs that you need or intend to perform in the days to come which functions as an aid to memory and helps you to remember the things you have to do.

There may not be a single list. Depending on the time at which various tasks are to be accomplished, there can be many of them.

Daily to do list – It is a day-wise list of the tasks to be accomplished on those days. It is very important to prepare a list at least of the tasks that you need to do on the following day by the evening. So you have to plan one day in advance.

Weekly to do list – One may also get a list ready of the tasks that h-one has to perform in the coming one week.

Fortnightly to do list – You can also make a list of the things you will be doing in the coming two weeks.

Monthly to do list – Likewise, One may prepare a list of the things that one plans to do in the coming one month.

We can even have a list of the things to be accomplished in the coming two, three or six months or a whole year or even for longer periods.

Benefits of having ‘to do lists’

There are many advantages of having ‘to do lists and adhering to them. We shall have a glance at them below.

1. Motivation –

 A to do list acts as a very good motivator. It keeps reminding of the numerous tasks we have to perform and thus does allow us to rest on our oars after we have completed one job or to be lazy. It always keeps us on our toes. We feel as if it were saying, “Get up and get going. You have so many things to do. You cannot afford to be lax.”

2. Aid to memory – 

It helps us to remember all the things we have to do. In the absence of a ‘to do list’, we may forget to do many of the things we were expected to do.

3. Timey implementation – 

Such lists help us to meet deadlines easily by helping us to remember the dates by which certain tasks are to be completed.

4. Reducing stress – 

Remembering things to do and doing them at the required time becomes easy with the help of a ‘to do list’. Remembering to do them at the right time without the help of such a list would be source of immense stress and we would all the time be worried about forgetting one or the other of them.

5. Increasing efficiency – 

They help us to work in a more systematic and organized way and thus to show better results.

6. Increasing productivity – 

Productivity is directly related to efficiency. The more efficient a man is, the more productive will he prove to be. We can accomplish more in less time.

7. Improved quality of products –

 As a result of having such lists and sticking to them, we are also able to improve the quality of our products and thus provide greater satisfaction tour customers.

8. Improving reputation – 

They help us to improve our image among the people we have to deal with by enabling us to deliver better goods and services at the right time. As such, they help us to win the confidence of those people and bring in more customers.

9. Aid in prioritizing tasks - 

 When we have before us a list of the things to be done before us, it becomes easier for us to decide which of them are more urgent and important and can yield more valuable results. As a result, we can prioritize them according to their importance and value. We can keep the things which are more valuable at the top and the tasks having less importance and smaller value can be placed at the bottom.

10. Help in scheduling –

 All times of the day are not equally suitable for all the jobs to be performed. Some jobs may be done in the morning and others in the evening. Similarly, the availability of certain people may be vital for the accomplishment of a task. The list helps us to fix the most suitable timings for the different tasks included in the list.

Weekly Planner

It is not enough to plan the tasks on a daily basis. It is always rewarding to be more long sighted and plan for longer periods than a day. We can have to do lists for a day, a week, a fortnight, a month, six months, a year or even a number of years.

A weekly planner is a ‘to do list’ of the tasks to be accomplished in a week. It also specifies the days on which and the times at which different tasks are to be accomplished. In other words, a weekly planner is a day-wise ‘to do list’ for all the working days of the coming week.

Such a list is prepared keeping in mind the short term goals we intend to accomplish during the week in question.

Our short term goals are, most of the time, the enabling steps for the attainment of our long term goals. Therefore, the weekly planner is also prepared keeping in mind the long term goals we have set up for ourselves.

Like a daily ‘to do list’, the weekly planner helps us to perform the tasks needed or intended to be performed during the course of a week without forgetting any of them. It also helps in eliminating the pressure of remembering those tasks and thus keeps us tension free. Thus it enables us to focus our attention on the task in hand without worrying about the fear of forgetting any of them.

Being tension free and able to focus, in turn, increases our efficiency and productivity and also improves the quality of our work.