EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Everyone knows that to be effective it is necessary to complete tasks on time and to be

efficient those tasks should be accomplished in order of priority. If its so easy the
question remains; why do so many people run out of time?
Because of the value placed on all resources we are forced to get more done with
fewer people in less time. !hile time is limitless we only ever have access to si"ty
minutes in an hour twenty#four hours in a day and seven days in a week etc.
$herefore like a precious consignment we have to use time to its best advantage
which means that we have to develop new strategies for the way we use time and alter
the way in which we perceive it.
$his pro%ect on $ime &trategies will enable us to reali'e the importance of time and to
determine how it should be invested to achieve the results they desire.
$he ability to prioriti'e determine dependencies and overcome procrastination gains
value when the investment of time as a precious resource is understood.
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WARMING UP TO THE CONCEPT OF TIME
()ow go on and en%oy yourself dance to your hearts content and win the *rinces
heart. But remember you have to be back before the clock strikes twelve at
midnight.+
!e all are familiar with the words of the ,airy -od .other in the evergreen fairy tale
/0inderella. Its these words that probably made us aware#for the first time in our
lives#of the value of time. !e all sympathi'ed with 0inderella when all her splendid
gown and other finery turned to rags at the stroke of midnight. 1ur first acquaintance
with the villainous $ime2
But then is time such a villain who should always be painted in black? !e have
heard the proverb that says (there are no wounds that time cannot heal.+ 3ere of
course we get the image of a wi'ened old woman who comes hobbling up to us with a
pitcher full of balm and gentle fingers that soothe away all our pains and sorrows.
But thats enough2 $his pro%ect was not made to sing the praises of time. $here is no
need of the romance of 0inderella or the soothing finger of an old lady when we are
talking about time. 4nd do you know why? Its because we do not have the time for it.
!e are going to try and understand time in its many faces. )o I was not referring to
the faces of watches or clocks. I was referring to the many meanings that time has. 1h
yes it does2 5ou thought that time meant the same to everyone. !ell think again; or
maybe you could try to e"plain the logic behind the following cases.
*icture a farmer who plants a sapling of a tree that would probably take ten to twelve
years to reach the stage when it would start to bear fruit by then the farmer would in
likelihood be under the soil himself.
*icture a %ailbird in bird counting on the bars of his cell waiting for the seconds
minutes and hours days weeks months and years to go by before he can be free
again.
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)ow picture a young couple madly in love with each other cherishing the few minutes
they get to spend with each other every day cursing time because it flies so fast when
they are together and never the other way round.
&o what does time mean to you? !hen was the last time that you reali'ed the value of
time?
$he answer is probably the last time you watched one of those Bollywood thrillers in
which the hero is driving a car in which a time#bomb has been planted and the hero is
unaware of this. But we being the getting#to#see#it#all audience watch with bated
breath as the tiny needle of the timer ticks towards the point at which the e"plosion is
sure to occur.
But %ust before that the hero hits the brakes screeches to a halt to avoid hitting that old
lady crossing the road. 4nd when he %umps out to help her cross the road the needle
reaches the point and the bomb is e"ploded. 4nd our hero is safe. Its funny how the
hero always escapes without a scratch in these movies. But I e"pect thats why they
call them heroes.
)ow we are really transgressing arent we? &o back to our sub%ect that is $ime
.anagement. 6o you know what is interesting about the concept of $ime? It is
absolutely uncontrollable.
*ersonally I believe that there is something very humbling about this concept. 7ust
imagine a man with all his power is %ust like a helpless babe before time. $here it is
$ime stands tall and strong before man and man remains vulnerable and weak before
it. .an the big strong man who tamed rivers and seas who reached out to the skies
and beyond who harnessed wind and water and dug up the bowels of the earth is but a
worm before $ime.
$he best he can do to win the battle against time is die his hair and use some anti#
wrinkle cream on his face. In fact the closest that man has got towards conquering
time is those many history books that have been penned; they are of course chronicles
of events that happened long ago and that is certainly not much to boast about.
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4nd so now we come to our sub%ect that is time management because after all the
illustrations given above I hope that I have made one point clear that is that $ime
cannot be controlled it can only be managed. 4nd that is what we are going to do. !e
are going to learn the art of time management. I dont want you to have an air of
helplessness. 5ou might begin to feel that if the battle cannot be won then what is
point in putting up a struggle? 4h but there you are missing out on a very important
point. In all the illustrations that I used above I was referring to man in general and
not to one particular $om 6ick or 3arry.
&o you can see that this aspect of time is applicable to every human being and there is
no running away from it. Every person has only twenty four hours in a day and no
force on earth can alter that. &o in order to get the cutting edge what you have to do is
to be able to manage your time in the most effective way possible. 4nd that is what
$ime management is all about. Its about managing your time effectively and if I may
I would like to add the word efficiently too.
)ow when we talk about our resources everyone knows that we are referring to the
resources like fossil fuels forests mineral wealth and water bodies and so on. But
surprisingly time is never included in this list. !hen we talk about non#renewable
resources fossil fuels like coal petroleum and natural gas top the list. But what about
time? 4 point that most people tend to forget is that time is the most valuable resource
that we have and time once lost is lost forever. !e can think about alternate sources
of energy for fossil fuels like electricity fuel cells solar energy and the research goes
on. But is there any alternative for time that is lost.
4gain I stress on the point that time once lost is lost forever. 4nd hence we have the
proverb (time and tide waits for no man.+
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HISTORY OF TIME MANAGEMENT
$he idea of time management has been in e"istence for more than 899 years.
:nfortunately the term ;time management; creates a false impression of what a
person is able to do. $ime can neither be managed nor controlled. !e can only
manage ourselves and our use of time.
3istory of time management dates back to the <th century 46 with the &t.
Benedictine .onks who ;emphasi'ed and encouraged scheduled activities at all
times.; $he concept of time efficiency was introduced by &cottish Economist 4dam
&mith who developed an assembly line system for factory workers. Ben%amin ,ranklin
is considered by many to be the father of modern time management. 3e mostly
emphasi'ed on the effective use of time. ,ranklin carried around a ;little black book;
wherever he went and within it he wrote about his thirteen virtues. Each night he
would reflect upon the day=s activities to %udge whether he had lived up to these core
values. $hese values were as follows>
? $emperance
? &ilence
? 1rder
? @esolution
? ,rugality
? Industry
? &incerity
? 7ustice
? .oderation
? 0leanliness
? $ranquility
? 0hastity
? 3umility
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UNDERSTANDING TIME MANAGEMENT
We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once
passed, it is gone forever.
- Bruce Lee (Zen in the Martial rts !" #oe $"ams%
Every individual on earth has the same amount of time # <9 seconds in a minute; <9
minutes in an hour; 8AA9 minutes in a day; and BCB<99 minutes in a year. !hile a
vast ma%ority of people confesses faltering to come to grips with it e"tremely few can
claim to have made the most of it. 3ow is it that they have got it all done? Its because
they have managed a way to figure out how to manage their time effectively.
$ime .anagement is more than %ust managing time. It is about controlling the use of
the most valuable # and undervalued # resource. It is managing oneself in relation to
time. It is setting priorities and taking charge of the situation and time utili'ation. It
means changing those habits or activities that cause waste of time. It is being willing
to adopt habits and methods to make ma"imum use of time.
!ith good time management skills one is in control of ones time stress and energy
levels. 1ne can maintain balance between ones work and personal life. 1ne finds
enough fle"ibility to respond to surprises or new opportunities. It is not how much
time one has but rather the way one uses it. $he bottom line is how well one manages
time.
Internationally known authority on time management 6r. 4lec .acken'ie in his book
$he $ime $rap argues that the very idea of time management is a misnomer because
one really cannot manage time in the way other resources can be managed> financial
capital physical capital human capital information and time. !hile each of the first
four can be augmented reduced transferred or otherwise controlled $ime cannot be
manipulated.
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6r. .acken'ie contends that when it comes to time one can only manage oneself in
relation to it. 1ne cannot control time as one can control other resources D one can
only control how one uses it. In the world in which we live time cannot be replaced or
re#created. It is therefore not for us to choose whether we spend or save time but to
choose only how we spend it.
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MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT TIME
$here are several misconceptions which we all have about time. $hey affect everyone
including those persons who may be considered quite successful and effective. 3ere
are some of the misconceptions identified by 6r. .acken'ie>
Time management is simpe ! a it "e#$i"es is %&mm&n sense' !hile it is true
that the concept is simple the self#discipline required to practice effective time
management is not easy.
W&"( is )est pe"*&"me+ $n+e" p"ess$"e' *sychological studies show this to be
no more than an e"cuse for procrastination. 1ne does not work well under pressure
# only does the best one can under the circumstances. *ressure and challenge must
not be confused. Earas performance when the !est Indies $eam is in trouble has
more to do with application and determination rather than pressure.
I $se a +ia",- a t&!+& ist an+ .a/e a se%"eta", t& (eep me &"gani0e+' 1ne has
to keep oneself organi'ed # no one can do it for others. $he trouble with the
disorgani'ed person is that he hardly has time to listen to his secretary or look at
his diary.
I +& n&t .a/e t.e time' $he effective worker or manager often gets more work
done in the earlier hours of the morning than most laggards get done in the whole
day. 3e then no longer has to work against tight deadlines and under stress which
contributes to heart problems and not unusually the ultimate reduction of time on
this earth.
Time management mig.t )e g&&+ *&" s&me (in+s &* 1&"( )$t m, 2&) is
%"eati/e. $ime management is not about routine> it is about self#discipline. Eack of
discipline prevents one from being great instead of simply good.
Time management ta(es a1a, t.e *$n an+ *"ee+&m &* sp&ntaneit,' Is working
under stress forgetting appointments making constant e"cuses and apologies to be
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fun? !ould it not be much more fun if by better organi'ation one had one or two
more hours every day to spend with the family to play games read a good book
plan for tomorrow and the day and week after or %ust rela"?
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WHY IS TIME MANAGEMENT SO IMPORTANT3
$ime management is a common problem faced by most of us. 1ftentimes when you
are swarmed with multiple tasks at once it becomes e"tremely difficult to identify
which ones you must complete first. $oo often people eat up what is supposed to be
their free time to be able to accomplish all pending tasks in time. It takes a considerate
amount of skill in order to manage your time properly. If you are one of these people
you are usually able to control your time efficiently that you can even finish tasks
ahead of time. Eets try to analy'e the importance of $ime .anagement in different
fields.
&ime Management in 'chool()ollege* 6ue to more freedom merited to college
students it can become quite challenging for new FfreshmanG students to cope with
time management. $he liberty to choose your own schedule readily creates a false
notion that they can do whatever they want. 1n the other hand it reflects one=s
priorities and how you are able to properly appropriate them into your schedule. !ith
lack of proper time management a student will have trouble coping up with deadlines
set by professors. .ost students would tend to slack off during vacant hours that they
end up accomplishing nothing. If a student has prepared his or her own list of work for
the day he or she will be able to properly allocate the time spent for e"tracurricular
activities and assignments.
&ime Management at Wor+> !hen it comes to your %ob proper usage of your time is
more particular. $his is because you are paid for the hours of service you render to the
firm. 3ence companies will try to ensure that each hour you spend at the office is
utili'ed effectively for work. 6espite of this employees still seek out ways to have a
break. If time is not properly managed employees could easily eat up more time for
their (breaks+ than what is actually spent on actual work. 3ence the company ends up
requiring the employee to do overtime work %ust to finish a pro%ect. If the overtime
rendered is reflected on your paycheck then good for you. But if not then you reap
the unpleasant effects of poor time management.
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SYMPTOMS OF POOR TIME MANAGEMENT
*oor time management shows up by way of one or a combination of typical
perceptible symptoms. .anagers would do well to look for and reflect on whether
they are sub%ect to any of those symptoms with a view to take necessary corrective
actions.
$he following are some of the indicators of poor time management>
C&nstant "$s.ing Fe.g. between meetings or tasksG
F"e#$ent +ea,s Fe.g. in attending meetings meeting deadlinesG
4&1 p"&+$%ti/it,- ene"g, an+ m&ti/ati&n Fe.g. /I cant seem to get worked up
about anythingG
F"$st"ati&n Fe.g. /1h things %ust dont move aheadG
Impatien%e Fe.g. /where the hell is that information Ive asked him for?G
C."&ni% /a%iati&n )et1een ate"nati/es Fe.g. /whichever option I choose it is
going to put me at a big disadvantage. I dont know which way to %umpG
Di**i%$t, setting an+ a%.ie/ing g&as Fe.g. /Im not sure what is e"pected of
meG
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WHERE DOES A44 THE TIME GO3
It is quite surprising when you sit and think about where all the time in one day goes.
$wenty four hours is really a lot of time. But on most days it scarcely seems enough.
But this is because of certain misconceptions about time. Eet us proceed to carefully
e"amine where all that time goes and find out if twenty four hours really is. ,or that I
have listed out certain points which will help you to get a realistic view about how
much time you really have in a day.
P&int 5
!e do not really get twenty four hours in a day. .aybe its because we always talk
about the twenty four hours in a day we get the feeling that we really do have twenty
four hours to finish our daily business and the fact is that we do not. 4ssuming that
you hit the sack at least by twelve in the night and taking for granted the fact that you
need at least seven hours of sleep; let me fi" your waking time at seven in the
morning.
$hat means that you have already lost seven hours which we can deduct from twenty
four giving us only seventeen waking hours. !aking hours does not mean the hours
you take to wakeup but the hours that you are awake. &o let us get that straight we
have only 8H hours in a day. )ow if you think that all those seventeen hours can be
used for productive work you are wrong again. ,or this come to the ne"t point.
P&int 6
$he seventeen waking hours cannot be used completely for productive work. $here
are many things that a human being should do in order to continue to live like a
human being and some of these things do take up a lot of time. )ow the following list
that I have drawn up is sure to vary from person to person. But I have taken the times
for each action on what I felt to e reasonable times as far as any normal human being
is concerned.
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Ta(ing a s.&1e"'
.ost of us take a shower at least once in a day and the time I think we can put down
for that is ten minutes. ,or those of you cleaner ones who shower twice a day put that
as twenty minutes.
Ans1e"ing t.e %a &* nat$"e
1h yes we are all very cultured people who have the best of manners and upbringing.
!e dress ourselves properly and conduct ourselves with the utmost poise. But there
are several times in a day when we have to go back to nature and summing up all
those things we do in the bath room I think a good half hour should be enough.
Getting "ea+, an+ ti+,ing &$"se/es
!hen we move about in society definitely we have to look our best and adding up all
the minutes that we spend in front of that mirror we get another ten minutes. ,or
some people of course this figure comes up to half an hour. But I think ten minutes is
good enough.
Eating
!e need to eat to live and though I accept the fact that people have different eating
habits and times I think that and Im sure doctors will agree with me that a person
needs three meals a day and should take at least ten minutes to ingest a meal and not
%ust gobble it down. &o that makes it I9 minutes for food.
Time t& "ea7
*lease do not raise an argument now. I promise to deal with this bit later on. But right
now I would like to put down one hour as the time to rela" and this includes the time
that you get to yourself for prayer or meditation or %ust to stare out of your window or
perhaps the few e"tra minutes that you spend in your bed after waking up waiting for
the last traces of sleep to go away.
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Time 1it. *ami, an+ *"ien+s
*lease we are human beings arent we? 4nd we certainly cannot get along with our
business of life without chatting a few minutes every now and then with our friends
and the family too. &o with your permission I would like to deduct another hour from
your waking time.
&o now what do we have left?
!e started off with 8H hours of waking time. 4nd we proceed to add up all the time
that we accounted for in the above mentioned points; let us see how much time we
have left for productive work provided we still want to e"ist as human beings.
$he activities mentioned above would take when put together a good three hours and
twenty minutes. $hat is I hours and C9 minutes. I put it down in both numerals and
words so that you can get a real taste of the figure. )ow if we proceed to subtract this
figure from our 8H hours of waking time what do we get? !e are left with %ust
thirteen hours forty minutes. In figures that is 8I hours A9 minutes. 4nd that is a fact.
$hat is all that we get. &o from now on dont you think that it would be more realistic
to say that we have %ust thirteen hours and forty minutes to accomplish a days work
and not twenty#four hours. ,or if we continue to believe that we have twenty four
hours and then we are in effect deceiving ourselves. But wait there is more to this
story than meets the eye. $hese crucial hours that we have painstakingly added up are
not really put to constructive use. $here are certain things called time waster which
you have to look out for and that is what we are going to deal within our ne"t chapter.
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8Time 9ie"s:
$ill now we have been harping about how valuable time is and how time lost is time
lost forever and so on. But now we come to a strange concept and that is /$ime
Jillers. $he very word sound like sacrilege doesnt it? 3ow can one talk about killing
such a valuable resource. But thats the way the story goes. $here are a lots of time
killers in this world and what you have to do is that you have to identify these time
killers look out for them and stay wary of tem. 1nly then can you put your available
time to the ma"imum possible use.
$he time killers that I have listed below are more or less general. $hey are things that
most of us encounter. But apart from these each one of us may have unique time
killers that are particular to our style of living and way of work. Be smart and identify
these killers. !hen I talk about killers do not get the impression of masked men
lurking in shadows brandishing guns and knives. $he killers that I am referring to are
quite ordinary every day things that we see and use in our lives but often do not
reali'e how much of our time they take away.
Se/en te""i)e Time 9ie"s
$elephone calls
0hatter bo"es
$raffic %ams
,inding parking spaces
.eetings
Bad machinery
Eong queues
$he list could of course go on. But before we keep adding to the list I would like to
elaborate on certain of the items listed above.
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H&1 t& .an+e Time 9ie"s
; $he funny thing about telephone calls is that these instruments are indeed great
time savers. In fact the amount of time that people get to save thanks to telephones is
stupendous. $he problem arises when telephones are not used properly. .ost people
do not understand and even if they do they forget that telephones are not to be used for
lengthy conversations. ,or one thing another person may be trying to reach you and
there is nothing as e"asperating as trying to reach a person over the telephone and
being confronted with a busy tone. &o the first thing about a telephone conversation is
that it should be brief.
4nother thing about telephones is that most people do not know how to use a
telephone properly. In stead of immediately identifying themselves and asking directly
for the person they want some people go on playing a lot of (who is speaking+ games
once they make a call or answer the telephone.
)ow coming to mobile phones there is a lot to be said and done. !hat should be done
is turn off your cell phone when you are having a conversation or a discussion with
more than one person. 4s soon as you get a call you may ask the people you were
talking to e"cuse yourself but you leave them waiting while you chuckle and giggle
over your phone. 1ften we tend to give more importance to the caller than to the
person we were having the discussion with. 4gain the same rule applies here. Be
brief. 4 mobile phone is to be used to get an important message across to a person
who you were not able to reach on the land line.
$he ne"t point is about those chatter bo"es. 3avent we all met them? $hey
simply love the sound of their own voices and once they open their mouths there is no
stopping them. $hey waste not only your time but their time as well. &teer clear of
such people. Believe me it is much easier to avoid such people than to tell them to
shut up and if you get a telephone call from such a person use a caller I6 facility or
ask your secretary to divert the call.
$raffic %ams and finding parking spaces. 4ny one who has lived in the city for at
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least a day will know what I am talking about. $here is no getting past a traffic %am at
the rush hour. 4nd will someone tell me whit is called the rush hour when that is the
time when the traffic is the slowest.
$he only thing you can do is anticipate the traffic %am and leave your home a half hour
or one hour early. But that does not really keep the time killer at bay. It %ust helps you
to avoid being late. In this respect you have two options. Either you could find
something constructive to do while you wait for the traffic to move along or the traffic
light to change or a better option would be to take subway and walk the rest of the
way. 5ou can get a long a lot faster on your feet and it is a lot better for your health as
well. By doing so you can also get rid of the headache of finding a parking space.
)ot surprisingly lengthy meetings and discussions can prove to be awful time
killers particularly if the meeting does not have a clear agenda and if there are people
who love top talk among the group. It has been found that most middle and senior
level mangers spend nearly H9K of their work time talking. 4nd in most
organi'ations parleying has been made into a fine art.
Bad machinery is a time waster. 3ow many of us have wanted to sit and
scream and bang the daylights out of a pc that does not give us the required data or
information. 4 computer that takes a long time to start up a photocopier that gives
shamefully faint photocopies even a leaky faucet or a stubborn drawer or door knob
can waste a lot of time and send us up the wall. If you have such equipment or
machinery get it changed at the earliest possible date. It is worth the amount of time
and energy that you waste on it every day.
Eong queues certainly waste a lot of time. $hat does not mean that you have to
%ump the queue. If you can get the %ob done over the telephone or can reserve your
ticket in advance do it even if it means a few e"tra dollars it is worth the time you
may have to spend waiting.
4part from these each person may have particular time wasters like for instance a car
that refuses to start in the morning difficult hair that insists on looking like .edusas
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head on a bad snake day an elevator that takes forever to reach your floor. :se your
common sense and try to find alternate methods or even better if you cannot find an
alternate method you could put the time to some use like read your morning paper in
the elevator.
5ou will get a better idea of how to get over time killers once we handle the section
called the time savers.
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4ining Up Y&$" D$%(s< P"i&"iti0e=
(Eining up your ducks+ is a familiar and charming phrase. It derives from the
tendency of baby ducklings to swim in a perfectly straight line behind their mother. If
the ducklings begin to stray too far the mother duck will invariably (shepherd+ them
back into lineLthus (getting her ducks in a row.+
$he application of this phrase to time management is clear. If you deal with things in a
logical orderly sequence youre sure to bring efficiency and results to your efforts.
!hen your (ducks+ begin to stray too far afield danger is lurkingLfor them and for
you.
Eets face it. CA hours in a day is not enough time for many people to do everything in
their schedule. It is therefore imperative that people perform their activities in the
order of priority. $ime management e"perts like &tephen 0ovey & @ F$he &even
3abits of 3ighly Effective *eople; &imon M &chusterG have developed a model called
a time management matri".
$his model enables managers to prioriti'e their activities and use their time more
effectively. !ith the help of the model they can evaluate their activities in terms of
importance and urgency.
$he art of prioriti'ing covers A ma%or task groups>
8. Important and :rgent
C. )ot Important but :rgent
I. )ot :rgent but Important
A. )ot Important and )ot :rgent
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TIME MANAGEMENT MATRIX
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Imp&"tant an+ U"gent
Nuadrant 8 represents things which are both urgent and important D labeled
(firefighting+. $he activities need to be dealt with immediately and they are
important.
$hese tasks are the ones that must be done right away or consequences may result.
4n e"ample would be bills that are due today. If you dont pay your bills on time you
would incur additional charges or they might cut off their services to you. 4ctivities
belonging to this category need to be acted upon without delay. 5ou should give them
the highest priority.
Imp&"tant )$t N&t U"gent
Nuadrant C represents things which are important but not urgent # labelled (Nuality
$ime+. 4lthough the activities here are important and contribute to achieving the
goals and priorities # they do not have to be done right now. 4s a result they can be
scheduled when they can be given quality thought to them.
4 good e"ample would be the preparation of an important talk or mentoring a key
individual. *rayer time family time and personal rela"ationOrecreation are also part of
Nuadrant C.
U"gent )$t N&t Imp&"tant
Nuadrant I represents distractions. $hey must be dealt with right now but frankly are
not important. ,or e"ample when a person answers an unwanted phone call # heOshe
has had to interrupt whatever heOshe is doing to answer it.
N&t Imp&"tant an+ N&t U"gent
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Nuadrant A represents $ime !asting. 5ou might think activities in this section are not
worth peoples time so they wont engage in these activities much. 5ou would be
surprised to know that people spend most of their time doing things that are both
unimportant and non#urgent such as watching $P and movies playing video games
senseless chatting for hours on the phone shopping for new clothes etc.
1f course it is essential for people to rela" and unwind once in a while.
+4ll work and no play makes 7ack a dull boy+ as they say. But you should be strict in
limiting your time for these activities; that is if you really want to accomplish a lot in
your life.
$reat activities belonging to this section with the lowest priority. If you really want to
succeed strictly limit your time in doing these activities or dont do them at all. ,ocus
on those that will bring you fruitful results.
N$m)e"e+ P"i&"it, Ta%ti%
3eres one of the most powerful techniques that you can use to manage your time
efficiently D the )umbered *riority $actic.
Buy a very small notebook that you can put in your pocket. 5ou should be able to
bring it anywhere you go. 4t the front page of the notebook put the title> Imp&"tant
an+ U"gent. 4t the back page put the title> Imp&"tant )$t N&t U"gent.
If an idea or event you encounter is U"gent )$t N&t Imp&"tant then forget it. 5ou
want to utili'e your time well wont you? If you think its significant in some way
then you may put it under Imp&"tant an+ U"gent' Ignore N&t Imp&"tant an+ N&t
U"gent tasks.
Every time something comes up during your daily work or on your mind put it in the
appropriate page of your little notebook. &o lets say your boss told you to submit a
report due tomorrow. !rite it down on your notebook under Imp&"tant an+ U"gent'
$hen your friend told you that theres a big C#day sale at the downtown furniture store.
5ou may put it under Imp&"tant an+ U"gent if you simply must have that furniture
Page | 22
youre drooling for months. But if you think your house would do fine without it then
dont write it anymore. 4s youre walking down the street you suddenly thought of a
great new idea for your part#time business. 5ou may put it under Imp&"tant )$t N&t
U"gent.
4s the day goes on write down each and every idea thought or event that comes to
your mind. 4s the list increases in each category e"amine each of them carefully and
start numbering each item in the order of priority # with 8 being the highest priority.
&tart working on )umber 8 and never go to )umber C until youre done with )umber
8 for each category. If distractions come about you may take care of them first but
always come back to your numbered list when youre done.
Because priorities may change you may switch or change the numbers of the items in
the list. 5ou may also transfer one item from Imp&"tant an+ U"gent to Imp&"tant
)$t N&t U"gent- and vice#versa. !hen you do any changes make sure your notebook
stays clean. $ransfer your writings to a new page when you see that its getting untidy.
&tart off with a new page every day.
$his method can enable you to achieve more in one week than what most people can
accomplish in a month. $he important thing you must do is to buy that little notebook
and to start doing this super tactic right now2 $ime is running fast.
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Pa"et&>s P"in%ipe &" t.e ?@A6@ R$e
It was developed in the 8Qth century. $he principle states that R9 percent of our
unfocused effort generates only C9 percent of our end results and that R9 percent of
our results are achieved from C9 percent of the overall energy e"pended. .any
students and professionals spend the day in a fren'y of activity but achieve very little
of their desired results because they are not concentrating on the right things. In the
8QB9s the focus was on the manager and his organi'ation skills. Eater in that decade
7ames .cJay authored the first book on time management.
&tephen @. 0ovey describes the first generation of modern time management
techniques as notes and checklist reminders. $he second generation focused on
planning and preparation through the use of calendars and appointment books. $he
third generation was committed to ;planning prioriti'ing and controlling.; 1nce
again these techniques were not working. 0ovey describes several myth of third
generation time management and its ideals of the following>
? *lanning for efficiency
? *ersonal values= prioriti'ation
? 0ontrolling other people
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ABC S,stem
4lan Eakein developed the (4B0 technique.+ $his approach uses letters to prioriti'e
what is truly important to the individual. In labeling a task as 4 B or 0 the individual
is actually categori'ing these tasks as short#term intermediate or long#range goals.
$his system can be taken one step further by assigning numerical rank to each task.
,or e"ample 4#8 is the most important task and 4#C is secondary to 4#8. $he 4B0
technique of prioriti'ation was limited because ;4; list priorities may be confused
with urgency more often than true importance. &ome ;B; and ;0; ranked priorities
may actually be more important but not as urgent.
0ovey has developed another prioriti'ation technique that deals with the problem of
importance versus urgency. In the later half of this century time management
instruments and instruction has blossomed into a sophisticated business. $he
professional is left to a personal search for those instruments that will be the most
effective and efficient for his or her lifestyle. $he professional who does not use time
management skills may risk missing appointments and due dates of assignments. )o
good e"cuses can be given for being la'y in this area as the professional is e"pected
to be organi'ed finish tasks at assigned times and be able to use time management
principles to lead others.
&etting goals with balance in mind planning ahead and working on tasks that are
important but not urgent can help alleviate many crises of life that the professional
may otherwise encounter.
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Time Sa/e"s
Everything in this world has something to balance its e"istence. If there is white there
is black; if there is darkness there is light if there are time wasters there are time
savers. &o now let us focus our attention towards those time savers because they are
our best friends when we talk about $ime .anagement. $hese are hereby few general
e"amples of time savers. $hey are by no means the only time savers in the world.
T.e T&p Ten Time Sa/e"s
$elephones
0omputers
Elevators
,a" .achines
$he Internet
0offee .achines
Bulletin or )otice Boards
*hoto 0opiers
Efficient ,iling &ystems
-ood &ecretaries and 7unior &taff
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Eets take a quick look at all these.
$elephones.
&urprise2 &urprise2 I had included telephones under the list of time killers but
telephones are in fact one of the best time savers that man has invented. 7ust imagine
the amount of time you get to save by %ust making a telephone call2
&uppose you are to have a business lunch Fsometimes called a working lunchG with an
important client. 1bviously you have to reserve a table in your favorite restaurant.
)ow imagine you have to go there in person and get things done directly. $he task
would easily take away at least two or three hours of your time when you take into
account the %ourney the traffic and all that. 1n the other hand this is something you
can easily do over the telephone while you are comfortably seated in your office.
&o telephones are certainly one of the best time savers in this world. But of course it
all depends on how you use the telephone.
0omputers
I dont think that enough can be said about the time saving roles of the computer. But
then I dont think that I have to say much. I suppose every one will agree that
computers are indeed time#saving machines.
Elevators
)e"t we come to elevators and elevators too we know save a lot of time that we would
other wise have to spend plodding up flights and flights of steps. Elevators save not
%ust time but energy as well. But one annoying thing about elevators is that sometimes
even f we punch the button repeatedly the elevator takes for ever to reach or floor.
)ow if you %ust have to go two or three floors up or down in such cases it is always
better to take the stairs instead of waiting ten or fifteen minutes for the elevator to
come to your floor. Its better for your health too top climb a few stairs every day.
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,a" machines
Eike telephones fa" machines too save a lot of time by enabling us to send important
documents across continents if needed and that too within a few seconds.
$he internet
It goes without saying that the internet has revolutioni'ed our concept of time itself.
!ith facilities like email scanners voicemail and video conferencing even the fa"
machine has become outdated. $alk about fastS
0offee machines.
I did it on purpose. !hen people see that a coffee machine has been included among
the list of time savers they tend to screw up their noses and raise their eyebrows. But
would you believe that earlier before coffee machines had made their presence felt in
offices people used to take coffee breaks that lasted up to half an hour?
Bulletin or )otice Boards
Bulletin and )otice Boards are very time effective way of reaching out to a large
number of people. Instead of conducting one of those long meetings in which every
one gets a chance to go on and on its is bets to convey messages with the help of
notice boards and bulletins which can be displayed at a place accessible to all. 1h yes
then comes the question of how to make sure that the message is read by all those
concerned.
&imple include space on the notice where the concerned people can put down their
initials as proof that they have read the message.
*hotocopiers
1ften we tend to underestimate the importance of photocopiers in an office. $hose
machines %ust sit there and take copies of what is fed into them all day long. It does
seem like a %ob which does not require any brains. 4nd that is why we do not give
these machines any credit. But once these machines fail we understand their worth.
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1f course we can take multiple prints using a printer but cost wise and time wise a
photocopier is much better. It is really faster than a printer and it costs nothing to take
copies.
Efficient ,iling &ystems
$his had already been dealt with under office organi'ation but I %ust want to add that
a good system of filing definitely saves a lot of time. Being able to find an important
document or file should not be a matter of luck. $here should be a proper place to
keep the files something which people call a cabinet. 4nd the files should be kept in a
proper order with easy to read and intelligible name tags and labels. 4nd in the files
the documents should not be filed in a hapha'ard order but should have an order that
makes it easy to locate a paper.
$he same thing applies to the files you have on your computer you should name the
files properly and not use abbreviation that could stand for anything. *eople tend to
try and save time by using abbreviations which sound quite ridiculous once they
forget what it really stands for.
-ood &ecretaries and 7unior &taff
-ood secretaries are always an asset to an office. If your secretary is as dependable as
a screen saver then half the battle is won. But on the other hand if your secretary is as
feather brained as a hen then heaven help you2 $he advantage of having good
secretaries and %unior staff is that you can delegate a lot of things to them.
I told you earlier that it is not always necessary that you do everything by yourself.
5ou should be able to delegate a lot of things but first of course you have to be sure
that the people you are delegating to do something are good enough.
1nce you are able to share your work load with someone you will have at least one
hand free and I am sure you will be able to put that hand to some good use.
)ow over here I have %ust highlighted ten time savers. It would be a good idea for
you to look around and identify things that could save your time. 4nswering machines
for one save a lot of time. If you really are too busy to attend your calls let the
machine do the talking for you.
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In this conte"t I think it would be appropriate to talk about one thing that most people
often go wrong with in their quest to save time and that is trying to do two things at
the same time.
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ADVANTAGES OF TIME MANAGEMENT
3aving a %ob can be a stressful activity. .ost people lose a lot of time %ust trying to
think about their %ob. $oo often your %ob consumes you that it becomes a part of your
everyday life and you tend to lose priorities on other activities. 3owever all of these
are due to improper management of time. $he problems without proper time
management you could be facing a lot of stress. 5ou have to remember that
productivity does not %ust mean doing several things. 5ou need to create a balance in
these activities and make sure each is properly done. !hen you have so many things
to consider you are very much likely going to fail in meeting your deadline or you
can schedule more than one meeting at the same time. $his could lead to lower
efficiency and lots of time wasted. 4lthough you might not lose your %ob in the
process you could easily forsake other aspects of your life.
$he remedy $ime management can help prevent such events from happening. $his is
because you wont have to worry about things when you schedule your events
properly. 5ou get a lot of stress relief and a lot of time to prioriti'e your life.
3owever successful time management is quite tricky. 5ou have to incorporate a little
self#discipline in order to set up your events properly. 5ou also have to be more
fle"ible with your goals and priorities. $hese prerequisites are easy to attain. 5ou %ust
have to learn the basic concepts in order to set things in motion.
*roper time management creates a few of the most powerful advantages within and
outside your %ob sphere. &ince all these problems stem from stress the main advantage
of time management is the reduction of stress. 5ou probably have e"perienced
chasing deadlines or suddenly reali'ing that you set up two meetings on the same date.
5ou can prevent such scenario from happening if you practice clear time management
plan and a timetable for your activities. By having a clear plan you give yourself the
chance to set up a great schedule that suits your planned activities both in and out of
the %ob. ,urthermore you avoid compromising the most important aspect of all your
activities> your health.
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4nother good thing about having a successful time management program is having a
higher chance of completing everything on time. !hen you miss a deadline you fall
out of favor with your boss. $his leads to additional pressure to complete other tasks
and even to outdo your other officemates. $his leads to a lot of unnecessary pressure
that may cause you to e"tend your work outside the office %ust to keep up. It might
even mean that you will bring your work to the dinner table. 4nd the worse that could
happen you get so stressed out that you pass on the stress to your family members.
$he sooner you complete your tasks the more you free yourself of all the stress.
$he best thing about time management is that you get the chance to live your life on a
proper routine. 5our working schedule is not swamped and so you can leave enough
time for rela"ing and having fun. 4nd despite of your hectic schedule never forget to
take a break from time to time as it helps you become more productive.
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AVOID THE B9ISS OF YESC
$he idea might sound strange but avoiding the (kiss of yes+ i.e. being able to say /no
is fundamental to any scheme of $ime .anagement.
5es you have the master plan for time management you have everything worked out
you have a time table which you stick to religiously and you have a /to do list as
well. But %ust when things are beginning to work out fine a colleague or friend comes
your way and asks you to help them out by doing certain %obs which are really their
%obs.
$he person smiles very sweetly at you and showers sugar coated words on you and
before you even know what hit you you have said yes and agreed to do the work for
the person. )ow what is the relevance of your well thought out timetable? !here is
your scheme for time management? 5our work is waiting in the pantry while you are
sweating over somebody elses work. 4nd its because of the simple reason that you
could not say no to the person. 3ow many times have you had a similar e"perience?
Im not saying that you should not be civil. If you find a colleague in distress and have
the time to spare by all means help the person. !ho knows tomorrow you might be
in that persons position and you may need somebodys help.
But that does not mean that you should let yourself be taken for a ride. If you are
going to help a person at the e"pense of your work and schedule then you are going to
end up in hot water. It is human nature to shirk work and if word gets around that you
are a very helpful guy Fread that as s#u#c#k#e#rG then before you know it requests for
help will be coming from all sides.
:nless you want to take up from where .other $heresa left off you had better put
your foot down and say (sorry boss but I %ust dont have the time.+ Behave like a
diplomat who is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a nice manner that you
will actually start looking forward to the trip. 1ne more definition is that a diplomat is
a person who can say the nastiest things in the nicest way.
Page | 33
&o that is %ust what you have to do. 6one the mask of the diplomat and the ne"t time
someone approaches you with sugar coated requests to help them out smile back at
them. -ive them a sugary sickly sweet smile. &o much that anyone in their normal
senses would want to throw up at the sight of your smile.
$hen you could try telling them how much you love them. E"tol at length what you
think of the person and your relationship with him or her. 4nd then tell them that what
you are going to say is going to be a life long sorrow for you. It is something that will
plunge you into the depths of despair and all that. 4nd then put it painfully across
(no Im terribly sorry but )#1.+
4nd then when the person leaves your presence with a crest fallen face wait till he or
she is out of hearing range and then you can start that war dance. 1r if you want you
could try the hoola hoola.
0ommon face the facts in todays world of cut throat competition your very e"istence
may depend on your ability to say (no.+
4nd its miles better being a selfish pig than a sucker.
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PROCRASTINATION D THE U4TIMATE THIEF
Everyone does it. Everyone feels guilty when they do it and everyone resolves never
to do it again. But they do. Everyone procrastinates. *rocrastinationLthe cat burglar
of time managementLsteals into your life and whisks away one of the most valuable
assets you possess.
*rocrastination can be a thoroughly amusing concept indeed. But as with all things
humorous there are some underlying deep and darker forces. 4t the root of
procrastination argue psychologists almost always lurks some hidden fear or conflict
that urges us to put things off. 4 person may be obliged to achieve certain results but
a multitude of opposing emotions serves to short#circuit action. 4lthough the
procrastinator may act as if the threat fear or conflict is gone its till thereLboth in
the real world and in the persons subconsciousLwhere it generates stress and
ultimately corrodes success.
$ime management e"perts have identified the eight most typical causes of
procrastination shown in ,igure
Page | 35
Inte"na F&"%es
)ote that four of the causes Fthose in the shaded bo"esG are primarily inner rooted.
$hey arise for the most part from the procrastinators psyche. !hen we have certain
tendencies or personality traits they can manifest themselves in very different
situations. If for e"ample you tend to fear failure and you procrastinate largely for
that reason youll procrastinate on any task at which you might fear that youll fail.
E7te"na F&"%es
Even if you usually dont procrastinate your environment can impose procrastination
on you. $he above ,igure gives in the clear unshaded bo"es the four typical e"ternal
reasons for procrastination.
$his is not to say that psychological reasons arent involved. $here must be some. But
unpleasant or overwhelming tasksLand unclear goals or task flowLare enough to
make anyone want to postpone the inevitable.
Fig.ting t.e F&"%es
Internal causes for procrastination are more difficult to attack than e"ternal ones but
once psychological obstacles are conquered theyre conquered for all tasks. If you
procrastinate because of a fear of change that fear will color many different kinds of
tasks. 1nce you conquer this fear youll be able to approach most tasks with renewed
energy. !hile a single internal cause can make you procrastinate on many tasks
e"ternal causes for procrastination tend to be task specific.
&o if youre putting off doing something for an e"ternal cause you can cope with that
cause and stop procrastinatingL but that victory probably wont help you with other
e"ternal causes that are making you procrastinate on other tasks.
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EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT TRAINING
.ost losses incurred by companies are due to a lack of sound time management
program. $hen it leads to high levels of stress in the work force because employees
are pressured and forced to e"tend working hours %ust to meet the company=s quota.
Indeed there is a need to chase deadlines and attend double meetings. 3owever there
is a way to remedy all that. $here is no overnight solution to this type of problem.
!hat you need is a slow and steady approach until you have perfected your
scheduling needs until you are able to work free of any time#related stress. !hy time
management $ime management is a very important aspect of any business. In fact
most time management procedures even entail stress management as these two usually
goes hand in hand. 5ou might notice that levels of stress drop when you do not have
to deal with several meetings and deadlines. It also means that you will be able to live
out your life outside of the business sphere. 3ence it creates a more positive and
holistic outlook. &tress is crucial because it can tend to make things more complicated.
*roductivity levels of employees are affected by their time management planning and
workload. 3ence if you are able to manage your time properly you can allow your
employees to tend to stress relief activities. 4side from increasing their potential it
allows for a tighter bond amongst fellow employees and superiors. $hat is how it can
impact team building factor.
!hat do you get out of training? 4ny successful time management training program
begins with setting up a workable timetable that you and your employees can work
with. It comes in a very comprehensive package that allows both manager and
employee to meet halfway. 4ny company that undergoes training will have the
capacity to teach employees how to manage time. $his means that unnecessary
distractions can be avoided. $hese efforts e"tend far beyond ensuring a thriving
business but also consider one of the most important aspects in any venture and that is
your health. $his kind of training focuses on increasing the amount of control and
Page | 37
focus the company has over its goals and methods. $his means that when you allow
improvements to go into the necessary sectors of your business you are able to
increase your efficiency. $herefore this kind of training strengthens the employees=
ability to assess the situation and pick out assignments that can help them increase
productivity levels. 6elegation of tasks is also addressed in such training. $his is
because managers sometimes think that employees are better at handling manual
activities such as photocopying and sending. 3owever managers need to know that
delegation of tasks is a huge risk. &ome tasks are better done by the manager rather
than passing them down to subordinates. 4side from being time#efficient it saves a lot
of energy and allows for a more productive workplace. $he problem 1ne basic
misconception about time management is that it allows no time for break or
rela"ation. In fact when you properly manage your time you get the e"act opposite. It
allows the individual more time to rela" because he or she will be able to set aside
time for work and other activities. 3ence any problem encountered in the workplace
does not carry over to your personal lives. $herefore you have successfully kept your
business and other aspects of your life separate as they should be.
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TIME MANAGEMENT FOR STUDENTS
In today=s world we face a lot of distractions every day. $he case is especially tough
for a typical student who is struggling to create a balance between school and other
societal factors that contribute to becoming a holistic individual. $herefore today=s
young generation is slowly losing their sense of time management. $he dilemma lies
in sifting through all these factors and setting their priorities. !ithout proper time
management a student could indeed fall behind and live an imbalanced life.
8.G Balance between !ork &tudy and Eife 0ontrary to popular belief time
management works simply. 3owever the hard part is being able to practice it and
implant it within your subconscious to make it seem natural. ,or a student he or she
must be able to classify time allotted for classes working studying and partying. If
you do not have a clear sense of what to do with your time it is easy to go along with
the flow and that is where poor time management all begins. 4 student must be able to
differentiate the various aspects of your student life so there is always a separate time
for everything. ,or instance you have an upcoming qui' or e"am you must learn to
cut down or eliminate partying from your schedule to allot more time for study.
Indeed for this method to be a success one must need only common sense. 3owever
some people tend to overestimate their capacity to manage their time. 3ence they end
up consuming more time doing one task that they have none left for the other. Eearn
how to ad%ust your schedule so you won=t end up stressing out %ust trying to make up
for lost time. If you have to write down your schedule so you can keep track of where
you need to be at a certain time.
C.G $ime *ortioning &tudents might initially find doing school assignments and work
pro%ects boring and stressful. 3owever you can opt to divide the larger tasks into
small more manageable tasks. $hat way you won=t find yourself eating up several
hours of your time %ust trying to complete one task. 4nother benefit for doing this is
that you=d be able to allocate these smaller tasks into smaller time schedules that
would have a definite start and end. 1nce you have completed those smaller tasks you
can move on to other tasks. 3ence it eliminates the boring factor as you continually
Page | 39
alter your schedule instead of being stuck on one for hours.
I.G @eward ,or .anaging 5our $ime !hen you manage your time as a student you
can get some more free time to spare as rewards so you have more time to go to
parties or %ust have a bit of fun. @emember that all work and no play would make a
student very dull.
Page | 40
TIME MANAGEMENT PRINCIP4ES FOR STUDENTS
4s a student there are some basic principles of time management that you can apply.
$hese are as follows>
8. I+enti*, EBest TimeE *&" St$+,ing
Everyone has high and low periods of attention and concentration. 4re you a
;morning person; or a ;night person?; :se your power times to study while the down
times for routines such as laundry etc.
C. St$+, Di**i%$t S$)2e%ts Fi"st
!hen you are fresh you can process information more quickly and save time as a
result.
I. Use Dist"i)$te+ 4ea"ning an+ P"a%ti%e
&tudy in shorter time blocks with short breaks between. $his keeps you from getting
fatigued and ;wasting time.; $his type of studying is efficient because while you are
taking a break the brain is still processing the information.
A. Ma(e S$"e t.e S$""&$n+ings a"e C&n+$%i/e t& St$+,ing
$his will allow you to reduce distractions which can ;waste time.; If there are times in
the hostel halls or your apartment when you know there will be noise and commotion
use that time for mindless tasks.
B. Ma(e R&&m *&" Ente"tainment an+ Rea7ati&n
0ollege is more than studying. 5ou need to have a social life. 5et you also need to
have a balance in your life.
Page | 41
<. Ma(e S$"e ,&$ .a/e Time t& Seep an+ Eat P"&pe",
&leep is often an activity For lack of activityG that students use as time management
;bank.; !hen you need a few e"tra hours for studying or sociali'ing you withdraw a
few hours of sleep. 6oing this makes the time you spend studying less effective
because you will need a couple hours of clock time to get an hour of productive time.
$his is not a good way to manage you in relation to time.
H. Fig$"e &$t 1.e"e Time is .i++en
$hese instances may include the following>
? &itting in a waiting room
? !aiting to pick someone up
? @iding in the bus
? &tuck in traffic in the carOon your commute Flisten to tapes you have made foreign
language tapes lectures etcG
? !aiting in line
? 6oing laundry
? Between classes
$ake advantage of quick breaks and hidden time in the following manner>
? @e#read directionsOquestions for your ne"t paper or assignment
? &urvey the ne"t reading assignment
? @ead one section of a reading assignment
? Eist the main points of what you %ust read or of the lecture you %ust heard
? Eist today=s (to do+ items
? !rite out some questions to ask in class
Page | 42
$ime management helps to avoid the following>
8. $he syndrome of having several ma%or tasks to do all in the same night and failing
to do any of them.
C. &elf#incarceration## 6o not be a prisoner to your own procrastination inefficiency
or la'iness.
I. Being chronically late## 4re you always the last one to class? 3ow does this impact
your classroom e"perience? 3ow are things different when you show up on time or
early for class?
Page | 43
TIME MANAGEMENT FOR PARENTS
,or new parents they face a common dilemma of making that much needed
transition. If you do have work you also need to %uggle that along with your priorities
in the family. 5ou can probably easily manage the time at the office but the real
challenge lies in organi'ing your household such as sending or picking the kids up at
school preparing dinner or cleaning up the house. If not managed well these tasks
can prove stressful. !hen you have kids for the first time it is only natural to suffer
from %itters especially with a new setup. 3owever the solution to this is simple. 5ou
%ust have to cope with your situation since it is only through e"perience that you=d be
able to find a better approach to family life. But here are proven and trusted solutions
that any parent might find useful.
Setting P"i&"ities
Eearning how to properly set priorities is among the most important skill that every
parent whether new or not must practice especially for the working ones. $he key
here is to recogni'e the difference in schedule as compared to when you were on your
own now that you have your kids as your main obligation. $hen you can make the
appropriate changes. 5ou must be able to determine which your top priority is> is it
your kids or your work? 5ou have to remember that your decisions have trade#offs
therefore you would have to identify which of them has the least tradeoff.
4n additional tip that you can employ you can also try setting up a (to#do+ list for
your set of activities within a day. $hat way you can easily update what priorities you
need to focus one.
Page | 44
Deegating &t.e" D$ties
!hen it comes to work at home it is usually the wives= responsibility to handle them.
3owever wives must not carry the sole burden of looking after the entire house.
Instead you can delegate other duties to your husband so you can have equal share of
the workload at home.
If your husband is not acquainted with domestic chores this is the best time to get him
started. 5ou can divide the chores at home such as washing the dishes doing the
laundry or cleaning up the house. If not then you can have him take care of the kids
while you finish up on some chores.
.ore than being able to accomplish the chores faster it forms a bond and creates a
healthier working relationship between both of you as parents. If your kids are old
enough you can even ask them to help you out with the tasks at home. 5ou can start
with training them to fi" their beds or clean up their rooms as well as putting their
dirty clothes into the laundry basket.
4side from the help they can provide you in maintaining your home it also teaches
them how to be responsible. *lanning out in 4dvance what you have to do for
mothers it is best to plan ahead what you have set out to do for the following day.
4mong these things is creating a menu ahead of time. $herefore when it is time to
prepare lunch or dinner for the family you already have an idea what to cook for
them. By creating a weekly menu you increase your efficiency. 4fter all who has the
time and energy to spend wondering about what to cook for dinner after an e"hausting
day at the office? 6elegate
P"&pe" Time *&" S.&pping
!hen it comes to going out with your family you need to also plan ahead your
itinerary. $his will help you prepare the things you will bring with you ahead and
figure out if you have missed anything. Enough preparation will ensure that you will
Page | 45
have all the things you need for this day off with the family. 4s for shopping there are
a few simple tips that any mother would find useful.
&hopping at the grocery usually takes a lot of time. 3ence you need to produce a list
of the essential items you need to pick up. )ot only will this help make shopping
faster but will also make sure that you do not forget anything. 1r else you would eat
up more time since you have to return to get the items you=ve missed. ,or parents
time management usually entails mere common sense. 4nd when you have properly
set your priorities you are good to go.
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TIME MANAGEMENT TRAINING
*eople nowadays need to get a lot of things done especially with regards to their %ob.
3owever they tend to lose track of a lot of events and end up incurring losses in time.
$he problem is that these losses are unnecessary and are therefore not advisable if you
have a %ob. 4t its core the problem is in terms of poor time management.
3ow many times have you faced the dilemma of having too many meetings in one day
or trying to beat an impossible deadline? 4nd the worse thing is you get too stressed
out that it overflows into your personal life. 5ou manage to rub off that stress onto
your family members and that is when it becomes unhealthy. $he key to solving such
problems is a proper time management program. !ith it you can help yourself avoid
unnecessary risks when it comes to your %ob. It may even help prevent losses outside
of the %ob. $he program although it rests on a simple concept time management is a
lot more complicated than it seem. $here are special training programs that you have
to undergo in order to avail of the full benefits of proper time management. It is not
enough that you understand the basic concepts of time management. 5ou also need to
know how to apply them so everything you=ve planned on doing won=t end up a
disaster. If not then you could easily wind up committing more mistakes as you don=t
know the limitations of the basic concept. $hat is what time management training is
for. It allows you to have a better grasp with regards to time management. $hen you
will know what kind of timetable you need to have in order to ma"imi'e productivity
levels within and outside of your %ob sphere.
3ence there are trainings for time management. $he benefits most people fail to
reali'e that the ma%or cause of losses in terms of productivity and efficiency at work is
because of stress. 1n the other hand stress is a result of the worries over matters
related to one=s %ob. $herefore stress is your biggest adversary in all of these. $ime
management training gives you a chance to know what level of stress you are capable
of handling. 3ence it allows you to determine what type of %ob you should accept.
!hen you are aware of all these you will be able to stay within your optimum
Page | 47
productivity and efficiency levels without compromising your work schedule. $ime
management training helps individuals manage stress. !hen you are able to manage
your level of stress you will also be able to lessen whatever losses you might incur
during difficult times.
$his is of utmost importance because in order to stay competitive you have to keep
your productivity level at a ma"imum. $his not only applies to your professional life
though but also with your personal life. !hen you undergo this training you will have
a clearer idea on how to create an effective timetable and time management program
on your own.
3ence you can determine whether to accept or defer calls for help from your
officemates. $his will have its own implication in terms of the working relationship
within your workplace. $his will allow each member of the team to boost their
efficiency levels with their individual tasks. ,ocus is one of the most important
lessons you will learn with the training program. It allows people to assess which part
of their lives to focus on at different times. $his means that it allows individuals to
live a full and healthy life despite being in a stressful or rather busy %ob. $he biggest
gain you can take away with you by undergoing this kind of training is the emphasis
on producing efficient work at your %ob. 5ou cannot be efficient if you do not know
your own limitations. 5ou can easily overwork yourself but that does not
automatically mean you are being productive. $herefore you need to practice such a
program in order to gain ma"imum benefit from your %ob.
Page | 48
CONC4USION
)ow that we have come towards the end of the pro%ect we have reali'ed that how our
time gets wasted because we never thought of managing time in an effective manner.
It is said that time and tide waits for none so our attempts would be to make the best
use of time and prevent others from wasting our time too. $his chapter winds up all
our observations on time management in this pro%ect. It summari'es as to what causes
us to waste our time and suggests solutions to save time as much as possible. It also
offers tips to make the best use of time. 4s with all the precious resources time is a
scarce resource. $he wisdom lies in making the most of it.
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BIB4IOGRAPHY
B&&(s Re*e""e+
$ime $rap F8QQHG .acken'ie @. 4lec 4.401. Books.
$ime .anagement FC99IG .arc .ancini .c-raw D 3ill.
$he C< D 3our 6ay FC998G Pince *anella 0areer *ress
$ime Investment &trategy 6r. $erry *aulson
H9 .inute 3our 6r. 7im 3enning
*ersonal $ime .anagement .arion 3aynes 0ourse $echnology
$ime .anagement for &tudents FC99IG Brian *oser
We)sites Re*e""e+
http>OOwww.lc.unsw.edu.au
http>OOwww.infarbor.comOtimemanagementO
http>OOwww.instantstressmanagement.com
http>OOwww.yorku.caOcdcOlsp
www.randypausch.com
http>OO3@Era.com
www.citehr.com
http>OOwww.scribd.com
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