UNIT 11 TIME MANAGEMENT

Structure

Introduction
Objectives
Concept of Time
Managing Time
1 1.4.1 Prioritizing Activities
11.4.2 Self-analysis
1 1.4.3 Influences
11.4.4 Long Tern1 Personal Goals
Time Allocation
Planning Strategy
Time Management Strategies
Let Us Sum Up
Unit-end Exemises

11.1 INTRODUCTION

To be an effective teacher it is not sufficient to possess mastery of knowledge

in your subject area or methodology to transact the same. To be so you need to
demonstrate a range of core skills. One of the most essential skills required by
an effective teacher rerates to managing the time available and prioritize the
long term and short-term goals. The aim of this unit is to make you aware of
how to use your time more effectively. After reading this unit, we hope, you
will certainly be mork effective in using your time. A little more thought and
planning can provide you with more time for doing the activities that you think
are important to you.

The design of the unit is such as shall help you work at your own pace.
Throughout the unit ideas about time management will be presented and you
will be invited to consider questions and different scenarios sb that you can
consolidate your knawledge and understand the underpinning concepts. We,
therefore, hope that efier studying this unit you will be able to manage your
school/classroom time more effectively.

11.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you should be able to:
undertake a self-qxamination of your work and leisure time,
take care of the different types of obstacles that tend to limit the
effectiveness of your action,
establish and primitise your long term and short term goals,
work out the stqategy to translate your long term goal into every day
actions,
organise time available on a daily basis,
list various steps to manage time effectively.
 Time Management
11.3 CONCEPT OF TIME

First of all, you need to consider what time means to you and identify some of
the ways in which you can manage it more effectively. If you wish to become
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an effective manager of time you must first understand the nature of what you
are attempting to manage. Time in this context is not to be defined
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philosophically. Most simply, it is of finite duration distinct from eternity. The
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expression 'time' in English language as well as in other languages is used in
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different ways. Spend a few minutes writing down some ideas of what the
following phrases mean to you:

At the same time

On time
Time off
At times
From time to time
Timeless
In no time
Timely
In time.

A reflection on the above phrases will enable you to focus on the nuances of
meaning that underpin their use in actual contexts. You have probably now got
a clearer idea of time. Time in fact is an intangible concept or a paradox. You
never have enough time but you have all the time that is available. It is a
resource, but if you don't use it, it will disappear and you will never be able to
catch hold of it, once gone. You can't increase its quantity, but you can ensure
yourself that you use it on things that are important to you.

Activity 1

Below is given a scenario wh~reinMohan, a student of class XI1 seems to have

difficulty in achieving his goals. Identify what the problems are and suggest
ways in which he might overcome them.

Scenario

Mohan got up at 8 a.m. on a particular day. The earlier day he was given an
assignment by his teacher which he was supposed to finish within three days.
He had his tea as usual and started preparing himself for the library to work on
the assignment. Just then a friend Imran arrived. They started gossiping. Imran
had some troubles in the school and was feeling very upset. It was already 10
a.m. when Imran left. Even after Imran had left, he (Mohan) remained thinking
about Imran's problems. At 11 a.m. he left for the library. At 12 he had a
tutorial with his Mathemetics teacher. Keeping in view the little time left to
handle the assignment he started reading yesterday's notes and decided to
handle the assignment after lunch. After attending the tutorial, Mohan had his
lunch. After lunch he returned to the library thinking, 'Why do we have to do
that assignment any way'? It is not very relevant. Looking into the briefings
for completing the assignment made him more convinced of the futility of the
assignment, yet it was to be completed some how. He had just made up his
mind to start writing something, when Ravindra appeared. "Hello Mohan",
Ravinder began. "How did the tutorial go this morning? Was the Mathematicss
Professional Excellence of teacher in a good mood"? They started a discussion. Ravinder made a few
Teachers
remarks about the teacher's personality. By the time Ravinder left it was
3.30 p.m. and Mohan had decided to sort out a few small items and get on with
the important assignment the next morning. "After all", he told himself, "still
there are two days left". He would do the assignment when he got a quiet time.

Can you identify thc mistakes Mohan was committing in this scenario? There
are several issues to consider. Here are some of the more significant ones you
might have considered.

How to become more effective

Mohan starts work late

He puts off the job he does not like Determine to do the most difficult or
least exciting jobs sooner rather than
L8 later

Mohan allows himself to be Develop stronger will power and stick

to the schedule
All activities were given equal Identify important activities and focus

Little has been achieved in the day Aim to accomplish one major task each
day

We also have to examine our activities for the day or session and set the time
to accomplish them. The students will follow your behaviour in completing
their assignments on time.

'11.4 MANAGING TIME

You might have realized that time is a personal concept which means there is
no right or wrong perception of time. Learning to manage time requires
commitment and depends on how you approach various activities. Your
approach will be influenced by the assumption you make about the nature of
your work and the environment in which you live and work. Some
assumptions will generally be more useful than others for managing your time
effectively.

Time management is simply a way of using tirrie effectively. Working faster or

working longer are poor strategies for managing time. It is more sensible to
identify your priorities and then choose the activities accordingly. In fact
managing time i$ about managing yourself. It is about adapting to a given
situation so that you can get the most out of your time For you to do this, you
must accept that you can influence and ultim?tdy control the environment in
which you live and work. You must learn to spend your time wisely.
Activity 2 Time Management

Here are some statements for you to consider. State which statement is true and
which is false.

a. Most students were overworked because of the nature of their studies.

b. No one ever has enough time.
c. Most people can find ways of saving time.
d. Managing time is simply a case of reducing time on certain activities.
e. Scheduling time is quite impossible.
f. You can solve most time problems by working harder.
g. People who concentrate on working efficiently are the most effective.
h. Most of the ordinary day-to-day activities do not need to be planned.
i. It is not always possible to work on the basis of priorities.
j. Identifying a problem is easy; it is deciding upon a solution which is hard.
k. Time management denies spontaneity.
1. It is not necessary to write down your objectives.

Now let us discuss the answers you might have considered.

a. False The feeling of 'overwork' is in the nature of persons and not in

the nature of studies. Overwork is often caused by failing to
establish priorities, spending much time on unnecessary details
and by having poor work ethics.
b. False There is always enough time to do what is really important. The
problem lies in deciding what is important.
c. False There is no way to save time. All you can do is to spend time.
The concept of saving time means reducing time on one activity
so as to use it on another.
d. False Managing time is about spending an appropriate amount of time
on each activity.
e. False You can always find a quiet period to concentrate on the very
important activities. The problem is removing the likelihood of
distractions and interruptions.
g. False Working harder does not always mean working more
effectively. Stress, tension and fatigue will take their toll.
h. False Efficiency is about doing things right but effectiveness is about
doing the right things.
i. False Not only it is possible to do this but it is essential if you are
going to be an effective time manager.
j. False Identifying a problem is probably the most serious obstacle in
effective time management.
k. False Managing your time will leave you with unscheduled periods
which can be held in reserve to compensate for the spontaneous
activities which you may get involved in.
1. False Writing down your objectives makes them visible and increases
your commitment to them.
Professional Excellence of
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Activity 3

Here is another activity for you to work on.

Write down 10 steps which you believe are essential if you are to manage your
time effectively. As you work through this programme of self study; you will
be asked to review these $teps, modify them and add additional steps to reflect
on your growing awareness of time management.

Remember, time is a uniquely personal concept and then learning to manage

time requires personal commitment. Most people have things waiting to be
done when there is time and you will be no exception. However, do you have a
clear picture of what these things are? The things you need to do when you
have time are not equally important. Some will have higher priority than
others. You need to be laware of this, if you are to be an effective time
manager.

11.4.1 Prioritizing Activities

Before we discuss the issues related to prioritizing activities, let us work on the
following activity:
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Activity 4

List all your outstanding activities to which you should devote more time as it
will have a positive effect on your work and leisure. Write down in the order
you think of them. They dan be large or small and almost anything. Now, rank
these activities into an order of priority.

Find out five most important activities. Give reasons why you have given high
priority to these activities.

Decide how much time you need to complete each activity. Estimate the total
time required. Where it is a continuous activity estimate the time you need
each week. Set yourself a target when each activity should be finished and
record it in the date column.

Obstacles: You probably have some idea of what prevents you from doing the
things that you believe are important. Have you got the reasons for non-
achievement well documtnted and are they valid reasons? You must know
what precisely distracts you from achieving some pre-defined objectives.

Estimating: Try to be accurate while estimating the time duration for

completing any activity. But you must also try to be realistic. It is common to
underestimate rather than overestimate, and if you miss a deadline, you will get
disheartened. Take account of the obstacles that might come in the way when
trying to achieve the target.

You will be more accurate if you break an activity into its constituent parts.
For example, to produce a 3000 word essay for a course work, the assignment
is likely to involve you in planning, research and data collection, analysis and
consolidation of ideas, writing of the first draft and its further modification and
fin*, preparation and pnesentation of the finished essay. By considering each
 sub-activity in turn, you are more likely to understand the nature of the work to Time Management
be undertaken and the time you would require to complete it.

A Working system: On the basis of what you have done by now you can
compile some key information about activities and obstacles.

Which activities are waiting to be done?

I Which activities are most important?
The reasons why activities have not been done.

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I How might obstacles be overcome?
How much time is needed to complete activities?
When will the activities be completed?

iI How can you use your time better?

In order to use your time better, you may consider the following:
i
It is possible to use your time better.
You can improve your performance by identifying priorities and obstacles.
This does not take much time itself.
Time management is about thinking before hand to ensure you are always
doing the right thing.

11.4.2 Self-analysis
The better you know yourself, the easier it is to set personal goals. If you spend
some time on self-analysis you will become more aware of what you like and
what you do not like; what is more important to you and what is less important.
You will then be in a position to identify where to direct your efforts which
itself is the foundation of long term personal plan. You are likely to have an
opinion of how well you work. But have you ever considered this in detail?
Such critical self-analysis can provide some very useful information. Here is
an activity on self-analysis.
Professional Excellence of
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You have now spent some time considering how you work and on the
underlying resources for this behaviour. There will be strong points to build
upon and weaker points which require some attention. Such knowledge will
enable you to be more effective in managing your time.

11.4.3 Influences

Throughout your life, at home, in school, and at leisure, you will have been
subjected to many influences. Such influences have an impact on the way you
think and behave today and on what you consider to be important. Being aware
of this, you will plan for the future which will help you make most effective
use of your time. Here is an activity for you to work on.

Consider what has influenced the way you behave in your leisure time and in
your studies. List the major items in each broad area that might have exerted
negative/neutral/positiveinfluence.

The information gathered through activities 5 and 6 will enable you to focus on
the issues that you have to address if you are going to be more effective in the
way you operate. For example, negative influences in your environment might
have been your over-reliance on a parent to make you get up and off to school
in the morning when you were a young teenager. Having highlighted the
problem, you can now consider how to over come this.

11.4.4 Long Term Personal Goals

It is not easy to define me's personal goals. A goal should motivate you to
'take action and provide some focus for your efforts. The following points are
worth consideration while defining meaningful goals.

Goals should be writteh down.

Goals should be precise, achievable and measurable.
Goals should have a time frame.
Goals should be compatible with one another.

The goals you define should encompass both work and leisure. It is only when
you have an idea of what you want to do with your life that you can decide
 what you have to spend your time on. Now work on the following activity in Time Management
the light of the guideline stated above.

Activity 7

List your five most important goals.

a.
b.
t c.
d.
e.

Use the guidelines discussed earlier in this unit to check whether each one of
the objectives is meaningful.

Having established your goals you need to identify the main areas where you
need to use your time and concentrate your efforts. Typically your key areas
might be subdivided into intellectual activity, work activity, family and leisure.

11.5 TIME ALLOCATION

Time is limited. You must allocate time to different activities judiciously in

keeping with the importance of the activity in realizing your personal goals.
You define the activities which you have to perform in each area. There are
three types of time-development activities:

One-08 Those occurring only once.

Adhoc recurring: Those that occur more than once but the time of
occurrence is irregular.
Regular: Those that occur regularly at the same time each daylweekl
month.

Listing all activities and categorizing them will help you devise a personal
plan.

Activity 8

Choose activities relating to any two areas indicated above. Briefly describe
these activities and categorise each activity as one-off, adhoc recurring or
regular.

Consider what you are going to achieve with each activity.

Analysis of time: If you have to address each area effectively, you should
analyse how effective you are in using your time. You can do it in two parts:
time recording and time analysis.

Time recording: The recording can be done in the following manner:

Time in minutes to be spent on each activity.

Key words describing the activity.
Which key area the activity is associated with.
Professional Excellence of The value you plhce on each activity rated as 0 - 5.
Teachers
Any idea of improving your effectiveness.

Time analysis: Calculate the time allotted in percentage:

time spent on each key area (%).

time spent on nofi-key area activities (%).
time spent on high priority (4-5) activities (%).
time spent on medium priority (2-3) activities (%).
time spent on low priority (0-1) activities (%).

Obstacles revisited: The obstacles many fall in three groups. (i) Those
relating to your own make-up, called psychological obstacles which affect
your attitude and mbtivation. (ii) Those relating to your style of study called
study related obstacles which will affect your daily plans. (iii) Those relating
to your surroundings called physical obstacles which limit the effectiveness of
your action. Some examples will clarify the concept being discussed.

Psychological obstacles

Lack of motivation
Poor power of cohcentration
Indecision
Lack of self-discipline
Inability to complete jobs

Study related

Involvement in too many activities

Too much irrelevant work
Ineffective readin
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Too many unplan ed activities

Physical obstacles

Noisy living accommodation

Restricted librarydopening hours
Uncomfortable lecture theatres and tutorials rooms

Try to remove thesi: obstacles to the extent possible. The psychological

obstacles can be ovekcome by understanding your strengths and weaknesses.
You will try to do this in activities 8 and 9. Study related obstacles can be
overcome with practice and self-control. For example you can learn to read
more quickly and more effectively. You can develop this skill which will be
useful to xou for the rest of your life. Physical obstacles can be overcome by
finding a place whene you can work without disturbance. Choosing a place
with least distra~tion'de~ends upon you. It depend< on your will to do it and
the motivation you have developed.

11.6 PLANNING STRATEGY

Planning the time is very important. In order to plan effectively your have to
prioritize your long-term and 8hort-term goals, You have also to see what ia
more important to do and what is more urgent. You should plan a strategy Time Management
which covers both the long term and short-term goals.

Activity 9

As stated, you should work on this activity.

(i) Try to develop an overall long term plan for the next 12 months.
(ii) Focus on the activities which are important for each of your key areas.
(iii) Identify key milestones such as examinations.
(iv) Use a planner to briefly record your plans for the next academic session.

Similarly, you should prepare a weekly schedule. This enables you to identify
the unscheduled time you have available to you. Having done this, you can
allocate this time on a daily basis to the activities you have listed as important.

11.7 TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

By now you have considered the elements of time management. You are now
in a position to become a good time manager. Now is the time to think about
an overall strategy. Your strategy will enable you to translate your long term
goals into every day actions.

Activity 10

If you are asked to perform the following activities:

In two weeks time you think you may face a problem. .

You have to give a talk in the morning assembly on Thursday.
On Tuesday you have a counselling session with your students on their
personal problems.
On Saturday you have to take ;your team to the town for an interschool
competition.

How will you manage this situation? Think about various strategies and select
the best strategy to accomplish the tasks.

In Activity 4 you have developed a list of steps to manage time effectively.

Would you modify any one of these having undertaken subsequent exercises?
The following list may help you to arrive at a list which is appropriate for you.

Clarify your objectives.

Focus on objectives, not activities.
Set one major target each day and achieve it.
Periodically record and analyse how you use your time.
Try to eliminate time wasters.
Plan your time.
Make an action list each day.
r Make your first hour productive,
Professional Excellence of Set time limits for each activity.
Teachers
Make time to do it .right the first time.
Include a quiet time in your day.
Develop the. habit of finishing what you start.
Overcome procrastinations.
Make time management a daily habit.
Develop your own philosophy of time.

Your strategy should be build around the following steps:

Define goals and expectations.

Cultivate self knowledge.
Identify key areas.
Develop a long term personal action plan.
Establish a short term schedule of activities.
Organise the time available on a daily basis.

Such a framework will help you to decide what to do next.

This was the key to resolving the problem in Activity 8. A typical strategy in
this case might have been as follows:

Consider if all elements are within key areas, if not, then discard the
elements outside the key areas.
Identify all other activities to be done in the two week period together with
the time required.
Identify non-scheduled time.
Estimate the time involved in activities stated in Activity 8.
Decide which activities have priority.

11.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit we have discussed that managing time is one of the most important
core skills which can make you an effective teacher. To develop this skill, most
importantly you need to understand its importance in shaping your behaviour
and personality. Time, you know, is a personal concept and there is no right or
wrong perception of it. It is a way of using time effectively and with
commitment. In the environment or in your personality, there are many
obstacles which may act as time wasters These obstacles may be
psychological like lack of motivation or ~ ' ~ concentration;
0 1 they may be study
related or these may be physical also, like the different kinds of environmental
distractions. If you want to use your time wisely you need to prioritize your
activities according to what you think are more important. By self-reflection
you very well know what obstacles might come in the way and how they can
be overcome. Then to manage time effectively, you need to define your long
term and short term goals which should be precise, measurable and realistic.
 You should also define the time frame for achieving these goals. In keeping Time Management
with these goals you should allocate time and devise a planning strategy for the
different activities. While working on short-term goals you may organise the
available time on a daily basis. Such a framework will help you to decide what
to do next.

11.9 UNIT-END EXERCISES

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1. Prepare a schedule of activities to be completed in a trimester. Prioritize the
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activities.
2. List your long term and short term goals and prioritize them.
I 3. Make a list of differentltypes of activities required to be completed in a
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trimester. Prioritize these activities starting from the most
immediatelimportant ones to the least important or those that you can
afford to delay.
4. Devise a planning strategy to realize your long term goals for the students
of class IX.
5. Do you think managing time on the lines given in this unit is important and
can serve a useful purpose? Give reasons for your answer.