Time Management

Dr Sikandar Ali Khan

psychiatrist
 Why Time Management?
 Improves work-life balance
 Leads to increased productivity

 Lowers stress levels

 Creates more time for the important

 Develops delegation and

organizational skills
 Enables goal achievement

2
 To Manage Time Is To…
 Usetime effectively to achieve
desired results.

 Understand how we spend our time.

 Usetools and processes for efficiency

and productivity.

3
 STARTLING STATISTICS

Over lifetime of 50 years

 2.5 years driving a car

 6 months waiting at red light

 5 years waiting in line

 6 years eating

 2 years trying to return phone calls

 1 year looking for misplaced objects

 23 years in bed

 7 years in bathroom

 8 months opening junk mail

4
 MYTHS ABOUT TIME

 Time can be managed.

 The longer or harder you work the more you
accomplish.
 If you want something done right, do it yourself.
 You aren’t supposed to enjoy work.
 We should take pride in working hard.

5
 MYTHS ABOUT TIME

 You should try to do the most in the least amount of

time.
 Technology will help you do it better, faster.
 Do one thing at a time.
 Handle paper only once.
 Get more done and you’ll be happier.

6
 Two types of tasks

 Maintenance tasks
(maintain value – they help ensure you “survive”)

 Improvement tasks
(add value – they help ensure you “thrive” )

7
 Common Time Wasters
 Procrastination

 Unnecessary meetings
 Interruptions

 Internet surfing
 Trivial emails

 Paperwork

8
 SELF INFLICTED DELAYS

 Delaying decisions
 Failing to handle distractions
 Leaving tasks unfinished
 Doing easy or trivial first – postponing the difficult
 Procrastinations

9
 WHY DO WE PROCRASTINATE?

 Don’t know where to start.

 To avoid an unpleasant task.
 We’re afraid to fail.
 Waiting for more information.
 if you put it off someone else will do it.
 You’re over-committed.

10
 Why Do We Waste Time?
 Stressed out
 Overworked
 Overwhelmed
 Exhausted
 Disorganized
 Unfocused

Time wasters = escape

11
 Time Management Principles
 Focus on importance, not urgency.

 Make conscious choices about what to do when.

 Learn to say “no.”

 Develop a personalized system for managing

time.

12
 Keep in Mind…
 Timemanagement is a personalized
process, unique for each individual.

 When done effectively, good time

management should make you feel
energized, focused, and balanced.

13
 Steps to Time Management
 Prioritizing

 Analyzing

 Filtering

 Scheduling

 Executing

14
 Important task rarely must be done today or
even this week

 The urgent task calls for instant action

 Important task don’t tend to act upon us or press
us because they are not “urgent” they are the
things that we must act upon

15
 Not important important
Urgent
Not urgent

16
 The Time Management Matrix
Urgent Not Urgent
I II
•Preparation
•Crises
•Prevention
•Pressing problem
•Planning
Important

•Deadline driven problems

•Value clarification
•Meetings
•Relation building
•True recreation
•Empowerment

III IV
Not Important

•Interruptions •Junk mail

•Some phone calls •Some phone calls
•Some meetings •time wasters
•Many popular activities •Escape activities
(other’s priorities •Fountain gossips
&expectations) •Light novels
•Aimless surfing
17
 The Big Quadrant 1
Urgent Not Urgent

II
Important

I Results:
• Stress
IV
•Burnout
•Crisis management
•Always putting our fires
Not Important

III
18
 An Effective Time Manager
Urgent Not Urgent

I II

Results:
• Vision, perspective
Important

• Balance
• Discipline
• Control
• Few crises

19
 SEVEN KEY ACTIVITIES

 Improving communication with people

 Better preparation
 Better planning & organizing
 Taking better care of self
 Seizing new opportunities
 Personal development
 Empowerment

20
 PRIORITIZATION

Just because you can do something doesn’t mean

you should.

21
 MAKING THE BEST USE OF TIME

 Decide that you don’t have to please everyone.

 Let go–don’t be a perfectionist.
 Resist the temptation to do small, insignificant tasks too well.
 Outsource what you can.

22
 INTERRUPTIONS…
 If no one asked questions we wouldn't have jobs.
 Anticipate the most common questions.
 Try closing your door or arranging your office to discourage
drop- ins.
 If all else fails, hide.

23
 TIMING

Knowing when not to work is as important as knowing

when to work.

Save the easiest tasks for the end of the day.

24
 GET THE MOST OUT OF THE FIRST
TWO HOURS OF THE DAY

 Don’t eat breakfast at work.

 Don’t schedule meetings for this time.
 Start with the most important work of the day.
 Do the things you don’t want to do first.

25
GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO FAIL

 Failure is okay, if...

 If you have not failed, it means you have not risked,
not challenged yourself.

26
 Scheduling Tips
 Group or “chunk” similar tasks together
for clarity and focus (e.g., returning
calls).
 Organize tasks and appointments on one
page to see at a glance what has to be
done.
 If you add a task to a “to-do” list, take
something out to avoid overload.
 Calculate how long tasks will take you to
accomplish.
27
 Calculating Task Time
 For one week, note in your planning
system how long you think it will take
to do a task.
 Then log the actual time it took to
complete the same task.
 Compare the estimates to the actual
time – is there a pattern? Are the gaps
off by the same amount?
 Use the time estimates to block out
time as accurately as possible.
28
 Common Hidden Time Costs
 Interruptions

 Travel time
 Unexpected problems

 Personal time – eating, breaks,

restroom, etc.
 Time to think

29
 Meeting Deadlines
To schedule time for large projects:
 Schedule work in smaller segments.

 Block out 1–2 hours of work time

(“blocks”) on your calendar.
 Minimize distractions.

30
 Multitasking
 Adults are able to do a variety of tasks
any given day; however, we can only do
one thing very well at one time.
 Focus for just 15 minutes on only one
task at a time to boost productivity.
 Gradually increase the time you focus on
one task to 30, 45, and then to 60
minutes, and watch your productivity
rise.

31
 Scheduling Steps
1.Visualize how your day/week will go
and what will be accomplished.
2. Do your planning at the same time
every day to form the habit.
3. Decide for what period of time you will
schedule—daily, weekly, or whatever is
appropriate.
4. Review uncompleted items, projects,
and goals.

32
 Scheduling Steps (Cont’d.)
5. Review appointments.
6. Prioritize tasks using ABCs (A = most
important, B = middle importance, C = least
important).
7. Block off time on particular dates for major
activities, using your priorities as a guide.
8. Check off items as they are completed for
clarity and a sense of accomplishment.

33
THANK YOU

34