TIME MANAGEMENT

SESSION OBJECTIVES

• To have an understanding and importance of time management .

• Describe and appreciate the time management matrix.

An ice breaker.

• DOE- a beer a German beer• Ray - a guy who will buy a beer• Me - I have a kind of beer• Far - A longer way from beer• SO - I ‘ll have another beer• La - La la la la la beer• Tea - No thanks I’ll have a beer• Then we drink it back to beer, beer , beer , beer

What do you understand by time?

• Time is a dimension in which events can be ordered from the past through the present into the future and also the measure of durations of events and the intervals between them.

• Time is the only article that cannot be recycled. Time lost can never be recovered.

What then is time management?

• Time management refers to a range of skills, tools and techniques used to manage events in your life in relation to time.

• Time management doesn’t “just happen” for anyone – it is a skill that must be worked on, and that most people find to be a life-long challenge.

Why manage time?

To reduce Stress=Managing time well can prevent much of the stress we are subject to.

To have a Balance=Good time habits can enable us to achieve a more balanced life, with adequate time and energy for work, home, family, self.

Productivity= If you can become more effective with your time, you automatically increase your productivity.

Goals= To make progress toward achieving your personal and professional goals, you need available time. Nothing can be done when you’re out of time.

Exercise.

1) List all the aspects of your life that are important to you in order of preference such as family, friends etc.

2) Draw a circle and give each section a title.

Exercise.

3) Colour them out 1 to 6 according to how much time you spend them currently.

4) How does your result in (3) match with your preferences list in (1).

5) How is my time used?To get a more accurate estimate, you may keep track on how you spend your time during a week. This will help you get a better idea of how much time you need to prepare for each subject. It will also help you identify your time wasters.

Time stealers(wasters).

1)Procastination.The biggest time stealer of all is not decision-making but decision-avoidance.

2) Telephone interruptions. The telephone is one of our greatest communication tools – but it can also be our biggest time waster.

Time stealers(wasters).

3) Distractions. This is very common today such as friends, internet and what have you.

Tips for Effective Time Management.

• Know how you spend your time. Becomingaware of how you use your time may improve your time management skills.

Set Goals:• Decide what you want to do• Take a “SMART” approach• Goals give you required direction

Prioritize:• Prioritize and identify what you value

• Highlighting can be very helpful

• Once prioritize, concentrate on those that would add value.

.Use a to do list:

• Find out what is urgent and important

• Put them in order of preferences

• Once completed delete them from your list

Be Flexible:

• Allow time of interruptions and distractions

• Save larger block of time for priorities

• Ask yourself questions and get back to your goal

Consider your Biological Time:

• Find out which is the best time for you study

• Are you a morning person?

• A night owl?

• Late Afternoon?

Eliminate the Urgent:• Urgent tasks have short term Consequences

• Important tasks are long term and goal related

• Flagging and or highlighting items are important

• Attach deadline to each of the items

Conquer Procrastination:

• Learn to say “NO”

• Reward Yourself

Time Management Matrix.

Otherwise called the Urgent/Important Matrix is a tool which helps you think about your priorities and determine which of your activities are important, and which are, essentially,distractions.

How you can the Urgent/Important Matrix be used to manage time effectively?

• The Urgent/Important Matrix is a powerful way of thinking about priorities. Using it helps you overcome the natural tendency to focus on urgent activities, so that you can keep clear enough time to focus on what's really important.

Here's how it works:

The matrix can be drawn as shown in figure 1 below, with the dimensions of Importance and Urgency.

• Figure 1 – The Urgent/Important Matrix

• The first step is to list all the activities and projects that you feel you have to do. Try to include everything that takes up your time at work, however unimportant.

• Next, on a scale of 1 to 5, assign importance to each of the activities. Remember, this is a measure of how important the activity is in helping you meet your goals and objectives. Try not to worry about urgency at this stage.

• Once you've assigned an important value to each activity, evaluate its urgency. As you do this, plot each item on the matrix according to the values that you've given it.

• Now study the matrix using the strategies described below to schedule your priorities.

Strategies for Different Quadrants of the Matrix

• Urgent and Important There are two distinct types of urgent and important activities: Ones that you could not foresee, and others that you've left to the last minute.

You can avoid last-minute activities by planning ahead and avoiding procrastination.

• Urgent and Not ImportantUrgent but not important activities are things that stop you from achieving your goals, and prevent you from completing your work. Ask yourself whether these tasks can be rescheduled, or whether you can delegate them.

Not Urgent, but Important

• These are the activities that help you achieve your personal and professional goals, and complete important work. Make sure that you have plenty of time to do these things properly, so that they do not become urgent.

• And remember to leave enough time in your schedule to deal with unforeseen problems. This will maximize your chances of keeping on schedule, and help you avoid the stress of work becoming more urgent than necessary.

Not Urgent and Not Important• These activities are just a distraction, and

should be avoided if possible. Some can simply be ignored or cancelled. Others are activities that other people may want you to do, but they do not contribute to your own desired outcomes. Again, say "No" politely, if you can.

QUESTIONS

THANKSENOW MYREILLE N