Time Management Workshop

Prepared by Karen Calhoun

for the ULS Leadership Program

12 June 2012

Credits

• Patti Hathaway – 1993 workshop

• Stephen Covey and Charlie Whiting – 1996 First Things First workshop

• SkillPath workshop – Managing Multiple Projects, Objectives, Deadlines – 1998?

• All the colleagues who have helped me try to “keep the main thing the main thing”

Illustration John Tenniel, Alice in Wonderland. Public domain.

Learning Objectives

• Understand your own time management habits

• Identify what you want to change

• Assess what controls your time

• Explore the links between values and how you manage your time

• Add some tips and tricks to your personal tool kit

CHANGING OLD HABITS IS HARD AND

FEELS WEIRD

Write your name with the hand you usually use

________________________________________

Write your name with the other hand

________________________________________

Getting in Control

Self-examination

Tools and techniques

Commitment and practice

Control*

*The fine print: 100% control is not possible, especially as you advance in your career. See Peter Drucker “Know Thy Time” to learn more.

What Robs Your Time? Pick Your Top Five

Procrastination Poor planning Inadequate equipment

Interruptions

_____ _____ _____ _____

Indecision E-mail/phone Lack of procedure

Lack of authority

_____ _____ _____ _____

Inability to say “no”

Anger and arguments

My own mistakes

Multiple bosses

_____ _____ _____ _____

Others’ mistakes

Socializing, chat

Unclear priorities

Cluttered workspace

_____ _____ _____ _____

Waiting for others

Failure to listen

Poor communication

Shifting priorities

_____ _____ _____ _____

Look at your top five …

• Which ones do you have limited control over?

• Which ones do you have maximum control over?

Personal power grid

CAN CONTROL CAN’T CONTROL

TAKE ACTION MASTERY CEASELESS STRIVING

NO ACTION GIVING UP LETTING GO

Exercises/Discussion

• Results from “Time Mastery Profile” (Inscape Publishing)

• Handout – “The main thing”

Action Plan Part One

Am I Addicted to Urgency?

• Sense of excitement

• Energy

• Status (in our society, a busy person = an important person)

• Feels good to solve crisis

• Good at it

Some Possible Signs of Urgency Addiction

• I work better under pressure

• I’m too busy to think about it now

• I feel guilty when I’m not working

• I hate to wait or stand in line

• I give up family or personal time to handle a crisis at work

• Someday I’ll be able to do what I really want to do

• I know ____ is important, but I don’t have time now

Time Management Matrix

Urgent Not Urgent

Important Quadrant 1: Critical problems, deadline-driven projects

Quadrant 2: Preparation & prevention, re-creation, relationship building

Not Important Quadrant 3: Interruptions, some e-mail/calls, some meetings, many “proximate” matters

Quadrant 4: Trivia, busywork, junk mail, time wasters

Adapted from Covey

Time Tools

• Personal log

• Master list

• Priority planning worksheet

• Weekly plan

• Daily plan

• More ….

Time Concepts

• Prime time

• Strategic reserve time

• Quiet time

Time tool exercise

• How many hours are in your day?

• How much time do you actually have?

• How are you going to use it?

• See set of handouts

An Unexpected Way of Paring Down a Task List: A

Tip from Laurie Ford (laurieford.com)*

MANAGING THE “IN-BETWEEN”

• Agreements

• Requests and promises

• Manage the “arrows” not the boxes

• Fine tune your network of agreements

• Manage “dues” not “to dos”

WHAT HAVE I PROMISED TO OTHERS? WHAT HAVE OTHERS PROMISED TO ME?

*Speaker at Women in Project Management Conference, June 2008, Columbus OH

Why Do We Procrastinate?

• Forget

• Don’t know how

• Don’t have means

– Lack of resources

– Too complicated

– Prospect of conflict

• Attitude

– Unpleasant

– Outside my comfort zone

– Fear of making mistakes

– Sidetracked

A Dozen Ideas for Dealing with Procrastination

• Deal with tough issues during your prime time

• Start small but start

• Write yourself a reminder

• Reward yourself (I’ll take a break after …)

• Keep a master list

• Go somewhere else to do it

• Schedule it; set aside time, make a deadline

• Seek help

• Let go (delegate)

• Fight perfectionism

• Listen to your self-talk (yes you can!)

• JUST DO IT

Do It for 15 Minutes

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/why-15-minutes/40196?sid=wc&utm_source=wc&utm_medium=en

Ideas for Dealing with Interruptions

• Stand up

• Be aware of “people traps” and traffic patterns

• Maintain your work posture

• Establish quiet time

• Have a clock visible at all times

• Develop a plan for consolidating calls, e-mail, etc.

• Think to yourself “Can this wait?”

• JUST SAY NO

Can You Say “No”?

I CAN SAY NO WHEN …

• Boss asks for work I don’t have time to do

• Peer asks me for help and giving it would put me behind schedule

• Some places unrealistic demands on me

• Someone asks me for information I shouldn’t give out

I CAN SAY NO …

• Without feeling guilty

• Several times, if I need to

• Without feeling fearful

• When someone is sulking, crying or getting angry

• To establish limits with my boss

• To establish limits with my peers

Tips for Saying “No”

• Evaluate the request against your goals/plan

• Ask for clarification (be sure you understand the request)

• Say ‘no’ if appropriate

– Boss: “Yes, provided someone else can… provided there is opportunity for …”

– All others: “My problem is…” or USA = “I Understand … here is my Situation … let’s [Action]”

• Give options if possible

• Say it again, calmly (broken record)

• Don’t give up, don’t lose your temper

Managing Paper Stacks, E-Mail

• Turn off e-mail beep!

• T.A.S.K. – Toss it, Act on it, Send it on, Keep it

• Decide on a filing system and use it

• PUT THINGS AWAY

– Afraid of forgetting? Make a note in Outlook, master list, weekly plan, “perhaps” list …

• Throw away as much as possible

• Set aside time to clear your desk/in-box (15 minute trick?)

Action Plan Part Two

1. What is at least one new time management habit I want to develop?

2. What steps will I take in the next two weeks?

3. What steps will I take in the next two months?

4. Who will I ask to help me, and what will I ask them to do?

The Benefits of Managing Your Time

• “We have to decide what our highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, nonapologetically—to say ‘no’ to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The enemy of the best is often the good.”—Stephen Covey

• For career

• For building relationships

• For relaxing

• For thinking

• For staying current

• …

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