A workbook on the topic of time management and self …ec.europa.eu/programmes/proxy/alfresco-webscripts/api/node/content... · A workbook on time management and self-management Please

Time management

A workbook on the topic of time management and self-management

A workbook on time management and self-management

Contents

1 Check your working method ............................................................................... 3

2 The time-waster test ............................................................................................ 5

3 My requirements and roles ................................................................................... 6

4 Work-Life-Balance ............................................................................................... 7

5 My goals .............................................................................................................. 9

6 Action plan for a chosen goal ………….............................................................. 10

7 Time management methods .............................................................................. 11

7.1 Key questions: who, when, how, if at all …….............................................. 11

7.2 Planning the day => ALPEN method............................................................ 11

7.3 Which tasks - ABC Analysis ...................................................................... 12

7.4 In which order - the Eisenhower principle ……............................................ 12

7.5 What and how perfect - Pareto principle ……….......................................... 13

8 If at all? – Saying no …….................................................................................. 14

9 Delegate ............................................................................................................ 15

10 Mailbox exercise ................................................................................................ 16

11 To-do list ........................................................................................................... 17

12 My daily schedule 1 ........................................................................................... 18

13 My daily schedule 2 ........................................................................................... 19

14 A positive start to your day ................................................................................ 20

15 My personal performance curve ....................................................................... 21

16 My personal disturbance curve .......................................................................... 22

17 Ten rules for saving time ……........................................................................... 23

18 Place for notes .................................................................................................. 24

1 Check your working method Please check the fields marked with the respective number:

0 = applies almost always 2 = applies sometimes

1 = applies often 3 = applies almost never

1. The telephone bothers me constantly and the calls are often unnecessarily long.

0 1 2 3

2. Due to many visitors from the outside and from the house I often do not get to do my actual work. 0 1 2 3

3. The meetings often take too long and their results are often unsatisfactory. 0 1 2 3

4. I am putting off large, time-consuming and therefore unpleasant tasks for later; I am having difficulties finishing them because I never seem to come to rest (“procrastination”). 0 1 2 3

5. The priorities are often not set clearly and I am trying to complete too many tasks at once. I am dealing with too many small, unimportant tasks and therefore cannot concentrate on the most important tasks. 0 1 2 3

6. I can stick to my schedules and deadlines only under deadline pressure because there are always unexpected things coming up or because I have taken up too much work. 0 1 2 3

7. I have too much paperwork on my desk; correspondence and reading are taking up too much of my time. The overview and order on my desk is not very exemplary. 0 1 2 3

8. The communication with other is often deficient. Delayed exchange of information, misunderstandings or frictions occur on a daily basis. 0 1 2 3

9. The delegation of tasks works rarely and I often have to carry out things that also others could have done. 0 1 2 3

10. I find it hard to say “no” when others want something from me, when in fact I should be doing my own work. 0 1 2 3

11. I am missing a clear objective in my life concept, both professionally and personally; I often cannot find the sense in the things that I am doing during the day. 0 1 2 3

12. Sometimes I lack the necessary self-discipline to execute what I have put my mind to. 0 1 2 3

A workbook on time management and self-management Please now sum up the checked numbers and enter the total number of points into the box.

Evaluation:

0 - 17 points: Your time management is poor and you are letting others drive you. You cannot lead yourself, let alone others. Time management will be the beginning of a new and successful life.

18 - 24 points: You are trying to get your time under control, but you are not consistent enough to make your success in that area long-lasting.

25 - 30 points: Your time management is good – and can get even better!

31 - 36 points: Congratulations (if you have answered the questions honestly!) you are a role model for everyone who wants to learn how to manage time. Let other benefit from your experience.

Page - 4 -


2 The time-waster test Go through the following list of the 31 most significant time wasters or time pitfalls and check the top five that apply to you

1. Unclear objectives □

2. No priorities □

3. Trying to do everything at once □

4. Missing an overview of pending tasks/activities □

5. Bad day planning □

6. Personal disorganization □

7. Paperwork and reading □

8. Bad filing system □

9. Searching for notes, memos, addresses, phone numbers □

10. Lack of motivation, indifferent behavior towards work (not reaching decisions) □

11. Lack of coordination/teamwork □

12. Telephone interruptions □

13. Unannounced visitors □

14. Inability to say „no“ □

15. Incomplete, delayed information □

16. Lack of self-discipline □

17. Not completing your taskts □

18. Distractions/noise □

19. Lengthy meetings □

20. Lack of preparation for conversations and meetings □

21. No or imprecise communication □

22. Private chat □

23. Too much communication □

24. Too many memos □

25. Procrastination □

26. Wanting to know everything □

27. Waiting times □

28. Hurry, impatience □

29. Too little delegation □

30. Lack of control of delegated work □

31. Cigarette break □

Page - 5 -


3 My requirements and roles How many roles do you have to, want to and think you have to play?

Questions:

Where does most of your time go?

What would you like to change about that?

Which requirements/roles can or would you like to give up?

Page - 6 -

Roles

Occupation

Hobbies Things

Private

tasks

My

time


4 Work-Life-Balance

Analysis of the 4 areas of life: please take enough time to do this and go through each of the questions for yourself.

In order to analyze our own time management we need to focus only on the

time when we are awake. The formula is derived from the equation "24 hours minus XY hours of sleep."

Calculate the time on a normal week basis. In this way you will get the average sleeping time/week.

Example (24 hours – 8 hours of sleep) x 7 = 112 hours of being awake

a) Area of life - work: For most people this quadrant takes up most of their time. Add to your weekly regular working hours also the time you need to get to and from work as well as breaks. If you are taking your work home, add this time to the weekly equation. My working hours: ……………. hours/week

b) Area of life – body / health What do you actually do for your health? Sport, regular walks, cycling, gymnastics etc. Write down all of the things that apply to you and sum up the hours. Health - time ……………………………… ……….. ……………………………… ……….. ……………………………… ……….. ……………………………… ……….. Total time: ……….. hours / week

c) Area of life - contacts How much time do you spend with your friends, your family, and your partner? Write down the contact, the reason why and the time you spend with them. Add these hours as well. Contact person Reason Time

……………………. ……………………………. ……….. ……………………. ……………………………. ……….. ……………………. ……………………………. ……….. ……………………. ……………………………. ……….. Total time for contacts: ………… hours / week

d) Area of life - sense This quadrant refers only to you personally. It is not easy to grasp this aspect. People rarely take time consciously to plan their own self-realization. Nevertheless, this is the most important aspect of one´s life. Your personal life depends on this.

My vision / My life concept: …………………… hours / week Page - 7 -


Future orientation:

Area

Time allocation

In percentages

Work

Health

Contacts

Sense of life

Write down which changes have arisen from your analysis. What would you like to change? Which areas are affected? How much time is available for each of these areas?

My body, my health

………………………………………………………………………………………………...

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

My family, my contacts

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

My work, my performance

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

My goals

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………………………………………… Page - 8 -


5 My goals

The basis of a successful time management and self-management are clear professional and private goals at which you consciously aim. This process of setting your goals encompasses four steps: (the management control loop)

Set objectives

Plan, identify milestones, and carry out tasks

Monitor progress

Act on the results of monitoring

Set your objectives according to SMART

Specific/written

measurable

ambitious

realistic

time-related Define five professional and/or private goals which you would like to achieve in the short, medium and long term period:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Page - 9 -


6 Action plan for a chosen goal

GOAL:

Steps to achieving your objective:

Defined positively & ecologically sensible

Specific

Measurable Attractive/

Realistic Time-related

Ambitious

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6. 7.

Page - 10-


7 Time management methods

Since it is usually impossible to achieve all of our objectives at once, we have to set priorities and make decisions. You will find the following methods as very helpful during this process:

7.1 Key questions: who, when, how, if at all

Questions that will help you in the organizational process:

- Does this have to be done now? => define the time - Does this have to be done this way now? => rationalize - Do I have to do it? => delegate - Does this have to be done at all? => eliminate

7.2 Planning the day => ALPEN method

Die ALPEN method is the guiding principle for planning your day:

A: list you Activities, tasks and appointments

o Tasks from your weekly plan o Incomplete tasks from the previous day o New tasks o Appointments o Recurring tasks, e.g. post etc.

L: estimate the Length (duration) of the activities

P: set aside pause timeso 60% for planned activities o 20% for unexpected activities (disturbances, time thieves) o 20% for spontaneous and social activities

E: evaluating prioritieso (Eisenhower, ABC Analysis)

N: notes in your schedule, follow-up inspection Page - 11-


7.3 Which tasks - ABC Analysis The ABC analysis is a method that will help you prioritize tasks, issues, products and activities.

This is done by dividing them into three categories:

A = very important or urgent, B = important or urgent, C = less important or urgent

In order to force yourself to prioritize your work, it can be useful to determine what maximal percentage of work can be classified as “A” or “B” category work.

Based on your working hours you should divide the time as follows:

65% for A-tasks

20% for B-tasks

15% for C-tasks

Be careful: you are creating this plan based on circa 60% of your working hours. So based on an 8 hours working day, you are creating a plan for just five hours.

7.4 In which order – the Eisenhower Principle

The Eisenhower Principle has an additional urgency category, so it is divided up according to importance and urgency, and in this way has one additional category in comparison to the ABC analysis, which creates more different options in your plans.

Page - 12-

Imp

ort

ance

Urgency

B tasks

Do them later, or

delegate the task

A tasks

Do them yourself

and immediately

D tasks

File or put in bin C tasks

Delegate them on time no

t im

po

rtan

t im

po

rtan

t

not urgent urgent


7.5 What and how perfect – the Pareto principle

The Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, describes a statistical phenomenon.

The rule states that 80% of the results are achieved in 20% of the working time. The remaining 20% of the results will consume 80% of your total time and bring about most of the work. The Pareto principle will help you to decide which tasks have to be carried out. It can also help you decide how well you need to carry out a certain task.

Page - 13-

Working time

Results


8 If at all? – Saying „no“

Explain your „no“ You do not have to justify yourself but you can justify why you said „no“. Make sure that it is clear that you are not saying “no” to the person, but that you cannot carry out something due to other reasons.

Show understanding Every „no“ will seem much softer if you show your understanding when someone asks for something.

Say thank you It is nice to thank the person who thinks that you can do something and who believes in you: „I am honored that you thought of me, but unfortunately my schedule is completely full“.

Sometimes a partial „no“ is enough. It is often the case that you do not have to reject a task completely. For example, if you cannot manage to do something today, but tomorrow on the other hand you could do it, then you can say that to the other person, or that you are maybe willing to carry out a part of the task.

Make a counteroffer

Offer an alternative proposal or solution. Page - 14-


9 Delegate

Benefits through delegation:

The management has less work to do and thus has time for other, more

important tasks. This reduces the workload and prevents stress.

The employees develop further through competence and action responsibility. Their initiatives are being encouraged. The employee´s self-confidence and job satisfaction is increased.

Employees usually tackle the tasks more quickly and in the course of time carry them out more successfully. It is only possible to carry out larger projects by combining various competences.

The efficiency is increased since the knowledge and experience of many employees is being applied.

Task delegation form:

Question Explanation

What should be delegated? Which tasks are in question? (brief content and objective description)

Which person is right for the job, who

Who should do it? participates? (technical and human

qualifications)

Why should it be carried out by this person?

What is the purpose of this task or

activity?(motivation, learning effect)

Which details and regulations are to be

How should this person carry it out? kept in mind and in which way does the

authorization function?

What can the person use to carry out the task?

Which working materials and documents does the employee need?

Which intermediate and final deadlines have to be met? What needs to be inspected?

When should it be carried out?

What are the possible risks? What are the consequences if the work is not

carried out or if it is carried out only partially?

Page - 15-


10 Mailbox exercise

Plan the new week

You come into your office on Monday and the following tasks are waiting to be carried out. After each of the tasks there is the estimated total time for that task that you have written down.

Create a schedule for this Monday. Write down which activities you want to carry out at what time. You can also omit some tasks or even shorten the processing time.

Meeting at the Department at 10:30 (15 minutes)

Lunch with a colleague from another site (60 minutes) around 12 o´clock

Create a plan for a new product (2-3 days)

You received 47 E-Mails (30 minutes)

Read the most important Intranet posts (15 minutes)

Project meeting (1 hour)

Urgent tasks in your daily business, phone calls, E-Mail (1 hour)

You would like to read a technical article with focus (30 minutes)

Prepare a short presentation for next week (2 hours) Your boss has invited you to a meeting at 2 p.m. (30 minutes)

Private tasks for this week:

Visit your mother in the hospital (2 hours)

Prepare your children´s birthday party (in two days) (2 hours)

Make an appointment at the dentist (3 minutes)

Call a heating service (3 minutes)

Make an appointment at the car repair workshop (3 minutes)

Shopping (30 minutes)

Get a birthday gift for a girlfriend

Enter your tasks into a schedule. Apply the aforementioned methods to create an optimal plan for your day.

Keep in mind: There are no right or wrong answers in this exercise! Page - 16-


11 To-do list Create your own to-do list for the following week.

Page - 17-

Date Priority Activity/

Task Time

required

Carried

out by Start Finish-

ed by


12 My daily schedule

Page - 18-

Time Appointments

Contacts

Tasks

Goal of the day

Statistic

Private

Time


13 My daily schedule 2

Page - 19-

Time Appointments Contacts

Tasks

Goal of the day

Time

Statistics

Private


14 A positive start to your day In order to achieve a positive attitude towards every new day, you should keep in mind the following three rules:

Every day do something that makes you happy.

Every day do something that is bringing you noticeably closer to your personal goals.

Every day do something that creates a balance with your work.

Action What will I do from today on to start my day with a positive attitude?

What will I do from today on to sweeten the working day with little highlights?

What will I do from today on to give my evenings a positive momentum?

What will I do from today on to end my day with a positive attitude?

Page - 20-


15 My personal performance curve

Draw your personal performance curve.

Biorhythm How can I adapt my schedule to my biorhythm?

How can I reach an optimal level of recuperation during breaks?

What will I do from today on to use my performance rhythm more effectively?

Page - 21-

Pe

rfo

rman

ce

Time of the day


16 My personal disturbance curve

S t

ö r

h ä

u f

i g

k e

i t

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Z e i t ( U h r )

Silent hour

How can I take into account the disturbance curve the best possible way when planning my day?

When is it best for me to schedule uninterrupted block of time?

Which of my A tasks can I carry out the best possible way during the silent hour?

What will I do from today on to regularly have a silent hour?

My silent hour is taking place every day in the period from till o´clock.

Page - 22-

Time (hour)

Dis

turb

ance

fre

qu

ency


17 Ten rules for saving time

1. Set your goals Apply the bow and arrow concept when managing your time: set your goals first! Arrange your daily activities according to your own goals!

2. Prepare Write down your plan for the next day in the evening before! Include unexpected things and routine into your schedule!

3. Set your priorities Do the important things first, the unimportant things can wait! Beware of the tyranny of urgency!

4. Summarize Carry out similar tasks in time blocks: phone calls, dictations, mail, short meetings etc.!

5. Simplify Divide difficult tasks into smaller steps! Determine the time and order in which you will carry them out!

6. Let others do some of the work Delegate: What? Who? Why? Until when? Saying „no“: rejecting time thieves!

7. Reject Do not be always available for everyone! Use and arrange your appointments with yourself!

8. Respect Do not reschedule, do not be late, do not overrun! Always determine the objectives and dates!

9. Call Ask about the appropriate time for phone calls instead of disturbing someone! Arrange appointments for phone calls and callbacks!

10. Enjoy your success Perceive carried out tasks as success! Reward yourself as well as others!

Source: www.seiwert.de

Page - 23-

http://www.seiwert.de/


18 Place for notes Page - 24-


Page - 25-

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A workbook on the topic of time management and self …ec.europa.eu/programmes/proxy/alfresco-webscripts/api/node/content... · A workbook on time management and self-management Please