Time Management

Time
The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole All the years of the past, present and future the period during which action or process continues

Time
You can make money; you cant make time. An inch of gold cannot buy an inch of time (Chinese proverb). Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed

Time
Supply of time is totally inelastic

Time is totally perishable

It cannot be stored It is irreplaceable

(Peter F. Drucker-The Effective Executive-US-1967)

Management

Getting things done through people

Achievement of objectives through others

Time Management

To utilise the available time in optimum manner to achieve ones personal and professional goals.

Time Management
Try and answer this quiz! How old were you five years ago? What did you look like at that time? What did you do then? What has changed ever since? What have you achieved in this time? And. How quickly do you think has the time passed?

Time Management
You will agree with no hesitation that TIME has passed very quickly That is the mystery with this phenomenon called TIME It passes very quickly and no one seems to know how!! Any way like in everybodys case, in your case also, nothing can be done about the past. So let us look at the Future next 5 y ears!

Time Management
How old will you be 5 years from now? What do you think you will look like at that time? What do you think you will be doing then? What would have changed by then? What do you wish to achieve in this time? And. How quickly do you think would the time pass now? Would it be slower or faster than the last 5 years ???

Time Management
NONE OF THESE! The time would neither be faster nor slower. The clock would move at the same speed, one second at a time. This has never changed and will never change! What matters is how well YOU keep pace with this speed!

Time Management
24 hours is what all have in common. Yet some achieve SO MUCH in this time and some achieve NOTHING.

WHY ?
Let us look at an old story/new story

Time Management
A KING, his attendant and the Prime Minister
One day, the King looking out from his Palace window saw some settlements forming at the banks of the river. He said to the attendant Find out what it is

The attendant ran and reported back after few minutesYour Highness, they are tents. The King asked again Where are they from?.
The attendant ran again and reported back after some time From Persia

Time Management
The King asked again How many people are there? The attendant once again ran to find out and reported back 675 men.

No women? asked the King and off went the attendant again. Relentless questions and corresponding trips by the attendant followed!
Attendant was already getting irritated and started wondering why the King cannot think cohesively and ask more questions in one go rather than asking one question at a time.

Time Management
The King was already asking his nth question to the attendant when the PM appeared. Hearing the King, the PM intervened and said Let us discuss what all we should know about that gathering near the river

They went into a meeting for some time after which the PM went off to find out more.
He was back after 2 hours.

And what did he bring after being gone for 2 hours?

Time Management
Here was the PMs report: The tents at the banks of the river belong to a caravan of traders from Persia. There are 675 men, 210 women and 85 children. The leader of the group is ... The PM also said they have 200 horses which they want to sell and I have negotiated the price at I need your consent on this.

The PM also explained on what all benefits the kingdom can accrue from the visit of these traders etc.

Time Management
Do You realise what the PM has achieved and how ? And what is the moral of the story?

It does not matter how hard You work or how much Time You spend working, but what matters is HOW much You achieve in a given period of time.
The PM had a meeting with the King to know what all he wanted to know and in addition to that put his own thoughts and plan together to get some additional benefits for the Kingdom.

Time Management
So the PM made the king explain what all he wanted in one go, did proper planning, prioritized the job, did some value add of his own and above all
PUT THE AVAILABLE TO BEST USE.

Now how do We achieve this in day to day working life in the midst of all pressures and pulls from several bosses and colleagues?
That is TIME MANAGEMENT and it is all about PRODUCTIVITY

Time Management
Planning is key managerial function but research shows that less than 5% of management time goes on planning.

Paretos Law In most areas of organised endeavour a critical few factors (around 20%) usually produce the great bulk of the result (80%)
Can you afford not to manage at-least that 20% ?

(Vilfredo Pareto-Italy-1906; Dr. Joseph Juran-US-1940s)

Time Management
Murphys Laws Nothing is as simple as it seems Every thing takes longer than you think If anything can go wrong, it will
There is too much month left at the end of my money There is too much work left at the end of my time
(Edward A. Murphy US Air Force in 1950s)

Time Management
Adam Smith Division of labour represents a qualitative increase in productivity
Importance of matching skills with equipment

(Adam Smith An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations -1776)

Time Management

Common Problems and Tips

Time Management
Events that are uncontrollable
Weather conditions Acts of gods Traffic jams

Events that involve other peoples behaviour

Ringing telephone People coming into your office Absenteeism

Events that involve our own behaviour

Getting ready for work on time Doing things when they need to be done Being more assertive

Time Wasters

Procrastination
Ineffective delegation Meetings Telephone interruptions Drop in visitors Inadequate planning Lack of selfdiscipline Management by crisis

Inability to say No

(R. Alec MacKenzie-The Time Trap -1972)

Time Management

Tools/Techniques

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Get SMART with TIME: SMART is Simple Measures that Ascertain Resourceful usage of Time Some of the measures are: Goal setting To-do list Priorities Pro-activeness Understanding others Improving yourself

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

Goal setting: Set Rational specific short term goals short term could be a week, a day or even an hour
Set Directional goals general direction for long term say in one year I should be the HR person here. This directional goal should answer a question You have to ask Yourself What do I want to be 3 years from now?

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

Goal setting: Once the goals are set, GO for it Deviate only if the basic premise (circumstances) change Prioritise Your tasks based on the goals Set apart some time everyday for Your Directional Goal (Long term) also.

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

Let us look at each of these in detail Todo list

A todo list is a standard tool in time management. It usually is a flat list of tasks that a person needs to complete. To increase the efficiency of the ordinary todo list, prioritize the tasks in four different categories:
1. 2. 3. 4. important and urgent, important and not urgent, not important and urgent, not important and not urgent.

Time Management Matrix

(Steven Covey-The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People-1990)

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

Effective time management is learning to say No to tasks in categories 3 and 4 to make more time for tasks in categories 1 and 2.
Freeing yourself from doing the unimportant tasks leaves more time to focus on the important matters. Hence PRIORITISE your tasks and LEARN to SAY NO to certain tasks But if You still need to do those under cat 3&4, then how to proceed?

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

So if You still have to do those cat 3&4 jobs, then Set some time apart everyday to do such things (say evening 5 to 5.30 ?)
Prioritise even those cat 3&4 jobs before doing it.

See whether You can Delegate them to your subordinates Do not get immersed in these tasks just because the Boss wants it! The Mantra is PRIORITISE

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

Proactiveness: Get proactive in your discussions. Ask and force Colleagues (including Boss) to explain what they want in one Go! (like the PM in the story).
Then PRIORITISE the jobs

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

Understanding Others: Extremely important in Your job Understand thoroughly what are the expectations from You.
Ask, clarify, ask again (if you are not clear) before you start the job

Time Management- Getting SMART with time

Improving Yourself: Do a SWOT analysis of Yourself (with no inhibitions) S Strength W Weakness O Opportunity T Threats

Time Management- Finding that extra hour

Finding that EXTRA hour for improvement is the next most important task.
For improvement, may be, You would need to do some Part time learning. Here are a few simple steps to find that extra hour for all these.

Time Management- Finding that extra hour

Early or Late Get up an hour earlier than usual and / or Go to sleep an hour later than usual. Difficult task of course, but necessary in todays World Compounding
Delegate and Distribute Another way of gaining little extra time Of course easier said than done but needs to be done ruthlessly. Monkeys Management Take quick decisions Do not keep pondering over an issue. A timely decision, even if it is not the best one, would provide far better output than a Wonderful decision taken after the time is past!

Time Management- Finding that extra hour

Is it m y problem? Most of us have this habit of getting into matters that do not concern us mostly just because the Boss has mentioned it and we do not know how to say NO politely. In such matters remember solving the whole worlds problems is not Your job and you will never be able to do it.
Those who try to get into into everything to stay in the limelight or to be the centre of attraction, should realize that they would do far more Good to Themselves and the Organization by doing one thing GOOD rather than messing up several tasks simultaneously

Time Management- Finding that extra hour

You cant win it all Everyday we undergo continuous struggle and competition. We cant win all.
Learn to accept our failures with modesty and grace. No battle is last battle and No opportunity is last opportunity.

Tomorrow will be a new day that will bring with it a NEW RAY of light.

Exercise
Extra Hour

Time Management
Rule of 6 Ps
Proper Prior Planning

Prevents Poor Performance

Time
Time is Life; to waste your time is to waste your life; to manage your time is to manage your life Alan Lakein

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst William Penn
The bad news is time flies. The good news is youre the pilot. Anonymous

Time saved is Time generated Guess who told this!

Time

THANK YOU