This document describes a student's time management matrix assignment. The student tracked their activities over two days and categorized them into four quadrants based on importance and urgency. Most time was spent on important but not urgent tasks like sleeping. Some time was wasted on tasks that were neither important nor urgent. In the future, the student will track a full week of activities to better understand their time management patterns.

1. Time Management Matrix
Assignment
Submitted By
Safwan Zubair
October 21, 2013
BUS 150-71873
Contemporary Business Practice
Professor Nankin

2. Table of Content
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Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………. 3-4
Time Management Matrix chart……………………………………………………………… 5
Analysis of Pie Chart……………………………………………………………………………….. 6
Analysis of Results……………………………………………………………………………….. 7-8
Strengths ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 9
Weaknesses …………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
Accuracy and Improvements for Future Reference………………………….. 11-12
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13

4. • Afterwards, the data collected over the past two days is plugged into the
time management matrix. Each activity goes into the a quadrant that I
think it should belong in. Then the time management matrix shows in
which quadrant most of the time was spent in.

6. Analysis of Pie Chart
• The pie chart represents the amount of time spent on each quadrant
performing daily activities
• The numbers on the chart represents how many hours was spent
throughout the two days
– The values are the combined total of all the activities done in each quadrant. If
all the values are added up, it well equal to forty-eight hours.

7. Analysis of the Results
• Most of the time was spent in quadrant two, which indicates time was
spent on things that are important, but not urgent.
– One of the key reasons behind why quadrant II took most of the time is
because it included the sleeping period. This was done because sleeping is
important, but it is not urgent. If a task that is both important and urgent
comes up, such as homework, it would be prioritized over sleeping.
• After quadrant II, quadrant III was where most of the time was spent.
These are tasks that are urgent but not important. These things were
mainly playing Xbox and going on Facebook.

8. • Quadrant I was very close to quadrant III. Quadrant I consists of both
important and urgent tasks. These activities are mostly school related
tasks. Fulfilling these tasks are usually first priority unless an emergency
comes up.
• Lastly, the least amount of time was spent on quadrant IV. These are tasks
that are both not urgent and not important.
– This occurred because I took a nap to avoid doing homework. This incident
should completely be avoided because doing something which is not
important or urgent is a waste of time

9. Strengths
• Most of my time was spent on things that are important (quadrant II)
– This is possible because tasks are prioritized according to what is important 1
• A very small amount of time was spent on things that are not urgent and
not important (quadrant IV)
• A good portion of time was spent on things that were both important and
urgent (quadrant I)
1. This was taken from Mr. Conard Nankin’s Rules For Efficient Time Management handout, which were modified from the following source: David A.
Whetten and Kim S. Cameron, Developing Management Skills, 4th Ed., (New York: Addison Wesley Educational Publishing Inc., 1998).

10. Weakness
•
Even though a very small amount of time was spent on quadrant IV, it should
still be avoided completely
– By doing things that are not urgent and not important, time is being wasted,
which could be used on things that are important or both important and
urgent
• More time was spent on quadrant III than quadrant I
– This is not good because it is more important to utilize time on doing things
that both important and urgent versus doing things that are just urgent, but
not important
– Spending too much time on activities that are not important is a waste of time
because that time can be utilized on things that important or both important
and urgent

11. Accuracy and Improvements for Future
Reference
• This assignment will give a better picture of a person’s time management
if it is done by using data from a week’s activities
– Using data from a week will give a better idea of a person’s time management
because the matrix will consist of a more diversified list of activities.
• My time management matrix only included activities from two week
days, which does not show the weekend, or rest of days where I have
other errand to do
– If it included the whole week, then the matrix would illustrate a better picutre
of how I manage my time when different kinds of tasks and situations come
up

12. • If this assignment was done again, I would choose a week day and a
weekend to record my activities
– By doing so would show if there is a variation on how time is managed during
school and when there is more free time

13. Conclusion
• By doing the time management matrix, I was able to get a better idea of
how I manage my time
• This assignment illustrated the things that are prioritize and how time is
used to do those things
• The time management matrix portrays how and where time was wasted
– This will allow me to use my time more carefully in the future. It will be better
to spend more time on things that are both important and urgent rather then
just urgent things that are not important
– By finding out which time period my peak point is for my ability to do highly
important work, more time can be spent on quadrant I, since more focus can
be applied without getting distracted1.
1. This was taken from Professor Conard Nankin’s Rules For Efficient Time Management handout, which were modified from the following source:
David A. Whetten and Kim S. Cameron, Developing Management Skills, 4th Ed., (New York: Addison Wesley Educational Publishing Inc., 1998).