It's not about managing time. It's not about finding more time in your day. We all have the same amount of time. It's not about how much time time we have, but rather the way we use the time we have.

1. Time Management
I am definitely going to take a course on time
management... just as soon as I can work it
into my schedule. – Louis E. Boone

2. What do all these movies have
in common?












21-Oct-13
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
The Time Machine
The Final Countdown
The Terminator
Back to the Future
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Groundhog Day
Frequency
Timeline
Paycheck
The Lake House
Déjà vu
“Remember where we parked.” – Captain James T. Kirk

3. What Time Management is Not


It’s not managing time.
It’s not finding more time in the day.
–
–



60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour
24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week
You can’t save it, you can’t store it.
We all have the same amount of time!
It’s not how much time we have, but rather the way we use
the time we have.
“Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.” - Lord Chesterfield
21-Oct-13

4. Managing Time






The act of controlling events in our lives.
The act of managing ourselves in relation to the time that
we have.
The art of setting priorities.
The art of time utilization.
The process of changing habits or activities that affect
our time.
The use of tools, methods, ideas, etc.
“The laws of science do not distinguish between the past and the future.” - Steven W. Hawking
21-Oct-13

5. Controlling Events/Activities

Externally Controlled Events/Activities
–
–
–

Meetings called by someone else
Family obligations (Back to school night, concerts, etc.)
Day-to-Day work/home duties (Reports, garbage, etc.)
Internally Controlled Events/Activities
–
–
–
21-Oct-13
Talking/texting/Facebook/LinkedIn
Hobbies
“Fooling Around”
“One cannot manage too many affairs: like pumpkins in the water, one pops up while you
try to hold down the other.”- Chinese Proverb

6. How’s your time management?














Are the tasks you work on during the day the ones with the highest priority?
Do you find yourself completing tasks at the last minute, or asking for extensions?
Do you set aside time for planning and scheduling?
Do you know how much time you are spending on the various jobs you do?
How often do you find yourself dealing with interruptions?
Do you use goal setting to decide what tasks and activities you should work on?
Do you leave contingency time in your schedule to deal with "the unexpected"?
Do you know whether the tasks you are working on are high, medium, or low value?
For new assignments, do you analyze it for importance and prioritize it accordingly?
Are you stressed about deadlines and commitments?
Do you find you have to take work home, in order to get it done?
Do you prioritize your “To Do” list or Action Program?
Do you talk with your boss to prioritize the work you're doing?
Before you take on a task, do you check that the results will be worth the time put in?
21-Oct-13
“Dost thou love life, then do not squander time,
for that's the stuff life is made of.” -Benjamin Franklin

7. Essentials of Good Management
of Time

Don’t create impossible situations
–

Define your priorities
–

“Failure to plan is planning to fail.”
Avoid distractions and lack of focus
–

You can’t work 24 hours a day so don’t schedule it!
Avoid procrastination
Don’t overwhelm yourself
–
Time activate tasks
“You will never "find" time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” - Charles Bruxton
21-Oct-13

8. Essentials of Good Management
of Time

Avoid Floundering
–

Create a realistic daily “To-Do” list
Avoid Stress
–
–
–
–
–
21-Oct-13
Schedule time off
Schedule exercise time
Schedule fun time
Create time cushions
Make it part of your overall plan
“To do two things at once is to do neither.” - Publius Syrus

9. Time Management – Tips & Tools

Write it all down
–
–

Prioritize your tasks
–
–

Your memory is not that good!
Write all your tasks down
Rate them by numerical or alpha order
Not everything is a “1” or “A”
Plan your day/week/month
–
–
–
Go over your list at the beginning of the week
Go over your daily list at the beginning of the day
Go over your daily list at the end of the day
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven...” – Ecc. 3:1-8
21-Oct-13

10. Time Management – Tips & Tools

Use your smartphone or carry a planner or notebook
–
–

Learn to say “NO” or at least “later”
–
–

Avoid Post-It notes and scraps of paper!
Don’t rely on your memory
You can’t add to an already overloaded plate
You can’t find any more time in the day
Think before acting or committing
–
21-Oct-13
How many times have you agreed to something only to
regret it later?
“He lives long that lives well; and time misspent is not lived but lost.” - Thomas Fuller

11. Time Management – Tips & Tools

Continuously review, measure and improve
–
–

Evaluate your activities
–
–

Schedule to improve yourself (i.e. classes, books, etc.)
Measure, review and improve your time management techniques
Regularly review how your time is being spent
Stop things that no longer serve a purpose
Think about using a time management system
–
Software, Franklin-Covey, etc.
“The swiftness of time is infinite, as is still more evident when we look back on the past.” - Seneca
21-Oct-13

12. Time Management – Tips & Tools

Identify and correct bad habits
–
–

Don’t do other people’s work
–

Identify “time stealers”
Easiest way to replace a bad habit is to replace it with a better
one
Delegate or teach
Keep track of your progress
–
21-Oct-13
Measure your accomplishments, graph them out to show
improvement
“You may as well borrow a person's money as his time.” - Horace Mann

13. Time Management – Tips & Tools

Don’t be a perfectionist
–
–

Beware of “filler” tasks
–

Sometimes good enough is good enough
Distinguish between tasks that need to be done well from those
that just need to be done
Keep your priorities straight!
Avoid “efficiency traps”
–
–
21-Oct-13
Being efficient doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being productive
Just because you’re busy, doesn’t mean you’re accomplishing
anything!
“Time, which changes people, does not alter the image we have of them.” - Marcel Proust

14. Summary




You can’t manage time. You can only manage the way you
use the time you have.
Managing yourself is about controlling events, setting
priorities, utilizing time affectively, changing habits,
continuous improvement.
Time management essentials include not creating
impossible situations, defining priorities, avoiding
distractions and time activating tasks, avoid floundering and
stress.
15 Tips & Tools to use, practice, try out, adjust, etc.
21-Oct-13
“Time is but the stream I go a-fishin in.” - Henry David Thoreau

15. Questions?
An expert knows all the answers - if you ask
the right questions. – Levi Strauss
21-Oct-13

16. Specializing in Infrastructure/Operations Assessment & Improvement





Infrastructure Management
Business Process Management
Website Assessment & Improvement
Five Point Business Health Checkup
Project Management
You concentrate on running your business, we’ll concentrate on
keeping your business running.
21-Oct-13
www.whiterockbusiness.net