Exploding some of the myths of 'time management'

1. TIME MANAGEMENT
CHALLENGING THE MYTH
“Organise & execute around priorities”
Richard Tredennick-Titchen 2010

2. TIME MANAGEMENT
 Time Management is a
myth
 You cannot manage
time
 All you can try to do is
to manage yourself

3. TIME MANAGEMENT
 Time in any organisation
is constant
 Nothing can be substituted
for time
 Once wasted it can never
be regained
 Leaders have many
demands on their time &
they have to make choices

4. TIME MANAGEMENT
 But, by becoming
obsessed with managing
your time, you can
actually waste time
 All you need to do is to
make a simple assessment
of how to use your
workplace time most
effectively

5. THE TIME MGT MYTH
 “I’ve got a problem with time
management, so ...”
 I should attend a time
management course – 16hrs
 I need to order planning
charts, agendas etc – 2hrs
 I must read the definitive book
– 50hrs
 I have to set aside at least an
hour a day to plan my time
mgt – 240hrs Total 308hrs
 Why with all this effort
doesn’t it work

6. COMMON SENSE TIME WASTERS
 Indecision – worrying &
procrastinating
 Implementing – instead of
analysing first
 Accepting unimportant
interruptions
 Procrastinating
 Making unrealistic time
estimates

7. TIME WASTERS
 Poor organisation
 Innefective meetings
 Micro-managing
 Doing urgent, rather
than important tasks
 Poor planning & lack
of contingency plans
 Failing to trust &
delegate

8. COMMON SENSE TIME SAVERS
 Managing the decision
making process, not the
decisions
 Concentrating on doing
only one task at a time
 Establishing daily, short
term, mid term & long
term priorities
 Throwing unneeded things
away

9. TIME SAVERS
 Establishing personal &
organisational deadlines
 Not wasting yours or other
peoples time
 Ensure that all meetings
have a clear purpose &
time limit
 Maintaining an accurate
agenda & sticking to it

10. TIME SAVERS
 Knowing when to stop a
task, policy or procedure
 Effective delegation &
empowerment of
subordinates
 Setting aside time to
accomplish high priority
tasks
 Setting aside time for
reflection & evaluation

11. TIME SAVERS
 Regularly assess where
you’re wasting time
 Create time management
goals – you are changing
your behaviour – not time
 Establish routines & stick
to them as far as possible
 Look at the big picture &
do not get bogged down in
details

12. TIME SAVERS
 Get into the habit of
setting time limits for your
tasks
 Be sure that your systems
are organised in the most
effective way
 Don’t waste time waiting
 Reward yourself from
time to time

13. TIME SAVERS
 Schedule your most
important work during your
most productive time
 Always ask yourself – “Am
I making the most of my
time?”
 Begin everything knowing,
what you want to achieve

14. TIME SAVERS
 Do not say “yes” to too
many things
 Divide large tasks into
manageable portions
 Do not put unneeded
effort into tasks
 Deal with it once & for
all – do not put it off
 Set start & stop times

15. TIME MANAGEMENT GRID
 Quadrant 1 focusses on
things which are both
‘urgent’ & ‘important’
They need to be dealt with now
 Quadrant 2 represents
things which are important
but not urgent
These activities can be scheduled to
when you can give quality thought to
them. Personal activities can be part
of this quadrant

16. TIME MANAGEMENT GRID
 Quadrant 3 are distractions
They must be dealt with right now, but
frankly are not important eg. unwanted
interruptions or phone calls
 Quadrant 4 are things which
are neither urgent or
important
Often unprepared meetings fall into this
category

17. RECOMMENDATIONS
 Maximise quadrant 2 time
 Do these tasks when you are at your
best
 Many quadrant 1 activities could
have been quadrant 2 if they had
been done earlier
 You can also reduce time spent in
quadrant 3 by improving your
systems & processes for dealing
with distractions
 You can eliminate quadrant 4
activities by finding new ways to
deal with time wasting

18. CONCLUSIONS
 You have to change your
behaviour – not time
 You have to take control
to ensure that you are
working as effectively as
possible
 Delegate as much as
possible, while still
staying in control

19. CONCLUSIONS
 Do not sacrifice regular
interaction with your staff
– but do it on a more
structured basis
 Consider appointing an
executive assistant to assist
with Board preparation &
business development etc
 Allocate yourself time to
assess the ‘big picture’ &
‘plan strategically’

20. CONCLUSIONS
 Use the ‘Time Mgt Grid’
to help you assess &
prioritise what is
important
 Demonstrate that you are
not only successful in
your present position, but
that you are also building
up the leadership skills &
experience to take on the
next career promotion