How Do You Manage Time Effectively in Work and Daily Life? Share Your Stories and Tips

Time Management: Share Your Insights

Let us share some important and interesting stories, files, articles, questionnaires, quotes, sayings, and much more on time management, which would be very useful in our work culture, business, and daily life.

A good number of posts follow regularly. Please check and keep updated.

Contributions are highly invited and appreciated from seniors, experts, professionals, juniors, and freshers.

Thanks & Regards,
CRK
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Time Management: Master or Slave?

Every day, make a list of 5 important things to do tomorrow. Sleep over the list and brainstorm. The next day, at the earliest opportunity, pick up that nasty but important job and finish it. Only then pick up the next job. This principle goes a long way in your life. Not all the jobs that are urgent are important, and not all the jobs that are important are urgent. The choice is ours. We can allow time to manage us, or we can manage time. Time can be our Master or Slave.

Find the attachment 'Judge ourselves'...

And you can find an interesting attachment on Time Management myths at https://www.citehr.com/251724-time-m...crks-desk.html

Regards,
CRK

This touching story might have already been read/posted, just posting to recollect once again.

Precious Time

With a timid voice and idolizing eyes, the little boy greeted his father as he returned from work, "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?"

Greatly surprised, but giving his boy a glaring look, the father said, "Look, son, not even your mother knows that. Don't bother me now, I'm tired."

"But Daddy, just tell me please! How much do you make an hour?" the boy insisted.

The father, finally giving up, replied: "Twenty dollars per hour."

"Okay, Daddy? Could you loan me ten dollars?" the boy asked.

Showing his restlessness and being positively disturbed, the father yelled, "So that was the reason you asked how much I earn, right? Go to sleep and don't bother me anymore!"

It was already dark, and the father was meditating on what he said and feeling guilty. Maybe he thought his son wanted to buy something.

Finally, trying to ease his mind, the father went to his son's room.

"Are you asleep, son?" asked the father.

"No, Daddy. Why?" replied the boy, partially asleep.

"Here's the money you asked for earlier," the father said.

"Thanks, Daddy!" rejoiced the son, while putting his hand under his pillow and removing some money. "Now I have enough! Now I have twenty dollars!" the boy said to his father, who was gazing at his son, confused at what his son had just said.

"Daddy, could you sell me one hour of your time?"

Time is too precious to spend it all on work!

Appreciate your loved ones and don't take them for granted.

CRK

Understanding Time Management

Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects, and goals. This set encompasses a wide scope of activities, including planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoring, organizing, scheduling, and prioritizing. Initially, time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually, the term broadened to include personal activities as well. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools, techniques, and methods.

Stephen R. Covey's Categorization of Time Management Approaches

Stephen R. Covey has offered a categorization scheme for the hundreds of time management approaches that he reviewed:

- **First generation:** Reminders based on clocks and watches, but with computer implementation possible; can be used to alert a person when a task is to be done.

- **Second generation:** Planning and preparation based on calendar and appointment books; includes setting goals.

- **Third generation:** Planning, prioritizing, controlling (using a personal organizer, other paper-based objects, or computer or PDA-based systems) activities on a daily basis. This approach implies spending some time in clarifying values and priorities.

- **Fourth generation:** Being efficient and proactive using any of the above tools; places goals and roles as the controlling element of the system and favors importance over urgency.

Time Management Literature Insights

Time management literature can be paraphrased as follows:

- "Get Organized" - paperwork and task triage
- "Protect Your Time" - insulate, isolate, delegate
- "Set gravitational goals" - that attract actions automatically
- "Achieve through Goal Management Goal Focus" - motivational emphasis
- "Work in Priority Order" - set goals and prioritize
- "Use Magical Tools to Get More Out of Your Time" - depends on when written
- "Master the Skills of Time Management"
- "Go with the Flow" - natural rhythms, Eastern philosophy
- "Recover from Bad Time Habits" - recovery from underlying psychological problems, e.g., procrastination

Regards

By Stephen Rampur

Time is certainly the most important factor for a working professional. The money that one earns significantly depends on the quality time spent in the office being productive. An experienced professional will be well-acquainted with time management in the workplace, but a newbie will not be at the same level. The experienced one has been through many work hours and can manage time according to previous experience, accomplishing more work in less time. Whereas, the fresher who doesn't have the habit of working under time constraints won't be able to effectively manage time.

Importance of Time Management

Time management is one of the most significant skills that one has to learn as soon as possible in the business world. It is also essential for maintaining your work-home life balance. Completing job deliverables on time is expected from all employees, which can only be achieved if time is managed efficiently. There are some points to be kept in mind for executing effective time management in the workplace.

Clear Roles and Responsibilities

Ensure that you are well-informed about the roles and responsibilities in your department. This is crucial when your boss hands over important tasks to you. When you are new in the company, you may not precisely know what is expected of you. Such conditions contribute to delays and hinder your output. When a particular task is given to you, clarify any doubts and questions you may have. Moreover, you also need to know the roles that your colleagues, subordinates, and seniors play in the assignment.

Prioritizing Work

It is crucial to prioritize the work given to you. Inevitably, you will be required to perform several tasks simultaneously. Multi-tasking is the name of the game today. There may be situations where colleagues and subordinates approach you with last-minute requests. In such cases, it is very important to know what work should be done first. However, don't make the mistake of preparing an extra-long to-do list. There is a common belief among freshers that the more work they do in less time, the better it is for their careers. Creating a long to-do list may lead to procrastination on starting the first assignment.

To-do List

If you make a to-do list, don't forget to determine the time span assigned to each task. Not allotting time may lead to an unorganized work schedule and make you work overtime unnecessarily. You may also end up spending a lot of time on a simple task that wasn't actually the top priority. Other things to avoid are long tea and smoking breaks, browsing the web, and chatting with colleagues.

Accuracy

It is essential to execute the task as expected the first time. Many times, you perform a task in a hurry and consider it done, but after your boss checks it, you realize it was not exactly the requirement. Rework can result in unnecessary wastage of precious time and increase costs. Rework is largely found in the case of freshers who consider speedy work as a way to success. Quality work should also be taken into consideration.

Procrastination

Many working professionals have the tendency to postpone work. They have the required skills and talent to carry out the task but are too lazy to do it. This eventually piles up pending work assignments over a considerable amount of time. When you know that a certain task is to be done in a way you are aware of, start immediately. This is the most important key to time management and career success.

If one is stepping into the corporate world, they necessarily have to learn about time management in the workplace. This will enable them to perform the assigned work in the allotted time and also manage future assignments as required.

Regards,
CRK

Prioritize items on your to-do list if you feel like you're spinning your wheels. Use A for the items that have to be done today, B for the things you should do today, and C for the tasks you hope to do.

Never wait for anyone or anything. Always carry something to do with you when you go out - a reading file or a project, perhaps.

Save time by making fewer decisions during the week. For example, make a list of kids' lunches. Each evening or morning, simply pack the next one on the list.

Plan 60 or 90 days out for everything: purchases, to-do's, and projects. You'll save time and money.

Spend your TV viewing time wisely. Pay bills, clip coupons, iron, or work on tomorrow's to-do list while watching your favorite programs.

Make doctor's appointments for first thing in the morning. Run errands and grocery shop early morning also. Do everything you can during off-hours to save LOTS of time (and stress!).

Spend ten minutes at the end of your workday planning and making tomorrow's to-do list.

Save time at the video store by keeping a list in your planner of movies you want to see. Video previews, newspaper reviews, and television entertainment shows have information on new movies and videos.

Plan only 75% of your day. Allow for emergencies and interruptions. The more organized you are, the easier it will be to deal with last-minute and unexpected problems.

CRK

Unknown

One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget.

As he stood in front of the group of high-powered overachievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz," and he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes."

The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar, causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?"

By this time, the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered.

"Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar, and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more, he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" "No!" the class shouted.

Once again, he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised

What is Personal Time?

Who does your time belong to? When you wake up tomorrow, you'll start with exactly 24 hours of personal time. However, most of us have traded part of our 24 hours for benefits. If you work or go to school, you have traded part of your time for education or pay. Personal time is what we call “free time” or the time we haven't already bartered away.

How do we spend our time?

The average person spends the following amount of time in an average day:

- 8.5 hours sleeping.
- 1 hour devoted to personal care.
- 2.5 hours on household chores (cooking, cleaning, gardening, shopping, etc.)
- 8.5 hours at work and/or school-related activities on weekdays (4 to 5 hours on the weekend).
- 3 hours caring for others, either those who live with us (children and spouses) or those outside of our homes (elderly relatives, volunteer work).

If you add up the numbers, you'll see that “free time” is really at a premium!

Making Every Minute Count

The trick to managing personal time is first determining how much time you have to manage. Use the example above and put the time you spend sleeping, in personal care, doing chores, at work (or school), and in caring for others during your week to zero in on the personal time you have left to manage.

Be realistic in categorizing your time. You'll need at least three categories: work (school) time, sleep time, and personal time.

Your first inclination in planning personal time may be to subtract your 8-hour workday from your 24 hours, leaving you with 16 hours of personal time. However, although sleep-time is part of personal time, it isn't really time you can manage. Sleep patterns are very important to the way you function during your waking hours. Don't cut yourself short. If you think you're sleeping too much of your life away, gradually cut down on sleep. Begin with either retiring 15 minutes later or waking 15 minutes earlier.

Consider travel time to work as work time. If your main focus on waking is getting ready for work, you might also want to consider that as work time.

Personal time spent in relaxation is as important as the rest of your day. Schedule time to read, exercise, meditate… things you'd like to do… on your To Do list.

Break times at work are personal time. If that's not true for you, then you probably need to learn to say “no.” Make use of wasted minutes during lunch hours and breaks. Bring a book to work, take a walk, run an errand.

Delegate some daily chores to the weekend.

Learn to multi-task. You can fold the laundry while the potatoes are cooking.

Divide large tasks into small ones. “Today I'll mow the lawn, tomorrow I'll tackle the weeds.”

Don't be afraid to ask for help and delegate some chores to others. Learn to barter with housemates. “I'll help weed the garden if you'll help wash the car.”

Mark your place. A lot of us waste a good part of our time just finding “where we left off.” Keep a notepad or a pad of post-its nearby for emergencies and write yourself a note. Cross finished chores from your To Do List.

Become listed. A grocery list can keep you from an extra trip to the store when you forget the milk. To Do Lists help you keep your focus on what you need to get done so that you have more time to do the things you want to do!

CRK