Career Development Training

Time Management Self-Study Guide

Career Development Training Time Management Self-Study Guide

Self-Study Guide

COPYRIGHT All rights reserved world-wide under International and Pan-American copyright agreements. No part of this document can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise. Courseware Version 3.0

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TABLE OF CONTENTS How to Use This Guide..................................................................................................................... 1 Session One: Course Overview ......................................................................................................... 2 Learning Objectives ................................................................................................................ 2 Pre-Assignment....................................................................................................................... 3 Session Two: The Power of a Change .............................................................................................. 4 Your Bucket List ...................................................................................................................... 4 Exercise: Pre-Assignment Review ........................................................................................... 7 Session Three: Changing Our Perspective........................................................................................ 9 Making Changes...................................................................................................................... 9 Case Study: Another Day at the Office ................................................................................. 15 Session Four: Setting Goals............................................................................................................ 20 The Dot Exercise ................................................................................................................... 20 Setting Goals with SPIRIT ...................................................................................................... 22 Session Five: Planning Tips and Tricks ........................................................................................... 24 Guidelines for Efficient Planning .......................................................................................... 24 Making Plans ......................................................................................................................... 26 Session Six: Setting Up a Routine................................................................................................... 28 How Routines Can Help You ................................................................................................. 28 Making Connections ............................................................................................................. 29 Session Seven: Doing it Right ......................................................................................................... 30 Being Brave and BOLD .......................................................................................................... 30 Case Study: Managing Time .................................................................................................. 35 Session Eight: Putting an End to Procrastination .......................................................................... 39 Eating a Frog ......................................................................................................................... 39 Making Connections ............................................................................................................. 40 Session Nine: Getting Organised ................................................................................................... 41 Making Connections ............................................................................................................. 42 Session Ten: Organising Your Files ................................................................................................ 44 Sorting Based on File Type .................................................................................................... 44 The Batching Technique ....................................................................................................... 48 Session Eleven: Managing Your Workload .................................................................................... 49 Managing E-mail ................................................................................................................... 49 Case Study: Mary Marvelous ................................................................................................ 51 Workload Analysis ................................................................................................................ 55 Making Connections ............................................................................................................. 57

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Session Twelve: A Personal Action Plan......................................................................................... 61 Starting Point ........................................................................................................................ 61 Where I Want to Go .............................................................................................................. 61 How I Will Get There............................................................................................................. 62 Summary........................................................................................................................................ 63 Recommended Reading List .......................................................................................................... 64

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Time Management – Get Organised for Peak Performance

How to Use This Guide This self-study guide is designed and laid out in a manner that will direct student learning much in the same way that an instructor would. This workbook is comprised of several modules called Sessions. Each session focuses on a major concept in the course. Several times throughout the course of the guide, it is suggested that you take the opportunity to internalise what you have learned by taking advantage of the many self-reflection exercises titled Making Connections. The Making Connections sections are intended as open-ended questions that allow you to apply the skills learned in the current session in the framework of your personal experience. It is used to help you incorporate what you’ve just learned into your own practice. For the purpose of keeping track of your own progress, the guide also incorporates a Pre-Assignment, which is designed to give you an idea of your current skills. Following that, you are asked to complete the Pre-Course Assessment. The Pre-Course Assessment can be used in conjunction with a Post-Course Assessment at the end of the course to highlight the progress you’ve made. In the final session you will be asked to complete your Personal Action Plan; a sort of road map that will help you incorporate your new skill-set into your daily routine.

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Session One: Course Overview Time is money, the saying goes, and lots of it gets lost in disorganisation and disruption. We also deal with a constant barrage of technology, people, and tasks that can contribute to that disorganisation. Many people find that they flit from one task to another, trying to get everything done. In this course you will learn how to make the most of your time by getting a grip on your workflow and office space, using your planner effectively, and delegating some of your work to other people.

Learning Objectives At the end of this course, you will be able to: o Better organise yourself and your workspace for peak efficiency. o Understand the importance of, and the most useful techniques for, setting and achieving goals. o Identify the right things to be doing and develop plans for doing them. o Learn what to delegate and how to delegate well. o Take control of things that can derail your workplace productivity. Why did you take this course? Use this opportunity to consider your personal learning objectives and reasons for taking this course.

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Pre-Assignment Please answer the following questions. What do you believe are your top three priorities/objectives in your position? 1. 2. 3.

What do you believe are the top three obstacles to working on your priorities or meeting your objectives at the moment? 1. 2. 3.

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your organisational skills right now? ________

What are the top three things you think you must do in order to be more organised? 1. 2. 3.

What would you do with any additional time if you found a way to give it to yourself?

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Session Two: The Power of a Change It takes time to make time work for you. If you are truly going to make any difference in your life because of this course, you have to be prepared to make some changes. You must implement what you learned if you are going to change, and to reap the rewards from what you learn. In this session you will have a chance to think about the long-term benefits of managing your time well by creating a list of things that you would like to do in your lifetime. We will also guide you through an exploration of your current time management strategies, using your pre-assignment questions as food for thought. Your Bucket List There is an expression that says no one ever laid on their deathbed and said, “I should have spent more time at work.” At the end of their lives, people mostly think about people they love, particularly their family. We even tell our children to treasure their relationships with family, because it’s not usually the boss who comes to hold your hand when you are lying on your deathbed. To get us started in thinking about time management and peak performance in the best way possible, let’s put life into perspective.

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Exercise: My Bucket List Write down 50 things that you want to accomplish before you die. Daydream a little. Do not let lack of money, time, or permission restrict your ideas. Just write the list. If you can’t think of 50, it’s okay – just write down as many as you can think of! 1.

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Now that you have a list of what you really want, you will have some ideas about what you need to change in order to get where you want to go. We encourage you to keep this list in mind as you go through this course. Print it off, and hang it up at home!

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Exercise: Pre-Assignment Review Take a look at your answers to the pre-assignment questions. What do you believe are your typical strategies for managing your work and your time? Most of us try one of the following techniques when we get snowed under: o Work harder o Work faster o Get organised We all have the power of choice. Your organisational style is a result of the choices you make on a minute by minute basis. Can you give some examples of how choice affects the way you work?

What is the one activity that, if you did it superbly well and consistently, you know would have significant and positive results in your personal life or career?

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If you know these things would make such a significant difference, why are you not doing them now?

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Session Three: Changing Our Perspective Our days seem full to bursting with meetings, e-mail, voicemail, projects, and task lists as long as our arms. Is it any wonder when we get to the end of a week and say, “Wow, where did that week go? I can’t believe it’s gone already!” In this session, you will explore how to make time for four priorities: connecting with people, paperwork, reading, and exercise. Then, you will apply your knowledge to a case study to help Myron get on top of his workload for the long-term. Making Changes It would be hard to find a person who hasn’t read a book or taken a workshop on time management, or at the very least thought about time management. Everyone is interested in learning to use their time more wisely. However, traditional time management wisdom only works well for some people. We’ve assembled ideas here that aren’t just encouraged by time management teachers. We’ve tested them ourselves and bring the very best to you! We’ve scoured the research to consider the range of personality types, and also looked to techniques that have been researched and applied to people from all walks of life. Because, let’s face it, we’re all different, so we need different tools to collect and consider before figuring out which ones will work the best in our own situation. The truth is, we can all probably rearrange some things and do things differently. The result will be that we increase our personal efficiency, and enjoy life too. Of all the high priorities that we consider, we generally find the following four are the most neglected. See if you can relate to any of these. Neglecting any or all of them can be at a high cost.

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Connecting with People (Exercise) We’re most likely to stay in touch with people who are on auto-pilot with us, so that we don’t have to plan anything. Friends who belong to the same clubs, sports, and school activities are people we will see more often, just based on following our usual routines. Friends we lost touch with, though, can offer us a lot. How can you make more connections with the people you want to see?

Possible answers include: o Schedule lunch with a friend once a month. Rotate through your friends so that over the course of a year, you have twelve lunches with as many different people as you have available. You will all benefit. o Pick up the phone and say hello! While many of us keep in touch over social networks, those interactions can be brief and impersonal. Picking up the phone and speaking with someone adds warmth and depth to that relationship.

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Paperwork (Exercise) Take a mental look around your house and office. Are there stacks of paper everywhere? Are you meeting deadlines? Are you paying all your bills on time? Can you locate tax slips, auto insurance, or put your hands on your passport when it’s time? What kind of filing system are you using? In the same respect, can you find the files you need on your computer, and have you backed up your information? List some ideas for tackling paperwork and digital monsters.

Possible answers include: o Schedule an hour each week to organise your paperwork, pay bills, file paper, and back up your computer. o Consider using e-billing, online banking, and automatic payments so that you don’t miss any payments (and your credit rating isn’t damaged). o If you like coloured files instead of the plain beige ones, get colourful and have fun with them to make this time engaging for you.

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Reading (Exercise) In order to read more, we have to make it easier than watching TV or mindlessly surfing the internet. How could you make time to read more?

Possible answers include: o Remove the TV from your bedroom and you’ll be more likely to read. o Create a comfy reading space at home with good lighting. Make sure it’s in a place where you can’t be distracted by the TV set. o Schedule professional reading time for journals, newsletters, etc. o Take advantage of technology like e-readers and handheld devices to carry your reading with you so that you have something to do while you are waiting, or find yourself with a few unscheduled minutes.

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Exercise (Exercise) We talk about exercise a lot. We know how valuable it is; regular exercise reduces stress and increases mental alertness in addition to making us physically healthy. It’s a critical component of healthy living, and yet it is easy to avoid if we don’t preserve the time for it in our planner. How do you make time for exercise?

Some ideas: o If exercising is getting lost, put the time for it into your planner to protect it. o Take part in exercise that you enjoy; if you hate running, don’t be a runner. There are lots of options, from walking in your neighbourhood to taking yoga. o Be brave and try something that interests you.

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Summary (Exercise) These activities are all possible if you make an appointment and protect the time for yourself. If a colleague asks for a favour that you’d rather not do, or a friend wants you to help them move, you’re more likely to say “no” if the time is reserved for other things and noted in your planner. What other activities do you want to make time for?

What strategies are you using?

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Case Study: Another Day at the Office Please read the case study about Myron and his problems with time management. Then, answer the questions to help Myron get control over his workload. Myron’s Day It was 7:20 a.m. when Myron arrived at the office. He was early because he wanted to clear the backlog of work that had been piling up on his desk. He turned on the lights and started to go through yesterday's mail. As he read the first piece, he realised he couldn't deal with it until a colleague arrived. He set it aside and went to the next. This item had potential application to a project he was working on, so he walked down the hall and made a copy for his personal use. As he continued reading his mail he came across a journal article of particular interest and become engrossed in it. As he looked up, he was startled to find that others were arriving and it was nearly 9:00. He quickly pushed the remaining mail to a corner of his desk and reached for a project file due tomorrow with at least two days of work yet to be completed. As he opened the file, Bill and Claire stopped by and invited him to join them for coffee. Myron decided he could spare ten minutes. Bill and Claire were both anxious to share the details of a play they attended last night. Before Myron realised it, thirty minutes had passed and he hurried back to his office. As Myron entered his office, the phone rang. It was Mr. Wilson, his manager. There was a meeting scheduled at 10:00. Could Myron sit in for him? There was something to be discussed that the department should know about. Myron looked at his watch. There wasn't enough time to get started on the project so he pushed the file aside and vowed to start it immediately after lunch. The afternoon wasn't any better. A few visitors, a few phone calls, a couple of letters, and the day was over. Nothing had been accomplished on the project that was due tomorrow. As he stuffed papers into his briefcase, he wondered how Bill and Claire were able to attend plays during the evening.

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Discussion Questions When is Myron’s best time of day, and did he make good use of it? Explain.

Did he work on his high priority items? Explain your answer.

Did he have a problem saying no? Provide examples to support your answer.

Did Myron complete the tasks he started? If he did, give an example. If he didn’t, provide a suggestion to help him.

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Did he understand his problems? Explain your answer.

What would you recommend for Myron?

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Discussing Myron This is how we answered the case study discussion questions. Did he make good use of his best time of day? The best time of day would be early in the morning as distractions are minimal. However, Myron got easily distracted and didn’t make use of this time. Did he work on his high priority items? He didn’t because he didn’t set priorities! Did he have a problem saying no? Absolutely. There are two situations in which Myron should have said no, or at least had some discussion before taking on more responsibility. When he went for coffee with Bill and Claire, he should have taken only ten minutes as he planned. And when his manager asked him to sit in on a meeting, Myron should have explained that as a result, he would need more time on his project. Did Myron complete the tasks he started? If he did, give an example. If he didn’t, provide a suggestion to help him. No, because he got distracted too easily. He could make better use of his time with a kitchen timer. Set it to go off every fifteen minutes. When it does go off, make sure you’re still on the same task and making progress. Did he understand his problems? No. Myron thought the solution was more time, not better time management. What would you recommend for Myron? Myron needs to keep a long-term to-do list, perhaps on a calendar so he can be prepared for deadlines. He also needs to make a to-do list each day and prioritise; things that don’t get done that day need to move to the next day’s list as top priority.

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Scheduling Myron’s Time Myron could also schedule his day out a bit better. o 9:00-9:45: Address mail (He could bring the journal article home, or save it for lunch rather than using this time to read it.) o 9:45-10:00: Coffee with Bill and Claire o 10:00-12:00: Meeting o 12:00-1:00: Lunch o 1:00-2:00: Work on project o 2:00-2:15: Break o 2:15-3:00: Deal with colleagues (letters, phone calls, visitors) o 3:00-5:00: Work on project With this sort of schedule, an extra two hours in the morning would have put him far ahead of planned tasks. Putting in extra time is fine now and then, but should not be seen as a solution.

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Session Four: Setting Goals Read any self-improvement book and you will learn that hard work, focused goals, and persistence are important (very important!) in getting to where you want to go in life. Goals or targets are also an important part of managing your time. In this session, you will learn why setting goals is important. We will also introduce you to the SPIRIT acronym, which can help you set solid goals that you are motivated to reach. You will then have an opportunity to set a goal for yourself for after the course is complete. The Dot Exercise Before you can develop plans, you have to know what you want to accomplish (your goals or targets); how you want to accomplish those goals or targets; what resources of time, money, and materials you have; and who will carry out the implementation. So set some targets for yourself, targets that you can see, and we’ll start the journey to reaching them. Many of us are full of ideas but short on taking constructive action to put those ideas into play. Maybe we try something once and then meet failure because we didn’t think and plan the actions through. But you know what they say about the lottery: “You can’t win if you don’t buy a ticket.” Well, the same is true in life: if you stop trying, you lose all chance of succeeding. Make a covenant with yourself that you will make an effort to put into practice the things we talk about today that will be of the most benefit to YOU. And to make that covenant even more of a commitment, share it with a colleague, your spouse, or your supervisor. We are going to spend a bit of time talking about why you should set goals for yourself, and the best way to do it so that you have a good chance of reaching your goals.

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Exercise: Setting Goals Are you in the habit of making goals for yourself? You may have several examples, from losing weight, to sports achievements, to studying for tests. Do you have a systematic way of going about setting your goals, or do you just say to yourself, “I'm going to try to lose 10 pounds by Christmas,” or, “I'm going to practice basketball every night for one hour before supper,” or, “I'm going to get up early and walk every morning before breakfast,” or, “I'm going to save $500 over the summer”? How successful are you? Do you reach the goals you set for yourself? Why, or why not?

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Setting Goals with SPIRIT Goals and objectives are the basis for planning. As the saying goes, “If you don't know where you are going, then any road will take you there.” And that is often how we approach life. We just live, and if we end up where we want to be, hey, that's great. If we end up where we don't want to be, hey, that’s life. We can do a bit better than that, if we really want to. The first element in planning is knowing what we want to achieve, and the way we word our goals is the biggest factor in helping us achieve them. Goals should reflect your SPIRIT! S = Specific Be specific about what you want or don’t want to achieve. The result should be tangible and measurable. “Look gorgeous” is pretty ambiguous; “Lose 20 pounds” is specific. P = Prizes Reward yourself at different points in the goal, particularly if it’s long-term. If your goal is to set up a home office, for example, you might purchase a new desk when the room is cleared out and ready. I = Individual The goal must be something that you want to do. If your spouse wants you to lose 20 pounds but you think you look fine, you’re not going to want to work towards the goal. R = Review Review your progress periodically. Does the goal make sense? Are you stuck? Do you need to adjust certain parts of it? I = Inspiring Frame the goal positively. Make it fun to accomplish. You could make a poster of the end result, frame it, and post it on the wall. T = Time-Bound Give yourself a deadline for achieving the goal. Even better, split the goal into small parts and give yourself a deadline for each item.

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Exercise: Setting a SPIRIT Goal Try setting a goal for yourself for after you have completed this course. Use the SPIRIT acronym to help you.

Here is an example of a SPIRIT goal to help you out: Set up an organised home office. I will convert the spare bedroom into a home office. I will have the space ready for setup in three months (November 1, 2019). When I achieve this, I will re-paint the space, put up some artwork to motivate myself, and check in with my goal of having the office complete six months from today (January 1, 2020).

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Session Five: Planning Tips and Tricks Life gets much easier when we have a plan and put it into action. Having a plan gives us a place to start, as well as being a way to remember what we are supposed to be doing at any given time. In this session, we will share some of the strategies that we have found most useful for efficient planning and organisation. As you work through this information, remember that we recommend choosing one or two tactics that you think will work for you and trying those out, rather than trying to implement a whole host of changes. Guidelines for Efficient Planning Here are some guidelines for efficient planning that you can make work for you right away. Organise yourself Did you know that you can save yourself an hour each day just by getting organised? When you arrive at work or return home, take a moment to put your coat and keys where they belong. Put papers where you can put your hand on them quickly. Clean up continually Use your workspace and personal space (home, vehicle, garage, etc.) to their greatest advantage. There is no need to do a big clean up once a year if you can take a half hour once a week to file, sort, and keep things organised. Think short- and long-term It is important to identify and operate within two time horizons: short- and long-term. Anticipating events will help you to get things done in the short-term which contribute to achieving long-term objectives. Keep a master calendar An up-to-date master calendar can be your most helpful planning tool. If you prefer an electronic version, make sure that it is backed up properly so that you don’t lose your data. Anything that is more than 30 minutes in duration should appear in the calendar. Make a daily to-do list When things begin to get hectic, a "Things to do Today" list helps focus attention on the highest priority items. Use planning tools Action planning worksheets, milestone charts, and PERT diagrams (the types of diagrams used in project management) are excellent planning aids when properly used. Plan discussions Planning contact with colleagues and staff will help minimise disruptions. Keep a file for each person you meet with on a regular basis, with items to be discussed highlighted for easy reference.

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Make the planning suit your needs The most effective approaches to planning are those tailored to meet individual needs. Concepts, procedures, and worksheets should be modified to fit individual circumstances. Be flexible Experts say nothing should be attempted without prior planning, although applying flexibility is also important. Exercise: Using a Guideline Choose one of the guidelines for efficient planning to implement in your day-to-day life. Then, outline a plan for making this happen. Guideline: Plan:

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Making Plans A Planning Checklist For every plan you make, cover all these points: o What o Where o When o How o Who Putting Plans into Action with Scheduling Tools Some useful short term planning tools: o A daily to-do list o A planner with at least a week at a glance o A monthly project list o Project planning worksheet Organising Your Work Area and Your Paperwork A clean desk is not a sign of an empty mind! Don’t fall prey to the false notion that a messy work area means you look busy, and thinking that if you look busy, then you’re productive. Being active is not the same as being productive! Here are some tips for organising your work area. Do it now! Anything that takes less than 30 minutes should be done as it comes up. If it will take more than 30 minutes, add the task to your planner. Dump. Throw out or take home all those things you have collected that you don’t need or use. We’re so used to holding on to things and sometimes are afraid to throw out the wrong thing. We like the same rule for work that we use at home: if you haven’t used it for a year (or an entire business cycle), get rid of it, because you obviously aren’t using it. Sort and group. Your desk should be organised logically; pencils and pens in one place, another place for letterhead and envelopes. Have a basket for projects and another one for priority items so that you can locate the things you need when you want them. You can use the same kind of system on your computer so that you can find your working files. Once a project is complete, move it into an appropriate folder for retention. Set up a system.

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Use a planner to jot down your daily to-do list and schedule in any tasks that will take longer than 30 minutes to do. Prioritise each item so you know what to work on, and make sure you stick to the list. (Maintain some flexibility for emergencies, but make sure you get back to priorities as soon as possible.) Don’t save papers that you can easily find somewhere else. Don’t ask yourself, “Is there a chance I will need this someday?” because the answer is nearly always yes. Ask yourself, “If I know I need this, do I know how to find it?” One of our biggest time-wasters is searching for papers we know we have but we can’t find. If a piece of paper is important enough to save, it is important enough to file for retrieval.

 Fact One technique that we like is to use colour coded folders for managing paper. If you put your current projects in a red or purple folder, let you colleagues know that they must not, under any circumstances, cover up a purple folder on your desk. That way you will always know where they are. Once you are finished with that particular project, move the contents to a permanent beige folder for storage, or have them scanned and filed on your computer in the appropriate place. With electronic files we also recommend that you update the “properties” section of your documents. In that section, you can add keywords or tags as well as update the author’s name, and these functions will help enormously if you have to search for the file later on.

Exercise: Using a Tip Choose one of these tips for organising your work area and paperwork to implement in your day-today life. Then, outline a plan for making this happen. Tip: Plan:

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Session Six: Setting Up a Routine You might think that routines are predictable and boring. However, we believe that certain aspects of your life should be ritualised if you want your time to be used in the best way possible. In this session, we will talk about why routines are important, how you can simplify your life, and what parts of your life can be made simpler with a routine. You will also have an opportunity to think about parts of your life that could benefit from a routine. How Routines Can Help You Be dull in your everyday routine so you can be wildly creative where it counts. Routines simplify; clarify; and create order, symmetry, and familiarity in chaos and high stress. Routines are the foundation of success. Top performers in every area of every industry have lives full of routine. Most of us have routines in the morning. Think about your morning routine and how, if you skip it (perhaps because you slept in late, or the dog threw up on the carpet!), you have a tougher time launching your day. Creating a Routine As you decide what kinds of routines will help you, you will need to simplify some things in your life. This is one of those things that is easier said than done, we know, but is well worth the effort. Consider your entire lifestyle. If you have an expensive lifestyle that consumes huge amounts of effort just to maintain, perhaps that time could be better spent doing more enjoyable things than maintaining homes, boats, cars, etc. Similarly, too cheap a lifestyle has a similar result. If you spend hours negotiating the cheapest and the lowest rates, airfares, gas prices, etc., or have to shop for groceries at six locations in order to get the best price on everything, ask yourself if that is time truly well-spent. What to Include? Routines include setting time with family, for eating, for sleeping, and for exercising. It means setting a clear time for all routine activities. The way to get routines to work for you is to make sure you are setting them at times that work best for you and your biological clock. Your morning routines should be so good that when you walk out of your house, you feel ready to tackle any problems the world throws at you. Remember: o No activity is more important to ritualise than sleep. This lets your body know that it is time to slow down and prepare to shut off. o By fixing mealtimes and planning in advance you’ll become vastly more efficient. You’ll save money on groceries too! o Since exercise has such a powerful effect on brain energy and alertness, place your workout at times of day you most need them.

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Making Connections Creating Your Routine What is one area of your life that you would like to have more routine in?

How can you make this happen?

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Session Seven: Doing it Right Sometimes we need to approach things with a bit of attitude in order to get things done, and do them well. We recommend being BOLD: have balance, organise your time, let things go, and learn to delegate. In this session, we will explore each aspect of being BOLD to get your life under control. You will then apply your knowledge to a case study and help another friend in trouble: Sheila, the new supervisor. Being Brave and BOLD Balance Do you spend a lot of time looking for things? Productivity research tells us that the average person spends about 10% of the day looking for things. If that were so, you could gain 5 weeks a year just by getting your retrieval methods under control! If you tend to keep good track of things at work, consider things at home. Do you have a place for your keys, glasses, or lunch bags? Do you ever find yourself searching for things in the morning right before you leave for work? How long does it take you to find a particular file on your computer? (This is often one of the worst time suckers out there today!) Sometimes you just need to handle the little things that reduce concentration and cause anxiety, like the clutter on your desk and the incomplete jobs. This is the opposite of prioritising. Do the quick and dirty tasks NOW, even if you just do them for 5 minutes a day for the next two weeks. The crises in our lives are often the result of not handling the little things or not reacting to a niggling feeling that something is wrong. Ignore the little toothache and you wind up with a root canal. While we talk a lot about balance, if we could accept the fact that each day is not going to be perfectly balanced, we’d probably be a lot more content with our work. Some days there will be nothing but fires to put out, but this can be balanced with days that are quieter and the phone isn’t jangling off the hook. Balance can also come from setting your work aside and going for a brisk walk at lunch, or phoning someone you care about. Achieving balance is not necessarily about spending equal time on the things you like versus what you don’t like: it can be about the value of things. A big smile and a quick lunch with someone can balance out a morning spent in a frustrating meeting.

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Exercise: Balancing Your Week What are some ideas that might give you balance during your week?

Ideas might be: o Taking the bus instead of driving (no need to pay for parking or fight traffic) o Packing lunch the night before instead of in the morning o Walking at lunch (alone or with a friend) o Going to the gym right after work Organise Your Time If you are receiving tasks and assignments by e-mail, or your boss delegates assignments to you, make sure you organise these incoming items immediately. If something will take more than 30 minutes to complete, schedule it in your calendar and prioritise the items there. If the task will take less than 30 minutes, try to get it done right away so that you are not procrastinating over it, or don’t forget that it needs doing. Exercise: Organising Yourself How can you efficiently keep track of the things you need to do? Provide a brief explanation of how you will organise yourself.

Let Things Go

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There is a rule we often follow at home that says if you have not used an item of clothing or kitchen gadget for a year, get rid of it. We need to apply the same thing to work: when you no longer need things, get rid of them. It’s rare that we actually get rid of things we need, but if we do, it’s not likely to be the end of the world. You can replace it if you need to. If you are someone who has a hard time throwing things out, put them into storage first, and then set up an archiving date within 12 months so that they move from storage (which is usually very expensive) to the shredder or rubbish bin. If you are going through a stack of paper or items, start out with three piles, and act on them quickly. Sort them into piles to: shred, store, or dump in the garbage. Delegate Don’t waste your time doing things that somebody else can do, especially if they can do them better than you. Save your time for those things which you are uniquely qualified to do. In addition to easing up your workload, delegation helps your staff to learn new things and to take risks where they have you there for back up if needed. Delegating does not mean that you “give away” work completely. As the owner of a task, you must remember that you are ultimately responsible for the results that are achieved. If you are not in a leadership position, you may be thinking that you don’t have anyone that you can delegate to, but that’s often not the case. In many work teams, we can delegate laterally to a colleague who has a particular expertise, who is looking for some skill development, or simply has some extra time.

 Fact People normally will rise to the challenge when work is delegated to them. However, many managers apply the “delegate until they complain” rule, because it’s hard to otherwise know what someone’s capacity is.

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Five Levels and Five Steps of Delegation In The Creative Edge, author William C. Miller defines five levels of delegation: o Tell: “Based on my decision, here’s what I want you to do.” o Sell: “Based on my decision, here’s what I want you to do, because…” o Consult: “Before I make a decision, I want your input.” o Participate: “We need to make a decision together.” o Delegate: “You make a decision.” You must find ways to delegate, no matter what your position is. Learn to clearly define who is to do what and let them show you that they can do it. Make sure your communication is clear so that they know what your expectations are and any limitations of the assignment (i.e. budget, time frames, or other resources). There are five steps to the delegation process: 1) Explain why the job is important. 2) Describe what is needed in terms of results (not how, but what). 3) Give the person the authority they need to do the job. 4) Indicate when the job needs to be completed and get agreement. 5) Ask for feedback to ensure a common understanding. Exercise: Delegating Work Are there things on your to-do list that you should delegate? Most likely there is. Choose one of those things and fill out the following steps for the process. (If you do not have an item that can be delegated, select one anyway to complete the exercise.) 1. Explain why the job is important.

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2. Describe what results are needed.

3. What authority will the person need? ____________________________________________ 4. When does the job need to be completed? _______________________________________

The Story about Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got mad about it because it was Everybody’s job. Everyone thought that Anybody could do it, and Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when actually Nobody blamed Anybody.

 Fact Here is some food for thought. o Why do we resist delegating? We don’t want to look weak, or as though we cannot handle things. Sometimes we also want to maintain control, and don’t think anyone else will do it as well as we do. o Why do we resist having others delegate to us? Some common reasons include: We have our own work to do, we want to make sure we’re not being dumped on, and/or we don’t want to put in extra effort. o What are some important things to remember when we delegate? To use the levels of delegation, to remember that we will own the work and are ultimately responsible for it, and that it is a way for other people to learn new things.

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Case Study: Managing Time Please read the case study about Sheila and her new position as a supervisor. Then, answer the questions to help Sheila with her dilemma. Sheila’s Dilemma Three months ago, Sheila looked forward to her promotion to supervisor. After four years in the department, she was confident of her abilities, and she knew her staff was capable and experienced. Today, Sheila isn't so sure she was cut out to be a supervisor. There seems to be no end to her workday. During office hours her day is filled with assigning work and reviewing results. To complicate matters, there is a steady flow of visitors, and the phone rings constantly. In the evening, when she would like to relax, she has to take care of administrative matters such as reading mail, answering letters, preparing budgets, and completing performance appraisals. In frustration, Sheila asked her friend Carol for advice. She told Carol she was thinking about giving up her supervisor's job. She said she just couldn't face a career of working 60 hours a week. Carol listened and then said there might be another way: if the only issue was the time required to do the job, perhaps a review of how Sheila was using her time might help.

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Discussion Questions Consider Sheila's situation and answer the following questions. Does Sheila appear to be making effective use of delegation? Explain your answer.

If her visitors are employees, how might she avoid interruptions?

Should Sheila consider establishing a quiet time when she would receive no calls or visitors? If so, when might be the best time of day for her to do this?

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Sheila feels she should assign all departmental work and review all results. Is there a more efficient way? If so, please explain what she should do.

What other ways could Sheila gain more control over her use of time?

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Discussing Sheila This is how we answered the case study questions. Does she appear to be making effective use of delegation? Explain your answer. There are definitely some areas that she could improve on. For example, she may not need to spend so much time reviewing results once she has determined that a person is capable of doing the task. Spot checks may be enough. If her visitors are employees, how might she avoid interruptions? She could set aside a time for employee questions, or she could ask them to e-mail her questions first. She could also encourage employees to rely on each other as a resource. Should Sheila consider establishing a quiet time when she would receive no calls or visitors? If so, when might be the best time of day for her to do this? Having a half hour of quiet time to plan can be an excellent time management tool. Typically, the best time is at the very end or the very beginning of the day, or right before or after lunch. Sheila feels she should assign all departmental work and review all results. Is there a more efficient way? Rather than reviewing all work, she may be able to spot check work. She could also have certain tasks automatically assigned to people – for example, having the same employee prepare a weekly report – to save her time. What other ways could Sheila gain more control over her use of time? Planning tools that we discussed earlier in this course, such as to-do lists, may be useful. She may also want to ask about having an assistant who can help her manage mail and telephone traffic.

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Session Eight: Putting an End to Procrastination In some workplaces, it seems to be impossible to get everything done. But, have you ever noticed yourself avoiding particular jobs for one reason or another? And those jobs get bigger and bigger? This session will help you prioritise what does need to be done, and sort it out from things that you could do, but may not have the time to finish. Eating a Frog Brian Tracy wrote a great little book called Eat that Frog! that helps people get over procrastinating. He also plays with a couple of quotes from the writer Mark Twain that help us to remember what we are meant to do, and how to stop putting things off. The idea is this: “If the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you can go through the day with the satisfaction of knowing that is probably the worst thing that is going to happen to you all day long.” We are often guilty about procrastinating, and this stops us from getting things done. And as you likely already know, when we procrastinate about one thing, it can also interfere with getting other things done. Choose the Ugly One As Mark Twain said, “The rule of frog eating is this: If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.” This quote is about taking the frog – the thing we are procrastinating about – and getting on with eating it. Clearly, after you’ve eaten a great big frog, everything else you have to do that day is going to be easier than what you started off with. By procrastinating, that thing we are putting off often becomes a bigger and more daunting task than it really is, and the more we think about (rather than doing something about it), the more space it can take up in our head. This is a very simple concept that can have a profound impact on our results. There is no self-satisfaction in knowing that we are letting things get away from us, and we feel better and more motivated when we go ahead and get these things crossed off our to-do lists.

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Making Connections Clearing Out the Frogs Looking at your own work to-do lists, have you prioritised what needs to be done? That is, have you sorted out the important jobs from the things you could do but don’t have time to finish? Do you have a frog or two waiting for you at work? Are you procrastinating about an item on your todo list? If so, what are they?

What is standing in the way of eating that frog?

How do you plan to avoid having frogs in the future?

One answer for a recurring frog might be: o Add the frog to a routine, so you don’t have to think about it, you just do it.

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Session Nine: Getting Organised Getting rid of clutter is one of the best things we can do to make a more efficient work environment. For some people, this is a daunting task. If you tend to accumulate clutter, or are embarrassed about it, this task can best be done on a weekend, and with a friend. In this session, we will walk you through the process of organising your workspace, by focusing on your desk and your files. We recommend that when you schedule time for this task, you double it. An hour to clean out our office never seems to be quite enough, so allow yourself the luxury of two hours instead. Surface of the Desk Look at your desk. The object is to purge both the work surface and the contents of the desk. If the surface is already clear, that’s great! However, if there are items on the desk, ask yourself if they are necessary and/or in an effective location. o Check the position of the desk: Is it facing the door and making interruptions more likely? o Is the lighting adequate? o Is the phone where it can be reached easily? o Is there a better arrangement possible? o Is the seating/chair adequate? Your first step should be to get rid of things that should NOT be on the desk. Check everywhere. Look under the blotter, on the walls surrounding the desk, in trays, etc. Collect all bits and pieces, and declutter by noting the information in an appropriate spot and discarding it. Contents of the Desk Then move to the contents of the desk. Focus first on the tools you use, such as pens, pencils, and erasers. Check to make sure of the following: o You have all the tools you need and they are in good working order. o Tools are organised so that similar tools are together and easily accessible. Useless tools should be discarded or moved to an area to be fixed. o Group like items together; for example, stationery, envelopes, and stamps are all in one drawer. o Store any extra supplies in a supply area. o Tools should be stored in a shallow desk drawer and are not on the desk.

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Getting Rid of Clutter To tidy up the papers around your office, make four piles of all the papers you have strewn around, including those on the bulletin board, under your blotter or desk calendar, and on chairs. The categories we recommend are: o Take home/get out of office o Help yourself/giveaways to colleagues o Cool stuff you want to keep and display o Things to be filed or written into your planner To keep on top of things, you should set up a system so that vital information is saved where it can be readily found. Then, bits of paper can be discarded. Clutter often prevents us from using our time efficiently. Guidelines for Keeping a Piece of Paper When you have just received some papers, use these questions to decide if you will keep them or not. Am I going to need to refer to this later? o YES: File it o NO: Recycle it Do I have a digital copy that will suffice? o YES: Recycle it o NO: File it Is it not directly related to me or will someone else have a copy that I can refer to? o YES: Recycle it o NO: File it Do I need to keep this for legal reasons? o YES: File it o NO: Recycle it Does it fit in my filing system? o YES: File it o NO: Recycle it If I file it, will I be able to find it? o YES: File it o NO: Recycle it Making Connections Cleaning Up

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Choose one thing about your workspace that you will change when you return to work. Describe your plans for change.

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Session Ten: Organising Your Files We’re supposed to live in a paperless society, but you’d never know it from the piles of documents that float around the average office! It can be a real challenge to stay on top of the paper trail. In addition, we often have many electronic files that we need to keep on top of, too. In this session, we will share some simple, basic principles that can help you store any type of information efficiently. We will also share a simple paper filing system and tips for electronic filing. To wrap up the session, we’ll talk about extending your organisational system to your briefcase. Sorting Based on File Type The key principles of retrieval are: o Group similar things together o Place them in their own space or container o Label them clearly File Categories There are some additional steps we can take depending on what kind of files you are trying to organise. We can usually divide our files into four categories. o Working files o Reference files o Archive files o Disaster files Working Files These files include your current projects, routine functions, and quick references. These are the files where you have 80% of your work. These should be within arm’s reach. They usually contain the following: o The projects you are currently working on. This file should be cleaned occasionally to move projects to a reference file or to eliminate duplication. o Fingertip information you need on a routine or daily basis, such as phone lists, client addresses, and computer codes. o A follow-up file for each person with whom you come in contact on a regular basis, where you keep track of all correspondence with that person. o A file for routine functions such as sales reports or other functions performed daily/weekly/monthly. Since these files should be within reach, they might be in a large desk drawer. Make certain they are in file folders, labeled in large letters, and then placed in hanging file folders that are also labeled. Usually it is more efficient to label hanging folders by category, rather than by a letter of the alphabet. Then categories can be alphabetised or colour-coded.

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Reference Files These are files you must refer to frequently as you work on current projects. This is where the bulk of your files will be located. Since you use these files regularly, they need to be kept handy, but not necessarily within arm’s length. The most important thing is to arrange all information in such a way that you can pull information out of the file easily. How to set-up this file system: Key questions for you to consider as this file is set up: o What do I want to keep? o What do I need to keep? o If I wanted this information, could I find it elsewhere? Information that should be in the reference file includes: o Research for future projects o Past projects to which the client refers It can be helpful to consider key functions or components of your job, and make these the major categories for reference files. Other files might include: o Sponsor files o Administrative information Cull all duplicates or useless paper. Have a recycling bin and shredding container nearby. Establish subject categories, and label both file folders and hanging files. Put the file structure on paper prior to starting the filing. Label file drawers and create a master list of files if the amount of information is large. Remember to use large, clear print with a fine tip felt marker. Archive Files These are the files nobody looks at. You keep them because the law says you must, because you are afraid you’ll need them if they are thrown out, or because nobody wants to take the time to do anything about them. They should be kept in a designated location far from your work area.

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Disaster Files This is one file that contains all vital information, including identification and financial references, in case you have to vacate the office unexpectedly. You can also have a file like this at home so you have things organised in the event of a disaster. Exercise: Your Filing System List one thing about your paper filing system that you will change when you return to work.

Electronic Files The key rule is that the file structure used in paper files and electronic files should parallel each other so that you can find things quickly. Use keywords and search programmes to help you find your files even faster. If you are not sure how to use keywords, the “help” section of your software programme should be able to show you how. In this information age, we have to know what we need to keep and what we don’t need to keep. Don’t keep what you don’t need. Don’t ask, “Will I ever need this?” The answer is almost sure to be “Maybe.” Ask instead, “Where could I get this if I needed it?”

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Exercise: Your Electronic Files List one thing about your electronic filing system that you will change when you return to work.

Briefcase (Exercise) Your briefcase should be organised with: o Tools that are needed frequently when away from the office o Reference files that are frequently referred to, such as telephone lists o Working files that are needed o A system for expenses Look at your briefcase or purse, if you have one. How could you make it more organised?

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The Batching Technique The balance to the “do it now” approach is batching. With this technique, you save several of the same type of things to do at once. Sometimes that is a more effective technique than doing each thing singly. We can even batch our interactions with others. Do you ever remember what you wanted to ask someone or tell someone just after they walked out of your office or you hung up the phone? You might save quite a bit of time by having a file for each of the people you interact with often. Here are some examples of work that can be batched: o Word processing files: Batched and placed in categories. Develop a tree of directories and subdirectories, using the same categories as in the paper filing system. o E-mail messages: Again, create directories and save only those messages that will be referred to again. Delete e-mails that you will not need again. (If that panics you, move them to an archive file.) o Voicemail: Listen to your voicemail message. Does it do a good job of telling the person at the other end of the line what they should do? Try keeping a list of all the people you need to call, and make those calls all at once. Exercise: Batching Tasks What tasks can you batch?

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Session Eleven: Managing Your Workload If you want to manage your time effectively, you need a full picture of your entire workload. We can become overwhelmed with our workloads and frustrated by a lack of time to accomplish all of our tasks. In this session, we will start by talking about one of the biggest time traps of all: e-mail. You will analyse how much time you spend on e-mail and think about ways to reduce that amount. You will also help Mary Marvelous address a workload crisis and think about how to apply those lessons back in your workplace. Managing E-mail One of the greatest demands on our time is e-mail, and so it is important to put it in proper perspective with the demands of our jobs. We’ve become a society where we expect replies to e-mail immediately. Many people send e-mails out to more recipients and with more frequency than is often required. While e-mail has become a benefit in many ways, it is also a huge contributor to people’s stress. And it’s not enough to just be able to check an e-mail on a computer somewhere; many managers have a handheld device that allows them to be connected to their e-mail 24/7. Exercise: Looking at Your E-mail Let’s see what kind of an impact it has on your day in terms of time. o How many e-mails do you receive in an average day? _____ o How many of those e-mails do you reply to? _____ o How many e-mails do you send (not including the replies)? _____ Let’s say that an average e-mail takes you three minutes (and that is only if they are short and need very quick thinking on your part). o Total from above: _____ x 3 = ______________ o This is the total number of minutes per day that you manage e-mail. Look carefully at that number. It is not unusual for us to talk to managers who receive, reply, and create up to 100 e-mails per day. 100 e-mails a day is equivalent to 300 minutes, or five hours of time each day! Since we normally have lots of additional tasks in the day in addition to e-mail (like meetings, administration, performance management, and coaching), is it any wonder that we struggle to get through the day? Add to this the time you might take to read reports, meeting minutes, or agendas; process information; or work on projects; eat a healthy lunch; and perhaps invest some time in your people; and it’s no wonder we are often looking for more time! Working Effectively with E-mail Here are some excellent tips for tackling the e-mail monster.

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Check your e-mail twice a day. Try first thing in the morning and again after lunch, or find two periods that work for you. This will stop your e-mail from interrupting you over and over again, and allow you to get more done. You can set most e-mail programmes up to check for new messages on your schedule and turn the notifications off altogether so that you get to your mail when it makes sense for you to do so. For those of you who are addicted to your e-mail, this can be a hard switch to make. If you have trained people so that they know you answer e-mails 24/7, and always right away, you will have to adjust their expectations so that they know your new schedule. Try it for a week and then see just how much more relaxed your work pace becomes, and how much more you can accomplish. Deal with each message right away. Try to read an e-mail only one time, and decide what you want to do with it as you read it. Our rule of thumb is that if it takes three minutes or less, reply immediately. Any longer than that means that you need to set it up as a task or in your calendar or delegate it to someone else. Do not leave e-mails open to answer when you get a chance. When we do this, we tend to have multiple messages open, and then we have to re-read all those open e-mails to decide what to do with them. Is e-mail the best method? Consider whether e-mail is the best way to deal with something, or whether another method is more efficient. E-mails that go to large groups of people, have multiple strings of replies, or include a lot of information are often best dealt with in a meeting or a conference call.

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Case Study: Mary Marvelous Please read the case study about Mary and her new assignment. Then, give Mary some suggestions to help her with her workload. Mary’s New Project One day, Mary Marvelous was seated at her desk working on a project when her boss, Dianne Delegator, requested a couple of minutes of her time. Dianne began the conversation by congratulating her for being selected as the person who had been chosen to develop the new health insurance policy. She explained that she was giving Mary this opportunity because of her extensive experience and management skills. Dianne continued to explain, “We require a new health insurance policy for retiring employees who qualify for the special pension fund. A recent change in government policy requires immediate action. Normally, this type of change would require approximately eight months, but we have to have our policies in place in four months. We may also require a preliminary report within three weeks in order to update the government.” After a brief pause Dianne said, “Get back to me if you have any questions on what has to be done.” On the way back to her office Mary felt proud and enthusiastic. She was happy that the boss was finally beginning to recognise her skills and abilities. When she arrived back at her desk and had a moment to reflection this new assignment, reality hit. She remembered the large number of projects already in progress. She sat down and wrote down a list of existing projects. Then she added “Employees’ Health Insurance Policy” at the bottom. She realises that if she drops everything else to work on this new project, Dianne will be pleased. But sooner or later, she is going to want results from these other projects. Not only that, there are a couple of projects here that have high profile because of agreements with other departments and it would look bad if they fell behind. She realises she can't let them slide very long. She thinks to herself, “I'm already working two evenings a week at home on office work and my family doesn't appreciate that.” Something is definitely not right here, Mary Marvelous tells herself. This is an interesting job, but Dianne doesn't realise that I can't do everything at once. There is no use telling her that I am overloaded, because she always says, “So is everybody. We've just got to do the best we can!”

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Discussion Question What should Mary do?

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Our Recommendation Here’s what we think Mary should do. Mary decides to examine her project workload. She begins by listing her projects down one side. Across the top, she marks off the next four months and makes a column for each week. Then, for each project she puts an X at its promised date of delivery. She enters the hours per week that she thinks each project will require of her time. Finally, she gets down to the last project: the Employee's Health Insurance Policy. She estimates 10 hours per week for the first four weeks, 20 hours for the next six weeks, and 15 hours per week for the remainder of the project. Then she adds an additional row for her miscellaneous routine workload which includes answering the telephone, answering questions from co-workers and her boss, going to unplanned meetings, etc. She allows 10 hours per week for the miscellaneous workload. Finally, across the bottom she totals up her workload in hours per week. June 1-5

June 8-12

June 15-19

June 22-26

Developing orientation programme

0

10

25

5

Implementation of new cash register programme

10

0

15

25

Updating existing training documents

20

10

5

30

Template for webinar

0

10

5

X

Employees’ Health Insurance Policy

10

10

10

10

Routine workload

10

10

10

10

50

50

70

80

TOTAL

Mary looks at the totals and finds that she is currently booked at 50 hours per week. This would explain why she is working 2 evenings a week just to keep up. Furthermore, she discovers that there is a sustained workload coming up that averages approximately 80 hours per week.

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Next Steps Mary quickly realises that she is not capable of completing all of these tasks on time. If the new project is really important, then something will either have to be delayed or reassigned to someone else. After rechecking the figures and verifying their accuracy she decides to take the chart to her manager. “Dianne,” she says, “I wonder if you could help me prioritise my work. I am not complaining about things, but I would like to ensure all of the work is completed on schedule. I have prepared this expected workload chart for your review.” Dianne takes a look at the chart and says, “I'm impressed, Mary. I wish more people would show this type of concern about getting work done on time. When I give you an assignment and you take it on, I naturally assume that you are able to do it, unless you say otherwise. Too many of your co-workers don't seem to tell me the consequences until it's already too late. Then they fail to deliver the projects that I have promised to other people. Here's how we will fix this scheduling difficulty. I want you to maintain the Employee’s Health Insurance Policy as planned, but Project #1 can be delayed for eight weeks and Project #3 can be given to Jeff Jones. Take another look at your workload schedule and let me know if we can achieve the remaining delivery dates.” On the way back to her office, Mary felt pleased that she had finally found a way to communicate and negotiate with her manager. She would definitely continue this planning technique to resolve work schedules that could not be achieved. Although she had often mentioned to Dianne that she had too much work to do, she had never before found a way to be listened to and have her concerns addressed.

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Workload Analysis Many people will recognise themselves in the case study. A workload analysis will help you get out of the sort of situation Mary was in. Use these questions to form the basis of workload analysis: o What are the things you have to do every day? How much time must you allot to each thing? o What are the things you have to do each week? How much time do you allot to them? o What are the things you must do each month? How much time does each item take you? o What are the things you do quarterly or annually? How much time do they take? It’s a real pain, but by doing this analysis, you will probably realise that there are more things to do than there is time to do them. Keep in mind that most of us are overly optimistic about how much time we need for activities and don’t allow enough time for them. This is the point at which you begin to prioritise. You may even see that some of the things you are doing don’t have any real impact on your job; usually when you get everything tallied up, you have about two and a half minutes a week to do your primary job for your organisation. We forget to schedule things if they are just in our head. You aren’t being paid to be a calendar. If you schedule them in, in pencil, you can begin to protect them. We don’t like doing this. It brings face-toface with the reality of our situation. It’s scary.

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The 168 Hour Plan Let’s look at how you spent your time last week. There are 168 hours in seven days, so consider how you used them (your personal and your work life). If this last seven days was very unusual (for example, you had the flu, relatives were visiting, or you had unusual work deadlines) try to find another week more representative of how life usually is for you. Jot down how many hours you spent in each category. Task

Number of Hours

Personal Life Sleeping/eating Grooming/hygiene Driving or riding Exercising Cleaning/maintenance Talking to family/friends Mail/personal business Volunteering Praying/attending church/meditating Studying/reading Relaxing/watching TV Thinking/worrying/planning Other Sub-Total Business Life Planning/research Paperwork/computer Talking to co-workers/staff Appointments/meetings Clients/customers Phone calls Production Other Sub-Total GRAND TOTAL (168 hours)

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Time Management – Get Organised for Peak Performance

Making Connections Using Your Time Was it hard to remember how you spent your time? Explain your answer.

Did you take any time out this past week just for you? If so, what was it? If not, why not?

How many things did you do that you planned to do? What were they?

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More or Less How many things did you put off? What were they?

What is it you want to spend more time doing?

What do you want to do less? Or spend less time doing?

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Happiness and “Me” Time Are you happy with the way you spent your time?

How many of these hours did you spend on the things that you said were a high priority for me?

When I look at my life so far, I’m glad I took the time to…

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Regrets I regret I haven’t taken the time to…

Researchers tell us we spend far fewer hours of our lives regretting the things we’ve done than we do regretting the things we haven’t done. So how do you plan to change your regrets? How do you make your last answer, “I have no regrets”?

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Session Twelve: A Personal Action Plan You are nearly finished Time Management: Get Organised for Peak Performance, and we want to help you take what you have learned and apply it in a very meaningful way. Many people have all kinds of great ideas when they finish a dynamic course like this, but things can come up that we need to deal with, and those ideas can be forgotten. In this session, you will complete a personal action plan to take what you have learned and set some concrete goals to help you to make the changes that you want. Writing your goals down, and then checking in on your progress and making adjustments from time to time, are essential steps in getting where you want to be. We recommend that you take screen shots of your plan, or copy your goals down in your notebook, so that you can refer to them regularly. Starting Point I am already doing these things well:

Where I Want to Go I want to improve these areas:

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I have these resources to help me:

How I Will Get There

As a result of what I have learned in this course, I am going to…

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My target date is…

I will know I have succeeded when…

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I will follow up with myself on…

Time Management – Get Organised for Peak Performance

Summary Congratulations! You have completed the course, “Time Management: Get Organised for Peak Performance.” In this course, we started by looking at ourselves. We explored our current practices, our goals, and our need for change. We discussed planning techniques and routines, and how to make them work for us. We then looked at how to get things done; how to be BOLD (have balance, organise our time, let things go, and learn to delegate), and how NOT to procrastinate. We then discussed how to organise ourselves and our work space, and how to manage our workload. We finished by discussing the case study of Mary Marvelous, and conducting a 168 hour analysis of our lives over the past week.

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Recommended Reading List If you are looking for further information on this topic, we have included a recommended reading list below. Allen, David. Getting Things Done. Penguin Books, 2001. Baca, Claudia M. Project Management for Mere Mortals. Pearson Education, 2007. Covey, Stephen. The Eighth Habit. Free Press, 2005. —. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Free Press, 2004. Douglass, Donna N., and Merrill E. Douglass. Manage Your Time, Your Work, Yourself. AMACOM, 1993. Gennett, Donna M. If You Want It Done Right, You Don't Have to Do It Yourself! Quill Driver Books, 2003. Gleeson, Kerry. The Personal Efficiency Programme. Wiley, 2003. Kolberg, Judith, and Kathleen Nadeau. ADD-Friendly Ways to Organise Your Life. Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group, 2002. Matlen, Terry. Survival Tips for Women with AD/HD. Specialty Press, 2005. Merson, Len. The Instant Productivity Toolkit. Sourcebooks, Inc., 2005. Stack, Laura. Leave the Office Earlier. Broadway Books, 2004.

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