TIME MANAGEMENT

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TIME MANAGEMENT

• Nikola Horley
• Student Services
• 6488 2423

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Managing Your Time

• Managing your time doesnt have to be just a
  good idea
• Organizing your time may require a bit of work up
  front, but it makes things much easier in the
  long term

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Benefits of Organizing Your Time

• Benefits include giving you more control,
  stopping you from feeling guilty, helping you see
  the bigger picture, reducing procrastination,
  helping you prioritize, and reducing stress.
• Time Management also allows you to make sure you
  have time for your family, friends,
  relationships, work, health, and other areas of
  life that you value.

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Make Things Easier for Yourself

• Making things easier on yourself and being more
  organized can be a reality for you by
• Working out your Strengths Weaknesses
• Thinking about Your Goals
• Thinking about what things you need to do
• Then finding out when you need to do it

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Take Time to Make Time Overview of Presentation

• SWOT Analysis
• Procrastination
• Leverage
• Thinking Styles
• Goal Setting
• Action Programs
• Stress Management
  

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SWOT ANALYSIS

• Evaluate your
• Strengths helpful attributes
• Weaknesses harmful attributes
• Opportunities external helpful conditions
• Threats external potentially harmful
• See Handout

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PROCRASTINATION

• Everybody procrastinates. Its only human to put
  both big and small things off.
• You can tell that your procrastination is a
  problem by examining its consequences
• Internal
• External
• Procrastinating doesnt mean you are inherently
  lazy it is a habit you can overcome.

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Procrastination Action Plan

• Learn to recognise when youre procrastinating,
  identify why, and take appropriate steps to
  remove the block
• Set rewards for yourself for completion of small
  steps
• Ask someone to check up on you peer pressure
  works
• Identify two lots of pros and cons costs and
  benefits of both doing and NOT doing the task
• If you feel overwhelmed
• Break the task into small, manageable steps
• Start with small, quick tasks - even if these
  aren't the most logical first steps

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Practical Strategies for Procrastination

• Worst First
• Use Momentum
• Just Do It for 5 Minutes
• Set Time Limits
• Prime Time
• Prime Place
• Remember then Do / Only Handle It Once
• Reminders
• Visualize
• Focus
• Plan Rewards
• See Handout

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Perfectionism

• You may feel that you cant begin because you wont
  be able to produce a perfect result
• If this is a problem for you, then aim for
  reasonable results!
• Rather than aiming for a masterpiece each time,
  its better to produce something and pass than
  to put it off for so long that you produce
  nothing at all!

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Leverage

• Get More Done with the Same, or Less Effort
• You can achieve much more by applying the concept
  of leverage
• Make the most of Time, Technology, Resources, and
  Knowledge (both yours and others)
• Give me a lever long enough and a place to
  stand, and I can move the Earth
• Archimedes

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Unhelpful Thinking Styles

• Mental Filter
• Jumping to Conclusions
• Personalisation
• Catastrophising
• Black and White Thinking
• Shoulding and Musting
• Overgeneralisation
• Labelling
• Emotional Reasoning
• Magnification and Minimisation

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GOAL SETTING
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5 Principles of Effective Goal Setting

• Clarity
• measurable, unambiguous, behavioural
• Challenge
• Significant Accomplishment but Realistic
• Commitment
• Buy in understood and agreed upon
• Feedback
• Regular Progress Reports
• Task Complexity - Attainable

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Golden Rules Simplified

• Choose Goals that Motivate You
• High Priority, Sense of Urgency/Must Do
• Write down Why its Important to You
• Positively framed
• Design SMART Goals
• Put Goals in Writing
• Use the word will instead of would like to
• Put Goals in Visible Places
• Make an Action Plan
• Write individual steps and cross off as achieved
• Persevere and Be Resilient
• Review goals continuously relevance, value,
  necessity
• Build in Reminders

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SMART Goals

• Specific
• Clear, Define exactly where you want to End up
• Measurable
• Measure success with precise amounts, dates etc
• Attainable
• Ensure its achievable realistic yet challenging
• Relevant
• Focus on where you want to go/ what you
  ultimately want
• Time-Bound
• Have a deadline this increases the sense of
  urgency and achievement

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Try Backward Planning

• Write your Ultimate Goal
• What is Your Vision, What Specifically Needs to
  Be Done,
• By What Date
• Milestones Work Back from the Vision
• What Do You Have to Do By When
• Work Backward some more
• What do You Need to Complete Before that Goal?
• Work Backward again
• What Do You Need to Do to Ensure the Previous
  Goal is Reached
• Continue to Work Back, in the Same Way
• until you Identify the very First Milestone

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Lifetime Goals Live a Rich and Meaningful Life

• What do You Value?
• Consider Goals for every Area of Life that You
  Value
• Personal Growth
• Leisure
• Education
• Spirituality
• Health
• Work
• Community and Environment
• Family Relationships
• Intimate Relationships
• Social Relationships
• Parenting

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STUDY MANAGEMENT PLANS

• Calculate Time for each Course
• Include Contact and Non-Contact time
• Semester, Weekly Day Planning
• Think about your semester, weekly and daily goals
• Please take a pro forma of planner

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Semester Planning

• Map Your Commitments
• Due Dates for Assignments, Assessments for Each
  Course
• Write the value of each toward the final grade
  and any word limits etc.
• Write any work commitments, major celebrations or
  major social activities
• Make Planner Visible Check Regularly

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Weekly Planning

• Mark in Regular Weekly Activities
• University, work, sport, social, family, meals,
  household chores, travel between each commitment
  Allow Unscheduled Time.
• Fit in the Non-Contact Uni Hours
• How do you work best? Short bursts or long
  stretches?
• Do you study better in the morning or late at
  night?
• Do you need a quiet place to study or prefer
  background noise?
• Do you have somewhere to study or do you need to
  travel?
• Revise your Weekly Plan At the Beginning of each
  Week

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Day Plan To Do Lists

• Each Night identify tasks that need to be done
  including commitments and anything you want to
  achieve e.g. Read Ch. 8, Analyse essay question,
  See tutor
• Allow time for social and personal commitments
• Be aware of time wasters - phone, internet, TV
• Be realistic and schedule short breaks
• Carry list with you and shuffle as necessary

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Prioritize

• Assign a letter to each item on the To Do list
  and complete in the order of ABC
• A Important to Get Done Today
• B Would like to get completed Today
• C Okay if Needs to Be Done Tomorrow

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ACTION PROGRAMS

• Industrial Strength To Do Lists that
• Incorporate Short, Medium, and Long Term Goals
• Reminds you to focus on the big, important
  projects

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Step One - Collection

• Make a list of everything that needs resolution
  include goals from each valued area of your life,
  big or small
• The first time you make the list it may take a
  while, however the benefits are that you will
  feel more in control. It will take relatively
  little effort to keep your Program up to date
• Prepare, store, and update your list on a computer

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Step Two - Pruning

• Look carefully at each item and decide
• Is it important or relevant?
• Will it lead to a richer more fulfilling life?
• If not, delete it from the inventory

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Step Three Organizing and Prioritizing

• Review your list Organize into coherent
  Projects
• Review the Projects and Prioritize them
• Insert Projects into a formatted Action Program

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The Formatted Action Program

• 1. Next Action List
• Note the small next steps you need to take to
  move each project forward
• 2. Delegated Actions List
• Identify projects or steps which have been
  delegated to other people
• 3. Project Catalogue
• Show all the projects plus the small individual
  next steps you have identified so far

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Step Four - Working your Action Program

• Review the Action Program each week
• Delete, change, or archive completed items
• Add any new actions

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Action Program Summary

• Helps you to retain your focus on both daily jobs
  and long term goals
• Helps you to manage multiple projects
  simultaneously
• Processes projects into actionable activities,
  and then aids in managing them
• Three tier structure
• Next Action List precise, immediate steps
• Delegated Actions List delegation details
• Project Catalogue lists projects non urgent
  steps

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EVALUATING YOUR SCHEDULE

• Identify Strengths Weaknesses in Your Time
  Management Practices
• Are You Expecting Too Much of Yourself?
• Have You Over-Committed Yourself?
• Regularly Identify your Top five time wasters
• Consider reducing, postponing, or revising
  activities in favour of your priorities
• Are Study, Work, Family, and
• Social Activities Well Balanced?

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SCHEDULING TIPS

• Work in short, intensive blocks (perhaps 45
  minutes)
• Schedule in high priority urgent tasks and vital
  maintenance activities
• Block in appropriate contingency time to handle
  unpredictable interruptions
• Remember to leave clear discretionary time
• Bribe yourself if necessary, and reward yourself
• Be disciplined about only checking your email
  once you have completed a task
• Get out of the house!
• Plan a schedule of balanced activities

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STRESS MANAGEMENT

• Identify your Stressors and see if there is
  anything in your control to manage better
• Build regular exercise into your life
• Eat and Sleep well
• Take time out for family and friends
• Learn calming techniques See Handout

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Handouts

• SWOT
• Procrastination
• Thinking Styles
• Course Planner
• Semester Planner
• Weekly Planner
• To Do List
• Hints and Tips for Successful Time Management

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Other Resources

• Fry, R. (2005) Get Organised 3rd Edition
• Kahn, N.B. (1989) More Learning in Less Time
• UWA Learning Skills Workshops
• UWA Studysmarter website
• UWA Counselling Service

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Time Management

• Nikola Horley
• Student Services
• 6488 2423