25 Essential Skills

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25 Essential Skills Strategies For The
Professional Behavior AnalystBy Jon Bailey and
Mary Burch Chapter 17 Time Management the
Behavioral Way

• Jessica Rothschild

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Outline

• Reflect on a typical day.
• Identify how to waste time.
• Review a Workflow Diagram.
• Create a Self-Management Plan.
• Identify what tasks are most important to take
  on.
• Practice saying no.
• Summarize how to use time management skills.

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A Day In the Life of a Behavior Analyst
Work with a teacher
Answer voice mail messages
Meeting with a principal
Answer e-mails
Rushing in order to avoid being late
Progress Reports
Have a break and maybe eat your lunch in the car
on your way to another appointment
Make Presentations
Monitor behavior plans
Keep track of billing hours
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How To Waste Time

• Completing tasks that others can be doing.
• Solutions
• Make sure instructions are clear.
• Give plenty of examples and provide feedback with
  necessary.
• Behavioral erosion or slippage
• Meetings run over the designated time.
• Solution Print out general announcements and
  hand them out in the beginning of the meeting.
• Other ways to avoid behavioral erosion or
  slippage
• Improve your writing skills.
• Organize your paper work.

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How To Waste Time

• Redoing projects.
• Do you find yourself looking back on projects or
  written assessments and finding missing
  information?
• Solution Task analysis of your work. Could save
  you up to and hour per week!
• Trivial questions or invitations
• Be cautious with regard to networking.
• Solutions
• Complete your work in advance.
• Learn to say, Thank you and explain you have to
  get your work done so that you can go out another
  day or evening during the week.
• Most importantly
• Get your work done.
• Maintain your professionalism in your decision
  making.

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The 2-minute Rule

• David Allen
• Research on personal and organizational
  productivity for professionals, corporations, and
  institutions.
• www.davidco.com for more information about his
  company, purchase products, or books.
• Created a workflow diagram used to help decision
  making when presented with an assignment.

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The 2-minute Rule
In-basket
Projects (Planning)
Trash
Multistep projects
What is it?
Someday/maybe (tickler file hold for review
Is it actionable?
NO
Project plans (review for actions)
Reference (retrievable when required)
YES
Whats the next action?
Will it take less than 2 minutes
NO
YES
Do it
Delegate it
Defer it
Next actions (to do as soon as I can)
Calendar (to do at a specific time)
Waiting (for someone else to do)
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The 2-minute Rule

• Benefits to using the workflow diagram
• Recognizes the complexity that some projects may
  have.
• Weekly Review
• Look at all the current projects, next actions,
  delegated items, and the waiting for items.
• Decreases the chances of projects being
  overlooked.
• Potential drawback when using Allens workflow
  diagram
• Assumes that task completion is a natural
  reinforcer.

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Creating a Self-Management Plan

• If you need a consequence in order to keep
  plugging away.
• Premack Principle
• More probable behaviors will reinforce less
  probable behaviors.
• Choose high probability behaviors and use them as
  reinforcers for when you complete tasks that are
  not naturally reinforcing.
• When using self-management strategies you are
  more likely to complete tasks efficiently and
  reach personal goals.

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Creating a Self-Management Plan

• Low Probability Behaviors

• High Probability Behaviors

• Doing laundry
• Make the bed
• Vacuuming and dusting

• Watch Greys Anatomy on Thursday night.
• Have company over on the weekend.
• Have my favorite breakfast.

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Identifying Your Long-term Goal And What You Need
To Add To Your Plate To Get There

• In the beginning it is exciting!
• Identify your goal and when asked to do more
• Examine the importance of the requested task.
• Would it directly help you achieve your goal?
• If not
• Learn how to say no.

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How To Say No

• 1. Take major caution and consideration.
• 2. Avoid offending the person making the request.
• Express appreciation for the invitation.
• Firmly express that you are unable to take on the
  invitation at this time. Im sorry I cant at
  this time but thank you for the invitation.
• 3. Do not make up excuses.
• 4. If you are pushed to take the invitation after
  professionally saying, no.
• Do not give an explanation or excuse.
• Repeat your original reply staying self-assured
  and objective.

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Summary

• Being organized and having time management skills
  is essential in order to have a successful career
  as a behavior analyst.
• If you..
• Plan your day.
• Avoid wasting time.
• Use the Premack Principle and Allens method.
• You will complete high quality work, enjoy highly
  preferred activities, and have fun while doing
  it!

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References

• Bailey, J. S., Burch, M. R. (2005). Ethics for
  behavior analysts A practical guide to the
  behavior analyst certification board guidelines
  for responsible conduct. Mahway, NJ Lawrence
  Erlbaum.
• Cooper, J.O., Heron,T.E., Heward, W.L. (2007).
  Applied
• Behavior Analysis Second Edition. Upper Saddle
  River, NJ Pearson Education Inc.