Organise and complete daily
work activities
Be effective at work
Work goals and plans
• Be clear on your work duties – position
description should tell you what your
responsibilities are, clarify with supervisor
• How does your job affect the organisations
goals?
• What do you need to achieve on a daily basis?
Work plan
Advantages of using a to do list
• Focuses your mind on important objectives
• You are less likely to forget to do tasks
• Writing a list helps order your thoughts
• It helps show the bigger picture
• You don't need to hold everything in your head.
• It saves time
• It helps you decide on priorities: the most important and the most urgent
• You are less likely to become sidetracked
• You get the reward of ticking off your achievements
• You feel more in control
• You have a record of what you've done
• You always have something to work on
Set goals
Knowing what you want to achieve can help you
attain it. Goals should be:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
Specific
• Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what
you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our
efforts and clearly define what we are going to do.
• Specific is the What, Why, and How
• WHAT are you going to do? Use action words such as
direct, organize, coordinate, lead, develop, plan, build
etc.
• WHY is this important to do at this time? What do you
want to ultimately accomplish?
• HOW are you going to do it? (By...)
• Ensure the goals you set is very specific, clear and
easy.
Measurable
• If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. In the broadest sense,
the whole goal statement is a measure for the project; if the goal is
accomplished, it is a success. However, there are usually several
short-term or small measurements that can be built into the goal.
• Choose a goal with measurable progress, so you can see the
change occur. How will you be when you reach your goal? Be
specific! "I want to read 3 chapter books of 100 pages on my own
before my birthday" shows the specific target to be measure. "I
want to be a good reader" is not as measurable.
• Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the
attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress,
you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the
exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort
required to reach your goals.
Attainable
• When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin
to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the
attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. Your
begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself
closer to the achievement of your goals.
• Goals you set which are too far out of your reach, you probably
won't commit to doing. Although you may start with the best of
intentions, the knowledge that it's too much for you means your
subconscious will keep reminding you of this fact and will stop you
from even giving it your best.
• A goal needs to stretch you slightly so you feel you can do it and it
will need a real commitment from you.
• The feeling of success which this brings helps you to remain
motivated.
Realistic
• This is not a synonym for "easy." Realistic, in this case, means "doable." It means that the learning curve is not a vertical slope; that the
skills needed to do the work are available; that the project fits with the
overall strategy and goals of the organization. A realistic project may push
the skills and knowledge of the people working on it but it shouldn't break
them.
• Devise a plan or a way of getting there which makes the goal realistic. The
goal needs to be realistic for you and where you are at the moment.
• For instance, it may be more realistic to set a goal of completing 5 things
on your to do list than completing everything on your to do list.
• Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and
you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you
aren't very capable. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying
achievement!
Timely
• Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in
three months, by November. Putting an end point
on your goal gives you a clear target to work
towards.
• If you don't set a time, the commitment is too
vague. It tends not to happen because you feel
you can start at any time. Without a time limit,
there's no urgency to start taking action now.
• Time must be measurable, attainable and
realistic.
Prioritising
• Efficiency and effectiveness are not the same. Someone who
works hard and is well organised but spends all their time on
unimportant tasks may be efficient but not effective. To be
effective, you need to decide what tasks are urgent and important
and to focus on these. This is called prioritising. It's important to list
the tasks you have and to sort these in order of priority, and then to
devote most time to the most important tasks. This avoids the
natural tendency to concentrate on the simple, easy tasks and to
allow too many interruptions to your work.
• Differentiate also between urgent and important tasks: an urgent
task may not necessarily be important! When job hunting, you
won't be able to apply to every employer. You will need to carefully
prioritise those you wish to apply to, based upon factors such as
closing date, location, degree class required, and chances of getting
in.
Procrastination
• Procrastination is the scourge of action
planning. It's important that you manage
'Your fear of doing things' you don't want to
do and realise that the fear is often far worse
than any possible negative results.
• The best time to do something is usually NOW.
• Taking action generates the impetus for
further action.
Break down tasks
• Break goals down into their components so that
you can accomplish them one step at a time.
Write these steps down, and try to be as specific
as you can when you do this. Try to complete one
task before you go on to the next.
• Reward yourself for achieving these goals to
maintain your enthusiasm. Regularly review your
progress towards your goals and revise plans as
appropriate to take account of unforeseen
changes.
Persevere
• Inevitably, things will not always run smoothly as you progress towards
your goals. When things are not working out, you need to persevere and
learn how to take a positive attitude towards frustration and failure.
• Mistakes are a crucial part of any creative process and each is a lesson
leading you towards the right solution. Fear of making or admitting
mistakes is a major handicap to taking effective action. It is said that the
people who have achieved the most have made the most mistakes! Try
to be aware that satisfaction comes as much from pursuing goals as from
achieving them.
• Work at effective strategies to deal with pressure - these can vary from
taking exercise, to relaxation techniques such as meditation, to simply
sharing problems with friends.
• Being assertive can also help here, for example, politely saying no to the
demands of others when you are pushed for time. Sharing tasks and
problems with others will spread the burden and will bring a fresh
perspective to them.
Organise your time
• Identify areas of your life where you are wasting
time and try to reduce these. A good way to do
this is to log everything you do for a week in
meticulous detail and then examine your record
to see how you use (or misuse!) your time.
• Develop a regular work routine. Keep your work
space tidy so that you can work efficiently - it's
hard to do this if things you need to find are
buried under a pile of paper! Work to schedule so
that you meet deadlines in good time - don't
leave everything until the last minute.