1 Time management course CtrlWORK Content Page Introduction 2 Tips 3 Multitasking 3 Timing of activities throughout the day 3 Planning 4 Collaboration 6 Lifestyle 6 Other 6 References © ErgoSystems International, 2009 7 2 Introduction Why should I invest time in time management? Time management is managing your own time, at work and outside work. The goal of time management is that you get more control over your time, experience less time pressure, achieve more in less time, or even reserve time for tasks for which you are not able to find time for at this moment. You will notice the effects within days. You invest and will receive an immediate result. Warning These are nice promises, but please do not forget that the effect of time management is dependent on your investment. You will have to invest to replace old habits by smarter options. You will also have to invest to determine what fits you best. The principles are general, but the translation to your own situation is up to you. How does time management work? Time management aims at dealing with your time in a smarter way, by making conscious decisions about what you are and you are not going to do, what your priorities are (improving efficacy) and by doing tasks in a smarter way (improving efficiency). Can I improve my efficacy? Dependent on your work tasks you will or will not have freedom in your work to make choices about which tasks you perform and when you perform tasks. If you are in a situation in which you cannot make choices, then it will be difficult to improve you efficicay. The most important question is: can’t you make choices in your work (situation) or do you think you cannot make choices in your work (as you see the situation)? Can I improve my efficiency? Everybody, independent of function or work tasks, can improve their efficiency. Especially working smarter with the computer. Time management binnen CtrlWORKTime management within CtrlWORK In the program CtrlWORK you can choose to display tips during breaks. These tips help you to remember the most important principles in time management. You can activate the tips (if they are not active yet), in the menu of CtrlWORK, in the Display tab. You can find an overview of all tips below. Time for action Plan every week time to invest in time for time management in the next half year. To achieve (immediate) results, you will need to have the guts to invest. Digest the time management tips below. Choose 1 tip you want to start with. Estimate how much time you will need to implement the needed changes Î put the end date in your agenda. Plan short meetings with yourself to evaluate if you are heading in the right direction. Make sure to insert you goal within every meeting in your agenda. For example: plan every day a short meeting with yourself for the first week, and then every other day for the remaining time to end date. Also plan a meeting after two months, to evaluate whether the change was definite. Remember In order to change in the long term, and to prevent relapse to old habits, you will need to resist the emotion of the moment. Time management can help to recognize the emotion of © ErgoSystems International, 2009 3 the moment and to make choices which will help you to achieve more in less time, both in the short and the long term. TIPS Multitasking Tip 1: Perform one task at a time. Performing two task intermittently (“multitasking”) takes a lot of extra time, because you have to refocus frequently on where you were and what you were exactly doing. The quality of your work is also lower when multitasking, because there is a much higher chance of making small mistakes. Tip 2: Take frequently a break to take your attention of your work. You are able to concentrate well for an hour, after that your concentration detoriates quickly. The time you spent on breaks you can easily win back, with bonus time! Timing of activities througout the day Tip 3: Start the day with the most important task. Throughout a day always unexpected things happen which take time. By starting with the most important task, your will have a high chance that at least that task will be completed. Tip 4: After lunch your energy to perform is at its lowest point. This period is ideal for checking and responding to your e-mail or other tasks that require small amounts of concentration. Tip 5: Between 11:00 and 13:00 is the best time to perform concentration demanding tasks. Try to work without disturbance for at least an hour in this period, by switching off e-mail and telephone. Tip 6: The energy level is higher in the morning than in the afternoon for at least 95% of all people. As a result concentration tasks (“Thinkwork”) and creative tasks can be best performed in the morning. Tip 7: Do not have a meeting in the afterlunch dip, but do it later, after 15:00. Tip 8: It is hard to concentrate if you know there is little time left and there still is an import task to complete. Start every day with your most important task, in order to at least complete this task. © ErgoSystems International, 2009 4 Planning Tip 9: Plan 5 minutes at the start of the workday and 5 minutes at the end of the workday. Write down all your tasks, work related and non-work related. You will work more effectively by more fore focus and by clearing your head. Tip 10: Collect all your tasks in one place. For example in a Excel sheet. Determine for each task a deadline immediately. Tip 11: A task without deadline will not be completed. Tip 12: Do not use Oulook / another e-mail program as your to do list. The chance you will be distracted by incoming e-mail is high. Tip 13: Plan 20% of your time of a workday for unexpected things. Tip 14: Unexpected things. Plans are nice and can save you time, but a crisis can easily disturb your day. Be flexible and keep in contact with your to do list. Complete the most important task first, and after that the remainder of tasks. Tip 15: Make a plan for the standard workday in which you set fixed start and end times for tasks that belong to each each other. Keep it simple, it is a general plan. Tip 16: You cannot complete all tasks on your to do list. It is important to complete the most important tasks of the moment. Tip 17: Do not forget to check your to do list regularly throughout a day. If you are focused on task you easily forget that you have to prepare for tasks in the future that are even more important than your current task. Tip 18: Cut your tasks down in subtasks that take maximal 1 hour of time. You are able to concentrate well for maximal 1 hour and after an hour you can immediately evaluate your progress. Tip 19: Immediately after lunch is the ideal moment to make phone calls and to check and respond to e-mail. Complete all in one stretch and stick to this afterlunch ritual. Tip 20: Group tasks that belong to each other and complete them directly after each other. Responding to e-mail can be done most efficiently during 1 of 2 sessions per day. Although you feel productive, a lot of time is wasted by opening the e-mail program frequently, and by shifting concentration of your current task to that of responding e-mails. Tip 21: Switch of the notification for incoming e-mail. These notifications disturb your concentration. Try to focus on one task at a time, and you will notice the difference in speed and quality of your work. Checking e-mail 1 or 2 times per day is more than sufficient. Tip 22: Use e-mail for non-urgent messages (informing, communicating meeting options). Use telephone for urgent message which need immediate action. Tip 23: Plan every day a silent hour in which you will not be disturbed. In this period you complete the most important task of the day. Switch off e-mail and Telephone and say “no, I will come back to you later” to colleagues who try to contact you. © ErgoSystems International, 2009 5 Tip 24: Setting priorities. Task that make money for your organization / save money or in another way improve the results of your organization are the most important tasks. Which are your most important tasks? Tip 25: Setting priorities. Review you job contract and your unique contribution to the organization you work in. Which task should have your priority? Tip 26: Setting priorities. Do what you can do best and delegate the rest to others. Tip 27: Setting priorities. Estimate for each task whether it is important and / or urgent. The priority taks ar those that are both important and urgent. Schedule at least 1 hour for each of these tasks. Tip 28: Importance of low priority tasks. Low priority taks can backfire at your when you keep postponing them. Start every day with the most important task and plan daily half an hour to complete quickly a number of low priority tasks. Tip 29: You can postpone low priority tasks. Typically low priority tasks can be done well in the afterlunchdip (cleaning and filing, responding to e-mail, etc.) © ErgoSystems International, 2009 6 Collaboration Tip 30: By delegating tasks to others you can save the biggest amount of time, if it is feasible within your organization. Save time for the really important tasks. Lifestyle Tip 31: Get “rich” by sleeping? A consistent sleeping pattern dramatically improves your performance at work. Extending your sleep till maximal 9.5 hours per day will also improve your performance in a structural way. Tip 32: Practice sports 2 times per week to clear your head. Tip 33: Beperk snoepen en snacken buiten de reguliere eetmomenten. Je krijgt er kortdurend meer energie van, maar het kost vervolgens veel energie om de suikers af te breken. Restrict candy and snacks outside the standard eating moments. You will get an instant energy boost, but after that it takes a lot of energy out of you to digest the sugars. Other Tip 34: Increase your energy! Take regular breaks, activate your body and leave your thoughts at your desk. Tip 35: Evaluation. It is not about the hours you make at the office, it is about the amount of work you complete in the time you spend at the office. Tip 36: Learn from mistakes. You can easily be upset by making a mistake during work. You do not get upset by the mistake itself, but by your thoughts about the mistake (what consequences does it have, what does my boss thinks of it, etc.). Do not forget that you learn from mistakes, in the short or the long term. Tip 37: This needs to be done quick! If a task really needs to be executed, it will be executed. If others say that a task has to be completed quick, do they mean that they would like so or that it really needs to be done right now? © ErgoSystems International, 2009 7 References Kievit-Broeze IE. Effectief tijdbeheer. Zin geven aan de tijd van je leven. Academic Service / Sdfu Uitgevers BV; Amsterdam, tweede herziene druk, 2007. Morgenstern J. Never check e-mail in the morning and other unexpected strategies for making your work life work. Simon & Schuster; New York, 2005. www.lifehacking.nl © ErgoSystems International, 2009
