Comments and suggestions on the module are welcomed.
Please forward to the module author at lansang@inclentrust.org and/or Nancy Johnson (Project Editor) at johnson.n@sympatico.ca

Without exception, members of Clinical Epidemiology Units (CEUs) complain of competing demands and having “no time”. CEU faculty, who already have heavy workloads from teaching and clinical services (both public and private), are also likely to be directors or chairs of clinical departments, heads of various committees, officers of their respective professional societies, and, to top it all, prime movers of various research projects or programs. As “part-time professionals” who only spend a certain percentage of time in the
CEU, how can we make best use of our limited and valuable time?
This module outlines several strategies that will help you develop time management skills and habits to achieve results (effectiveness), improve efficiency, and have fun at the same time.
- Bruce Willis
in “Bandits”, the movie
1. To identify strategies for organizing the workload of a busy CEU director or research investigator.
2. To choose priorities in the context of one’s sociocultural, professional and personal milieu.
3. To analyze time commitments and usage in relation to time-savers and time-wasters.
4. To identify tools for prioritizing, planning and using one’s time.
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Time is finite. No one can actually stretch time in order to cover every single item on our “to do” lists. In fact, time management is not actually about “managing” time; rather, it is about setting priorities and planning our lives and time according to these priorities. If we choose to set our priorities wisely, we can plan our time to achieve our priority goals and tasks more efficiently.
Stephen Covey (1989) illustrates this principle of “put first things first” in the following time management matrix:
Dwight Eisenhower said: “The more important an item, the less likely it is urgent, and the more urgent an item, the less likely it is important.” Focusing on Quadrant II activities are more likely to lead to results that contribute to our mission and priority goals, but they require us to be proactive and opportunity-minded – prevention- rather than crisis-oriented.
On the other hand, we also need to attend to urgent and important activities (Quadrant I), but dominance of such activities leads to stress and eventually burn-out. We should try to avoid the “tyranny of the urgent” and constantly being engaged in “fire-fighting” activities
(Quadrant I and III). We should certainly strive to reduce Quadrant IV activities to a bare minimum, preferably to zero!
Values-based time management means making choices on what projects/tasks are important. But what is important to one person may be unimportant to somebody else, and is affected by one’s principles and values, traditions and group norms, work ethic, and other factors. Culture also plays an important role in one’s perception of time, priorities, and deadlines. For example, there is the so-called “Brazilian” or “Filipino” time vs. precise
“Swiss” time. Family activities or civic responsibilities might take precedence over a pressing deadline for a CEU report or manuscript. Because of such differences, we should keep an open mind about work and time practices in different cultures and settings, and be prepared to adapt accordingly.
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Dr. Charles Karamagi (Uganda): If you’re wondering why some people take so long to respond to an e-mail, consider that an e-mail from Fatma (CEU faculty in
Suez Canal University) might be viewed and treated the same way as a letter from a remote village.
Dr. Felix Tietche (Cameroon): There are so many deaths in our villages. And each weekend, we are obliged to pay our respects at many burials in the villages. We have so much to do aside from clinical and academic work!
1. List five activities you’ve done in the past week and identify the values associated with these. Some examples of values (adapted from Snead & Wycoff 1997):
Family
Health and fitness
Financial security
Organization
Community
Country/nationalism
Love
Leadership
Nature
Friends
Beauty
Inner peace
Growth
Productivity
Fame/popularity
Frugality
Music
Travel
Spirituality
Learning
Career growth and
Development
Freedom
Wisdom
Honesty
Generosity
2. Reflect on:
Achievement
Adventure
Fun
Joy
- What values define the person you want to be? (Top 5)
- Based on your hierarchy of values, what matters most to you?
3. After reflecting on the above, share and discuss these with your spouse or significant other. Would you reconsider your primary values based on your conversation?
4. Read Chapters 2 and 3 (Habits 2 and 3) of Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , particularly for moving towards a principle-centered life.
Once you have identified priorities based on your values, you can plan your calendar and “to do” list to reflect your priorities. Prepare a list of tasks you need to do for a given time period or project. Prioritize your list according to:
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A: Essential tasks. With highest return of investment for your time. If not completed, there will be adverse consequences.
B: Important tasks. However, if not done within a given time frame, will not lead to adverse consequences.
C: Optional tasks. These still need to be done but are not time-sensitive.
Without a system of prioritizing, you may find that you have been busy all day, and yet feel that you have not accomplished much. Has most of your day been devoted to non-A,B, C activities? Examples of “time-wasters” (Quadrant IV above) are: unproductive meetings, telephone calls, unnecessary conversation, junk e-mail, being too detail-oriented or too much of a perfectionist, and computer games.
Get a Palm or other handheld organizer to prepare your “To Do” list. These organizers can sort your tasks in order of priority and guide you through your daily or weekly tasks. Of course, this is just one of many great features of these marvelous inventions for the busy professional.
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Examine the following activities and determine how much time you devote to each. Your response could range from: (-) for “none”, (+) for some time, (++) for enough time, (+++) for too much time.
Attending meetings
Writing messages
Reading messages
Evaluating your work
Talking with superiors
Talking with subordinates
Talking to visitors
Answering phone
Making phone calls
Planning budget
Balancing budget
Writing memos
Answering memos
Counseling
Typing
Planning projects
Evaluating people
Assessing needs of people you serve
Scheduling your time
Other (specify)
Talking with peers
Talking with people outside your div/dept.
Making data-based decisions
Lunch
Coffee breaks
Idle chatter
Making visits
Daydreaming
Playing computer games
Reading reports
Writing reports
Self-improvement seminars
Reading professional materials
Other (specify)
Commuting
Attending church
Attending clubs/prof. or civic orgn’s
Talking with spouse
Talking with children
Adult education class
Weekends with family
Television
Reading newspaper
Movies
Reading
Internet
Sport
Home repairs/cleaning
Computer games Other (specify)
How would you reorganize your time based on your values-based priorities?
Discuss the results of this exercise with your spouse/partner. At work, ask a colleague(s) with whom you work closely to also do the exercise. Compare results after completing the questionnaire and discuss.
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Mark the options below that best describe your experience. Be honest. Options: 1—Never;
2—Occasionally; 3—Frequently; 4—Always.
(1) I arrive on time and prepared for meetings. _____
(2) I ensure that a clock is visible in the room where meetings are held. _____
(3) The meetings I organize achieve their purpose. _____
_____ (4) The meetings I organize finish on time.
(5) I open my mail as soon as it arrives on my desk. _____
(6) I “skim-read” any relevant newspaper and magazine articles.
(7) I cross my name off the circulation list for magazines and journals
I do not read.
(8) I read my faxes on the day on which I receive them.
(9) I am able to complete tasks without interruptions from colleagues.
(10) I decide how many times I can be interrupted in a day.
(11) I reserve certain hours for visits from colleagues.
(12) I close my office door when I want to think strategically.
(13) I tell telephone callers that I will return their calls, and do so.
(14) I limit the duration of my telephone calls.
(15) I allow a colleague or secretary to screen my telephone calls.
(16) I decide how many telephone calls I can deal with personally
in a day.
(17) I “skim-read” internal memos as soon as I receive them.
(18) I read internal memos thoroughly later.
(19) I keep the contents of my in-tray to a manageable size.
(20) I clear my desk of all paperwork.
(21) I delegate tasks to colleagues that I could do myself.
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
_____
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(22) I follow up on the work I have delegated. _____
(23) I encourage subordinates to limit their reports to one side of paper. _____
(24) I consider who needs to know the information I am circulating. _____
(25) I achieve the right balance between thinking-time and action-time. _____
(26) I make a list of things to do each day. _____
(27) I keep work to a certain number of hours every day – and no more. _____
(28) I make an effort to keep in touch personally with my staff. _____
(29) I concentrate on the positive attributes of each of my colleagues.
(30) I make sure I know the latest information technology.
_____
_____
(31) I store e-mail messages in order to read them later on screen.
(32) I perform housekeeping checks on my computer files.
:
Add up your score. No matter what your score, remember that there is always room for improvement. Score interpretation: streamline your work practices.
_____
_____
32 – 64: Learn to use your time efficiently, and reduce the time you spend working in unproductive and labour-intensive ways.
65 – 95: You have reasonable time-management skills, but they could improve.
96 – 128: You use your time very efficiently; keep looking for new ways to further
To achieve your agenda of objectives and implement your priority programs, delegation of work and building an effective team are essential skills. This section provides a description of the art and process of delegation, while team building is discussed in another module.
Covey (1989) refers to two kinds of delegation: “gofer delegation” and “stewardship delegation”. “Gofer” delegation, derived from the North American expression, “Go fo(e)r this; go fo(e)r that” means that you ask someone else to carry out piecemeal tasks, with a focus
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on the methods for achieving the specific task(s), but without really providing the “gofer” with the end results in view and with decision-making responsibility to achieve the desired results.
Stewardship delegation, on the other hand, provides your team member with the “product” or objective in mind and the freedom to choose the best methods to “deliver the goods”. This performance agreement involves five elements (Covey 1989):
1. Desired results (not methods): identify what is to be done and when.
2. Guidelines: specify the parameters within which results are to be accomplished.
3. Resources: identify the human, financial, technical or organizational support to help accomplish the results.
4. Accountability: set up the standards of performance and the time of evaluation.
5. Consequences: specify what will happen, both good and bad, as a result of the evaluation.
Thus effective delegation involves 4 important steps: selection of the person/team with the right skills and knowledge; the briefing process (where the above performance agreement is discussed); ongoing support and guidance as necessary; and monitoring or follow-up.
The following are some pointers in the art of delegation (Hindle 1998):
1. When you delegate, you are not delegating the right to perform an action; you are delegating the right to make decisions.
2. Be flexible. The person to whom you delegate (usually a specialist in that area, be it a specific research task or handling your flight itinerary) may have a better and faster way of completing a job than you.
3. Set precise and realistic deadlines for tasks that you delegate.
4. Provide constructive feedback on the work performed. Reward good work generously, and chastise in moderation.
5. Overall responsibility for a delegated task remains with you.
“Either we work or meet; we can’t do both.”
– Peter Drucker
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A clinician-researcher-administrator can spend as much as half of his/her work week in meetings. Although meetings are very useful for brainstorming, planning, informationsharing, and building a committed team, too many unproductive meetings can have the opposite effect.
How can you improve your meetings and not waste people’s time?
1. Be sure you have a specific objective for the meeting or a valid reason to meet. If it is simply for information-sharing, consider other ways by which this might be accomplished, e.g., e-mail, your website, a news bulletin.
2. Prepare written agenda and circulate these beforehand so that meeting participants can bring pertinent information and/or reflect on the issues to be raised.
3. Avoid starting the agenda with a controversial subject that needs a lot of time to discuss.
Start with routine and straightforward business where decisions can be reached more easily. This provides participants with some sense of accomplishment and the readiness to progress rapidly.
4. Segment your meeting so that the agenda items for which everyone is needed come first, followed by breakout groups that deal with remaining issues. Allow participants to attend only the parts of the meeting which concern them, since their time is also precious.
5. Encourage openness, frankness and confidentiality in discussing key issues.
6. Do not tolerate dilatory tactics (e.g., lengthy, irrelevant speeches; too many jokes or side comments; or arguments on minor issues that can be settled by a smaller group). As a chairperson, recognize such tactics and ensure that you move on with the agenda.
7. Reinforce proceedings and decisions of the meeting with a written memo/minutes, providing details on agreements, action points, persons responsible for specific actions, and timelines. If possible, limit summary of action points (“To Do” List) to one page.
8. Begin and end your meetings on time. Begin without latecomers, and do not waste a lot of time recapping points for each new arrival. Keep track of time during the meeting.
Keep in mind that the above pointers should be placed within your specific situational context. For example, there may be situations or cultures where interrupting a long-winded speaker, especially a senior colleague, may be frowned upon.
1. There was no agenda.
2. It started late.
3. No decisions were reached.
4. You forgot what it was about.
5. You anticipated the coffee break.
6. You are considering framing your doodles.
From: Douglass, M. 1998. Time Management
101: Secrets for Succeeding in a Busy World.
Tulsa, OK: Advantage Quest Publ.
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Note: This list is just for starters. You are welcome to add tips that work for you.
1. Get yourself a personal organizer or better still, an electronic organizer like a Palm handheld that you can always have in your pocket or bag. Keeping a readily accessible record of your appointments and tasks is essential to efficient time management. In addition, an electronic organizer can keep as much as 64 MB worth of documents (like
PDF, Word or Excel files) that you need in the office, in your research or at your patient’s bedside. It is also capable of keeping track of milestones for multiple projects.
2. For important projects, use project management software, such as Microsoft Project or, for group work, web-based software such as eProject (currently used by the LAMP core group). These help you keep track of deliverables, deadlines, critical paths and milestones.
3. Avoid interruptions at the office. Give yourself (and inform your secretary/assistant if you have one) a dedicated portion of your day where you can close your door (if you have one) or put up a “Do Not Disturb. Person at Work” sign in front of your cubicle.
4. Have a receptionist or secretary screen your telephone calls. Then you can prioritize the calls you need to return. If you have a short message service on your mobile phone, avoid the temptation to reply to each and every text message during “no interruption” times. Better still, switch off your cell phone at those times.
5. Minimize clutter and paper on your desk. Do not use your desk to store work that will not be addressed that day. If you do get it out of your sight, put an entry on your “To Do” list for later action.
6. Try to handle paper only once. Use the RAFT system: refer, act, file or trash it immediately (Mayo 2001). Use this system for e-mail as well.
7. Skim documents (especially the many attachments on your e-mail) before deciding whether you need to read the entire document.
8. Highlight key points on documents you read. This facilitates rereading or sharing with others.
9. Request removal from e-group lists that are not relevant to you.
10. Start reading your e-mail messages from the last one sent, moving down to the older messages. You will find that some more recent messages are copies of reactions/actions to an older message.
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Covey, S. R. 1989. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal
Change . New York: Simon & Schuster.
Hindle, T. 1998. Manage Your Time . London: Dorling Kindersley.
Snead, G. L. & Wycoff, J. 1997. To Do… Doing… Done! A Creative Approach to Managing
Projects & Effectively Finishing What Matters Most . New York: Simon & Schuster.
Mayo, S. 2001. Getting Things Done: Time Management for Clinical Research
Professionals. Available: http://www.sendemissary.com/compass.nsf/key/timeMgmt.htm
[Accessed: 24 June
2003]
Covey, S. R. 1989. Chapters 2 and 3 (Habits 2 and 3) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change . New York: Simon & Schuster. Read in light of moving towards a principle-centered life.
Covey, S. R., Merrill, A. R. & Merrill, R. R. First Things First . 1994. London: Simon &
Schuster UK Ltd.
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