How to get more out of your time Jennifer Shipside t-three consulting

What I want you to go away with You’re able to take more control of your time You have some ideas on how to achieve more with your time You can use these ideas both at work and at home Even pass them on to your Chief…

Time Complete the sentence: “For me, the thing about time is…..”

After a typical day at the office….

Effective people Focus their attention and time on the 20% of things that make 80% of the difference (Pareto’s Law)

So where’s my 20%? It all hinges around what’s urgent and what’s important How do we know something's “urgent”?

Something that’s urgent… …has tight timescales …pushes other priorities aside …there’s not enough time to do it as well as you’d like

Important So how do we know what’s important?

Something that’s important… …helps me achieve my goals

Sorting urgent and important

Some examples of the boxes – Box 1 BOX 1 Urgent and Important Crises, disasters Shouts Media enquiries Urgent family matters Customer complaints

Some examples of the boxes – Box 2 BOX 1 Urgent and Important Crises, disasters Shouts Media enquiries Urgent family matters Customer complaints BOX 2 Important but not urgent Planning Reviewing & learning Training & development Family relationships Sleep, exercise & breaks Building relationships & networks Teambuilding Appraisals

Some examples of the boxes – Box 3 BOX 1 Urgent and Important Crises, disasters Shouts Media enquiries Urgent family matters Customer complaints BOX 2 Important but not urgent Planning Reviewing & learning Training & development Family relationships Sleep, exercise & breaks Building relationships & networks Teambuilding Appraisals BOX 3 Urgent but not important Someone else’s box 1 Many interruptions Most emails Could you just…. Things people have sat on Many last-minute requests

Some examples of the boxes – Box 4 BOX 1 Urgent and Important Crises, disasters Shouts Media enquiries Urgent family matters Customer complaints BOX 2 Important but not urgent Planning Reviewing & learning Training & development Family relationships Sleep, exercise & breaks Building relationships & networks Teambuilding Appraisals BOX 3 Urgent but not important BOX 4 Neither Someone else’s box 1 Many interruptions Most emails Could you just…. Gossip Complaining and bitching Tarting up already acceptable slides Things people have sat on Many last-minute requests Distractions Interesting things that don’t achieve goals

My 20% BOX 1 Urgent and Important Crises, disasters Shouts Media enquiries Urgent family matters Customer complaints Planning Reviewing & learning Training & development Family relationships BOX 2 Important but not urgent Sleep, exercise & breaks Building relationships & networks Teambuilding Appraisals Someone else’s box 1 Many interruptions Most emails Could you just…. BOX 3 Urgent but not important Things people have sat on Many last-minute requests Gossip Complaining and bitching Tarting up already acceptable slides BOX 4 Neither Distractions Interesting things that don’t achieve goals

It isn’t time management at all…. Time management is really about Managing ourselves, and Managing relationships

Stephen Covey “Ordinary people prioritise their schedule (to-do list)” “Effective people schedule their priorities”

Focusing on your 20% How could you avoid spending time in Box 3?

Box 3: avoiding the big Thief of Time You could Delegate it to someone else Say “No”, or “Not yet” Renegotiate the deadline Ask “What can I drop/do later?” Ask “What do you want to achieve?” and find an easier way Do it, but educate them on how long it normally takes (a yellow card for later)

Key questions to ask Does it have to be done… At all? By me? Now?

Applying this So what will you do to apply this, to achieve more with your time?