Time Management Skills Make lists. Prioritize tasks. Divide large tasks into smaller steps. Group similar tasks. Monitor progress. Everything comes to those who hustle while he waits. –Thomas Edison

You’ve got the time! Imagine you have a bank that credits your checking account $1,440.00 EACH day; however, there is one catch—at the end of the day, any of the money you did not use will be wiped from your account forever. What would you do? You have that account. It’s called time. Any of the 1,440 minutes you do not use to your good each day is wiped from your account forever. Can anyone EVER relive a single day of his/her life? What do employers say about time? Time is _________. (money)

Time Strategies Monitor your time. Adopt tools for time management. Find connections between time & money. Develop “focused attention.” Use planning to set you free.

Eliminate Time Thieves! Failure to set goals, priorities, or deadlines Too much socializing Failure to say no Interruptions Disorganization

Eliminate More Time Thieves! Procrastination Poor communication Failure to delegate Fatigue Trying to do too much Next week there can’t be any crisis. My schedule is already full. –Henry Kissinger

Triage Tasks What is most important to do first? What has to be done so others can work? What will cause the most trouble if I do not finish? Triage is a French word that means to sift. How many remember the sitcom MASH? Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals in the Korean War were set up to treat the wounded. When the helicopters landed or the trucks rolled in with critically wounded soldiers, how did the surgeons decide who would be treated first? (most critical) We can do the same thing with our workday/workweek.

Avoid Procrastination “If you think you can do it, begin it! Begin and the mind grows heated. Begin, and the task is completed.”  What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. –Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

Your Future is What You Make It TODAY! “The best thing about the future is that it only comes one day at a time.” --Abraham Lincoln The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he be. -- C.S. Lewis

Time Management Benefits Remember special events Have advance preparation time Have more focus and less stress Time management skills are useful in your personal life as well as your professional life. How could managing your time improve the relationships that are important to you?

Even More Benefits Work smarter not harder Open up free time for family, friends, and fun Enjoy peace of mind A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When class began, wordlessly he picked up a large empty jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly, and the pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The students laughed. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. "Now," said the professor, "I want you to recognize that this is your life. The rocks are the important things--your family, your partner, your health, and your friends--anything that is so important to you that if it were lost, you would be nearly destroyed. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is every thing else, the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. PAY ATTENTION to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take your partner dancing. Tell them you love them. Take time to get medical checkups. There will ALWAYS be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party, and fix the car. Take care of the rocks first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.  

Thought for Today “What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it…let it be something good.” "The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away." -Ralph Waldo Emerson