Managing Time and Stress 13 Managing Time and Stress The most important thing I’ve realized is that if you overcommit yourself to your work, you become valueless to your company. —Steven Wynne, president and CEO, Adidas America

Time Management Time is the only resource we all have in equal shares. Supervisors who are in control of their time find that their jobs are easier and that they can get more done. Time management The practice of controlling the way you use time. 13-2 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Understanding How You Use Time Keep a time log for at least one typical week, then ask yourself the following questions: How much time did I spend on important activities? How much time did I spend on activities that did not need to get done? How much time did I spend on activities that someone else could have done (perhaps with some training)? What important jobs did I not get around to finishing? 13-3 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Planning Your Use of Time Make sure that the most important things get done each day before you move on to less important activities. Set priorities. Establish objectives for the year. Specify when each must be completed. Figure out what must be accomplished when—each quarter, month, and week. Review objectives regularly, using them to plan weekly and daily accomplishment objectives. 13-4 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Making a “To Do” List Record all activities that must occur at a set time. Find times for your remaining A-level activities. Schedule the most important activities for the times of day when you are at your best. Learn to use electronic scheduling tools. Schedule time for thinking as well as doing. Don’t fill up every hour of the day and week. 13-5 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Common Time Wasters 13-6 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Controlling Time Wasters Additional time wasters: Working without a plan Working with fuzzy goals or too many goals Oversupervising Worrying Excessive socializing Pursuing perfectionism Putting off delivering bad news Correcting your own mistakes or those of others Waiting Dealing with those who don’t put in a full day’s work Getting angry Giving poor instructions 13-7 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Meetings When chaired by another person: When you call a meeting: Encourage careful use of time by being prompt. Bring along reading material or work to do if you know you’re probably going to wait for others. Help others focus on the goal of the meeting. When you call a meeting: Start promptly. Focus on the goal of the meeting. Set an end time for the meeting. Schedule a follow-up meeting if necessary. 13-8 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Telephone Calls and E-Mail Remember you are not a slave to the telephone. Schedule time each day for making calls, and be prepared. Call to confirm meetings. Be sure to get precise directions to all meetings. Prioritize your e-mails. Delete junk mail unread. Limit the number of messages sent and the number of recipients. Avoid responding to nonbusiness correspondence. Consider scheduling one time a day to check e-mails. 13-9 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Paperwork and Reading Material Try to handle each item only once. Set aside time each day. Determine the most efficient response. Evaluate the publications you receive and cancel subscriptions that are not useful. Review tables of contents first rather than reading every page of a publication. Ask to be removed from distribution lists that send information that is not useful to you. 13-10 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Handling Unscheduled Visitors 13-11 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Procrastination Force yourself to jump in. Focus on one step at a time. Reward yourself for completing each step. Pick one area at a time in which you tend to procrastinate and attack it. Compartmentalize your work and force yourself to get through the task one task at a time. Do the biggest job first, when you have the most energy. Give yourself deadlines. Don’t pursue perfectionism. 13-12 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Perfectionism and Failure to Delegate Determine the highest standard you realistically can achieve. When you find yourself avoiding a difficult task, remember your realistic goals and give it your best. Perfectionism often underlies the failure to delegate work. Supervisors may resist delegating because they believe only they can really do the job right. Learn to delegate effectively. 13-13 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Inability to Say No When you take on too many things, you cannot do your best at any of them. Tell requestors that you will consider the offer and will reply later at some specific time, then assess your present commitments and priorities. Ask yourself, “What activity am I willing to give up to make time for this new one?” If your supervisor asks you to take on an urgent task, request help in prioritizing your workload or ask what should be given up to accomplish the new task. 13-14 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Stress Management Stress refers to the body’s response to coping with environmental demands such as change, frustration, uncertainty, danger, or discomfort. Stress can be a response to a problem, or can result from challenges that stimulate you and from the happy changes in your life. 13-15 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Work-Related Causes of Stress Job stress can result from the organization’s: Policies Structures Physical conditions Processes Downsizing The stress-related $200-$300 billion annual cost to employers consists of: Absenteeism and turnover Medical costs Worker’s compensation and other legal costs Accidents Diminished productivity 13-16 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personal Causes of Stress Personal Factors General feelings of negativism, helplessness, and low self-esteem Type A personality The inability to let work go in off work hours Work-family conflict Women are particularly vulnerable Not associated with what they achieved or how hard they worked but with the degree to which they felt a conflict between career and family 13-17 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Consequences of Stress On the job, employees tend to perform best when they are experiencing a moderate degree of stress. Performance falls when the amount of stress moves from moderate to high. Stress can hurt employees as individuals. Burnout The employee feels emotionally exhausted. The employee’s perceptions of others become calloused. The employee views his or her effectiveness negatively. 13-18 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Possible Signs of Stress Decline in work performance Increase in use of sick days Increase in number of errors and accidents Moodiness and irritability Fatigue Loss of enthusiasm Aggressive behavior Difficulty making decisions Family problems Apparent loss of concern for others Feeling that it’s impossible to help other people Feeling of inability to get your job done fully or well 13-19 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Personal Stress Management Time management Positive attitude Exercise Biofeedback Meditation Well-rounded life activities 13-20 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Organizational Stress Management Behavior of the supervisor Prepare employees to cope with change Foster a supportive organizational climate Make work interesting Encourage career development Changes in the job Environmental changes Wellness programs 13-21 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Word About Personality The degree to which a person will succeed at using any particular technique depends in part on that person’s personality. Knowing your personality type (Myers-Briggs) can suggest suitable techniques for managing your own time and stress. Recognizing different personality types can help you understand the behavior of other people. 13-22 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary A practical way to evaluate time use is to keep a time log. A supervisor can plan the use of time by making a list of things to do for the day or week, then rating each item on the list. Certain activities and attitudes lead to wasted time, thus supervisors must learn how to best control them. The environmental demands that cause stress may arise in the workplace, in people’s personal lives, and in the conflicts that may arise between the two. 13-23 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary (continued) On the job, employees tend to perform best when they are experiencing a moderate degree of stress. However, too much stress brings problems, especially when the sources of stress are negative. Supervisors and others can manage stress by using time management, having a positive attitude, getting exercise, using biofeedback, meditating, and leading a well-rounded life. A supervisor who knows about any stress-management measures offered by the organization is in a better position to take advantage of them and to recommend them to employees. 13-24 McGraw-Hill/Irwin © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.