Use Time Effectively Planning and Organizing New Jersey’s Professional Center Training Academy

Time Management = Self Management Manage ourselves to use the time we do have better. Skilled (Competency) Uses his or her time effectively Values time Concentrates his/her efforts on priorities Gets more done in less time than others Can attend to a broad range of activities

Time Management - Unskilled Is disorganized and wastes time Jumps from activity to activity with no reason Does not set priorities Can’t say no Mostly reactive Doesn’t have or follow a plan or method for his/her time

Time Solutions Set goals and establish priorities Link goals together Short term projects should lead to long term goals Short range goals lead to what to do today

Set Goals Six months Prioritizing is as simple as A-B-C-D A GoalsHigh value B GoalsMedium value C GoalsLow value D goalsDelegate Take top goals and prioritize A-1, A-2, A-3…

Covey’s Time Management UrgentNot Urgent III III IV Not Important Important Activities: Crises conferencing Pressing problems Deadline driven reports Activities: Effective conferencing Prevention Relationship building Planning Activities: Interruptions, some calls Some mail, some reports Some meetings Activities: Trivia, busy work Time wasters Some mail and phone calls

ObjectivePriorityActivities Needed to Achieve Goal Completion Date OBJECTIVE #1 OBJECTIVE #2 OBJECTIVE #3

To do lists… You can’t do a goal…establish activities For each goal, write down the activities you think you need to achieve it Create a to-do list for the activities (daily and/or weekly) Prioritize based on goals A = Must do (critical items) B = Should do (medium value) C = Nice to do (low value) Always ask…What is the best use of my time right now?

Use Time Effectively “Hard work is often easy work you didn’t do at the proper time.”

Time Wasters Procrastination Set a self-imposed deadline Arrange with someone to ask you about it Do undesirable tasks early in the day Build in a reward system “Just Do It” or Do it Now! Break big jobs in to small pieces

Inability to say No I’ll be glad to talk with you about that. However, not till I finish what I am doing” “I will work on that, but what I am doing now will be delayed. Is your request more important?” “I wanted to talk with you about that. Let’s set up a time.” “I appreciate your vote of confidence. Let me review my schedule and workload and get back to you. I want to be able to adequately handle the job.”

How’s your energy? High…complex, important tasks Moderate…complex…not as important Low…standard duties, routines

Can you delegate? Not wanting to burden others…feel guilty No one else can do it better They might do it better than you Not organized enough

Time Management and New Staff New staff need more time to process policy and procedures New staff tend to be less efficient New staff require more of the supervisor’s time

Some additional strategies to balance work and life Start/End your day with time for yourself Create more time for yourself to plan and organize Distinguish between likes and dislikes Be sensitive to the time of others Create protected time Recharge your own batteries