Time Management Session 3 Judith Shawcross

Agenda for Today Introduction Developing a single planning system Using Goal Planning Sheets How to become more effective and efficient Eliminating Time Issues What is stopping you Continuing to be effective The Challenge Course Review

Homework 1.Develop your own (single) system for planning and organising yourself. 2.Complete Goal Planning Sheets on at least one key goal to enable you to populate your planning and organising system. 3.Put into practice strategies for dealing with at least one of your most significant time issues. 4.Prepare an Annual Time Budget

GOALS To publish my research in Nature by July 2012 To co-author a book on carbon nano- tubes. Milestones Tasks Time Resource Risks Goal Planning Sheets

4 Rules of Effective Planning & Organisation 1.Have one system only for planning and organising. 2.Plan, review & schedule – monthly, weekly, daily 3.Do, Diarise or Ditch for communications 4.Stay tidy and organised One minute of planning saves ten minutes in execution – Brian Tracy

Your system needs to be able to capture your goals, tasks and schedule HAVE ONE SYSTEM ONLY FOR PLANNING AND ORGANISING. Why? You don’t miss anything No double bookings Enables you to see everything all together RULE No. 1 You can use meeting / note books but make sure you transfer all your actions / tasks.

RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule Monthly Set aside 2 to 3 hours at the end of each month to plan, review and schedule the next months and the immediate month in detail. Review your goals – what are the key goals for this month? Prioritise - which of these are most important? Plan how to achieve each of these in detail. What will your high return activities be? How can you measure if you are on track.

RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule Scheduling Use a big picture of time – month to view Ensure all your timed commitments are there –Meetings, training, seminars, teaching, Schedule blocks of time to achieve your goals and work on your high return activities. Don’t fill up your schedule completely If a task is going to take 1 hour or more then schedule it REVIEW – DOES THIS LOOK ACHIEVABLE?

RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule Weekly Set aside ½ hour at either the start or end of every week to review planning and schedule for week ahead Review your progress – did you achieve everything you planned? If not, why not? Review your commitments for the following week and ensure you have allowed sufficient time for any preparation / travel etc. Review your priorities – put them in order. Revise schedule as required.

RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule Daily Spend 5 minutes at the start and end of each day reviewing planning Ensure you have a detailed time plan for the day and remind yourself what it is Ensure high priority tasks are done first – schedule these for when you work at your best Group small tasks – e.g. Communication Review what you have achieved at the end of the day

RULE No. 3 DO, DIARISE OR DITCH - for communications Set yourself some time each day to deal with correspondence –This could be twice a day / once a day –This should not be first thing in the day If the task arising is short and important i.e. less than 15 minutes then DO it. If the task arising is longer and important i.e. An hour or over then DIARISE it – schedule it in your calendar. If the task arising is not important then DITCH it.

RULE No. 4 STAY TIDY & ORGANISED - If it takes you more than 2 minutes to find something then you need to be more organised. Clear working space? Is your filing system simple and effective? What do you really need to keep in hard copy?

Coping with multiple projects Plan each project in detail – key milestones/ tasks/ ensure all deliverables are defined During planning allocate day’s of the month / week depending on task / priorities Blocks of time – length & frequency – what enables you to make progress without getting stuck / bored / tired? etc. Allocate time for all key tasks YOU MUST HAVE ONE TIME MANAGEMENT SYSTEM and make it work

Points to remember Strive for results and not perfection – set aside a reasonable time to accomplish a task and stick to it. Work in a regular pattern – so you don’t rely on “feeling like it” and others get to know how you prefer to work Exercise Self Discipline - stick to your plan Reward yourself – on achievement of a goal / completion of a difficult task etc.

Goal Planning Sheet Review In your groups – review your goal planning exercise What aspects of the tool did you find most helpful and why? What aspects of the tool did you find least helpful and why? How did completing this sheet affect your initial perception of achieving this goal?

Q4. Are you doing these activities in an efficient and effective way? Research what is best practice Ask for advice –Fellow Researchers –Your PI Compare yourself with your colleagues –Why can X write twice as fast as you? –How can X keep such a clear desk?

Grasshopper is a Chronophage or ‘Time Eater’

My Time Eaters What high return activities are your biggest time eaters? What non high return activities are your biggest time eaters?

My ways to improve productivity What skills – if could you improve them now – would make the biggest difference to your productivity? What skills – if you could improve them in 3 to 6 months would make the biggest difference to your future productivity?

Effective ways to improve your skills Training courses – make sure you plan to use the skills you learn immediately to maximise your learning and beat learning decay. Do things in Bitesized chunks Get someone to show you / coach you Allocate some time every month for improving skills.

Eliminating Time Management Issues Put into practice your strategies for dealing with one or more of your most significant time issues. Examples of success Examples of not being successful YET !!!!

Break

Time Budget – what is it for you? Approx 44 working weeks / annum Maintenance Time Allowance ? 1 week – training and development 2 weeks – travel to & conference attendance 1 week – seminar / network event attendance 1 week – admin / IT issues 2 weeks – essential reading 2 weeks – proposal writing, peer review papers 9 weeks for maintenance ~ 20% of your time – 1 day/week – 1 hr 36 mins/day What about play time?

Q5. What is stopping you - Some common issues? I sometimes lose my focus I’m always getting interrupted I tend to put off tasks I don’t like doing I get distracted easily I can’t get to see my supervisor/PI when I need to I have to fit in other commitments – family, training, socialising I just can’t get motivated until I have a deadline I didn’t realise that would take so long

What is stopping you? PROCRASTINATION Eat that frog! By Brian Tracy Some jobs will never be easy now or later – so get them done first These jobs are likely to be your ‘IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES’ So essential to achieving your goals.

Developing better habits Common mistake is try and change too much too quickly For a greater chance of success Take things in bite-sized steps Focus on one change at a time It takes 21 – 30 days to change a habit. Use visual and other reminders to help you make the change. Don’t look at first thing Eat the frog first! Stick post it notes around your screen

Inspiration gets you started Habits keep you going

Dealing with Procrastination Newton’s First Law “ A grad student in procrastination tends to stay in procrastination unless an external force is applied to it” How to apply an external force? Set a deadline –write it down & tell people Set up regular meetings to review progress Arrange a reward conditional on achievement

Schedule it first & do it first One small “chunk” at time –write 200 words / 2 paragraphs –read 5 pages / 1 chapter / 2 sections Line up the incentives e.g. –good coffee at end of first “chunk” –x minutes of Buddy Up – share the pain Get busy – schedule in activities e.g. at the end of the working day More strategies for Procrastinators

Keeping your research on track Newton’s Second Law “The age, a, of a doctoral process is directly proportional to the flexibility, f, given by the advisor and inversely proportional to the students motivation, m” Controlling flexibility Agreed milestones / goals with your Supervisor Regular Progress Meetings Keeping motivated Regular goals Finishing before funding runs out Links to longer term goals

Meeting Management Planned and prepared in advance –Agenda – shared –Items for comment / discussion sent in advance Clear purpose and objectives Time available sufficient and structured to give enough time to each item Effective Meeting Management – depends on size of group –Communication, Facilitation, Effectiveness

Recognising Distractions Newton’s Third Law “ For every action towards graduation there is an equal and opposite distraction” “Failures do what is tension relieving while winners do what is goal achieving” Dennis Waitley Work Related Distractions Personal Distractions Desperate Distractions

Dealing with Distractions Just say no is it that easy? –How / what reasons can you give that will help you to do this? Separate personal & work Turn them off Put them out of sight Physically separate yourself from them Set aside time for them outside of work

Some tips – protect your uninterrupted time Keep a note book handy / pile of ‘post its’ to jot down unrelated thoughts / activities as you work. For people you communicate with on a regular basis – keep lists of things you need to tell / discuss with them. Keep a to do list handy to make a note of bits and pieces tasks that are not time critical. Tim Sam JoChris

Dealing with Interruptions Hide Say No - Sorry I can’t BECAUSE Make an appointment Encourage them to solve their own problem But what if this doesn’t work Keep a log of interruptions, who, what, times etc. Enables you to diagnose the problem

But I like distractions / interruptions? I know I’m wasting time / not using time efficiently but I like to feel busy I like the buzz / excitement I like to feel involved I don’t like to say no I like to feel wanted It doesn’t really waste that much time I think?

Getting to know yourself experiments/personality/ Understanding yourself and others: using MBTI dp A one day course offered by PPD team Identify those attitudes and habits that impact on your time management

Continuing to be effective & continuous improvement in productivity Apply the four rules Invest time in planning and organisation – it is a high return activity Review your goals regularly Take time to identify “time eaters” and improve your skills Stay disciplined and focussed Continue to challenge yourself to improve – this is much easier with a coach / buddy

The Buddy Challenge Find a time management buddy / buddies Swap contact details with your buddy Identify a key time management challenge that you would really benefit you to solve in the next couple of months Share this with your buddy Contact/meet up with your buddy in two weeks and four weeks and check on how you are both progressing.

My Challenge My buddy’s challenge My buddy is called: My buddy’s contact details are:

GOALS Mile- stones Tasks ‘Newton’s’ Laws of Graduation

Making an Impact In two months time you will be getting an from CPPD. You will be asked What changes you have been able to make as a result of attending this course? Did you achieve your “challenge”? What benefits you are enjoying as a result of these changes? What challenges you would like further assistance with ? Opportunity to have a follow on discussion

Making the most of your time investment We’ve covered loads of tools and techniques Take some time to review course materials and decide on key aspects (no more than five) that will make the biggest difference for you. Put these in priority order for action Focus on one change at a time –if it’s a change in habit get that habit established before starting to change another Schedule other changes for subsequent months

Course / Session Summary ASK YOURSELF ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS ON A REGULAR BASIS Am I doing the right activities? Am I doing them at the right time? Am I spending enough time on these? Am I doing these activities in an effective and efficient way? If not why? What is stopping me?

Effective Self Management undertaking tasks, activities and responsibilities that provide a high return for you and your department investing time doing the right thing, in an effective and efficient way at the right time and for the right length of time. Who is the CEO of your time? Urgent vs. Importance Matrix Important Activities Critical Activities Distractions Interruptions Urgency LowHigh Low High Importance Investing your time well will make you successful

SMART Questions will enable you to check whether your goals are ACHIEVABLE & REALISTIC GOALS Mile- stones Tasks Define your goals and write them down FOUR RULES Have one system only for planning and organising. 2.Plan, Review, Schedule Monthly, weekly, daily 3.Do, Diarise or Ditch 4.Stay tidy and organised

A = Critical B = Important C = Nice to Do D = Delegate E = Eliminate Prioritise Decision Making Discipline Determination Effective Time Management ‘Newton’s’ Laws of Graduation!

Course Aims By the end of this course you will be able to……. apply tools & techniques to manage YOUR time effectively recognise common issues and problems and know how to overcome them know 3 things you should do to improve how you manage your time.

Resources VITAEwww.vitae.ac.uk Previously UK GRAD Programme and UK Higher Education Researcher Development UKHERD Booklet: The Balanced Researcher The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey The Time Paradox, Using the new Psychology of Time to your advantage (Paperback) by Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd, Rider Books, 2008 Why People Fail – The 16 Obstacles to Success and How You Can Overcome Them by Simon Reynolds, Jossey Bass 2012

Resources Mike Clayton, 2011, Brilliant Time Management, What most productive people know, do and say, Pearson Michael Heppell, 2011, How to Save an hour every day, Prentice Hall Life Jurgen Wolfe, 2010, Focus: Use the Power of Targetted Thinking to Get More Done, Prentice Hall Business Give Me Time, 2006, The Mind Gym, CIPD David Allen, 2001, Getting Things Done – How to achieve Stress-free Productivity, Piatkus Brian Tracy, 2004, Eat that Frog! Get more of the important things done, Today!, Mobius

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