UNIT 2 of Academic Strategies for the Business Professional! Time and Stress Management Instructor Judy Kelly

How you are doing at navigating your way around the classroom and the Discussion Board? Are you finding that it is not so intimidating after a week's experience?

UNIT 2 Key Points: Plan, organize and prioritize your school- related activities by assessing your time management skills and setting goals. Understand what causes stress, how time and stress management are connected and what you can do to manage stress effectively.

Food for thought about time…..

Wisdom “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?“ – Henry David Thoreau “He who every morning plans the transaction of the day and follows out the plan, carries a thread that will guide him through the labyrinth of the most busy life. ” -Victor Hugo

Wisdom “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.” - Michael Althsuler “Living your life without a plan is like watching television with someone else holding the remote control.” - Peter Turla

Time is a Non Renewable Resource Once it is gone, it is gone. You will never see this moment again.

86,400 Picture this: –Each day your bank deposits $86,400 in your checking account. –There’s just one catch. –You have to spend it all in one day. –You can’t carry over any money to the next day.

What would you do? You’d spend it all, Right? 24 hours per day X 60 minutes per hour X 60 seconds per minute = 86,400 Seconds

Every Second Counts……. Spend every second in an efficient and productive way If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

To Realize the Value of: ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade. ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly publication. ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed. ONE HOUR, ask a person waiting for a loved one. ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train. ONE SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident. ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Is The Jar Full?

Stephen Covey Stephen Covey in his book, First Things First, shares the following story experienced by one of his associates: I attended a seminar once where the instructor was lecturing on time. At one point, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." He reached under the table and pulled out a wide-mouthed gallon jar. He set it on the table next to a platter with some fist-sized rocks on it. "How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?" he asked.

The Jar After we made our guess, he said, "Okay. Let's find out." He set one rock in the jar... then another... then another. I don't remember how many he got in, but he got the jar full. Then he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone looked at the rocks and said, "Yes."

The Jar Then he said, "Ahhh" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar and the gravel went in all the little spaces left by the big rocks. Then he grinned and said once more, "Is the jar full?"

Empty or Full? 16

The Jar By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," we said. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went into all of the little spaces left by the rocks and the gravel. Once more he looked and said, "Is this jar full?" "No!" we roared.

The Jar He said, "Good!" and he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in. He got something like a quart of water in that jar. Then he said, " Well, what's the point?" Somebody said, "Well, there are gaps, and if you work really hard you can always fit some more things into your life."

Empty or Full? 19

No,” he said, “that's not really the point.” The point is this: Put the big rocks in first!

PROCRASTINATION Procrastination afflicts millions of people and almost always has negative effects on productivity and sense of well-being. Although everyone procrastinates in his/her own way, it can best be defined as delaying required or desired tasks by choosing other activities.

PROCRASTINATION Lack of enjoyment of task or event Lack of enjoyment of task or event Fear of success Fear of success Lack of motivation Lack of motivation Fear of event or task Fear of event or task Fear of failure Fear of failure Fear of being judged Fear of being judged Rebellion Rebellion Not seeing how the task fits into the big picture of goal achievement Not seeing how the task fits into the big picture of goal achievement

PROCRASTINATION What are two steps you will take to overcome any tendencies to procrastinate?

Self Awareness Effective time and stress management will be critical to your success here at Kaplan and in other areas of your lives as well. In order to effectively manage time and stress, YOU must have a good, strong self- awareness, which means you must be able to take a close look at yourself and see both your strengths and weaknesses and you must be willing to make changes/improvements that will help you to reach your daily, weekly, monthly and lifelong goals.

Take Control…. DID YOU KNOW: Time and stress management are often listed as the #1 problem experienced by adult learners. It’s hard to combine school with an already busy life…but it’s not impossible! Do you feel like the time management challenge can be mastered?

STRESS We all deal with stress to some extent. It’s important to realize that stress is actually a natural part of our lives; it can motivate us when we keep it under control. It can also overwhelm us when it gets out of control.

Take Control…. Plan your schedule each week—if you want to get it done, make a PLAN or a to-do list and stick to it! Be realistic as you create schedules and to-do lists. Keep your goals in mind—remind yourself of what you want to achieve. Schedule downtime--take time off for relaxing, family events and personal interests. Learn to say no when “No” is necessary-- say no to extra responsibilities when you have a full schedule.

Take Control…. Allow flex time—build a little flexibility into your schedule; don’t let the slightest little change or setback throw you off balance. Avoid procrastination—plan to get your work done; don’t put things off! Reward yourself--when you complete a task or an entire to-do list, reward yourself in some way!!

Take Control…. Work to boost your memory Work in short blocks with breaks Learn what works for you Prioritize Find your peak hours Set mini deadlines Resist the urge to procrastinate Set up daily study times

THE CASE STUDY: BRENT

Brent is a full-time office manager, and is married, with two children. He has just returned to college after taking a break for five years, and is taking two courses in his first term. He attended college right after high school, but dropped out for a number of reasons. Brent currently works 8-10 hour shifts, and is actively involved in his children’s extracurricular activities and as a soccer coach for the community recreational league. Due to his busy schedule, Brent often has to struggle to find time to complete his school work and he feels as if his time is spent on everything else. He works on his assignments late into the night, missing his sleep. He’s tired all the time, little things upset him, and his assignments are always late. Brent feels overwhelmed with school, his job, parental responsibilities, and coaching. Nothing seems to be going right for him and he is considering dropping out of school.

What are some of Brent’s sources of stress and what kind of impact is all this stress making on Brent? How could Brent use some specific time management strategies to help reduce his stress levels?

UNIT 2 Assignment/ Calendar: Select the Unit 2 tab on your Course Menu and then select the Assignment icon (to the right) to access the Unit 2 template. For the Unit 2 Assignment, you will be setting up a two- week schedule for yourself and reflecting on several items related to time and stress management. Your Calendar should include at least hours per course per week for reading, discussion, seminar, and assignment completion.

Other UNIT 2 Work: Complete the Reading On the Reading Page (Online or PDF) Complete the Challenge Activities Select the Activities icon Complete the Quiz Select the Quiz tab on the Course Menu Respond to the Discussion Check out Extra! Extra!

Discussion: Your answers to the questions above should be posted as one response. Begin by Completing both the Social Readjustment Scale activity and taking the two Time Management Quizzes (You should not have negative numbers if you do this correctly.) Discuss your results from what you learned from the Social Readjustment Scale activity and the two Time Management Quizzes. Include a discussion of areas where you might be able to use at least two of the time management tips from the reading. Explain why you feel that it is important to be aware of the connection between time and stress management and give an example of a time you experienced stress due to poor time management. What could you have done differently?

Closing thoughts: “One of the most important rules of personal effectiveness is the 10/90 rule.” The first 10% of time that you spend planning and organizing your work before you begin will save you as much as 90% of the time in getting the job done once you get started. The 10/90 rule is about planning when and how you do your work. Without a game plan of how you are going to tackle the tasks at hand or not even knowing when you will do it will make you more likely to procrastinate. Whenever you start a new task or project, think about the 10/90 rule. Plan first, then start.

Closing thoughts: “There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing.” This sentiment represents the “law of forced efficiency”. Today we are overwhelmed with information and things we need to do. What the Law of Forced Efficiency is actually saying is that if the task is really important, you will get creative and find time for it. Sure, you might really have too many things to do but that is not the core problem. Instead, you want to ask yourself “what is the most valuable use of my time, right now?” and work on that right away. Anything else in comparison is relatively unimportant. Apply this to your school work……

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In closing….. “All great achievements require time.” - Maya Angelou THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING!