Time Management

1. Dr. P. UDHAYA KUMAR Associate Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering K.L.N. College of Engineering Pottapalayam – 630 611 Time Management

2. Time Management It is managing ourselves in relation to time. It is setting priorities and taking charge of your situation and time utilization.

3. SYNOPSIS Time Management will help you: •  To develop the personal feeling of time. • To think about the future time, set goals and work out new proposals and plans. • To analyze how you spend time – where, how and why you spend time now. • To reduce the influence of time deficit. • To get rid of hurry. • To avoid excessive time spending.

4. SYNOPSIS • To learn how to save your time through delegating • To redistribute your time for achieving the best results. • To study the techniques that would allow you to save your time during the meetings, reading, writing the documents, business trips, telephone calls etc. • To use more time for creative thinking.  • To make time your ally, not the enemy.

5. 1. The Present

6. 1. The Present Yesterday is History Tomorrow’s a Mystery But Today is a Gift That’s Why They Call it The Present

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

8. 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 newspaper. • ONE DAY, ask a daily wage laborer with kids to feed. • ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. • 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.

9. Benefits of time management • Efficient • Successful • Healthy

10. Obstacles to effective time management Unclear objectives Disorganization Inability to say “no”

11. Obstacles to effective time management Interruptions More interruptions Periods of inactivity

12. Obstacles to effective time management Too many things at once Stress and fatigue All work and no play

13. What can we do? Recognize that obstacles exist Identify them Employ strategies to overcome

14. Set goals • Specific • Measurable

15. Set goals • Achievable • Realistic • Time-based • Specific • Measurable

16. Prioritize • Do • Delegate • Delay • Delete

17. Prioritize • Address the urgent • Accomplish what you can early • Attach deadlines to things you delay

18. Organize

19. Learn when to say “NO” • You can’t do everything • Don’t undertake things you can’t complete • Remain consistent to your goals

20. Use your waiting time • On public transportation • At the doctor’s office • Waiting for your plane • On hold • When you are early

21. Use your waiting time Correspondence Letters or memos Books or tapes

22. Concentrate on the task at hand • Focus on your goal • Tune out interruptions

23. Consider your personal prime time • Morning? • Evening? • Late night?

24. How to plan your day • Visualise your long term goal • Try to do your planning at the same time every day. • Use only one planner to keep track of your appointments • Write out a To do list every day • Don’t jam your day full of activities. • Do it now. Always plan time for balance; include family, fitness, recreation, Social and spiritual activities.

25. Problems and Solutions for Proper Time Management Personal: üKnow priorities of doing things ü     Be organized ü     Spend some time as leisure time Psychological: üHave self discipline ü     Learn to say “No” if it demands ü     Believe in team work ü     Have a watch on the work entrusted

26. Problems and Solutions for Proper Time Management External: üMaintain proper relationship with friends and colleagues ü     Never attempt indirect interactions Social: üAllot some time to spend with nature with parents, to love, to listen, to dream to and to think ü     Morning 4.00am to 9.00am is the best time for work

27. Problems and Solutions for Proper Time Management Postponement: Postponement or procrastination is mainly due to a lack of interest or pleasantness in work and the complexity of work. ü     Unpleasant tasks ü     Complex projects ü     Fear of failure ü     Lack of interest ü     Perfectionism ü     Distraction, lack of focus

28. TIME MANAGEMENT: AVOIDING TIME WASTERS PROCRASTINATION IS THE THIEF OF TIME No one is perfect. Everyone wastes some time. The three activities that waste the most time are long meetings, interruptions, and telephone calls. Here is how you can reduce each dramatically. • MEETINGS • Avoid setting or attending unnecessary meetings. • Prepare a detailed agenda.

29. MEETINGS • Get someone to monitor time and inform the participants if they are falling behind the schedule. • At the start of meeting obtain agreement on the objective(s) to keep a focus and avoid time-consuming discussions on unrelated topics. • Record ideas on a flipchart to reduce repetition. • People receive biggest part of the information through the eyes, not through the ears. The Chinese say: «The picture is worth a thousand words». Therefore, visual aids(Slides,diagrams, charts) can save your time if they are simple and easy to understand.

30. MEETINGS • Avoid dealing with items that are not on the agenda. If someone goes off on a tangent: • Politely ask what the matter has to do with the agreed-upon objective. • Ask if the item can be dealt with later or outside the meeting. PREPARATION TO THE MEETING -Goals determination -Topic study -Discussion Scheme -Final preparation

31. MEETINGS Goals Determination • For example, to involve consultants of the company. • Improvement of the production process. Topic study • Collection of the facts and information. • Determination of the main discussion subjects • Discussion of the different view points.

32. MEETINGS Discussion scheme • Setting of the ultimate goal. • Consideration of the intermediate goals. • Discussion questions. • Planning of introductory speech before the beginning of discussion. • Making the meeting agenda.

33. MEETINGS Final preparation • Printing and distribution of the invitations. • Preparation of the conference hall. • Preparation of the handouts, slides, transparencies etc. These materials should be distributed before the meeting starts. Clear questions should be set at the beginning and at the end of agenda. This way the meeting will be started and finished on a high note. The most important issues should be discussed at the beginning when the minds of participants are not yet overload..

34. OFFICE INTERRUPTIONS • Stand when people come in to chat. This will prevent them from getting comfortable. • Ask them if it’s important. • Ask them if you can talk later in their office, a place where you can control the length of the conversation. • Walk out long enough to get them out of your office and then sneak back to continue your work. • Close your door.

35. TELEPHONE • Leave complete messages for people who are not available so they won’t have to call back. • Install a voice-mail system. • Return calls to people’s voice mail after business hours. • Train your associates to deal with routine issues on your behalf and to screen your calls when you are under pressure.

36. TELEPHONE • Avoid unnecessary chitchat by answering with your name followed by a question such as “How may I help you?” • Increase your chances of speaking to someone after you are told that the person is “away from the desk” or “in a meeting” by asking: “Could you find her for me?” • “Can he be interrupted?” • “I’m returning her call, which was important”.

37. PAPER WORK • Keep your desk clean. Put things where you can find them. Don’t put documents in temporary places. • Deal with each piece of paper once. File it, respond to it, or dump it. • Reduce time by responding to correspondence in writing on the letter. Fax it back, or photocopy it and send it back.

38. The Big Rocks of Life

39. Is The Jar Full? • 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.

40. 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."

41. 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?"

42. 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. 

43. 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."

44. "No," he said, "that's not really the point. The point is this: Put the Big Rocks in First

45. Celebrate your success

46. Tips for Successful Time Management • Doing things with concentration, dedication conflicts and commitment and not in a careless manner. • Trust others and distribute works to others • Never think about unnecessary things and never interfere in others matters • Postponement of planned events is an avoidable bad habit • Breakdown your goals into smaller task with manageable steps • Be punctual • Hurrying up is to always the best way of doing a thing faster • Don’t forget or misplace things • Use a calendar/ Get organized

47. Imagine the luxury of having more time:-To spend with your familyTo go on that “special” vacationTo take up a new hobbyTo read that latest, popular bookOr just to relax and live a little.Yes, all of this is possible but you must use time management techniques to organize your personal and business activities.

48. Thank You