This course enables you to understand the processes which will make you more effective whilst minimising the “Thieves of Time” which plague our personal productivity and sense of achievement.
It will not only teach “Time Tips” but will introduce you to classic tips and techniques that will enable you to use your time more effectively to achieve both organisational objectives and increase your quality of life.
In this course you will learn how to:
- Set positive objectives
- Identifying your time stealers
- Learn simple tips to overcome common time stealers
- Identify the internal dialogues that inhibits our ability to manage our time
Why did you choose to learn more about Time Management?
- You are probably one of the 41% of the population that come home from work exhausted every night and suffering from stress.
- Or you one of the ‘one in five’ managers that don’t have a clue what they are supposed to be doing from one day to the next.
- Or you feel that work is taking over your life to such an extent that you have to take stock and start managing your time.
Recent studies have shown that the need to regain control in the workplace by better time management is as crucial today as it’s ever been.
A UK law firm carried out a survey of 1,800 British employers and found that 79% worked more than 60 hours a week – an average of 12 hours a day in a five-day working week. Just six percent, meanwhile, worked between 40 and 50 hours a week, while 15%t worked between 50-60 hours
Dr. Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King’s College London University, conducted 80 clinical trials, wherein he monitored workers’ IQs throughout the day. Dr. Wilson saw a 10-point drop in the IQs of trial participants who were distracted with message juggling (the same as losing a whole night’s sleep and more than double the 4-point fall seen after smoking marijuana)!!!
Hewlett Packard commissioned a survey of 1,100 employees, revealing that the relentless interruptions of phone calls, emails, and text messages they experienced at work cut productivity and left them feeling stressed and fatigued. Among other things, the study revealed the following:
- Nearly two out three people check their e-mail messages when they’re out of the office and when on holiday
- Half of all workers respond to an e-mail within 60 minutes of receiving it
- One out of five workers will separate from a business or social engagement to respond to a message.
WHAT CHALLENGES OUR TIME
If we are to improve our time management we need to take a long hard look at what stops us from being effective and what we need to be aware of. The following is a list of classic ‘time stealers’ – the factors that get in the way of our effective use of time.
Below you will find some of the most frequent reasons for reduced effectiveness in the workplace. Place a tick by the ones which are causing to be the major obstacles to your own time management.
Action point – Identifying your time stealers
- Interruptions – telephone conversations that go on without focus or control
- Interruptions – personal visitors who feel that they can interrupt you for any reason they wish
- You are easily distracted and sidetracked by more enjoyable tasks
- Meetings that are unfocussed and unorganised
- Tasks that you do that should be delegated to others
- Procrastinating and putting off more important tasks
- Indecision – Not knowing what to do in a given time period
- Managing tasks with incomplete information
- Dealing with team members who do not complete their tasks
- Crisis management (fire fighting)
- Unclear communication – both verbal and written. No one knows who’s doing what and when
- Inadequate technical knowledge due to lack of training
- Unclear objectives and priorities agreed between colleagues and/or management
- Lack of planning – either short-term or long term
- Stress and fatigue
- Trying to do too much yourself
- Inability to say “No” to colleague’s requests
- Desk management and personal disorganisation
- Managing e-mails
Once you have ticked the items on the list that refer to you, ask yourself ‘How many of these do I have no control over?’. You may surprise yourself with the number of ticked items that you are able to control. When we say control, you may not be able to eliminate all of them instantly but are able to exert some influence over how often and how much time they contribute to your ineffectiveness.
Make a list of the top three time stealers you most wish to eliminate
1. …………………………………………………………………………………………
2. …………………………………………………………………………………………
3. ………………………..…………………………………..……………………………