TP - manage your time

16. April 2015

Key Concepts – Top Tips

Andrea Schüller – Martina Weinberger - Dr. Rosina Gasteiger

On “Time Management”

A FEW QUESTIONS FIRST… GET CLEAR ON “WHAT IS”

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– What are the situations, in which you are really good at managing your

time?

– What is the context in which you find it easy to say ‘no’ to something or

somebody?

– Which were the last things you erased from your to-do-list and why?

– What’s the cost to you, when you manage your time really well?

– What are you committed to, that doesn’t really square with effectiveness

and efficiency?

– What do you assume will happen, if you assert your plans more strongly?

– When do you experience real ‘flow’ at work – loosing all sense of time,

being absorbed in what you do, sensing that your real strengths are being

applied?

How to organise

How to delegate*

How to prioritise

So it is not about “managing time”… but about making good

decisions in 3 areas:

SOME HARD TRUTHS: WORK IS AN INSATIABLE LOVER

“Being organised is often

considered the key to time

management – but in our day

and age you can never be

organised enough to have

enough time, unless you

prioritise and delegate.”

“Time management” is a

misnomer – the challenge is

not to manage time, but to

manage ourselves, so that we

can achieve the results we

really want (S. Covey).

* Delegation is not part of this think piece. If

you are interested in this please send us an

email: [email protected]


WHAT GETS IN THE WAY?

Your

beliefs?

Your Preferences? Your (untrained)

muscle?


Are you naturally

– organised?

– focused?

– easily distracted?

– … ?

– Busy people are important

– Just do it!

– Need results now

– Doing is better than thinking

– Thinking of work flow is not

working

– A nice/organised/helpful

person doesn’t say ‘no’

– I don’t say ‘no’

– Not used to

– Less vital in the past

– Don’t know Outlook…

TALKING ABOUT PRIORITIES


PRIORITIES - THE BUSYNESS TRAP


– If you are looking for ways to get it all done, you’ll be disappointed

– It’s always a compromise

o How much you’ll get done

o How good it is (new, well researched, checked with all the right people,

completely flawless, looking great)

o How much you learn whilst doing it

o How much other people learn doing it with/for you

– Start challenging why you do things in the first place: what’s the purpose? Can

that be achieved by any other means?

– Beware the busy manager! Busy doesn’t mean purposeful

– The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your

priorities

– How will you prioritise, if you’re unclear about the ultimate outcome you seek?

WHOSE PRIORITIES ARE THEY?


– If you were at fault in one of three areas, which would it be

o The inability to prioritise?

o The inability or desire to organise around those priorities?

o The lack of discipline to execute around them, to stay with your priorities and

organisation?

– Most people say it’s a lack of discipline. Covey believes that this is

not the case. For him the basic problem is that their priorities have

not become deeply planted in their hearts and minds.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FOCUS

Circle of Concern

Circle of Influence

Centre of Focus

Prioritise what is in the centre of your focus!

Everything you can

address or change

yourself

Elements you

should focus and

act on

Everything that

bothers or keeps

you awake at night

Don't waste your

time and energy

with things you

cannot control or

affect

When we operate in our circle of influence we do some good, but what we do may be at the expense of

something better. When we set and achieve objectives that our in our centre of focus, we maximise

the use of our time and effort.


GETTING ORGANISED


THE URGENCY ADDICTION


– Two factors define an activity:

o Urgent (act on us: very visible, press on us, insist on action, often popular with

others, usually right in front of us, often pleasant, easy, fun to do)

o Important (related to results: contributes to your mission, your values, your high

priority goals)

– We react to urgent matters.

– Important matters that are not urgent require more initiative, more

proactivity. We must act to seize opportunity, to make things

happen.

– If we don’t have a clear idea of what is important, of the results we

desire, we are easily diverted into responding to the urgent.

THE URGENCY INDEX©

togunaleadership.com

In: Covey, S.; Merrill, A.R.; Merrill, R.R.: First Things First, page 34

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– I seem to do my best work under pressure

– I often blame the rush and press of external things for my failure to spend deep, introspective time with myself

– I’m often frustrated by the slowness of people and things around me. I hate to wait or stand in line

– I feel guilty when I take time off work

– I always seem to be rushing between places and events

– I frequently find myself pushing people away so that I can finish a project

– I feel anxious when I‘m out of touch with the office for more than a few minutes

– I’m often preoccupied with one thing when I‘m doing something else

– I’m at my best when I‘m handling a crisis situation

– The adrenaline rush from a new crisis seems more satisfying to me than the steady accomplishment of long-term

results

– I often give up quality time with important people in my life to handle a crisis

– I assume people will naturally understand if I have to disappoint them or let things go in order to handle a crisis

– I rely on solving some crisis to give my day a sense of meaning and purpose

– I often eat lunch or other meals while I work

– I keep thinking that someday I‘ll be able to do what I really want to do

– A huge stack in my ‘out‘ basket at the end of the day makes me feel like I‘ve really been productive.

As you answer these questions, think about whether this is never, sometimes or always the case?

FOCUS ON URGENT V. IMPORTANT?


Urgent

ImportantPreparation

Planning

Relationship building

Recognising new opportunities

Empowerment

Reflection and

Reflexivity

Learning

Crises

Pressing problems

Deadline-driven projects,

meetings, preparations

Interruptions, some calls

Some mail, some reports

Some meetings

Many proximate, pressing matters

Many popular activities

Trivia

Busy work

Some mail

Some phone calls

Time wasters

Pleasant activities

High Performance Organisations: 20 – 25%

Typical Organisations: 25-30 %

High Performance Organisations: less than 1 %

Typical Organisations: 2-3%

High Performance Organisations: 15 %

Typical Organisations: 50-60%

High Performance Organisations: 65 – 80%

Typical Organisations: 15 %

Adapted from: DD. Eisenhower (1954),

S.R. Covey 2004: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People &

S.R. Covey et al 1994: First Things First

shrink

Can do - 1 Must do

Can do - 2Don’t do

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QUADRANT MANAGEMENT


Don’t do: Stop doing altogether – or

delegate

Must Do: Shrink the urgent /

important tasks by better

planning, since this is

where energy gets burnt

fast

Can do 1: Unless you start planning and

organising these tasks – you will

not achieve your objectives and

most likely operate in a

permanent crisis mode

Urgent

Important

Can Do 2: Regain control!

Quadrant of deception, the noise of

urgency creates the illusion of

importance.

Activities, are often only important to

somebody else, we’re meeting other

people’s priorities.

Adapted from: DD. Eisenhower (1954),

S.R. Covey 2004: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People &

S.R. Covey et al 1994: First Things First

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DOING IT


SCHEDULE YOUR PRIORITIES

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Covey recommends that you organise your week from the ‘must do’

quadrant. This involves four activities:

1. Identifying your key roles. These could be:

o Personal development

o Spouse/Parent

o Expert for my clients

o People manager

o Business developer

o Other?

2. Selecting Goals – what are the most important results you want to accomplish

in each role during the next 7 days?

3. Daily Adapting – assigning priorities as needed

4. Living it.

How to prioritise

How to organise

How to delegate

LIVING IT

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LONG-TERM

ORGANISINGUltimate outcome

you seek (Purpose)Roles

Goals

WEEKLY

ORGANISING

Schedule

Delegate

Goals

Roles Plans

Adapted after Covey

According to Covey, frustration (because you

feel you‘ve not accomplished enough) is:

“a function of our expectations, and our

expectations are often a reflection of the

social mirror, rather than your own values and

priorities”.

How to prioritise

How to organise

How to delegate

TOP TIPS


How to prioritise

How to organise

How to delegate

– Have a running list of your accountabilities, responsibilities, goals and activities/tasks that stem from them

– Add other tasks you think you need to do – be sure to capture everything

– Review the list and think about what can be delegated, or what’s not important and can be crossed out entirely –

remember the four quadrants!!

– Assign a due date to everything

– Have your to-do-list visible in front of you as you work

– Check and update every evening/morning

– Use Outlook to keep track of all tasks

– Include meeting preparation and follow-up time (mental packaging)

– Include delegation time

– Schedule hours to look after important but not urgent issues

– Chose realistic times of the day to do certain tasks (manage your energy)

– Challenge how long it will take you to achieve a task

– Build in contingency

– Learn to say ‘no’ whilst offering alternative solutions

– Minimise interruptions (on average, you lose 10 min per interruption, e.g. switch-off the push function on your email,

ask someone to help you get uninterrupted time slots)

– Check: did I originate that interruption by less than clear communication or a habit of micro-managing?

WHAT I WILL DO …


How to prioritise

How to organise

How to delegate

What is your thinking after reading these slides?

How will you prioritise better? How will you organise better?

– What will you start doing? _______________________________

– What will you stop doing? _______________________________

– What other resources will you consult on this? Who will you ask to

help you with prioritising or organising? _____________________

– How will you celebrate achievements?______________________

Do you need to work on your delegation skills? Drop as an email at [email protected] and we will send a

short summary about how to become a more effective delegator.

mailto:[email protected]

FURTHER READING –OPEN QUESTIONS?


For open questions, get in touch with us at:

[email protected] - [email protected] - [email protected]

Stephen Covey’s

classic book on “7

habits of highly

effective

people” goes

beyond

time management.

David Allen’s book

“Getting Things

Done. The Art of

Stress-Free

Productivity”

focuses on the

need to be as able

to relax as you are

to focus to achieve

sustainable

performance.

Stephen Covey’s

book “First things first”

builds on the 7 habits.

It isn’t primarily about

time management per

se but emphasises

relationships and

results, effectiveness

instead of efficiency.

Daniel Levitin, a

psychologist and

neuroscientist,

wrote a book called

“The organized

mind”, which is less

of a ‘how to’ book,

yet all the more

fascinating a read.

Stewart Friedman, a

Wharton professor of

management, wrote a

book called “Total

leadership” adding

value for readers

who grapple

with work/life

balance issues.

Stewart Friedman’s

latest book “Leading

the life you want” is

another incredibly

useful read for

those in search

of ways to integrate

work and life.

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TOGUNA LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Coaching House

Maximilianstraße 43

80538 Munich

Germany

[email protected]


TOGUNA Leadership Development creates bespoke learning experiences that give leaders

– protected space and time to focus

– a deep sense of self-efficacy

– a ferocious appetite to act

– permission to stumble, laugh and learn

– awareness of their personal growth

16. April 201520

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TP - manage your time