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Effective Time Management
Learning Objectives
Clarify
and achieve your goals Handle time wasters Be involved in better delegation Work more efficiently with your boss/advisor Learn specific skills and tools to save you time Overcome stress and procrastination
= really important point
Remember that time is money
Ben Franklin, 1748
Introduction
Time
must be explicitly managed, just like money Much of this wont make sense until later (too late?): thats why this is on the WWW
Outline
Why is Time Management Important? Goals, Priorities, and Planning TO DO Lists Desks, paperwork, telephones Scheduling Yourself Delegation Meetings Technology General Advice
Why Time Management is Important
The
Time Famine
Bad
This
time management = stress
is life advice
The Problem is Severe
By some estimates, people waste about 2 hours per day. Signs of time wasting:
Messy
desk and cluttered (or no) files Cant find things Miss appointments, need to reschedule them late and/or unprepared for meetings Volunteer to do things other people should do Tired/unable to concentrate
Hear me Now, Believe me Later
Being
successful doesnt make you manage your time well. your time well makes you successful.
Managing
Goals, Priorities, and Planning
Why
am I doing this? is the goal?
What Why
will I succeed?
What
happens if I chose not to do it?
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The 80/20 Rule
Critical Having Good
few and the trivial many the courage of your convictions
judgment comes from experience
Experiences
comes from bad judgment
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Inspiration
If you can dream it, you can do it
Walt Disney
Disneyland
was built in 366 days, from ground-breaking to first day open to the public.
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Planning
Failing Plan
to plan is planning to fail
Each Day, Each Week, Each Semester can always change your plan, but only once you have one!
You
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TO Do Lists
Break Like Do
things down into small steps
a child cleaning his/her room
the ugliest thing first
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The four-quadrant TO DO List
Due Soon Important Not Important
Not Due Soon
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Paperwork
Clutter
is death; it leads to thrashing. Keep desk clear: focus on one thing at a time A good file system is essential Touch each piece of paper once Touch each piece of email once; your inbox is not your TODO list
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My Desk
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Speaker phone: hands are free to do something else; stress reduction when Im on hold.
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Telephone
Keep Start
calls short; stand during call
by announcing goals for the call put your feet up
Dont
Have
something in view that youre waiting to get to next
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Telephone
When
done, get off: I have students waiting
If
necessary, hang up while youre talking
Group
outgoing calls: just before lunch and 5pm
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Reading Pile
Only
read something if youll be fired for not reading it
Note
that this refers to periodicals and routine reading, which is different than a research dig
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Office Logistics
Make
your office comfortable for you, and optionally comfortable for others
No
soft comfortable chairs! I have folding chairs, some people cut off front legs
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Scheduling Yourself
You
dont find time for important things, you make it
Everything
Learn
you do is an opportunity cost
to say No
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Learn to say No
Will Will Will
this help me get tenure? this help me get my masters? this help me get my Ph.D?
Keep
help me broadly defined
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Gentle Nos
Ill
do it if nobody else steps forward or Ill be your deep fall back, but you have to keep searching. parties in grad school
Moving
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Everyone has Good and Bad Times
Find
your creative/thinking time. Defend it ruthlessly, spend it alone, maybe at home. your dead time. Schedule meetings, phone calls, and mundane stuff during it.
Find
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Interruptions
6-9
minutes, 4-5 minute recovery five interruptions shoots an hour
You
must reduce frequency and length of interruptions (turn phone calls into email)
save-ups
Blurting: E-mail
noise on new mail is an interruption -> TURN IT OFF!!
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Cutting Things Short
Im Start
in the middle of something now
with I only have 5 minutes you can always extend this up, stroll to the door, complement, thank, shake hands on wall behind them
Stand
Clock-watching;
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Time Journals
Its
amazing what you learn!
Monitor
yourself in 15 minute increments for between 3 days and two weeks. every hour: not at end of day
Update
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Fred Brooks Time Clocks
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Using Time Journal Data
What What What What
am I doing that doesnt really need to be done? am I doing that could be done by someone else? am I doing that could be done more efficiently? do I do that wastes others time?
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Procrastination Procrastination is the thief of time
Edward Young Night Thoughts, 1742
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Balancing Act Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion
Parkinsons Law Cyril Parkinson, 1957
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Avoiding Procrastination
Doing
things at the last minute is much more expensive than just before the last minute are really important: establish them yourself!
Deadlines
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Comfort Zones
Identify Fear Fear
why you arent enthusiastic
of embarrassment of failure?
Get
a spine!
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Quit Making Excuses
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Delegation
No
one is an island can accomplish a lot more with help
You
Most
delegation in your life is from faculty to graduate student
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Delegation is not dumping Grant authority with responsibility.
Concrete
goal, deadline, and consequences.
Treat
Grad
your people well
students and secretaries are a faculty members lifeline; they should be treated well!
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Challenge People
People
rise to the challenge: You should delegate until they complain
Communication
Must Be Clear: Get it in writing Judge Wapner
objectives, not procedures
Give Tell
the relative importance of this task
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Sociology
Beware
upward delegation! behavior you want repeated
Reinforce
Ignorance
is your friend I do not know how to run the photocopier or the fax machine
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Average
executive: > 40% of time Lock the door, unplug the phone Maximum of 1 hour Prepare: there must be an agenda 1 minute minutes: an efficient way to keep track of decisions made in a meeting: who is responsible for what by when?
Meetings
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Technology
Computers
are faster but they take longer --Janitor, UCF
Secretaries
are better than answering machines; where are the costs & benefits of a technology? (transcription)
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Technology
Laptop
You can scavenge time & work anywhere At CMU, you still have internet access one machine in your life is the right number
computer (and docking station)
WWW;
only do things once (post them) (now with image search!)
Google
ACM
Digital Library (I havent been in the library in over five years)
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Randys Magic E-Mail Tips
Save all of it; no exceptions If you want somebody to do
something, make them the only recipient. Otherwise, you have diffusion of responsibility. Give a concrete request/task and a deadline. If you really want somebody to do something, CC someone powerful. Nagging is okay; if someone doesnt respond in 48 hours, theyll probably never respond. (True for phone as well as email).
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Time Management Advice
Care and Feeding of Advisors
Get
a day timer or PDA Write things down Whens our next meeting? Whats my goal to have done by then? Who to turn to for help? Remember: advisors want results !
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Life Advice
Care and Feeding of Advisors
They
know more than you do
They
They
care about you
didnt get where they are by their social skills -> take the initiative in talking with them!
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General Advice: Vacations
Phone
If this cant wait, contact John Smith at 5551212 Otherwise please call back June 1
callers should get two options:
This
works for Email too! should be vacations.
Vacations
Its not a vacation if youre reading email Story of my honeymoon
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General Advice
Kill
Turn
badly do you want tenure or your degree?)
money into time especially important for people with kids or other family commitments
your television (how
Eat
Above all else!
and sleep and exercise.
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General Advice
Never If
break a promise, but renegotiate them if need be. you havent got time to do it right, you dont have time to do it wrong. pass/fail. that most things are loops: ask in confidence.
Recognize Feedback
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Recommended Readings
The
One Minute Manager, Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson, Berkeley Books, 1981, ISBN 0-425-09847-8 Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey, Simon & Schuster, 1989, ISBN 0-671-70863-5
The
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Action Items
Get
a day-timer (or PDA) if you dont already have one Start keeping your TODO list in fourquadrant form or ordered by priorities (not due dates) Do a time journal, or at least record number of hours of television/week Make a note in your day-timer to revisit this talk in 30 days (www.randypausch.com). At that time, ask yourself What behaviors have I changed?
Time Management
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Randy Pausch Carnegie Mellon University http://www.randypausch.c om
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Appendix:
Stephen Coveys Seven Habits
Advice I have for working in groups.
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The Seven Habits
From The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic by Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989
1.
2.
BE PROACTIVE: Between stimulus and response in human beings lies the power to choose. Productivity, then, means that we are solely responsible for what happens in our lives. No fair blaming anyone or anything else. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND: Imagine your funeral and listen to what you would like the eulogist to say about you. This should reveal exactly what matters most to you in your life. Use this frame of reference to make all your day-to-day decisions so that you are working toward your most meaningful life goals.
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The Seven Habits
From The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic by Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989
3.
4.
PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST. To manage our lives effectively, we must keep our mission in mind, understand whats important as well as urgent, and maintain a balance between what we produce each day and our ability to produce in the future. Think of the former as putting out fires and the latter as personal development. THINK WIN/WIN. Agreements or solutions among people can be mutually beneficial if all parties cooperate and begin with a belief in the third alternative: a better way that hasnt been thought of yet.
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The Seven Habits
From The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic by Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989
5.
SEEK FIRST OT BE UNDERSTANDING, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD. Most people dont listen. Not really. They listen long enough to devise a solution to the speakers problem or a rejoinder to whats being said. Then they dive into the conversation. Youll be more effective in you relationships with people if you sincerely try to understand them fully before you try to make them understand your point of view
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Seven Habits
From The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic by Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989
6.
SYNERGIZE. Just what it sound like. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In practice, this means you must use creative cooperation in social interactions. Value differences because it is often the clash between them that leads to creative solutions.
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Seven Habits
From The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic by Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989
7.
SHARPEN THE SAW. This is the habit of selfrenewal, which has four elements. The first is mental, which includes reading, visualizing, planning and writing. The second is spiritual, which means value clarification and commitment, study and meditation. Third is social/emotional, which stress management includes service, empathy, synergy and intrinsic security. Finally, the physical includes exercise, nutrition and stress management.
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Tips for Working in Groups
By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998
Meet people properly. It all starts with the introduction. Then, exchange contact information, and make sure you know how to pronounce everyones names. Exchange phone #s, and find out what hours are acceptable to call during. Find things you have in common. You can almost always find something in common with another person, and starting from that baseline, its much easier to then address issues where you have difference. This is why cities like professional sports teams, which are socially galvanizing forces that cut across boundaries of race and wealth. If nothing else, you probably have in common things like the weather.
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Tips for Working in Groups
By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998
Make meeting conditions good. Have a large surface to write on, make sure the room is quiet and warm enough, and that there arent lots of distractions. Make sure no one is hungry, cold, or tired. Meet over a meal if you can; food softens a meeting. Thats why they do lunch in Hollywood Let everyone talk. Even if you think what theyre said is stupid. Cutting someone off is rude, and not worth whatever small time gain you might make. Dont finish someones sentences for him or her; they can do that for themselves. And remember: talking louder or faster doesnt make your idea any better.
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Tips for Working in Groups
By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998
Check your egos at the door. When you discuss ideas, immediately label them and write them down. The labels should be descriptive of the idea, not the originator: the troll bridge story, not Janes story. Praise each other. Find something nice to say, even if its a stretch. Even the worst of ideas has a silver lining inside it, if you just look hard enough. Focus on the good, praise it, and then raise any objections or concerns you have about the rest of it.
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Tips for Working in Groups
By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998
Put if in writing. Always write down who is responsible for what, by when. Be concrete. Arrange meetings by email, and establish accountability. Never assume that someones roommate will deliver a phone message. Also, remember that politics is when you have more than 2 people with that in mind, always CC (carbon copy) any piece of email within the group, or to me, to all members of the group. This rule should never be violated; dont try to guess what your group mates might or might not want to hear about. Be open and honest. Talk with your group members if theres a problem, and talk with me if you think you need help. The whole point of this course is that its tough to work across cultures. If we all go into it knowing thats an issue, we should be comfortable discussing problems when they arise after all, thats what this course is really about. Be forgiving when people make mistakes, but dont be afraid to raise the issues when they come up.
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Tips for Working in Groups
By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998
Avoid conflict at all costs. When stress occurs and tempers flare, take a short break. Clear your heads, apologize, and take another stab at it. Apologize for upsetting your peers, even if you think someone else was primarily at fault; the goal is to work together, not start a legal battle over whose transgressions were worse. It takes two to have an argument, so be the peacemaker. Phrase alternatives as questions. Instead of I think we should do A, not B, try What if we did A, instead of B? That allows people to offer comments, rather than defend one choice.
