1. Time Management

2. Agenda
• Values
• Goals
• Prioritizing
• Building a schedule
• Procrastination
• Maintaining a schedule
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3. Values
What are values?
Principles or qualities that one considers important,
right, or good.
Carter et al. (2004)
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4. Values
Take a moment to think about your values
Fill out the Your Values Rating Scale
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5. Goals
What are goals?
An end toward which effort is directed; an aim
or intent. Can be long-term or short term.
Carter et al. (2004)
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6. Goals
Take a moment to think about your goals
What are your goals?
How do they fit with your values?
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7. Goals
“The goals that you set for yourself express your
values and translate them into action. You
experience a strong drive to achieve if you build
goals around what is important to you.”
Carter et al. (2004)
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8. Example
Long term goals Getting a degree
Year long goals Passing your courses
Semester goals Handing in assignments on time
One month goals Start to implement time management skills
This week’s goals Learn some new time management tools
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9. Prioritizing Goals
How do you prioritize what you need to do next?
It may depend on many factors
Your values and goals should be your guide to determining what
you think is the most important task to do first.
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10. Priorities may be different for
different people
Student A Student B
1)Family 1)Going to school/studying
2)Work 2)Socializing
3)Going to school/studying 3)Work
4)House hold chores 4)Belonging to organizations
5)Belonging to organizations 5)Time for self
6)Time for self 6)Family
7)Socializing 7)House hold chores
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11. Why talk about values, goals and
prioritizing?
• Your values are the driving force behind your goals
• Your goals put your values into action
• Prioritizing your tasks move you close achieving your
goals
• Prioritizing helps you to set a time frame for your goal
• The main purpose of time management is to move you
towards accomplishing your goals
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12. Time Management
• What makes people poor time managers?
• What can you do to avoid these time traps?
Activator:
Think about the above questions.
Write down a few points.

13. What makes people poor time
managers?
• Procrastinating
• Saying “yes” when they really don’t have the time
• Planning things at a bad time of day (i.e., when you are tired)
• Distractions
• Not thinking ahead
• Social time
• Taking on too much at once

14. What can you do to avoid these time
traps?
• Look at the effects of procrastinating versus not procrastinating
• Set reasonable goals
• Break the task into smaller parts
• Get started whether or not you “feel like it”
• Ask for help
• Shake off the judgments of others
• Don’t expect perfection
• Reward yourself

15. Wrap up
“Of course no one is going to be able to avoid
all of these time traps all of the time. Do the
best you can. The first step is an awareness of
your particular tendencies. Once you know
how you tend to procrastinate and waste time,
you can take steps to change your habits.
Time is your ally – make the most of the time
you have.”
Carter, et. al. (2004)

16. Procrastinating versus not procrastinating
Think about a situation where you procrastinated.
What were the pros of procrastinating?
What were the cons of procrastinating?
Are you saying things to yourself to excuse your
procrastination?
Would you do anything differently next time?

17. Set reasonable goals
Thinking back to your situation where you procrastinated,
do you think that you had set reasonable goals for yourself?

18. Breaking the task into smaller parts
Write down a time management task that you are faced with
right now.
Write down (in any order) the steps you need to take to
complete the task.
Look back over the steps, can you break them down any
further?
Look back over your final draft of the steps and prioritize.

19. Get started whether or not you “feel like it”
Think about a time when you struggled to get something
started.
What action did you take to get the task started?
How did you feel once you had completed the task?
Did you think about your big picture goal and how this
task fit into it?

20. Don’t expect perfection
Habitual procrastinators are often perfectionists.
Often the fear of failure prevents taking the risk that
could bring success.
Have you ever procrastinated because you were
afraid of failing? What are the pros and cons to
this type of procrastination?

21. Reward yourself!!
What do you enjoy doing?
What do you do to pamper yourself?
Could you use these things to reward yourself for all
of your hard work?

22. Time Management Session 3
• Time management or self-management?
• Review

23. Time Management or Self-management?
“…good time management is about
good self-management.”
Learning Skills Services, York University
Activator:
What do you think about this quote?
Do you agree or disagree?

24. Time Management or Self-management?
Time management is about taking
responsibility for how you use your time.
Activator:
What do you think about this statement?
Do you agree or disagree?

25. What choices can I make to manage my
time effectively?
• Plan your schedule each week
• Plan time to update your schedule daily
• Make use of to-do lists
• Post a calendar at home (monthly, 4 month, yearly)
• Schedule time to relax
• Plan for things to go wrong
• Experiment to see what works best for you

26. Review
• Your values are the driving force behind your goals.
• Your goals put your values into action.
• Prioritizing moves you closer to achieving your goals.
• Prioritizing helps you to set a time frame for your goal.
• The main purpose of time management is to move you towards
accomplishing your goals.

27. Review continued
• Using a time management system helps you to allocate specific
amounts of time to achieving your weekly, month long,
semester, year long, long-term goals.
• A time management system is a concrete reminder of
upcoming due dates, commitments, responsibilities, etc…
• Time traps and unexpected events are sometimes
unavoidable. Giving yourself flexibility in your schedule
will help to deal with these situations when they come up.

28. Review continued
• There is no one right way to mange your time. You need to
experiment and find what works best for you.
• Good time management is about good self-management.
• Time management is about making good decisions about
which tasks to do in order to reach your desired goal.

29. References
Benoit, N. (2006). Time Management. Toronto, York University.
Britcher, T. (2009). Introduction to Time Management. Toronto, York
University.
Carter, C., et al. (2004). Keys to Success: How to Achieve Your Goals
(3rd Ed). Toronto, Pearson Education Canada, Inc.
Learning Skills Program (2009). Time Management. Toronto, York
University.

30. Plan your schedule each week
• note events that are coming up
• note your goals
• note your priorities (upcoming tests, assignments that are due)
• decide where to fit your tasks into your schedule being mindful
to start with high priority items

31. Plan time to update your schedule daily
• adds flexibility into your schedule
• allows you to make adjustments based on other commitments
that have come up that need your attention
• allows you to prioritize your activities for the day (i.e., grouping
activities together that all take place in the same location)

32. Make use of to-do lists
• monthly
• weekly
• set up in order of priority
• can post as a reminder of events or tasks that must be completed
• can be placed within your agenda or wall calendar to list specific
items that need to be completed or remembered for tasks

33. Post a calendar at home
• serves as a reminder of important events and deadlines
• can be a monthly calendar, a wall calendar that shows only 4
months at a time, a yearly calendar
• can include other family members or housemates upcoming
events so that everyone is aware of the other schedules and
commitments (especially if you rely on each other for
transportation, household chores, study help, etc…)

34. Schedule time to relax
• will refresh you and give you time to recharge
• try scheduling at least 30 minutes a day

35. Plan for things to go wrong
• planning daily scheduling time will give you flexibility for when
things go wrong
• keep in mind things like traffic, waiting in lines, delays on the
subway or bus
• know who to go to for support when the unexpected happens

36. Experiment to see what works for you
• Try out different methods of keep track of your time
• agenda
• wall calendar
• electronic calendar
• posted notes
• lists of tasks to do for each class
• colour code based on course, based on level of importance, etc
• text, voicemail or email reminders to yourself
• use symbols in your agenda or on your calendar to mark the
level of importance (! *) or tentative plans (?)