Time management skills for human services students

1. Managing Time
HSE 220 – Zook, Sp 2011

2. Objectives
• Develop a more clear understanding of
strategies for effective time management
• Develop a greater self-awareness of how you
currently use your time

4. Evaluate your time management
• How would you rate your time management
skills? Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor?
• Do you feel you have control?

5. What is your style
• Are you a PLANNER?
• Strategies used by planners are:
• create an overall plan for the year: get/make a wall chart;
mark exam times, holidays, due dates for assignments,
mark new things as they come up
• draw up a term plan: write in assignment dates. Do you
have two at the same time? Change one, or plan to do
them at the same time.
• make weekly timetables: enter class times, work hours,
family time, commitments, assignments, revision
• have daily routines: set study times
• Avoid feeling guilty: allow for flexibility.

6. What is your style?
• OR are you a DEADLINER?
• Some people like to work to deadlines and work
best under pressure (dead-liners).
• These people find it hard to stick to a plan and
often put things off till last minute.
• Dead-liners are strongly advised….This doesn’t
work. Continuing this approach risks having
work and life be a mess.

7. Effectiveness of
time management techniques
• People who use these techniques routinely
are the highest achievers in all walks of life,
from business to sports to public service.
• If you use these skills well, you will be able to
function effectively, even under intense
pressure

9. Shift in focus.
Concentrate on results,
not on being busy!

10. The 80:20 rule
• Many people spend their days in a frenzy of
activities that produce few results because
they are not concentrating on the right things.
• 80% of unfocused effort generates only 20%
of results. The remaining 80% of results are
achieved with only 20% of the effort.

11. Roadblock to successful
time management
PROCRASTINATION

12. Why do we procrastinate?
• Difficulty Concentrating
• Fear and Anxiety
• Negative Self-beliefs
• Unrealistic Expectations & Perfectionism
• Don’t know where to start.
• To avoid an unpleasant task.
• We’re afraid to fail.
• Waiting for more information.
• You may think if you put it off someone else will
do it.
• You’re over-committed.
…just one more video game
or one more look at Facebook…

13. Everybody does it but…
Putting off tasks for a later time is normal, but
if it becomes a stressor, we end up wasting a
lot of valuable time and energy!
Patterns of procrastination can turn in
patterns of problems.

14. How to beat procrastination
1. Recognize when you are Procrastinating.
Become aware of your favorite
procrastination tactics and learn to catch
yourself as soon as you start to wander off.
2. Break Inertia. Do small things to get yourself
started! (e.g start the online assignment.).

15. How to beat procrastination
• Divide project into small manageable pieces.
Take one step at a time. Make use of small
chunks of time. Writing a few lines now may
inspire you to do more later. Start early and
pace yourself.
4. Set reachable sub-goals that are specific.
Saying “read 20 pages of Chapter 5 by 8pm”
sounds better than saying “do some studying
later.” This helps to gain a sense of
accomplishment.

16. How to beat procrastination
5. Admit. No matter how much you try to tell
yourself. You do not work best under
pressure. List the things you have been
avoiding. Prioritize them. Try to do at least
one of them each day until you catch up.

17. How to beat procrastination
6. Don’t sabotage yourself. Set up your environment
with as few distractions as possible. Arrange your
work space the way you like it and work at times when
you have peak energy.
7. Reward non-procrastinating behavior. You’ve finally
made a dent in that paper you have been putting off.
Give yourself a little reward.
8. Enjoy Your FREEDOM. When you complete an
unpleasant task, when you get caught up. Take time
and feel how nice it is to have it over and done with.

18. Use your time effectively
1. Start with the most important work at the
start of your work period.
• Do the things you don’t want to do first.
• Begin group projects and big projects early
and set up a realistic time line.

19. Using your email
1. Check your email daily.
2. Scan.
3. Respond to questions promptly.

21. Get organized
• Don’t make excuses such as:
– It takes too much time.
– You don’t know how.
– You want to do it “perfectly.”
• Often worst performers are those who seem
to be working hardest and longest. They are
very busy, disorganized and not effective.

22. Using your calendar
• Add a meeting/event as soon as you know
about it.
• Set personal deadlines.
• Set group deadlines.
• Write dates for follow-up.
• Begin projects early and make a step-by-step
schedule. Pace.

24. Getting ready for
human services work
• Human services work often demands that
professionals:
– Complete paperwork by deadlines
– Keep to a schedule of meetings, appts, routines
– Meet productivity standards
– Juggle multiple tasks
– Manage crisis on top of day-to-day tasks
– Coordinate quickly to connect with people

25. Lists of time tips from
human service professionals
• Schedule • Set time limits
• Make priority lists • Organize!!!
• Pace email and other • Plan flex time to
interruptions manage crisis
• Control clutter • Use waiting time
• Stop the time busters • Eat, sleep, exercise so
• Keep routines can function optimally
• Do paperwork at peak • Plan for catch-up blocks
times. • De-stress

26. Special tips from Case managers
• Schedule – in office and field days
• Segment your workday. Write out a daily task list
and determine a time range to accomplish each
task.
• Plan ahead. Last minute work means disaster.

27. More special tips for Case managers
• Maintain an open-door policy. Allow clients to
come and talk to you about issues they may
be experiencing as it relates to their case.
• Keep track of tasks to do with each case, so
can complete multiple tasks when a client
initiate contact with you.

28. Wrap up
Ditto!

29. References
• Academic Support Services. (2011). Retrieved March 2, 2011, from
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and
Forestry:
http://www.esf.edu/students/success/9-28%20Time%20Management.pd
• Time Management Presentations. (2007). Retrieved March 2, 2011,
from Time Management Central:
http://www.time-management-central.net/time-management-ppt.html