Slides from a quick Time Management workshop I facilitated for Special Olympics volunteers in January, 2012. Very high-level content (I only had an hour!), but there are some interesting statistics nonetheless.

1. Michelle Baker
January 2012

3. “The surest way
to be late is to
have plenty of
time.”
- Unknown

4. Today’s To-Do List:
-Common Time
Wasters
-Assessing Your Time
-The Energy Cycle
-Personality and Time
Management
-Tools and Resources

5. With your group,
discuss a time
when you had a
“time
management
challenge”.
• Personal or professional
• How did you overcome it?
Choose one experience to
share with the group!

6. People working in an office
setting are interrupted about
7 times per hour. That’s 56
times per day!

7. People spend an average of 11 minutes
on a project before being distracted.
Once distracted, they don’t return to
the project for 25 minutes…if they
return at all.

8. Using time-diary studies, people claiming
to work 60-69 hours per week clocked an
average of 52.6 hours, while those who
believed they worked 70-, 80-hour or
greater weeks totaled 58.8 hours.
Prof. Robinson, 2006-2007 comparisons, American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

9. How do you spend your time?

10. Common
Time
Wasters

11.  Focusing on the
wrong tasks
 Misjudging time
 Socializing
 Procrastinating

12. Focusing on
the wrong
tasks…

13.  Spending more time on enjoyable,
but non-essential tasks
 Focusing on tasks that don’t help
you reach your goals
 Spending time in unnecessary
meetings
 Underestimating time spent
answering personal email or on
social media

14. Misjudging time…

15.  Spending more time
waiting around before you
can continue the task
 Underestimating commute
time…are you always
running late?
 Scheduling too many tasks
in a day, taking work home,
or over-booking your
calendar

16. Socializing…

17.  In person
 On the phone
 Email, IM, text
 Social media

19.  Putting off important
things until later…even with
long deadlines
 Focusing on other tasks
that aren’t as important (or
totally unrelated)

20. 1. Not knowing where to
start.
2. Avoiding unpleasant
tasks.
3. Being afraid of failure.

21.  Consider the consequences of
procrastinating!
 Identify and remove obstacles
 Setting a deadline and stay
accountable (make it public!)
 Prioritize tasks
 Reward yourself for completing
tasks

22. The Key?
Baby steps.

23. Create a Time
Journal for one
week:
• Write it down.
• Categorize.
• Prioritize.
• Summarize!
Look for opportunities to
become more
productive!

24. Using time-diary studies, people claiming
to work 60 to 69 hours per week clocked an
average of 52.6 hours, while those who
believed they worked 70-, 80-hour or
greater weeks totaled 58.8 hours.
Prof. Robinson, 2006-2007 comparisons, American Time Use Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics

25. Not everyone is a morning person. And that’s okay.

26. Early
Morning
Afternoon
Late
Evening
Afternoon

27. •Energy levels at their
highest
•Best time for decision
Early making
Morning
Afternoon
•Best time to schedule
meetings and conference
calls
Late
Evening
Afternoon
•Good time to focus on
reading, problem solving,
and handling difficult issues

28. •Energy levels begin to dip
•Pain threshold highest –
ideal time to schedule
Early dental visits!
Morning
Afternoon
•Avoid mentally challenging
tasks and work that requires
short-term memory or
Late
Evening quick thinking
Afternoon

29. •Energy levels at their
lowest
•Avoid mentally taxing work
Early or meetings
Morning
Afternoon
•Ideal time to work on
creative or reflective
projects that utilize long-
Late
Evening term memory:
Afternoon
•Reading
•Writing
•Preparing for
presentations

30. •Energy levels begin to
increase, but still not at the
same level as earlier in the
day
Early
Morning
Afternoon •Focus on repetitive work,
foll0w-up calls, or physical
exercise
Late
Evening
Afternoon •Work should require
concentration, but not
analytical skills

31. Use your Time
Journal to assess
the time of day
you work on
tasks.
Can you adjust your
activities to match your
energy levels?

32. Introvert
or
Extrovert?

33. Introverts:
 Work best when not
distracted by others
 Usually able to stay focused
for lengths of time
 May neglect or overlook new
developments or projects

34. Extroverts:
 Good at multi-tasking
 Enjoy collaboration
 May forget to plan ahead or
clarify goals
 More easily distracted

35. •The Pomodoro Technique
www.pomodorotechnique.com
Tools and
•MindTools
Resources… www.mindtools.com
•Time Management Blog
www.timemanagement.com
•Time Management Statistics
www.keyorganization.com
•YouTube (search: “Time Management”)
•Julie Morgenstern (Facebook,
Twitter (@JulieMorgenstrn, web, books, etc)
•Twitter #timemanagement

36. Key Messages:
•How we manage time affects us in our
personal and professional lives.
•Knowing how you use your time can help
you identify wasted time.
•Finding a good time of day to complete
tasks can help you be more productive.
•Your personality can affect how you
manage time.

37. “Time is the scarcest resource
of the manager; If it is not
managed, nothing else can be
managed.”
-Peter F. Drucker

38. Any questions?