18. ABC Priority System Section A : items that need to be done that day, Section B : items that need completion within the week, and Section C : items that need to be done within a month. B and C items move up to the A or B lists as they become more pertinent.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32. Conclusion “ If you keep doing the same old thing in the same old way, you will keep getting the same old results.”
1. A common Time management mistake is trying to use your memory to keep track of all the things you need to do and places you need to be The fact is that you simply cannot rely on your memory alone to keep track of all these details without getting overloaded. Information overload is a growing problem in the corporate environments, and is a major source of stress and anxiety. 2. Things that grab your attention are not always very important, and they often don’t represent your best way to spend your time. URGENT things are not always important, and IMPORTANT Things are not always urgent. 3. Spending your time doing unnecessary work is not a good time management practice, since you could spend that time doing other important things. 4. Symptoms of Poor Prioritization TOO MUCH TO DO AND NOT ENOUGH TIME FEELING OVERWHELMED AND OUT OF CONTROL FEELING UNDER CONSTANT TIME PRESSURE NOT MAKING SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS ON IMPORTANT GOALS Effective time managers have to be selective with their limited amount of time and consciously choose to spend it on what is important 5. Without adequate planning, it is difficult to understand what it will take to complete a project successfully. Lack of planning leads to inadequate preparation, unexpected problems and poor execution IT IS ESTIMATED THAT FOR EVERY MINUTE SPENT PLANNING CAN SAVE THREE MINUTES IN EXECUTION
Organize your work space. Piles of paper become a problem when the level of disorganization causes you to misplace information, forget important deadlines and assignments and waste time searching for things You simply can not do everything that is available. Whenever you choose to do something, you are automatically rejecting everything else that could have been done during that time. WHEN EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT – NOTHING IS IMPORTANT Establish your limits and stick to them. 3. Always saying YES is a major source of overload and stress and it can lead away from your top priorities into less important tasks. If you want to the work and stress associated with attempting too much, you need to decide carefully whether to accept new tasks or not. 4. Inadequate inflow management leads to forgotten requests, incomplete work, misplaced information, and general feelings of anxiety and overwhelm. Use a daily journal/calender/day timer to manage your inflow information and a “to do” list to help in prioritizing your tasks 5. You can stay very busy doing meaningless work that doesn’t bring you closer to your objectives, or spending countless hours fixing problesm and putting out fires that could have been avoided. Once you master the dundamentals of time management, you can begin to look at the higher levels to continue improving your productivity and effectiveness.