What is Time Management?
Time Management (TM) involves the conscious control of the amount of time spent on tasks, activities, projects or inititiatives, in order to maximize efficiency.
As Eisenhower once put it, "Plans are nothing, but planning is everything".
TM involves analyzing how time is spent, and then prioritizing different work tasks. To be effective as a manager, you should be able to
distinguish clearly between what tasks, activities, projects are important (and deserve to spend time on) and which ones are not.
Levels of Time Management
TM can be performed on an:
- INDIVIDUAL LEVEL (yourself, your colleagues, your employees);
- TEAM LEVEL (your project, department); and
- ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL (division, country, firm, corporate).
The Eisenhower Matrix
Eisenhower said that to approach a full agenda and to determine
priorities for issues and tasks at hand there are two dimensions to consider:
URGENCY and IMPORTANCE. Putting these 2 dimensions on two axis results in 4 quadrants of issues and tasks:
- Important and urgent. NOW! Get done with it right away.
- Important but not urgent. SCHEDULE. Make an entry into your calendar.
- Not important but urgent. QUICK FIX. Try to delegate as much as possible and reduce involvement.
- Not important and not urgent. DROP. Trash it.
6 Steps to Create an Eisenhower Matrix
- List
- Rank Importance
- Rank Urgency
- Divide the issues and tasks into the 4 categories
- Plot them in the Matrix
- Act upon your classification
Note that besides time planning, a range of other things influence how quickly and efficiently you are in managing and carrying out activities: for
example your information handling skills, your verbal and written communication skills, and how you delegate.
The Action Priority Matrix
The Action Priority Matrix looks similar to the Eisenhower matrix, but the focus is on impact and effort instead of importance and urgency. It also helps you decide which tasks, projects or activities you should spend your time on, but from a different perspective.
The Action Priority Matrix is a time management tool with 4 quadrants along 2 axes: EFFORT and IMPACT, each of which can be High or Low:
- High Effort + High Impact: "MAJOR INITIATIVES". Decide. (Very) good returns, but time/resources consuming. This means that one major initiative may "crowd out" several quick wins.
- Low Effort + High Impact: "QUICK WINS". Focus. Attractive projects, because they give a good return for relatively little effort. Focus on these as much as you can.
- High Effort + Low Impact: "THANKLESS TASKS". Avoid. These initiatives or tasks give little return and also soak up precious time that you should be using on more useful things.
- Low Effort + Low Impact: "FILL-INS". Don't worry too much about doing these activities If you have spare time, do them, but otherwise drop them or delegate them.
6 Steps to Create an Action Priority Matrix
- List
- Rank Impact
- Rank Effort
- Divide the issues and tasks into the 4 categories
- Plot them in the Matrix
- Act upon your classification
Note: there are more time management methods, tools and techniques than the two explained above! Take a look in the forum, best practices, expert tips and resources section.
Forum about Time Management.
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Time Management Styles
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Time Management by Effective Delegation
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Group Time Management Excercise: Time Bandits
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How to Create Awareness for Time Management
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Time Management Quotations / Quotes
"Those of us who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain about its brevity."
Jean de La Bruyère (1645-1696), French essayist and moralist, in Les Caractères.
"It is not that we...
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Time is Like a Magnet to Us
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Time Recording | Time Registration Management
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Success Conditions for Time Management
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Courses about Time Management.
Beginners Course
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Advanced Course
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Course for Experts
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The best, top-rated topics about Time Management. Here you will find the most valuable ideas and practical suggestions.
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Advanced insights about Time Management. Here you will find professional advices by experts.
Consultancy Tips
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Teaching Tips
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Practical Implementation Tips
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Various sources of information regarding Time Management. Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc. to use in your own lectures and workshops.
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Useful tools regarding Time Management.
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Compare also:
Pareto Analysis |
Parkinson's Law |
Gantt Chart |
Time Value of Money |
Management by Exception |
Empowerment of Employees |
Analogical Strategic
Reasoning | RACI |
RAPID approach |
Stretch Goals
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