Time Management and Organization

TIME MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 7
Time Management and Your Life .............................................................................................................. 7
WHAT’S the Most Important? ................................................................................................................. 10
How Much is Your Time Worth?.......................................................................................................... 12
What does an hour of your time cost?.............................................................................................. 12
What Does an Hour Cost Your Employer?........................................................................................ 12
Raise Your Value... ......................................................................................................................... 12
What Does an Hour Cost YOU? ...................................................................................................... 12
The Value of Your Time - Beyond Money.......................................................................................... 13
Working For Yourself – Drawing the Line ......................................................................................... 13
Keeping Track: Where Does the Time Go? ....................................................................................... 13
You Have More Time Than You Think... ........................................................................................... 14
Creating a Log................................................................................................................................ 14
Identifying Patterns.......................................................................................................................... 14
Give Yourself Rewards .................................................................................................................... 14
Should You Stop Wasting Time? ...................................................................................................... 14
Time Robbers......................................................................................................................................... 14
Time Management in the Workplace....................................................................................................... 16
Saving Time with Others ..................................................................................................................... 18
A Management Game .................................................................................................................... 19
The Manager Is Responsible ............................................................................................................ 19
Take Time to Communicate Clearly .................................................................................................. 20
The Law of Comparative Advantage ................................................................................................ 21
Applying Comparative Advantage to Your Work ............................................................................. 21
The Key Personal Productivity Principle............................................................................................. 21
You Can Only Be Paid What You Contribute.................................................................................... 22
Delegation Is the Key to Leverage .................................................................................................... 22
Six Steps to Effective Delegation ...................................................................................................... 23
Seven Ways to Get More Done Each Day ........................................................................................ 24
Pay Attention .................................................................................................................................. 25
Assuring Success at Work ............................................................................................................... 25
Focus on Your Boss’s Top Priorities .................................................................................................. 25
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Three Types of Decisions ................................................................................................................. 25
Clarify the Type of Decision............................................................................................................. 26
Your Job Description....................................................................................................................... 26
Focus on the Solution ...................................................................................................................... 26
Six Steps to Effective Problem Solving............................................................................................... 27
What Else is the Problem? ............................................................................................................... 27
Focus on Contribution ..................................................................................................................... 29
Practice Participative Management .................................................................................................. 30
Avoid Reverse Delegation................................................................................................................ 30
The Monkey is Now on Your Back ................................................................................................... 30
Resist Your Natural Tendencies........................................................................................................ 30
Teach and Train Others................................................................................................................... 31
Focus on Clarity.............................................................................................................................. 31
Managing Multi-Task Jobs .................................................................................................................. 31
A Learnable Skill............................................................................................................................. 31
A Typical Multi-Task Job ................................................................................................................. 33
Continually Develop Options ........................................................................................................... 34
Four Problems to Avoid ................................................................................................................... 35
Plan Your Projects Visually .............................................................................................................. 35
Regular Review and Evaluation........................................................................................................ 36
Successful Project Management ....................................................................................................... 36
Not an Easy Skill to Learn ............................................................................................................... 37
The Art of Delegation ............................................................................................................................. 37
Goals and Time Management................................................................................................................. 38
Planning and Time Management............................................................................................................. 41
Organizing and Time Management ........................................................................................................ 44
The Benefits of Ergonomics ..................................................................................................................... 46
Get Organized - Tips and Tools for Managing Time, Space and Paper..................................................... 48
Basic organizing rules and secrets....................................................................................................... 48
Discover organizing rules................................................................................................................ 48
Two simple rules of organizing ........................................................................................................ 48
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 49
Tame that clutter ............................................................................................................................. 49
Where do I start?............................................................................................................................ 50
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 50
Set up systems ................................................................................................................................ 50
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 51
Where are you?.............................................................................................................................. 51
Moving forward.............................................................................................................................. 52
Organize a space........................................................................................................................... 52
Paper is power: smart sorting and filing strategies ................................................................................... 52
Step one: sort it .................................................................................................................................. 52
Supply must-haves .......................................................................................................................... 53
Folder names that work................................................................................................................... 53
Sort those papers............................................................................................................................ 54
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 54
Step two: file it ................................................................................................................................... 54
Filing how-to .................................................................................................................................. 55
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 56
Dealing with bits and pieces............................................................................................................ 56
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 57
Retention schedules ......................................................................................................................... 57
The tax man cometh........................................................................................................................ 57
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 57
Consider banking and bill paying online.......................................................................................... 57
Moving forward.............................................................................................................................. 58
Assignment: Paper is power: smart sorting and filing strategies ......................................................... 58
Managing your time: derailing distractions, procrastination, and lateness................................................. 59
Why manage your time? .................................................................................................................... 59
The benefits of good time management ............................................................................................ 59
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 59
Where does it all go?...................................................................................................................... 59
Procrastinating................................................................................................................................ 59
Move On To the Fast Track.............................................................................................................. 60
When You Get Around To It ............................................................................................................ 60
Develop a Reputation for Speed and Dependability .......................................................................... 60
Alleviate Time Poverty ..................................................................................................................... 61
Time Is of the Essence...................................................................................................................... 61
Developing a Sense of Urgency ....................................................................................................... 61
Develop Positive Habits ................................................................................................................... 63
Overcoming Call Reluctance with Rewards....................................................................................... 63
Five Ways to Get Yourself Started.................................................................................................... 64
Sixteen Ways to Overcome Procrastination ...................................................................................... 65
Staying Motivated .............................................................................................................................. 68
12 Tips to stay motivated and keep procrastination away ................................................................. 69
Planning for Success........................................................................................................................... 70
The 8 advantages of planning ......................................................................................................... 70
The six steps in planning ................................................................................................................. 71
Planning the work in your office....................................................................................................... 71
Are You A Workaholic?...................................................................................................................... 72
The Burnout Syndrome........................................................................................................................ 73
Tardiness-Don't Waste My Time.......................................................................................................... 74
Some tips on making meetings less time wasters. .............................................................................. 76
So here are 9 tips on time saving for meetings: ................................................................................ 76
Your Greatest Challenge in Time Management .................................................................................... 76
Perfectionism .................................................................................................................................. 77
Overload........................................................................................................................................ 77
Wasted time................................................................................................................................... 77
Next up.......................................................................................................................................... 77
Time management basics ................................................................................................................ 77
Know your dreams.......................................................................................................................... 77
Set some goals ............................................................................................................................... 77
Make a roadmap............................................................................................................................ 78
Set priorities ................................................................................................................................... 78
Be realistic...................................................................................................................................... 78
Do one thing at a time .................................................................................................................... 78
Reward yourself.............................................................................................................................. 78
Making lists .................................................................................................................................... 78
Long-term list .................................................................................................................................. 79
Daily list ......................................................................................................................................... 79
Overcoming lateness and procrastination......................................................................................... 79
Getting there on time ...................................................................................................................... 79
Counteracting lateness .................................................................................................................... 79
Procrastination................................................................................................................................ 80
Your tools....................................................................................................................................... 81
Choose the best organizing tool....................................................................................................... 81
To-do list ........................................................................................................................................ 81
Calendar........................................................................................................................................ 81
Address book ................................................................................................................................. 81
Personal organizer.......................................................................................................................... 81
Computerized organizer: PDA......................................................................................................... 81
The bottom line: whatever works ...................................................................................................... 82
Moving forward.............................................................................................................................. 82
Assignment - Set up your paper system ............................................................................................ 82
Maintenance: systems and routines to stay organized .............................................................................. 82
Establish routines................................................................................................................................ 82
Keep it clutter-free........................................................................................................................... 84
Designate a home for every item...................................................................................................... 84
Follow a daily uncluttering routine ................................................................................................... 85
Plan for organization.......................................................................................................................... 85
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 86
INTRODUCTION
Tempus Fugit, or Time Flies as expressed in Latin, is a saying that is still very relevant. As a matter of fact, it is
very evident in our modern lives. We would sometimes feel the urgency of things, the rapid changes of our
environment, and the somewhat fast mobility of people and work.
Just imagine yourself every morning, still sleepy and dreamy from the less than five hours of sleep. You are
about to start your day with seemingly insurmountable tasks: there are bills waiting to be paid, reports to be
submitted before 12 noon, calls to be made, a long grocery list for the weekends, a barbecue party, endless post-6
p.m. meetings, tasks, tasks, tasks…and even more tasks. You are an overworked and stressed out machine and you
feel the weight on your shoulder. Your biggest enemy is not your boss, nor is it your children’s math teacher; but
TIME and the lack of it to finish all your duties and activities.
Likewise, the rapid flow of time is very much felt in highly urbanized and industrialized societies. Gadgets
and modern tools, like cellular phones, microwave ovens, computers, and portable electronic organizers (PDAs)
have made our lives easier and have given us the necessary advantage to lessen our time to work on certain tasks.
The connectivity of people through mobile technology, as well as the vast and efficient transportation system in
industrialized and currently developing countries, leads to faster communication and social linkages. Changes like
these have emphasized the importance of time management and a creation of a more organized and practical
lifestyle. Time has therefore been measured and controlled through these developments, so we have to adjust
according to the demands of our times. To picture this out, just think of your life as a giant hourglass with golden
grains of sand, the top-half running empty and inside the bottom-half, we are being drowned by so many works and
labors. We can say, that in our daily struggle towards our goals, time and the lack of it becomes our enemy.
But this should not be the case since time is also a human invention, a form of measurement in knowing our
past or history. The narrative of time, or how we have organized our memories and our past experiences using the
standards of time, is very important in knowing the development of human civilization as well as societies and
cultures.
More than this, we can also influence the changes in time and space relationship. We can manage these
changes and prepare ourselves for the tasks within the time being that we can foresee. Time Management is an
important skill and knowledge especially in organizing complicated social structures. In practical terms, we must
recognize the importance of every moment and how each daily perception of second, minute, hour, etc, affects our
survival and interaction with others in our rapidly changing environment. We could learn new things by knowing the
importance of little changes that could affect larger phenomena.
One should know that a particular second in a chemical change is very relevant to whatever result of a
scientific experiment. On a more practical note, a decision made within a matter of seconds or days can change a
destiny of a person, more so, even a nation. The Millennium Celebration during the onset of the year 2000 was a
major event and had inspired millions of people on what to expect and what to reflect as we marked two thousand
years of human triumphs, defeats, and struggles. That celebration marked some of the most important achievements
and even worries, as time is about to enter its historical leap. The millennium bug made some of us anxious. It scared
people with cataclysmic scenarios of technology going frenzy as the two zeros of the year 2000 enters into our state
of mind, resulting in outdated computer technology.
We are now moving towards the future, when and where time is one factor that can influence our success or
downfall. In this regard, we can contemplate on some concepts and ideas about time.
TIME MANAGEMENT AND YOUR LIFE

We have not only invented time and its various measurements (seconds/milliseconds, days, centuries,
millenniums); but we’re also able to give meaning in the usage of time when an experience was felt or when a task
was done.
The highly organized structure of human society gives us the ability to limit our physical and mental space.
Our environment is composed of objects and things that we have invented, and associated with these are the labels
and concepts that define their existence. For example, medicines have expiration dates, which give us the time
period to use them within their period of potency. We have birthdays, wedding dates, anniversaries, and other
special dates to recognize as important events, as they signal significant changes or developments in our lives.
We have also created the working periods in which human efficiency and environmental conditions are
considered to maintain balance. Just imagine the importance of rest and sleep and the rhythm/cycle that is followed
in the creation of our work, play, and learning schedules. Thus, we are able to measure and define things according
to their proper space in what we measure as time. However, things are not always perfect, or should we say that
time may not be perfect, all the time. There are stumbling blocks along the path towards success. One of these is the
lack of time to reach your aims. The improper use of time, the wrong utilization of resources, or the undertaking of
unnecessary tasks within a given period might cause these delays or time wastage. Most people also commit
mistakes because they’re not able to accurately perceive the proper time to do a given work, or because of
unforeseen circumstances and delays. In these cases, we must consider the best ways to utilize our time. We must
expect the limits of time in defining our tasks and goals.
Time Management is one human organizational aspect that we should give utmost consideration to. This
form of management (either as part of self-improvement or within the level of professional work) is the process of
perceiving the measured changes/developments and closely monitoring how we utilize our skills and labor capacity
within a limited period. By analyzing our “work styles,” along with the development of other processes (machine
works, transportation, communication), we can lay down basic foundation in which we can assess our development
as individuals.
Part of this development is our ability to make plans and revise/improve our working conditions. The fluidity
of time - its restriction or leeway – should be considered in making plans, in organizing, and in bringing out the
efficiency of each individual to create a smooth work flow.
However, Time Management is also a part of an individual learning experience in getting along with other
people and with changes in the environment. Practically speaking, time is constant: 60 seconds per minute, 60
minutes per hour, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week (24/7). However, the usage of time differs among each
individual. Some might give time the capacity to control their lives, and others may find themselves a slave of time.
Some might have no time at all to relax and create a stress-free lifestyle. But the bottom-line is not to make time an
enemy. One must have time to think of things in order, to plan ways to minimize waste of time, energy, and valuable
resources.
Effective time management involves patience and practical thinking. Time and the natural changes in the
environment may be modified but in the end, we should follow the natural order of things. Remember that “Haste
makes waste.” Yet you must also think about the saying “There's no day but today.” On the other hand, we can use
tools and ideas that could improve our efficiency in using time. There are things, like energy (fuel), that are not
renewable; and there are moments that are irreplaceable. Actually, we can say that a thing done or a past
experience cannot be recreated.
However, we can expect these changes and prepare ourselves for better or worse scenarios. We cannot
control time but we can make adjustments based on a given moment. Learning or studying something to achieve
mastery is one good example where we can minimize errors or develop ourselves amidst the ever-changing times.
During this period of learning, we must maximize the given resources (including time) to fully develop a skill or to
acquire knowledge so that by the time we need such skill, we won't be wasting hours just by learning the necessary
human adaptation to solve a problem.
One who is able to prepare for a number of possibilities upon entering a situation may have more time to
think of the moves and decision to take to minimize the possibilities of errors. Here are the necessary pre-requisites
to help you manage your time effectively:
1. Think of goals and aims as necessary achievements. In achieving your desired goals, you should start
with a positive outlook. You must be excited with the challenges and tasks that you have to do to give you the right
start or motivation. However, you should also see the path towards your goals in concrete terms. These achievements
or aims can be reached by becoming realistic and by knowing your directions. Think of the scenarios of success but
you should also recognize the fact that these roads have to be traversed in a given time. This way, you are not only
looking at the possibility of success, but you are also giving yourself the right motivation and the proper time to
prepare for a fresh start and achieve your goals at the soonest possible time.
2. Think of the time frame in achieving goals and aims. You are to do a task at a particular time. As you
begin planning your strategies, you must also look forward and recognize your time frames in doing such tasks.
Time frames are the periods you are giving yourself to finish a task. These are just estimates or approximations since
you are not the sole factor that will contribute in finishing the given task. Be wary of the processes in your
environment; for example, if you are to write a book or an article, consider the time you are giving yourself for this
activity. However, since you are also doing other things, you cannot devote your entire time in doing the said
endeavor. Finally, think of the flow of things or the movement of time in your daily life as you move forward in
achieving your desired goals. Think of your other activities that might affect the time factor in finishing given tasks.
You might be spending too much time on a very idle activity (like too many late night parties or soirées or a whole
day in front of your computer playing online games) that will give you less time to go on with your plan towards self-
fulfillment and success.
3. Be realistic and expect changes. Time Management involves flexibility and open-mindedness. Do not
expect that you can finish a task in what you’ve considered as your time frame unless everything is laid down
perfectly. You should allot some allowance in your time frame, probably for the sake of the unforeseen or
unexpected circumstances. Remember that contradicting factors bring development so don’t be upset with these
changes since everything is undergoing a sort of a synthesis. For example, you already made your business plan
and a lot of careful considerations have been completed, including the period in which you expect your business to
give you financial and personal satisfaction. However, during the course of execution or theory application, there
are other factors or changes, which you have not included in your feasibility study. In this case, time should not be
wasted in complaining about things or about people surrounding your path. Instead of becoming immobile or
paralyzed with the situation, cope up and be flexible by accepting such changes. Level the playing field with
innovative strategies based on the situation and knowledge you will acquire from your experience in doing the task.
Maximize your time by examining your errors and by moving on with solutions that will sustain whatever efforts you
have given to traverse difficult situations and challenges.
4. Know your work style. You are a time clock too. You work with your habits, your cycles, and bodily
rhythms. You sleep, eat, exercise, read a book, or cook with either efficiency or a sloppy lifestyle. Of course you
wouldn’t want to be caught like a snail and be crushed with pressures because of limited time, so it would be better if
you will give yourself some time to think about yourself. Know how fast you can work on things. And if it’s not as
good as others, try to make some improvements. This may be difficult since habits and lifestyles have become
personal markers themselves that give you the idea of your daily routines or tasks. Taking three meals a day will
remind you of other things you must do after eating like brushing your teeth or going to the toilet or having a 15-
minute nap. Your sleeping habits and work efficiency are based on what you’ve grown-up with as an individual –
you may either stay late at night or sleep early, as what you’ve been taught or what your household has been doing
since you’re a child. Finally, examine yourself and know how fast you can work on things, like typing or encoding
words in a computer, filing office data, writing a term paper, or even reading a book. You don’t need to know the
exact time but at least, you will have an approximate measurement of how long you can finish such task.
5. Know your environment or workplace. Your house has a time of its own, your office has schedules, and
your neighborhood has activities to offer. You are surrounded by these time schedules. It would be better if you
would be conscious of the time flow in your surroundings. The daily tasks in your house are definitely main factors in
determining your personal time. More so, your working hours are defined by the nature of your work and your
workplace. The activities by the people around you may affect your strategies and daily endeavors. Finally, you are
not alone in your workplace and other people are also wary of their time and schedules. All of these would affect
your time frames and you must be in-synched with all of these to manage your limited time hassle-free.
6. Make Plans. Planning, like in any other preparations, is a way of saving time for errors. Mistakes usually
happen because of unexpected and unforeseen factors such as wrong estimates of resources or the entry of new
variables in solving a problem. However, with the proper plan and preparation, these unforeseen circumstances can
be expected as well as minimized. In such way, you may still finish the task in a given time.
By considering the above-mentioned factors, you are not only giving yourself a period to reflect on how time
flows in your life. You are also recognizing the factor that affects time and its fluidity. You will not be drowned
because of the seemingly uncontrollable flow but you can now swim with the waves that time brings about.
WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT?

Let’s face it. 24 hours in a day is not enough time for many people to do everything in their schedule. It is
therefore imperative that people perform their activities in the order of priority.
The art of prioritizing covers 4 major task groups:
1. Important and Urgent
2. Not Important but Urgent
3. Not Urgent but Important
4. Not Important and Not Urgent
Important and Urgent
These tasks are the ones that must be done right away, or consequences may result. An example would be
bills that are due today. If you don’t pay your bills on time, you would incur additional charges or they might cut off
their services to you. Activities belonging to this category need to be acted upon without delay. You should give them
the highest priority.
The good news is that some of the tasks included in this category are simple enough and can be delegated to
someone else, like buying grocery items for the party tonight. Outsourcing can be a very intelligent decision when it
comes to taking care of manual jobs. If you can spare some money in exchange for your time (when you can do
much more productive stuffs), then go for it. The rich treat their time more importantly than their money.
Not Important but Urgent
The significance of an activity falling in this category depends on the individual. For example, a 3-day super
sale might not be important for some because the items on sale are things that they don’t necessarily need at present.
(They might take advantage of the sale even when they think it’s not important because they just felt the urgency that
this is a rare occasion and this might never happen again.) Whereas someone who always wants to buy a Harry
Potter book but cannot previously afford one may treat a book sale as both important and urgent.
One thing you can do to determine its significance is to analyze the negative effects that may occur as a
result of not doing it. If you consider the consequences too immaterial upon nonperformance of the task, then just
don’t do it at all.
Not Urgent but Important
You might often put off tasks in this category, but these are the ones that require your attention more. These
involve planning, organizing, and implementing your objectives.
The real danger in delaying these activities lies on the possibility that you may engage in more unimportant
tasks that you see as more urgent. This would therefore eat up a lot more of your time. For example, instead of
planning on how to increase your sales or minimize your expenses, you tend to put most of your time in entertaining
customers (which, by the way, can be done by other people). Or worse, you may procrastinate until you realize that
you’ve not been doing any activity under this category for a long time now.
Give these tasks high priority. You may not immediately realize the advantages of accomplishing them, but
the benefits in the long run is worth the efforts you will be pouring into them.
Not Important and Not Urgent
You might think activities in this section are not worth people’s time, so they won’t engage in these activities
much. Think again. You would be surprised to know that people spend most of their time doing things that are both
unimportant and non-urgent, such as watching TV and movies, playing video games, senseless chatting for hours on
the phone, shopping for new clothes, etc.
Of course, it is essential for people to relax and unwind once in a while. ”All work and no play makes Jack a
dull boy,” as they say. But you should be strict in limiting your time for these activities; that is, if you really want to
accomplish a lot in your life.
Treat activities belonging to this section with the lowest priority. If you really want to succeed, strictly limit
your time in doing these activities or don’t do them at all. Focus on those that will bring you fruitful results.
Numbered Priority Tactic
Here’s one of the most powerful techniques that you can use to manage your time efficiently – the Numbered
Priority Tactic.
Buy a very small notebook that you can put in your pocket. You should be able to bring it anywhere you go.
At the front page of the notebook, put the title: Important and Urgent. At the back page, put the title: Important but
Not Urgent.
If an idea or event you encounter is Urgent but Not Important, then forget it. You want to utilize your time
well, won’t you? If you think it’s significant in some way, then you may put it under Important and Urgent. Ignore
Not Important and Not Urgent tasks.
Every time something comes up during your daily work or on your mind, put it in the appropriate page of
your little notebook. So let’s say your boss told you to submit a report due tomorrow. Write it down on your
notebook under Important and Urgent. Then your friend told you that there’s a big 2-day sale at the downtown
furniture store. You may put it under Important and Urgent if you simply must have that furniture you’re drooling for
months. But if you think your house would do fine without it, then don’t write it anymore. As you’re walking down the
street you suddenly thought of a great new idea for your part-time business. You may put it under Important but Not
Urgent.
As the day goes on, write down each and every idea, thought, or event that comes to your mind. As the list
increases in each category, examine each of them carefully and start numbering each item in the order of priority -
with 1 being the highest priority. Start working on Number 1, and never go to Number 2 until you’re done with
Number 1 for each category. If distractions come about, you may take care of them first but always come back to
your numbered list when you’re done.
Because priorities may change, you may switch or change the numbers of the items in the list. You may also
transfer one item from Important and Urgent to Important but Not Urgent, and vice-versa. When you do any
changes, make sure your notebook stays clean. Transfer your writings to a new page when you see that it’s getting
untidy. Start off with a new page every day.
This method can enable you to achieve more in one week than what most people can accomplish in a month.
The important thing you must do is to buy that little notebook and to start doing this super tactic right now! Time is
running fast.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR TIME WORTH?
What does an hour of your time cost?
While every dollar has the same value, every hour does not. An hour at 10:00 in the morning may be of
much more value as a working hour than 11:00 at night. On the other hand an hour at your child’s bedside when
he is sick is worth more than an hour at the office catching up on your filing.
However, most of us recognize that an hour at work is an hour at work and if you will be there for eight or 12
hours you want those hours to be used productively so they don’t become extra hours catching up to missed
deadlines or preventing you from spending time with your family.
There are two methods for determining the value of your time.
What Does an Hour Cost Your Employer?
What Does an Hour Cost YOU?
What Does an Hour Cost Your Employer?
If you work for someone you must realize that the activities you do cost the business more than just your
hourly wage. You need to account for the cost of overhead and the percentage of income that you are responsible to
provide for.
If you are a salaried employee you can take your salary (month or year) and add the cost of the office
space, equipment or other costs as you presume them to be. Divide this number by the amount of hours you would
work in an average month or year.
A month gives you approximately 20 working days. A year has about 240. The resulting figure is
what an hour costs. Now when you are deciding to do an activity you can determine if the task at hand is worth that
amount of resources to the business – your time and physical resources. You might be surprised.
Raise Your Value...
Don’t think your time is worth that much? Don’t base it purely on what others have valued it at – raise your
value and you will reap the rewards. Work like you are paid more and you will surely stand out from the crowd.
You will be more productive and waste less time.
What if you cost your business $5/minute instead of $5/hour. Or $10/minute instead of $10/hour. How
much would time be worth now? Would you hang around an office waiting room or stay on hold on the telephone?
Or would you confirm appointments and leave messages. Raising your value will improve how you view your time
and will help you spend your time productively.
What Does an Hour Cost YOU?
Are you self-employed or on contract? This makes it more imperative that you spend your time wisely in that
it can have an immediate impact on your income.
How much is your time worth (billing hour)? Now create a list of activities that are not directly related to
creating income such as bookkeeping, website maintenance, cleaning etc. Based on the previous month, how many
hours were spent doing each task?
If you bill $30/hour for your service and you spend 15 hours per month maintaining your website it has cost
you $450 that month. It may also have cost you 15 more hours away from your family and friends or impeded on
actual production time. If having an up-to-date website is crucial to your business (but is not the actual business) then
perhaps you would do better to pay someone to maintain it for you. It will give you more time for important tasks
and may be accomplished in less time if the person is more skilled than yourself.
The Value of Your Time - Beyond Money
Time management goes beyond knowing the monetary value of your time – your personal time also has
value.
Unlike money, each hour of your day does not have the same value. You cannot always use money or profits
as a factor when determining how much your time is worth. Your life is made up of people, interests and caring for
yourself and others. Basing your time merely on the amount of money you will make or save is missing the big
picture.
Have you ever heard someone answer the question “if you had 6 months to live, what would you do ” with the
answer “make more money”? Unless they had nagging financial concerns about their family most people would
acknowledge that time spent bettering oneself, spent with family and showing interest in others has greater value.
When your child has a school event he wants you to attend or you haven’t spent one evening all week to rest
up and relax you need to determine the value of your time in the context of living a productive life – not just making
money.
Working For Yourself – Drawing the Line
If you are self-employed or tend to take a lot of work home with you it is important to ask yourself if the time
you spend on certain tasks is worth the sacrifice of time doing other things.
While it can be difficult to make decisions for how you use your time when you feel the pressure to perform
many tasks, it’s not impossible. Take the time to assess your goals and make decisions that reflect them.
While being reliable is important you may find new strategies that make better use of your time. You can
identify areas where you should be delegating instead of doing things yourself. You might try reorganizing your day
so your schedule includes the most important tasks you need to accomplish while fitting less important tasks around it.
Taking the time to understand the value of your time now is going to save you frustration in the future. The
following chapters will help you identify goals, set a schedule and identify habits that may be costing you more than
just time.
Keeping Track: Where Does the Time Go?
You’ve tried this before – creating a To-Do list, scheduling some appointments and booking projects. You
have started the day on the right foot, determined to get on top of things.
The kid’s lunches were packed and ready. You had plenty of time to get to work in the morning without any
stress. When you arrived at work your projects were in order, your day timer up-to-date and you knew exactly
where you need to be and when.
Because you used a schedule you figured that you’d have no problem getting everything done on time. You
start out alright, but as you carry on through the day you notice the time and are shocked that you only accomplished
half of what you planned before you have to switch activities. Several interruptions by coworkers and clients and
before you realize it the schedule has been abandoned and you are again rushing through your activities and feeling
overwhelmed. Why does this happen?
You Have More Time Than You Think...
Before you blame the scheduling process you need see what other factors affect your day. You can do this by
logging your normal routine for a few days.
It is difficult to appreciate the time you spend on activities that do not contribute to your productivity until
you’ve logged them over a few days.
Creating a Log
For the next few days keep a pen and paper handy to write down what you’re doing and the time when you
change activities. Quickly assess and write down how you feel – energetic, tired, hungry or anything else you can
identify. This record does not have to be detailed but should include every activity change in your work day.
Identifying Patterns
After you’ve kept a log for a couple of days you will be able to analyze certain patterns. Do you often feel
tired in the middle of the afternoon? Are you refreshed after taking a small lunch? Did you spend longer on menial
tasks or talking to others than you thought? How many people used up your time with little benefit (phone calls,
drop-ins and emails)?
Finding these patterns can help you plan your activities so they fit better with your natural rhythms. Perhaps
you find getting through the afternoon (or getting started in the morning) to be the most draining. Is it possible to
schedule your most challenging projects or meetings when you are most alert and energetic? Block off this time in
your schedule – no calls, no meetings – so that you can accomplish the most work.
Give Yourself Rewards
You can also try implementing a self-reward program when needed. If pushing through a tedious project
causes you to dawdle or get easily distracted you might find that giving yourself small rewards as you complete
small chunks of work will keep you motivated.
Perhaps you will only get a cup of coffee when you’ve finished filing half of the pile. Or maybe you’ll take a
stretch or call a friend (briefly) when you’ve dealt with 20 emails. Keep the rewards small but frequent enough to
keep your momentum and prevent you from resorting to distractions which will only prolong the process.
Should You Stop Wasting Time?
This process may also highlight to you that after evaluating how much your time is worth you should really
consider delegating some of your work to other people or eliminating some tasks.
While it is commendable to keep on top of things you may be wasting resources by trying to do everything
yourself. Smaller businesses frequently call on the owner or employees to wear several hats during the day or week.
While it appears to cut costs this may actually be wasting resources. Perhaps hiring someone part-time to help with
the filing, cleaning and mail outs would permit key employees to spend their time at more profitable occupations.
If you identify this problem and you are an employee you need to discuss your findings with your manager
or employer. If approached properly they may see that your time is better spent focused on aspects of your job that
are more profitable. Important duties are being compromised by menial tasks that need to be performed.
Whatever you discover to be a time robber you must take steps to deal with. Here are some ideas for
common time robbers...
TIME ROBBERS
They’re on the loose. Almost everyone (if not everyone) is guilty of giving in or becoming victim to these time
thieves one way or another. In fact, most of these time robbers have become normal parts of people’s daily lives.
TV and Radio
Who can resist watching their favorite shows on TV? If you really want to save time, turn off the boob tube. I
know it’s extremely difficult to control the urge; but if you start watching TV, you’ll get hooked. What was originally
a decision to watch a one-hour show could turn into a 4-hour addiction. Be strict in limiting your watching time.
Better yet, don’t watch at all!
The same thing applies to the radio. If you’re going to listen at all, choose classical music. It stimulates the
brain and is a more productive use of your time.
Phone
The phone can actually be a time-saver if you know how to use it properly. Instead of emailing someone,
engaging in a phone call can allow you to get the answers right away. “Saying it” is definitely faster than “writing
it.” Of course, there are exceptions when email or other methods are better, like when a detailed list is needed.
You can prevent phone calls from stealing your time by telling the caller nicely that you have some urgent
matters to attend to, and that you will try to call back soon.
Do you know another reason why telephones waste a lot of your time? They require the use of your hand,
which makes it difficult to do other tasks when you are talking. Invest in a headset if you can. It will free up both of
your hands so you can do other things while you are chatting away.
Waiting in Line
Nothing could test your patience more than waiting for your turn in long queues. As much as possible, avoid
going to crowded places. If you cannot avoid this, pick a schedule where you least expect many people to show up.
For example, buy your groceries on weekdays. Don’t shop during weekends and paydays. If you can afford the
higher price tags of items that can be bought through the phone, internet, or third-party services, then go ahead and
buy them. If you treat time as gold, then the extra time you’ll be saving as a result of this act is worth much more
than the extra money you’ll be spending. In case you really have no choice but to wait in line, then don’t waste your
time complaining. Do something productive like reading a book, listening to educational tapes, or writing your future
plans on your little notebook.
Traffic Terror
This is another hair-pulling moment, especially when you’re running late for an important appointment.
Avoid the rush hour by all means. Anticipate when a traffic jam is usually occurring during the day so you can
adjust your commuting time. If your destination is not too far away, a walking session might be a great idea to
evade traffic, save on gas or money, and attain a healthy lifestyle.
Too Much
Life is becoming more and more complex everyday. We are presented with a variety of choices on a
particular product to be bought. We are being inundated with tons of paperwork. We have too many tasks to do in
a day.
To solve this dilemma, try to make everything in life as simple as possible.
Don’t present too many choices. People will be confused if you sell them products with too many
combinations, varieties, or options. Lots of time will be consumed in deciding which one is really the best.
Try to minimize the quantity of papers you have to keep. If you can afford programming or e-commerce
solutions that minimize the use of papers, then it is a rational decision to acquire them.
Pause a while every time you are going to do an activity. Always ask yourself, "What can I do along with
this task to save more time in the future?” For instance, you are going to buy a birthday card for your friend. By
asking the question, you might come up with the decision to buy more birthday cards instead of just one, to give to
those who will be having their birthdays later in the year; so you don’t have to go to the shop every time there is a
birthday occasion.
Emails
Emails have helped save lots of time and money for many people. Instead of the old-fashioned snail mail,
more individuals rely on email to get their messages across faster, cheaper, and more conveniently.
However, there are certain downsides to using email as a means of communication. Many people check their
emails many times during the day, therefore hampering their productivity. They’ve become addicted to emails so
much that they spend hours reading and replying, even to junk mails! And speaking of junk mails, sorting out your
emails and separating the junk from the not can be a very time-consuming activity.
Written below are some great tips to make emails work for you in your pursuit to manage time efficiently.
1. Check your emails a maximum of twice a day. If you want to accomplish many tasks, limit your time in
reading your emails. Suitable times would be first thing in the morning (to take care of urgent matters) and a few
minutes before you end your work (to catch up with last-minute concerns).
2. Set up templates or a “Frequently Asked Questions” page. The same questions can be repeatedly asked
by different people - things like how to operate a certain product, how to download a resource, how to join your
affiliate program, and so forth. It is obvious that typing the same answers to the same questions over and over again
is extremely time-consuming. It is therefore advisable to set up templates of answers so you can just copy and paste
them whenever the same questions are being asked again. A better way is to set up a “Frequently Asked Questions”
page so you can just refer people to it when they have queries. The only time they’ll email you again is when their
concerns have not been properly addressed.
3. Reply briefly. Answer your emails clearly and to the point. Don’t overcomplicate the explanation. Never
reply to spam messages or to junk mails.
4. Take the phone. Several minutes spent in replying to emails can be shortened tremendously by just
calling the person. You’ll get faster responses and you’ll end up saving lots of time. And of course, the personal
touch is priceless.
Terminate spam. Spam messages are very prevalent nowadays. Not only can they waste a lot of your time,
but they can be very annoying as well. To prevent spam, don’t spread your email address like wildfire. It would be
advisable to have a private email address that only a few trusted people know. If you can, make your email address
more intricate. If you’re inserting your email address in websites and messages, you may replace @ with “AT.”
5. Get your email across. Sometimes, your email could mistakenly be regarded as spam, and this would
waste your time in composing that message. To prevent such occurrence, be careful with your choice of words.
Avoid words or phrases that trigger the spam filters. Some words to avoid: free, money, sex, amazing, limited offer,
naked, opportunity, debt, loans, lottery, retire, urgent
Other Robbers
There are certainly many other time thieves depending on each individual’s circumstances. Examples include
waiting for your spouse in the shopping mall, making mistakes in filling up application forms, and other such things.
Use your mind to think of possible solutions. If you can’t avoid being involved in such predicaments, then at least
make those moments productive by reading books, listening to educational tapes, etc.
TIME MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

It is a sad fact that many employees tend to work longer than 8 hours in a day. The addiction of working
continuously even after the clock strikes 5 has become a prevalent scenario in today’s fast-paced world.
For workaholics, working overtime has become a way of life. Many employees admit that they feel obliged to
do as much work as possible or to finish their tasks the very same day they’re given. In my previous job, some of the
employees even work past midnight in the office just to get things done. This is absolutely absurd. There are much
better ways of exceeding the expectations of the boss rather than sacrificing your health and personal life. In this
chapter you will learn some terrific tactics to enable you to get home early and achieve a balanced life.
Work Quality Hours
Some employees may acquire a “happy-go-lucky” attitude because they think that whatever they have not
finished within the normal working hours, they can accomplish later during overtime. They therefore tend to work
slower. They have the inclination to do other things during office hours like chatting with their co-workers regarding
the latest gossips, surfing the internet for personal reasons, and reading joke emails sent by their friends.
These are not acceptable acts by a responsible employee. Not only will the employee spend less time for rest
and relaxation by staying late in the office, but the company would also have to shoulder more overtime pay for
work that can be finished within the regular working time.
If you want to maintain a balanced life, then leave your office early. You might think that this is not a
logical step to take especially when you’re bombarded with piles of assignments and reports that are due soon. But
once you get the hang of this, you’ll become more focused with your job and you’ll spend less time doing
unproductive tasks.
The magic word here is focus. Tell yourself that you are leaving early by hook or by crook. By doing this, you
are imposing a strict deadline on yourself. When you make up your mind to go home early from work with full
determination, your subconscious will help you in achieving such feat.
Word of advice: start gradually. If you’re used to working 15 hours a day, you may start by lessening it to
12 hours, then to 10 hours, then finally to 8 hours. You may also decide which days of the week you’ll be leaving
work early.
For example, this week you’ll go home early on Wednesday. Then next week, it’s Wednesday and Thursday.
Then the week after that, it’s Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Keep on decreasing the numbers of hours you
have to work for a particular week until you have achieved a normal 8-hour work routine daily.
But please. Don’t leave the office early feeling guilty and unproductive. Just think. By achieving balance and
getting enough rest, you’ll end up becoming more efficient than if you work countless hours the day before. A better
use of your time is to plan on how you are going to handle the work that you will be doing tomorrow.
At the start of every day, always ask yourself, “What must I do to feel satisfied when I go home from work on
time today?” Another great way to accomplish more is that during the middle of the day, contemplate on the tasks
that you have already done, then ask yourself “What other things do I need to finish?” You will gain more direction
to accomplish whatever needs to be done.
Be Efficient and Productive
Certain factors may negatively affect the employee’s performance, the effect of which could be disastrous to
both the employee and the company. Listed below are some of the things you need to pay attention to if you want to
become efficient at your job:
1. Do not accept more than you can handle. Sometimes, people want to please their bosses so much that
they would be willing to add up more work to their already unending tasks with the hope of being recognized and
promoted. What they didn’t know is that they’ll end up being more inefficient, frustrated, and stressed-out just to
meet the deadlines. If you think you cannot accommodate an additional workload or a new project, then be honest
and tell your boss about it. With a justifiable explanation, your superior would understand your situation and would
be glad to assign the task to someone else with less workload.
2. Organize your files and office supplies well. A table with too much clutter can leave you in disarray.
Make sure you group identical things together so you won’t have to waste time in finding the things you need.
(Organization will be discussed in a later chapter).
3. Move it. Your body, that is. Exercise has been proven to reduce work-related stress and anxiety. Regular
exercise can help maintain your body in tip-top condition to handle the challenges of work. If you can, stretch your
body or take frequent breaks within your work schedule to revitalize yourself.
4. Get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can make you drowsy and weak, thereby impairing your
concentration and ability to do the job well. 7 to 8 hours is normal for most people but there is actually no norm.
Some could sleep just 4 hours and still be in great working condition. Know the minimum hours of sleep you can
take to become productive during the day and make sure you get enough of it daily. Take a short 15 to 30 minute
nap during break time if you can. It will give you energy for the rest of the day.
5. Use devices or supplies that save time. Get a stamper with your signature in it so you can minimize your
time in signing documents. If you’re given a choice, choose a laptop instead of a desktop computer for better
accessibility to your work when you’re outside the office.
6. Eat light lunch. If you splurge in an eat-all-you-can treat at lunch, there’s a big chance you’ll get lethargic
later on in the afternoon. Stay alert for the rest of the day by limiting your lunch, and by taking a light snack if you
go hungry at mid-afternoon.
7. Delegate. During the normal course of your work, you would most likely encounter time killers such as
unwanted phone calls and emails, or waiting in line to photocopy some documents. If you could delegate these and
other similar tasks to others, you could be freeing a lot of time for more productive pursuits.
SAVING TIME WITH OTHERS
Your interactions with others consume as much, if not more time, than any other part of your day. Even
technical workers spend up to 75% of their time communicating with coworkers. You can greatly increase the
efficiency of your interactions by improving the quality of your communications.
Some of the biggest time wasters in life are people. These people problems can be broken down into a few
critical categories.
1. Common Misunderstandings
A major waste of time is caused by misunderstandings between people about roles, goals, and
responsibilities. People do not know what they are expected to do, and how, and by what time. Misunderstandings
lead to inefficiencies, anger, frustration and unhappiness. They often require an enormous amount of time to clear
up in order to get back to normal.
Most of your problems in life talk back. They come with hair on top. Perhaps 85% of your happiness or
unhappiness in life involves other people in some way. Miscommunications with other people are a major source of
time wastage.
2. Unclear Priorities
Misunderstandings with regard to priorities often lead to your working at the wrong job, at the wrong time,
for the wrong reason, and perhaps aiming at the wrong level of quality, and for the wrong person.
Some of the most stressful times of your life are caused by misunderstandings at work, especially
miscommunications with your boss.
The most important single cause of positive feelings and high levels of motivation in work is defined as
“knowing exactly what is expected.” On the other hand, the number one complaint, or demotivator of employees, is
“not knowing what’s expected.”
In order to perform at your best, you need absolute clarity about your job, and what you are expected to do.
You need clarity with regard to results required and standards of performance. You need clarity with regard to
schedules and deadlines. You need clarity with regard to the rewards and consequences of doing a good job, or
not. Clarity is everything.
3. Poor Delegation
Poor delegation to others, or from others, leads to mistakes and frustration on the part of both the boss and
the employee. It is a major time waster.
One of the rules for success in life and work is to “assume the best intentions of everyone.” You can generally
assume that each person does the very best he can at the job he thinks he is supposed to do. But poor delegation
causes even the most sincere and talented people to do poor work, or to do the wrong jobs and therefore to end up
feeling frustrated and unhappy.
4. Unclear Lines of Authority

Unclear lines of authority and responsibility lead to time wastage. People do not know who is supposed to do
what job, and when is it to be done, and to what standard of quality? And especially, who is supposed to report to
whom? Who’s in charge? Who’s the boss?
A Management Game
In my management seminars, I often invite the managers to play a game with me. The game is called “Keep
Your Job. ” I explain that the rules are quite simple.
First, each manager in the room will write down the names of the people who report to them. They will then
write next to those names the most important job that each of those people is expected to accomplish, in what order
of priority, and why they are on the payroll.
Then I tell the managers that they will wait here in this room while we go and interview each of their staff
members. Each staff member will be asked to answer the question, “What exactly have you been hired to do, and in
what order of priority?”
If the answers given by each staff member are identical to the answers given by the managers, then the
managers will be allowed to “Keep Your Job. ” I then ask, “Does anyone here want to play ‘Keep Your Job?’ ” No
one ever wants to play. In years of conducting this exercise, I have never found a manager who is willing to stake
their job on the sure knowledge that each of their employees is clear about what they are on the payroll to
accomplish.
The Manager Is Responsible
The fact is that each manager is responsible for making absolutely sure that each employee knows exactly
what he or she is supposed to be doing. One of the very fastest ways to increase efficiency, clear up
misunderstandings and improve communications is to take the time to sit with each person and discuss exactly what
they are supposed to do, and in what order, and to what standard of excellence.
5. Incomplete Information
Another major time waster in business is poor or incomplete information, which leads to erroneous
assumptions and conclusions. It is amazing how often people jump to conclusions or make false assumptions on the
basis of wrong information.
The very best managers take the time to ask questions and listen carefully to the answers before they make a
decision. If there is a key piece of information that suggests a problem or difficulty, they double check on this piece
of information to make sure that it is accurate.
Always ask, “What proof do you have for this statement or fact?” Never assume that something important is
true without taking the time to corroborate it for yourself.
6. Aimless or Too Frequent Meetings

Too many meetings, or aimless meetings that proceed without an agenda, without direction or without
closure, are an enormous waste of time at work. These are meetings that start and stop without any particular
resolution. No problems are solved, no decisions are made and no responsibilities are assigned. No deadlines are
agreed upon for action.
Since 25% to 50% of working time is spent on meetings of all kinds, your taking the time to improve the
quality of your meetings, by preparing agendas in advance, and by bringing each question to closure, can
dramatically increase your effectiveness and your productivity.
7. Lack of Clarity Concerning One’s Job

Lack of information, or unclear communications, on important matters affecting a person’s work, causes a lot
of wasted time. In a recent survey on employee motivation, the very best companies were defined as places where
each person felt that he was an insider, and that he or she was “in the know” about what was going on in the
company.
The worst places to work were described as those where no one was sure about what was really going on. In
this type of situation, people were unclear about their responsibilities, unsure about their jobs, and cautious about
taking any risks. When people don’t know what is going on, it leads to demotivation, poor performance and playing
it safe.
People need to know everything that is happening in the company that affects their particular jobs. The very
best companies are those that are open and honest with all employees concerning those matters that affect the health
of the company. Everyone knows what is going on, and how their job fits into the big picture. When they are unclear
or unsure, an enormous amount of time is lost as the result of conversations, discussions and gossip, which leads to
ineffective work behaviors and poor productivity.
Take Time to Communicate Clearly
In a recent study, 84% of successful executives said that their ability to communicate effectively with others
was the key reason for their success. Almost all successful men and women today in the world of work, business,
politics and other fields are in their positions because of their ability to communicate well with other people. Effective
communicating is a key time management skill.
Here is a rule: Never assume that the other person understands what you have discussed until he or she has
fed it back to you in his or her own words. Never assume that you understand until you have repeated it back or
explained it in your own words and had the other person agree.
It is a truism that we only understand something to the degree to which we can explain it to another person.
The very act of articulating an assignment or decision in words clarifies it for both the speaker and the person
listening.
In interacting with others, seek first to understand, then to be understood. Most people get this rule
backwards. They are so busy trying to get other people to understand them that they don’t take the time to
understand the other person first.
Seek first to understand. Listen closely to the other person to be sure that you fully understand what he is both
saying and meaning. Only then should you try to get the other person to understand you.
The key to effective communication in working with others is developing absolute clarity about what needs to
be done, and why, and when, and to what standard. Clarity requires time, attention and patience.
The Law of Comparative Advantage
In 1805, the British economist David Ricardo announced what has become one of the most important
principles of economics, “The Law of Comparative Advantage.” This law initially referred to trade between countries.
It demonstrated mathematically that countries should specialize in producing those products that they made better
than any other country. Ricardo showed that, even if country A produced two products at a higher level of quality
than country B, it was still better for country A to concentrate exclusively on producing the product that they made
best, and let country B exclusively produce the other.
The total value created by both countries for their citizens would be greater in proportion to the resources
consumed in production than if each country tried to produce both products.
Applying Comparative Advantage to Your Work
In business and commerce, this is an extremely important principle. It is the base of modern wage
differentials. In your work life, the Law of Comparative Advantage says that you should assign, delegate, outsource
or have someone else do any job that can be done at a wage less than you earn, or less than the wage you desire to
earn.
In its simplest terms, if your goal is to earn $50,000 per year, and you work 2000 hours per year, your
hourly rate is approximately $25 per hour. This means that you should hire someone else to do any task that can be
done at an hourly rate less than $25, even if you can do the task better than he can. This enables you to spend more
time doing more work that pays $25 per hour or more.
If you want to earn $100,000 per annum, your hourly rate is $50 per hour, each hour. But you cannot earn
$50 per hour during the workday if you are getting your car washed, picking up your groceries, or dropping off
your dry cleaning. You cannot earn $25 or $50 per hour if you are chitchatting with your coworkers, making coffee,
reading the paper or surfing the Internet. This kind of work or activity does not pay you $25 to $50 per hour. The
basic rule is this: If you want to earn $100,000 per year, you have to do $50 per hour work for eight hours every
single working day.
The Key Personal Productivity Principle
This is a key personal productivity principle. If you do not focus single-mindedly on working at or above your
desired hourly rate, you will not earn this amount of money in the long run.
This rule applies to hiring a bookkeeper, typing, shopping, house cleaning, washing your or any other task.
The key to effective delegation, whether you are a boss or an employee, is to continually be seeking ways to
outsource and delegate those things that pay a lower hourly rate than you earn. This is the only way that you will
have enough time to concentrate on doing the kind of work that will pay you the kind of money that you truly desire.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of people are laid off from different jobs in different industries. In almost
every case, this is because their hourly contribution to their companies has dropped below the amount of money they
are receiving in wages or salary. This may have been caused by external circumstances, by changes in the market
that render the products and services they produce less desirable.
You Can Only Be Paid What You Contribute
In too many cases, their value has dropped is because they have not continually upgraded their skills on the
one hand, and they are wasting too much time on the other. They are engaging in activities or performing tasks of
low value or no value, tasks that no one can pay them $25 or $50 an hour to do. As a result, they are laid off or
fired, and must make the rounds for several months before finding new jobs that pay even lower amounts than they
were earning before.
The focus on your hourly rate, and continually increasing the value of your work on an hourly basis, is the
key to your future. As Pat Riley, the basketball coach said, “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.” If you
are not continually learning and upgrading your skills, you are actually sliding backwards, and your time is
becoming less and less valuable to your employer. Don’t let this happen to you.
Delegation Is the Key to Leverage
To achieve everything you are capable of achieving, and to be able to concentrate on those few tasks that
can make the greatest contribution to your life and work, you must become excellent at delegation. Whether you are
a boss or an employee, you must be continually seeking ways to outsource, delegate and get other people to do
things that pay you a lower hourly rate than you desire to earn.
There are several ways that you can become more effective at delegating and outsourcing, or hiring other
people to do parts of your work so that you can do the parts of your job that pay the most.
1. Instead of You?
Ask the question, “Who can do this job instead of you?” Remember, you have to delegate everything
possible in order to have enough time to do those few things that are most important.
2. Better than You?
You should ask, “Who can do this job better than me? ” One of the characteristics of effective managers and
successful leaders is that they have the ability to find people who are superior to them in specific tasks. You should
continually be looking for people who can do certain parts of your work better than you.
3. At a Lower Cost?
Evaluate the job and ask, “Who can do this job at a lower cost than me?” Many companies and individuals
are finding that they can outsource major parts of their operations to companies who specialize in that area.
Companies that specialize in a particular function can usually do the job cheaper and faster than a company that
does that work as part of its other activities.
4. Can It Be Eliminated?
Ask yourself and others, “Can this activity be eliminated altogether?” What would happen if the job were not
done at all? Many of the routinized tasks and activities in a company or business could be quite easily eliminated
with no loss of productivity and great increases of ineffectiveness.
Once upon a time, in a Fortune 500 company, a new Vice President of Finance took over the accounting
and bookkeeping for the national organization. One of his departments consisted of 12 highly paid accountants and
analysts who spent their time assembling the monthly reports from all the operating divisions into a single binder,
which was then distributed to all the division heads. This department and its activities were costing the company
almost a million dollars a year.
The new Vice President was curious. He went down the hall to one of the division heads and asked him if he
had been receiving the monthly reports from his accounting department. The division head assured him that he had
been getting the reports each month. The Vice President asked, “What do you do with them?”
He said, “Come here and I’ll show you. ” He took him down the hall and into a storage room where the
monthly reports, each of them about three inches thick, were neatly stacked on a set of bookshelves. “We never have
time to read them, but we keep them here just in case.”
The new VP of Finance went back to his offices, called in the specialists who produced the report and told
them to discontinue their activities. They would be reassigned to other jobs where the company needed their
expertise more than this department.
They argued vigorously against this decision. They insisted that the company was dependent upon their
monthly reports. But the new VP was adamant. He discontinued the reports and didn’t tell anyone.
Nothing happened. Fully nine months later, the VP was at an executive meeting and one of the division
heads asked him in passing, “Whatever happened to those big reports we used to get from your department each
month?”
The Vice President of Finance said, “We stopped sending them out.
The division head said, “Well, we never read them anyway.” That was the only comment he ever received
from anyone in the company on the discontinued reports.
It is amazing how many activities go on in business and private life that could be quite easily discontinued
completely, with no loss or inconvenience to anyone. Rooting out these opportunities for increased efficiency can
dramatically improve the productivity and profitability of an organization or department.
Six Steps to Effective Delegation
To delegate effectively in your work with others, there are six steps that you can take. If you neglect any one
of these steps, you run the risk of miscommunication, misunderstandings, demoralization and poor performance.
1. Match the Person to the Job
Match the person to the job. One of the great time wasters in the world of work is delegating the task to the
wrong person. Often the task is delegated to a person who is not capable of doing it properly or getting it done on
schedule.
The only accurate predictor of future performance is past performance. The rule is that you never delegate an
important task to a person who has not performed that task satisfactorily in the past. It is unfair to expect a person
who has not done a job before to perform at a sufficient level of quality when they are given the job for the first time.
2. Agree on what is to be Done
Once you have selected the right person for the job, take the time discuss the job with that person and agree
upon what must be done. The more time you take to discuss and agree upon the end result or objective, and achieve
absolute clarity, the faster the job will be done once the person starts on it.
3. Explain How the Job Should Be Done
Explain to the person your preferred approach or method of working. Explain how you would like to see the
job done, and how you or someone else has done it successfully in the past.
4. Have Him Feed It Back
Ask the person to feed your instructions back to you in his or her own words. Have him or her explain to you
what you have just explained and agreed upon. This is the only way that you can be sure that the other person
actually understands the job or assignment that they have been delegated to accomplish.
5. Set a Deadline
Set a deadline and a schedule for completion of the task. At the same time, arrange for regular reporting
and for periodic inspection. Invite feedback and questions if there are any delays or problems.
6. Manage By Exception
Manage by exception whenever possible. Managing by exception is a powerful time management tool that
you can use to work more efficiently with other people.
If the job is on track, and on schedule, managing by exception means that the person does not have to
report back to you. If you don’t hear from him, you can assume that everything is going well. The individual only has
to report back to you when an exception occurs and there is a problem with getting the job done on time, to the
agreed upon level of quality.
Seven Ways to Get More Done Each Day
There are seven methods you can use to get more done each day. These are simple, direct and cost no
money.
1. Work Harder
Work harder than you are working today. You can concentrate with greater intensity on your work. You can
focus single-mindedly and discipline yourself to work without interruption, diversion or distraction. You can work
harder than anyone else, which is a secret to great success.
2. Work Faster
You can work faster than you are today. You can pick up the pace. You can develop a faster tempo. You can
move more quickly from place to place, and from job to job. When you combine working harder and working
faster, you can get more done in a single day than most people get done in a week.
3. Batch Your Tasks

You can batch your tasks. You can do a series of similar jobs together, taking advantage of the learning
curve.
4. Do More Important Things

You can do more important things. You can work on higher value tasks. You can work on tasks that have a
higher potential payoff rather than those activities that have a lower payoff.
5. Do Things You’re Better At

Do things at which you excel. The better you are in a key skill area, the more that you can get done and at a
higher level of quality. Because you are better at these tasks, they will be easier for you so you will get them done
with less effort and you will have more energy as a result.
6. Make Fewer Mistakes

To get more done, you can make fewer mistakes. You can take the time to do it right the first time. You’ve
heard it said, “There is never enough time to do it right, but there is always enough time to do it over.” One of the
best time management techniques is to do it right the first time, even if it takes a little more effort and concentration.
7. Simplify the Work

You can simplify the work by reducing the number of steps necessary to complete the task. This makes the job
simpler and easier to get done.
Pay Attention
“Life is the study of attention.” You always pay attention to that which you most value. If you value another
person, you listen to them intensely when they are speaking. If you value the result of a job, you pay close attention
to the details that determine whether or not that job is completed successfully. Effective managers pay close attention
to everything that is going on around them because they value it and because it is important to them.
Assuring Success at Work
The very best times you will ever have at any job or company is when you are getting wonderfully well with
your boss. On the other hand, the very worst times you will ever have at any job is when you are not getting along
well with your boss. And the major reason why employees have problems with their bosses is because of a lack of
clarity of what exactly is to be done, and to what standard, and in what order of priority.
Here is an excellent exercise for you. Make a list of all of the answers to the question, “Why am I on the
payroll?” Write down everything that you feel that you have been hired to accomplish in your work. Focus on results
rather than activities. Imagine that your work consists of a series of “deliverables.” Define your job in terms of the
deliverables for which your company pays you a wage or salary.
Now, take this list to your boss and ask your boss to organize this list by priority, based on what is most
important to him or her. This may take a few minutes. Be patient. As you discuss this list with your boss, ask
questions so that you are perfectly clear about what he or she wants or needs.
Focus on Your Boss’s Top Priorities
From that day forward, focus and concentrate on doing those jobs that your boss considers to be the most
important before you do anything else. Whenever your boss asks you to do something else, take out your list and
ask him or her what order of priority the new task has relative to the tasks currently on your job list.
If you are working at your full capacity, to do something new, you will have to stop doing something old.
Many bosses do not realize that your plate is full already. When your boss asks you to do something new, you
should ask him what he would like you to stop doing so that you can work on the new task that he has just given
you. This is a wonderful way to minimize misunderstandings and improve communications.
It is only when you are working on those tasks that are most important to your boss that you can possibly
have any chance of satisfying or pleasing him, or being paid more or promoted more often. If you make the mistake
of doing things on your list in an excellent fashion but you work on tasks that are not important to your boss, you will
actually sabotage your career. The more time you spend doing an excellent job on unimportant tasks, the further
behind you will fall.
Three Types of Decisions
There are three types of decisions in any organization, or family. When decisions involve other people, it is
important that everyone is clear about what kind of a decision is under consideration.
1. Command Decisions
The first types of decisions are command decisions. This is a decision that has to be made by the boss, or by
the person in charge. This decision is so important that one person is solely responsible for making up his or her
mind about what is to be done.
Hiring a key staff member, firing a poor performer, making an important investment decision, finalizing a
sale or transaction, or even negotiating a new loan with the bank are all command decisions. They must be made by
the person in charge.
2. Consultative Decisions
The second type is a consultative decision. This is a decision where you or the boss asks for advice and takes
input from other people. You combine the opinions, ideas and inputs of others together with your own and make a
decision. A consultative decision, even though it invites the advice and participation of others, is not made based on
that advice.
You may be thinking of hiring a new person, assigning someone to a particular task, spending a certain
amount of money on a business activity or embarking on a new sales or marketing campaign. If you are the boss,
you can ask for advice from everyone before you finally close the door and make your final decision.
When General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the supreme commander of allied forces in Britain, he took the
advice and input of hundreds of military experts, planners and specialists in his preparation for the D-Day invasion.
This process took several months. But on the final day, June 5, 1944, with a single day of calm weather
predicted for the English Channel, General Eisenhower made the fateful decision that launched the invasion of June
6, 1944 and brought World War II to an end ten months later.
3. Consensus Decisions
The third type of decision is one that is made on the basis of consensus. This is a democratic decision where
everyone gets involved, discusses the pros and cons, and then agrees on what is to be done. Sometimes everyone is
in agreement and sometimes the decision is made by a democratic vote, where the majority rules. Once the decision
has been made, everyone commits to making the decision successful; however they may have felt or voted during the
discussion phase.
Clarify the Type of Decision
One of the problems in communications, and working with others, is confusion over which kind of a decision
is being made at that moment. Sometimes, the boss asks for input and ideas. The staff members automatically
conclude that this is a consensus decision while the boss may be viewing it as a consultative decision. When the boss
makes a decision that is contrary to the expressed wishes or opinions of the others, it can lead to hard feelings and
misunderstandings.
People’s feelings will be hurt and time will be wasted going back and explaining that their input was invited
and welcome, but not necessarily followed in the final decision.
When a boss makes it clear that this is a democratic or consensus decision, he is saying that the staff can
decide what is to be done in this case, and whatever the group decides, we will all go along with it. When everyone
is clear about the kind of decision under consideration, everything proceeds more smoothly, with less friction and
time wastage.
Your Job Description
Often in my seminars, to make a point, I will say, “I know the job description of every single person in this
audience.” This immediately gets their attention. In an audience of 1000 people, there will be participants from
hundreds of companies. They then smile and wait to hear what I am about to say.
“You can take your business card and cross out whatever title is below your name and replace it with the
words Problem Solver. Everyone here is a problem solver. This is what you do all day long.”
Focus on the Solution
One of the characteristics of top people is that they are intensely solution-oriented. They do not continually
think and talk about the problem, and who is to blame, and how much has been lost, and why did this happen to
me? Instead, they focus on the solution, and what can be done.
Your job, in whatever position, is to solve problems. Your income, your rate of promotion, the respect and
esteem of your peers, and all of your success in life will be determined by how effectively you solve the problems and
difficulties that you have to face every hour of every day in the achievement of your goals.
Leadership is the ability to solve problems. Success is the ability to solve problems. Personal effectiveness is
the ability to solve the inevitable and unavoidable problems of daily life. The only question is, “How good are you at
solving problems?”
Here is a wonderful discovery. The more you think and talk about possible solutions, the smarter you get. The
more you think and talk about what can be done to solve the problem, the more ideas you will have. You will
become more creative. Your mind will function faster. The more solutions that you come up with, the more solutions
there are that will occur to you. Eventually you will become like the Pac Man of the video game, gobbling up
problems as fast as you encounter them.
One of the biggest time savers in life and work is your ability to solve the right problem in the right way. It is
your ability to deal effectively and efficiently with problems, to overcome them, and to keep moving forward toward
the result or goal that you desire.
On the other hand, one of the biggest time wasters in life and work is the inability to solve problems. The
inability to solve a single key problem can lead to underachievement, frustration, failure and even the bankruptcy of
an organization. Thinking and talking in terms of problem solving and solutions is one of the most important
mindsets that you can develop.
Six Steps to Effective Problem Solving
There are six steps to effective problem solving that you can follow to cut through any difficulty or obstacle
you face for the rest of your career.
1. Define the Problem Clearly

Start by asking, “What exactly is the problem?” Define the problem clearly, and whenever possible, in
writing. Remember, accurate diagnosis is half the cure. Sometimes writing a problem down on a flip chart or white
board, and having everybody agree to the definition of the problem will lead rapidly to a solution.
Very often, by forcing yourself to define the problem clearly in writing on a piece of paper in front of you will
trigger a logical solution. Fully 50% of problems can be solved in the definition phase.
What Else is the Problem?
Once you have a clear definition of the problem, you should ask, “What else is the problem?” Never be
satisfied with a problem that has only one definition. Keep asking, “What else is the problem?” See if you cannot
develop multiple definitions to a single problem.
Sometimes a large problem is actually a “cluster problem.” This occurs when the larger problem is actually
made up of several smaller problems. By defining the problem clearly, this enables you to break down the problem
into its constituent parts so that you can solve each of the smaller parts at once.
The rule is that, in every complex problem, there is usually a single problem that must be solved before any
other problems can be solved. This single, large problem that must be solved is often not clear or obvious. It requires
a little digging on your part to find it.
The natural tendency of human nature is to jump to conclusions. We see a problem and we leap to a
solution. We leap quickly from the problem to the solution without considering that we might be jumping from the
pan into the fire. In defining the problem or problems, it is important that you go slowly at the beginning to make
sure that you are not working on the wrong problem. Solving the wrong problem in the right way will often create a
worse situation than the one you started with.
2. Identify All the Possible Causes

Before seeking a solution, ask, “How did this problem occur?” What are all the possible causes of the
problem? What are the reasons for the problem? It is not enough to simply come up with a solution. It is important
that you deal with the underlying causes that created the problem in the first place.
When I started my company some years ago, no matter how busy we were in the market, we always seemed
to have cash flow problems. Every couple of months, the bank account would be empty and we would have to
scramble around to find the funds to make payroll and cover other bills.
We finally realized that we were lacking a “Cash Management System.” I learned later that this is one of the
most important tools for business or personal survival and success. It is a long-term monthly projection of your cash
needs, based on your very best estimates of your income and expenses.
Once we had taken the time to project forward a year, based on the seasonal fluctuations in our revenues,
we were able to predict with some accuracy how much was coming in, how much was going out, and what times of
the year we would have cash shortfalls. Once that cash plan was in place, we organized lines of credit and financial
reserves to make sure that the cash crisis did not occur again.
Very often, identifying the cause of a problem immediately suggests an obvious solution that enables you to
solve the problem and stop it from occurring again.
3. Identify All the Possible Solutions

Before leaping to a conclusion, ask, “What are all the possible solutions? What are all the different things
that you can do to solve the particular problem? This is a very important step in the process.
Rather than assuming that there is only one answer, write down as many different solutions to the problem
that you can think of. The more solutions the better. Beware of a problem for which there is only one solution.
In many cases, the obvious solution is not the best solution. In some cases, the correct solution is to do the
opposite of your initial inclination. Sometimes, it is to do something radically different. Occasionally the solution is to
do nothing at all.
In developing different solutions to a problem, you should clearly define your “boundary conditions.” These
are the constraints within which you have to work, and the results that this solution must achieve. Often you can
develop better solutions by defining the minimum and maximum conditions for the solution before you begin.
What does this solution have to accomplish? If the solution were perfect, what result would it achieve? How
would we know that this was a good solution? Start with the end in mind. Be clear about what you want to
accomplish with the decision before you decide upon the solution.
4. Make a Decision
Once you have all the information, make a decision. Select the solution that looks and feels to be the very
best of the solutions available. But before you go on, ask, “Why is this the best solution? Why is this solution superior
to the others?” The more time you take to think about and study both the problem and the solution, the better and
more accurate your answer will be.
A few minutes spent in careful analysis in problems and solutions can save you an enormous amount of time
when it comes to implementation.
5. What is Your Fallback Solution?
Be sure to ask, “What is our alternative solution?” In other words, once you have decided on the best
solution, be open to the possibility that it will not work out at all. If that were the case, what would be your “Plan B?”
What would be your fallback position? What would be your alternative or second solution if your first solution
failed?
The process of thinking through an alternative solution is a powerful mental exercise. It forces you to expand
your view of the problem, and all the possibilities. Very often, by thinking through and developing a fallback
position, you actually improve the original solution. Sometimes, you change it altogether.
Remember, you are only as free as your well-developed options. The more alternatives you have developed
before you take action, the more effective you will be when you finally move forward. Keep asking, “What will I do
if this doesn’t work? What would be my alternative if I turned out to be wrong? How would I respond if this course of
action failed altogether?
6. Determine the Worst Possible Outcome

Before you implement the solution, ask, “What is the worst possible outcome of this course of action?” What
is the worst possible thing that can happen if you go ahead with this solution? Very often, the second alternative you
developed turns out to be better than the first choice because the worst possible consequences of the second solution
are not as severe as the worst possible consequences of the first solution.
In every decision making process, there is a certain element of risk. There is always uncertainty as to the
outcome. There are risks that you can afford to take and there are risks that you cannot afford to take.
For example, a large-scale advertising campaign can be quite expensive. Many companies have made the
mistake of “betting the bank” and throwing all their money into something like “Super Bowl” advertising. Their idea
was that, if only a small percentage of viewers were to buy our product, we will make back all the money we spent
in advertising.
But they fail to consider the worst possible outcome. It was that no one would respond to the advertising at
all. And this happened several times. As a result, the company went bankrupt. There are some risks that you cannot
afford to take.
7. Assign Specific Responsibility

Once the decision has been made, either assign or accept responsibility for carrying out the decision. Set a
schedule and a deadline. Make it clear to everyone exactly what is to be done, by whom, and to what schedule.
Many companies make the mistake of solving the problem, coming up with an excellent solution, assigning
responsibility and then leaving the table. Two weeks or four weeks later they reconvene and nothing has happened.
Why not? No deadline was set. The individual who was assigned responsibility has gotten sidetracked and busy with
other projects. No action has been taken. Sometimes, this inaction can be disastrous. Once you have made a
decision, assign responsibility, set a deadline and then follow through. This is the essential part of problem solving.
Focus on Contribution
One of the key time management techniques in working with others is called a “focus on contribution.” The
focus on contribution in an organization is essential to good communications and excellent teamwork. Good human
relations occur in a company when they are task focused, and aimed at achieving specific goals, or solving specific
problems.
If relationships in the world of work are not task focused, they have a tendency to become people focused.
Instead of being objective and measurable, they become subjective and personal. As a result, people talk to and
about each other and about others most of the time. This leads to enormous losses of time and reductions in
efficiency.
Practice Participative Management
Participative management is a great time saver in working with people. It is one of the best tools that a
manager can develop. Participative management requires that you bring your team together at least once each week
for a general staff meeting. At this staff meeting, everyone talks about what they are doing, the progress they are
making and any problems they are having. People ask questions of each other, and both decisions are made and
solutions are agreed to.
The interesting discovery of participative management is that, when someone makes a commitment to do
something by a certain deadline in front of their peers, they will be internally motivated to complete that task. Not
only that, when you bring people together on a regular basis, you can solve problems, make decisions and clear up
misunderstandings faster than almost any other way. Participative management is an incredible tool that you can use
as a manager or supervisor for your entire career.
Avoid Reverse Delegation
One of the most important time savers in the world of work has to do with what is called “reverse
delegation.” This is where your staff member, to whom you have delegated the task, delegates the task back to you.
Work is now moving up the chain of command rather than down the chain of command. Work is coming up from
the subordinate to the boss rather than from the boss to the subordinate.
You must consciously resist reverse delegation and be aware that employees are always trying to delegate
the job back to you. They use a series of techniques to which you can become a victim if you are not careful.
One of the ways that an employee delegates a task back to you is by bringing you a problem and asking
you to solve it. They ask, “Can you take care of this task for me, or get me this information?” Since you are the boss,
and obviously more competent and knowledgeable than they are, you agree to take care of that for them and get it
back to them as quickly as possible. But then something else comes up, and it goes onto your stack and gets buried
among your other responsibilities.
The Monkey is Now on Your Back
Here is the rule: the person who has the responsibility for the next step in the job is the one who is
responsible. When your staff member asks you to do something, the doing of which determines them doing their job,
they have delegated the task back to you. The monkey is now on your back. Soon, your staff member will be coming
by to supervise you and to ask you how things are going. You will now be working for the person who was working
for you. You will be promising and assuring them that you will get their job done and back to them as quickly as
possible.
The way to resist reverse delegation is to refuse to take the task back, once you have assigned it. When they
ask you to do something, you instead ask, “What do you think we should do?” Whatever they suggest, you can
comment upon or agree, but whatever it is, you pass it back to them so they can get on with their job.
Resist Your Natural Tendencies
The natural tendency in working is to go from managing back to operating. Since you go to where you are
today by doing a good job on your way up, whenever you find yourself under pressure, your natural tendency is to
go back to doing what you were doing before that got you to where you are today. You must fight this tendency or
you will soon find yourself at the bottom of the food chain, being delegated to by the different members of your staff.
The definition of a good manager is a person who “gets things done through others.” Your job is to make
sure that other people do the job correctly, rather than going back and doing it yourself. Push on to others
everything that can possibly be done by them. Once you have delegated and assigned a task, don’t take it back.
Teach and Train Others
Take the time to train and to teach your subordinates and others how to do their job. The more you train
them, the more you build their confidence so that you can delegate even more tasks to them. Teaching other people
how to do a job gives you a high “return on energy.” Once you have taught someone how to do a part of your
work, you can always delegate and free yourself up for other work that pays you a higher hourly rate.
Focus on Clarity
The major problem and time waster in communication, and working with others, is fuzzy understanding. The
antidote to fuzzy understanding, one of the greatest time management tools of all, is clarity. Clarity is only achieved
through repetition, discussion, feedback and agreement. Take the time to learn how to be a good communicator.
This will pay off in tremendous time savings and will increase your effectiveness in every area of your life and work.
MANAGING MULTI-TASK JOBS
Even simple tasks like planning a party, or producing a brochure or newsletter, require the ability to plan
multiple tasks. This type of planning and organizing is one of the core skills of time management. Your ability to put
together and work with a team of people on a project is the most important skill for advancement in your work.
A Learnable Skill
Fortunately, project management is a learnable skill, like riding a bicycle. It can be divided into a series of
steps, each of which you can master, one at a time.
1. Start with the End in Mind
In managing any project, you begin by defining the ideal desired result of the project. What exactly are you
trying to accomplish? What will the project look like if it is a complete success?
Start from the successful completion, the ideal desired result, written down and clarified on paper, and work
back to the beginning. Do this in conjunction with the team members involved whenever possible.
How will you be able to tell if you have completed this project successfully? This step, of thinking through and
defining your ideal end result, is one of the most valuable of all mental and physical planning tools for any project.
2. Start at the Beginning
Once you are clear about your desired result, you then start from the beginning and determine what you are
going to have to do to get from where you are to the completion of this project, on schedule, and on budget.
Determine a specific deadline or target to aim at. Make sure that it is realistic and achievable.
3. Assemble the Team
Bring together all the people whose contributions will be necessary for the success of the project. Sometimes
you need to assemble the team before you can even decide upon the ideal result and the schedule. Remember that
people are everything. Take ample time to think carefully about the people who are going to be the team members.
Fully 95% of success in management is selection. 95% of everything that you accomplish as a leader will be
determined by your ability to select the people who are going to help you to do the work. If you make the mistake of
selecting poor team members, you will almost invariably find it more difficult to achieve the goals that you have set
for yourself.
Focus on the people before the task. Remember that because all productivity comes from people; the people
are the most important ingredient.
4. Share the Ownership
I nstill ownership of the project in the team members by sharing the job with them. There is a direct
relationship between how much a person feels a sense of ownership for the job and how committed he or she is to
making the project a success. One of the key jobs of leadership is to instill this feeling of ownership in each member
of the team, so that each person feels personally responsible for the accomplishment of the overall project. You
accomplish this by discussing every detail of the project with the people who are expected to carry it out.
5. Develop a Shared Vision
Develop a “shared vision.” A shared vision is an ideal future picture of success that everyone buys into. How
do you develop a shared vision? You sit down with the members of your team and work with them to answer the
question, “What are we trying to accomplish?” You encourage everyone to contribute, to visualize and imagine the
ideal outcome or desired result of the project. Once this vision is clear and shared by everybody, you move onto the
development of “shared plans” to achieve the vision.
6. Shared Plans
Create “shared plans” with the members of the team. These plans are essential to successful project
completion. This step requires that everyone work together to discuss and develop the plans. Plans include the step-
by-step activities that will be necessary to complete the project. Everyone knows what has to be done, and even more
important, everyone knows what each team member is supposed to do.
The more time you spend planning with the members of your team in the early stages, the more committed
and creative they will be in accomplishing the task once you get started.
7. Set Schedules and Deadlines
Once you have a shared vision and shared plans, and everyone knows exactly what is to be done, and what
the ideal result will look like, the next step is for you to set a deadline for completion based on the consensus of your
team. You may require sub-deadlines as well.
Achieving consensus is extremely important in building a peak performing team. Ask people how long they
think it will take to complete each part of the task, and to complete the task overall. As the result of discussion and
exchange, everyone should agree that the project can and will be completed by a certain time.
One of the biggest mistakes in project management occurs when the project leader sets a date or deadline
that is arbitrary and with which the team members do not agree. In each case where this happens, problems arise
and the deadline is not met. If the deadline is met, it is usually so full of mistakes and problems that it would have
been much better to have agreed on a reasonable deadline before you began.
Set your deadlines based on the consensus of your team, or even a majority decision, if that works for you.
Get everyone to agree on the timing and scheduling for each job or task that they will be expected to contribute to the
overall project.
8. List Everything That Must Be Done
List every task, function and activity that must be completed, right down to the smallest job. The more that you
can break the project down into individual jobs and tasks, the easier it is for you to plan, organize, supervise,
delegate, coordinate and get the project finished on time.
9. Identify the Information You Will Require
Identify any additional information that you will require to complete the project. List the acquisition of the
information as a separate task and assign it or delegate it specifically to one of the team members. Set a deadline.
Remember, a decision without a deadline is merely a meaningless discussion. Nothing gets done.
10. Identify the Limiting Factor
Determine the limiting step in the completion of the project. What part of the project, what task or activity,
determines the speed at which the project can be completed? What part of the task is the bottleneck that sets the
speed for everything else?
In every project, there is a bottleneck. There is always one task, the achievement of which determines the
schedule for everything else. Start off by identifying your limiting step, and then place the alleviating of that constraint
as your top priority.
Put your most talented and capable people, and even yourself, to work on that task. Nothing can be done
until that job is done first.
11. Organize the Project
Organize the different parts of the project in two ways: sequential tasks and parallel tasks. You organize by
sequence when you determine which jobs must be done before other jobs can be done, with each task in order.
Sequential organization is necessary where a particular task requires that another task be completed before it can be
started. In almost every case, before you do anything, you have to do something else first. Organize the task
sequentially with a logical process of activities from beginning through to the end of the project.
The second way to organize the task is parallel. Parallel activities exist when more than one task can be done
at the same time. Two or more people can be working on two or three different tasks independently of each other.
A Typical Multi-Task Job
For example, let us imagine that you are going to be renting and moving to a new building. The limiting
factor or constraint is the decision on the space that you are going to rent, the determination of the exact address
and the signing of the necessary rental or lease documents. Once the location has been determined and secured,
several other tasks can be done both sequentially and in parallel.
Some sequential tasks are the determining of the exact requirement for furniture and fixtures in the new
offices, the packing up of the old offices, the arranging for a moving company to transfer the furniture, and the actual
moving in.
Some parallel activities could be the arranging for new telephones, the ordering of new stationery, the
informing of customers, vendors and suppliers of the new address, and other activities that can be done
independently of each other.
12. Think on Paper
Create or acquire a simple project management form. Fortunately, because of the recognized importance of
project management, there are numerous books, workbooks, planning forms and computer-based project
management systems. They can be used for projects as simple as an office birthday party and as complex as the
building of a shopping center or football stadium.
The simplest model is something that you can draw by hand and which you can carry in your mind as a
template for any project that you become responsible for in the future. Start with a blank sheet of paper. Graph
paper or lined paper is ideal. Down the left hand side of the paper, you list every single task that has to be
accomplished, up to and including the completion of the project, in the order that the tasks have to be done.
Across the top of the page, you write the dates of completion for each phase of the project. The times listed
across the top may be in days, weeks, months or even years. You may have one column for each week, or one
column for each month. If it is a short-term project, you may have a column for each day, with specific tasks to be
completed every 24 hours.
13. Delegate Responsibilities and Deadlines
Once you have the project planned, the team assembled and every task delineated and laid out in the order in
which it must be completed, you then delegate each task with a specific deadline. Build a “fudge factor” into your
schedules and aim for the completion of each task comfortably before the deadline. The more important the final date,
the more important it is that you build in a cushion of time to assure that the project is completed on time.
Most people aim to finish a project at least 10% of the time before it is due. If it is a project that takes three
weeks, and must be completed by Friday, two weeks from today, set a goal to have the entire project complete by
Wednesday, or even Tuesday of that week. Expect that there will be last-minute mistakes, unexpected setbacks and
unavoidable delays. This is the mark of the superior executive.
It is amazing how many of the great events of history, the great battles in the wars that determined the fate of
empires, the great turning points in human life, that have failed because a single person did not build in that little bit
of extra time that was necessary to assure that everything worked properly. Don’t let this happen to you.
14. Practice Crisis Anticipation
One of the most important parts of project management is called “crisis anticipation.” This is what you do
when you study the overall project and ask, “What can possibly go wrong?” Murphy’s Laws were developed by
people who worked on projects of all kinds. These laws say, “Whatever can possibly go wrong, will go wrong. And
of all the things that can possibly can go wrong, the one thing that will go wrong will be the worst possible thing, at
the worst possible time, and cause the most amount of money.”
Another of Murphy’s Laws is that, “Everything takes longer than you expect.” Still another is that “Everything
costs more than you budget for.” The key to crisis anticipation is to think through in advance the different delays and
setbacks that can possibly knock the project off schedule. Where could you have an obstacle or setback that would
threaten the successful completion of the project?
Once you have determined the worst possible thing that can happen, make sure that it doesn’t happen.
Provide against it in advance.
15. Develop a Plan B
D evelop alternative courses of action. Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck, the great European statesman, who
assembled the many principalities of Germany into a single state, was famous for his diplomatic skills. No matter
what happened, he always seemed to have a detailed backup plan as an alternative. This became known as the
“Bismarck Plan” or “Plan B.”
You should always have a Plan B as well. You should always imagine that something unexpected will happen
and that you will have to do something completely different from what you set out to do. The more time that you take
to develop a fully functioning alternative, the greater strength and resilience you will have, no matter what happens.
Continually Develop Options
In life, you are only as free as your options. You are only as free as your well-developed alternatives. If you
do not have options or alternatives already developed, you may find yourself trapped into a single course of action.
If something goes wrong with that plan or course of action, you can be in serious trouble.
Many of the greatest successes in history were made possible because the person in charge had taken the time
to think through what might possibly go wrong, and then made provisions against it. When it did go wrong, he was
ready with a second plan.
It is important that you never trust to luck when you plan a project. Hope is not a strategy. Remember the
words of Napoleon, when he was asked if he believed in luck. He said, “Yes, I believe in luck. I believe in bad luck.
And I believe that I will always have it, so I plan accordingly.”
Four Problems to Avoid
There are four main problems in project management. Each of them can be avoided by taking the time to
think carefully before embarking on a new project.
1. Not Allowing Enough Time
The first is not allowing enough time to complete a multi-task job. This is the primary reason why projects fail
and people’s careers get sidetracked or torpedoed. They hope for the best, trust to luck and don’t allow a sufficient
cushion of time to complete every step of the project. As a result, the project fails.
2. Assuming the Best
The second problem is assuming that everything will work out all right. As Alex McKenzie said, “Errant
assumptions lie at the root of every failure.” Never assume that everything will work out all right. Assume that you are
going to have problems. Allow yourself sufficient time and resources to solve those problems and keep the project on
schedule.
3. Rushing at the End
The third problem in project management is when the project team ends up rushing at the end. When you
rush to complete a project, because you have run out of time or money, you almost invariably make mistakes and do
poor quality work that you have to go back and correct later. It actually takes less time to finish a project correctly if
you work at it slowly and steadily and do it properly in the first place.
4. Trying to Do Several Things at Once
The fourth problem in project management is trying to do several things at once, and ending up doing
nothing well. You either take on too many responsibilities yourself, or you assign too many responsibilities to other
people. In either case, various parts of the project fall through the cracks and sometimes all the effort is lost. Do
things one at a time, and do each thing well before moving to the next task.
Plan Your Projects Visually
One of the most powerful methods for designing and managing a project is called “Storyboarding. ” It was
originally developed by the Walt Disney Corporation to plan cartoons and movies and was eventually used in every
part of the business.
In storyboarding, you create a visual image of the project, mounted on the wall, so that everyone can see it
and comment on it. You begin with a large corkboard. You then get boxes of pins or thumbtacks and stacks of 3 x 5
and 5 x 8 index cards. Get several felt pens with different colors. You are then ready to begin.
Across the top of the board, write the major parts of the project in one or two words, on 5 x 8 index cards,
with the colored felt pens. These are very much like the titles of the chapters of a book, and are called “headers.” You
may have anywhere from three to 10 different headers as the main parts of the project.
Under each of the headers, you place 3 x 5 index cards. You list an individual step in the completion of the
task on each of the 3 x 5 cards. When you are finished, you will have created a visual representation of the entire
project, showing what needs to be done, and in what order. You can then write the name of the person who is
responsible for each of the jobs on the card listing the job.
With this layout, you can move headers and job descriptions around. You can change their order and
schedule. You can change the person who is responsible and the deadline.
You can also use storyboarding with a sheet of paper. You can write a series of larger boxes across the top
and then write a series of steps in each of those tasks in boxes underneath. The more visual you can make the project,
the easier it is for you to see relationships between the various tasks, and to make whatever changes are necessary to
assure that you complete the project on time.
Regular Review and Evaluation
The final requirement necessary to excel in project management is to schedule regular review sessions to
measure progress, solve problems and reassign responsibilities. In every project, you must inspect what you expect.
Once you have decided upon the project team and the project, and you have delegated the different tasks and
responsibilities, you must set up a regular schedule to meet and review and discuss how you are doing.
No matter how well you plan at the beginning you will receive a continuous flow of feedback that will
necessitate regular revision of your plan to make the project come out successfully.
Successful Project Management
There are several factors that make project management successful. The first and most important of these is
good communications among the various team members who are responsible for various parts of the project.
1. Clarity Is Essential
The first necessity for good communication is clarity. This means that you say exactly what you mean. You
explain what you want done clearly and unambiguously. You never assume understanding. You never assume that
the other people or that the other person understands clearly what is said or what is expected of them. You always
ask for feedback and double check.
Ask the team member to feed back what you have just said in his or her own words. Encourage questions and
open discussion. Encourage people to challenge and disagree. The more involved and active people are
in discussing the project as it evolves, the more committed they will be to making it successful when it is underway.
2. Consistency Is Important
The next part of good communication is consistency. The team leader must be patient, optimistic, determined
and persevering. Being a good project leader requires that you have or develop the best qualities of leadership and
managerial excellence. You must keep cool when things go wrong. You must continually remind yourself that if you
don’t stay on top of it, it probably won’t get done. If the project is important enough, you must accept complete
responsibility for inspecting what you expect.
Don’t assume that everything is going according to plan unless you have taken the time to check on it
yourself.
3. Deal with Conflict and Poor Performance
Another part of good communication as a team leader is that you must deal with conflict and poor
performance in a direct, straightforward manner. If a person does not do the job they have committed to do, you
cannot ignore it.
You cannot pretend that it is not happening. You cannot hope it will go away. The very best bosses are very
demanding when it comes to both deadlines and quality work. You must be the same.
Encourage everyone to openly discuss the project and the progress that you are making. If necessary, be
prepared to reassign jobs and tasks. Give different jobs to different people. If one person is overloaded and another
person seems under-worked, be prepared to reassign the tasks so that everybody feels they can achieve their jobs in
an excellent fashion.
4. Develop the Courage of Your Convictions
The fourth quality of good communicators, and the great quality of leadership, is courage. As Winston
Churchill said, “Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it, all others depend.” The most
important type of courage is for you to take full responsibility for the results, and to resolve to persist until the task is
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satisfactorily completed.
Not an Easy Skill to Learn
It is not easy to begin to use a systematic project management system if you have not done it in the past. But
the development of project management skills will save you more time and do as much or more to advance your
career than almost any other skill you can develop. You can use this project management skill at home. You can
use it in planning vacations. You can use it in starting and building companies and organizations. You can use it
to start your own business, become a successful salesperson, move onto the fast track in your life, and in many other
ways.
Your ability to plan, organize, manage and complete projects is central to your success and vital to your
realizing your full potential in life, work and leadership. Fortunately, project management is a learnable skill that you
can master with practice and determination. There are no limits.
THE ART OF DELEGATION

“No man is an island.” There might be some people who disagree with this saying, thinking that they can
live happily by themselves and there’s no need for anybody else’s help.
While some may adopt the philosophy “If you want to do it right, you got to do it yourself,” we still need
other people’s help sooner or later. And when it comes to effective time management, delegating or assigning tasks
to others is a must.
You might think that doing it all yourself would make you a hero. Nope, it would only eat up a lot more of
your time – time you could spend in doing other things that could make you feel more satisfied or accomplished.
Also, who would like to do things they don’t enjoy? You only live once, so make the most of it.
What are the things you can delegate to others?
1. Customer support
2. Cleaning the house
3. Grocery shopping
4. Bathing your pets
5. Cooking
6. Fixing broken tools and equipment
7. Mowing the lawn
8. Wedding arrangements
9. Gift-wrapping
10. Catering
11. Ghostwriting
12. Web designing
There are many unemployed people who would be willing to do the jobs for you, if the price is right. But how
do you determine if it’s really worth it to hire someone else in exchange for your hard-earned money?
Write down the more enjoyable or more satisfying things that you can do, as a result of not engaging in
tasks you don’t enjoy. I believe you’ll live a more fulfilling life by shedding out a few dollars in exchange for some
valuable free time. After all, money can be replaced anytime, but lost time can never be reclaimed.
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GOALS AND TIME MANAGEMENT
Goals are necessary to give you the right motivation. Goal-oriented persons manage their time efficiently.
They always think of what they can achieve if they will be able to get on the right track and finish the task in lesser
time.
Just imagine the oval track in the athletic event. You are there to compete in a running competition. As an
athlete, you are to define success in a matter of seconds. For you to win, think of the finish line and the track on
which you have to run. You have to see the lines that give you the idea of your track, your direction. You have to be
at the end of the path in less time in order to win.
You should be aware of your goals and you should know the right ways to achieve them. Goals are
motivational tools or ideas that will give you the zest to start the task or duty with vibrant enthusiasm. This will give
you the idea on how to execute a task and overcome challenges in a time frame that you would also be formulating.
Goals must be concrete or specific, measurable within a time frame, realistic, attainable, and relevant. These are the
markers of success that will give you the idea of your future and of what you want. Goals are based on your present
conditions and resources; however, you must increase your resources or change the conditions within a given time to
attain your desired result.
A goal is also a projection, a way of directing your thoughts toward what you foresee as success. It is a mind
channel; therefore, you should be aware of the power of the mind and of what you believe you can do with the aid
of positive thinking. How to do it will be the next step; but on your way to success, it would be necessary to set things
in order, to make some priorities and plans, and to maintain a positive outlook. Here are some goals that you can
employ in reaching your desired scenarios in less time:
1. Motivational Goals – These goals help in enervating your moves and in encouraging you to be good in
whatever you do. Motivational goals are imaginary pictures or moments that you see yourself as, like becoming rich
or famous after some years of work and struggle. You may also think of yourself based on social conditions like
leading a nation for a better future, becoming a good and patriotic citizen, or anything that you wish to achieve in
terms of your status in life. A person is motivated by how he defines the future, or by what he wishes to accomplish
in life. Motivational goals are not necessarily the specific conditions that you would want to reach in a particular
time. These are scenarios that give you the encouragement to work hard and to waste no time in achieving what you
want. Motivational goals are what define you as a person, including your personality and philosophy in life, as well
as your vision towards the future. Motivational goals will encourage you to persevere and reach for your dreams.
2. Projected Goals – These goals are the ones that you wish to achieve in less time or within a given period.
The result of your plan depends on your projected output. You will reach what you want provided that you have
created the right conditions to reach the end of that path. Projection is a way of estimating the result of your plan like
your projected income after a year from the start of your business, the projected result of your thesis or study, or
your plans after five years of marriage. These are similar to motivational goals. However, these goals are what you
wish to achieve so you can create conditions to reach them. Examples of projected goals are enumerated below:
Perceptual Goal:
Am I optimistic or pessimistic in perceiving ideas or situations? Do I get upset by people or by things that do not meet
my expectations? Do I grumble or look forward after a failure or wretched situation?
Professional Goal:
What is my notion of success and how do I get there?
Educational Goal:
What do I want to learn and why should I learn them? What are the things, information, and skills that I have to
acquire in order to excel and become a productive citizen?
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Familial Goal:
What is my concept of home and how do I define my family? Am I aware of my lineage and my goal for my family?
How do I envision myself as part of my family, and my extended family? How do I want them to envision me?
Financial Goal:
What are my financial expectations? Do I want to become rich? Have an affluent Lifestyle?
Physical Fitness Goal:
What do I want to become, physically speaking? What are my hobbies or preferred sports? Do I wish to compete in
athletic events and how do I see myself doing it?
Recreational Goal:
How do I want to enjoy my life?
Public Service Goal:
How can I make this a better world or a more humanly society?
3. Concrete Goals – These are parts of your plans and what you wish to achieve realistically. Concrete
goals are what’s written in your “what to do list” or noted in your planner or calendar. Concrete goals must be the
result of your feasibility study or business plan.
It would be better if you always set some goals in planning your activities or in projecting your future. Goals
are meant to encourage you in reaching something. But sometimes, goals can be frustrating especially when failures
start to enter into the picture. You should not waste time indulging in low-motivational factors such as frustration,
low-self esteem, confusion, and anxiety. Instead, you should focus your attention on how you can learn and benefit
from such failures.
Goals are set to help you encourage yourself. Goals should be based on your capacity and should be
reflected by your strengths and weaknesses. These aims should also be realistic and should be based on your
immediate concerns.
As what Abraham Maslow had elucidated in Psychology, behaviors are defined by what we consider as
“hierarchy of needs” or pyramidal structures in which we are predisposed to strive with. There are basic needs like
food, shelter and material things that are necessary for survival. This should be met in order to get into the next level,
which includes social interactions and the need for love and belongingness. On top of this pyramid is the need for
“self-actualization” or the fulfillment of a person after meeting the more basic needs in life.
Along with this is the assessment of one's spirituality, the higher definition of success, like personal happiness
and higher forms of gratification in line with creativity.
Goals should also be set according to the proper way to adjust in case you do not meet your expectations. If
you’re not able to reach what you initially desired for the first time, try looking at your aim and modify it. For
example, you want to buy a sports car from your savings and additional compensation because you are really
working hard for such reward. However, during the middle of the year, you learned that you need to spend your
money on some very important expenses, like an increased payment for the amortization of your housing loan or an
unexpected expenditure. In order to veer away from frustration, what you can do is either delay the buying of your
car until you can save the right amount or buy a car with whatever money you have left.
Never let frustration confuse you or give you the terrible feeling of not achieving what you want. Just in case
you decided to buy the car by having another loan from the bank, just imagine the additional money you have to
earn to pay all your bills. This would only derail you from your initial agenda. Remember that a wise man is patient
with his purse and will never spend a dime for stone.
Other things that you should remember in setting goals include:
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1. Your priorities in life and their order.
2. Your strengths and weaknesses in doing things or in executing actions.
3. Your personality and the things that should be improved in meeting the demands of your plans.
4. Your plans for other people, especially for your love ones that will give you a sense of fulfillment and
personal happiness.
5. Your past achievements that will pump-up more encouraging spirit in your next struggles.
Keep in mind that goals are guideposts but not necessarily the exact result of what you have in mind for your
plans. Sticking with your goals and not adjusting to the changes will give you time-wasting frustrations. A right move
would be recognizing the changes and moving on to reach your aims amidst any unexpected circumstances.
Another part of motivational aspect in efficient time usage would be to avoid procrastination. This kind of
negative virtue is a result of the loss of motivation because of many factors that surround your work habits and
conditions. These include low-self esteem, discouragement from superiors, the absence of concrete rewards or
pleasant results, or plainly because of boredom. Procrastination is one big hindrance in achieving your aims or
goals. Therefore, you should avoid such feeling or mindset. Here are some basic tips to get away from such negative
thought and activity:
1. If you are the type of person who gets easily bored, avoid routines or try to change your daily activities
once in a while. These would give you a sense of dynamism and would help you avoid the boredom of familiarity
and habit formation.
2. Try to accomplish two boring tasks by alternating each of them. They will give you a directional
movement to achieve your desired result.
3. Reward yourself after doing a very difficult task or a very boring activity, like encoding a private
manuscript or filing a card catalog cabinet. You may also think of the reward you will be getting after finishing such
activity either in concrete or abstract terms.
4. In case you are working on a very uninteresting task along with your other activities, make sure to take
note of this by writing it down and posting it at your workstation or at your cubicle. By doing this, you would be
reminded of the task even when you’re not interested to do it initially.
5. Enjoy your work with what motivates you like listening to classical music or going out once in a while to
see the natural scenery.
6. Never put pressure in your mind. This will just increase your frustration level.
7. Talk about your work with your colleague and think about the happiness you feel inside the office. By
becoming cheerful and positive, you not only imbibe good mood but also motivate others and yourself to work hard.
8. Avoid too much caffeine or sweet foods during pressured moments. They will give you too much energy
level that can bring your anxiety level and worries up. However, during a relaxed and comfortable situation, you
may sip your favorite coffee and dip your spoon on the luscious caramel-chocolate cake in a café where you can
enjoy time in a relaxed ambiance, especially if you have just finished a very long and challenging day at work.
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PLANNING AND TIME MANAGEMENT
Planning means preparing yourself with theories, ideas and concepts that will lead you in executing your
task. A carefully crafted planning procedure doesn’t waste time and effort. Planning involves management of
resources and tracking down the logical steps in executing a task or project. This also involves creativity and
patience since you would not want to start with an empty hand or pocket.
Now that you are ready and energetic about your plans, your next step would be to manage your time as
you execute your plans. In this case, you must have effective ways to manage time. Your strategies to work with your
plan should follow logical, relevant, and intelligent moves that will make you adjust with the changes and flux of
time. A good plan is not enough unless it is executed well. You will just end up with a good plan and not with the
best result if you will just keep on reading and re-reading your plans. In the strategies of time management, you
should:
1. Know your strengths and weaknesses.
2. Try to veer away from complications.
3. Avoid mental contradictions.
These three important aspects will help you know your best moves. By looking at your strengths and
weaknesses as an individual, you would also know what to avoid (like procrastination, boredom, laziness, low self-
esteem) and what to bank on (creativity, flexibility, or cheerfulness). You would also work with your best effort
because you want to finish the said task and succeed. By knowing yourself, you would also know how to adjust
during trials and testing.
Make things simple. This doesn’t mean you can’t think of complicated matters over the period of planning or
during the execution of your plans. Simplicity means that you reduce complication as much as possible. In making
your calendar of activities or time frame, do not include irrelevant agenda or unnecessary tasks. Do not put too
many variables in your plans. Just think of the needed resources. Finally, think of ways of achieving your goals
without too many directions or strategies. Just focus on what you think is the most effective way in the execution of
your work plan.
You are your own enemy. Mental contradictions are also called cognitive dissonance. This means that if you
think of your goals or aims, and something bad happens which might cause some delays or change of plans, do not
pressure yourself with opposing poles of thoughts. In other words, remove anxiety from your mind.
There are ideal scenarios in your mind (like remodeling your house during your given vacation leave and
spending a week with a newly refurbished house). But there are realities to face (Because of the delay of materials,
a one week delay was incurred and you weren’t able to enjoy the pleasant rest period you had envisioned). In this
case, don’t grumble and complain. Instead, think of the future, or the succeeding days that you can have to extend
your plan of rest and recreation. Lessen the cognitive dissonance or mental contradiction that you would feel every
time a problem or hindrance comes across your desired path. This will only muddle your thoughts and make you less
energetic because of dissatisfactions. Often, this kind of displeasure will lead you nowhere and will eat up your time
in reaching your necessary objectives.
Now after keeping these in mind, you are now ready to execute your plan.
A plan, especially made for a targeted result in an organization or as a personal aim (like saving some
money or thinking of an activity during the summer), should be written down to achieve concrete actions. Never
underestimate the value of planning because it is the start of the creation of strategies in executing your moves to
achieve what you envision to accomplish.
A long-term plan involves a lifetime endeavor or a long-range projection. This can be part of an individual’s
journey towards his notion of success. This might include ambitions, the kind of life a person wants, or the
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philosophy which defines a person’s meaning of success. Long-term plans can also be part of the bigger plans a
society would create to better organize human existence. It can also take a longer period of time and necessitates a
lot of changes.
On the other hand, a short-term or short-range plan involves a plan for tomorrow, for the week, for the
month, or for the year. This is a personal plan that manifests the shortness of time or the limitations of a day or week.
Short-term planning needs a lot of skills in balancing between tasks or duties that require time. It also involves insight
in the right usage of resources and its relationship with time, such as the availability of the required supplies or the
delays in communicating messages.
There are ways to create a sound plan, both simple and complex. Here are some of the ways:
1. The use of the calendar should be maximized. Calendars can help you plan for things you will be doing
in the future. Make sure that in your house, in your office desk, your wallet, or through your gadgets, you are
constantly aware of important dates and schedules.
2. Use organizers and day trackers: Similar to a calendar is an organizer or pocket diary where you can
write your important activities or agenda for the day, week, or month. Use this tool efficiently and you would have
no hassle managing your schedule. Remember, these were made for the purpose of being used, and not to be stored
on some dark, dank area of your house.
3. Highly sophisticated electronic organizers such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) can give you more
comfort and efficiency in managing your schedule. You can use these gadgets to give you details of your plans or
important dates to remember without the hassle of turning the pages or writing it down with a pen. PDAs are
designed to give you the most logical and modern method of locating your data and organizing them to create
better timetables and goal projections.
4. Make a list of agenda: A “What to Do List” is one simple way of planning your day in a very timely
organized manner. You can write down your planned activities for tomorrow especially if you have to do various
tasks in one day. You can also keep this list as an initial way of tracking down your activity until you can create your
own mental note or a list of desired activities inside your mind for simple undertakings. However, for bigger and
more complicated agendas, it would be better if you have your small notebook or PDA where you can store a list of
what you need to do or finish at a particular point in time.
Feasibility Studies
This kind of planning involves technical details and a lot of logical questions regarding a projected plan.
Business establishments, organizational developments, and personal studies involve a kind of study or plan that will
create timetables, projections, and strategies to be employed in getting the conclusive result of an activity or
endeavor. This kind of planning requires a lot of preparation and critical inquiry. However, feasibility studies can
also be employed in creating simple projections like the possibility of earning or saving money because of some
available business opportunities. Also, a simplified feasibility study would be helpful in creating an annual career
plan that involves an array of achievement possibilities in one year. An example of this is working while studying (or
finishing a graduate degree) at the same time enjoying some other activities or engaging in some social
organization. An annual plan for all of these could be a skeletal framework that will remind you of your priorities in
life.
In making plans, you have to remember important key points that will help you become a better organizer of
resources and time. Here are some key elements in strategic planning.
1. Productivity – Always remember that in your move to success, there should always be a clear or concrete
result. Though the result won’t always be in your favor, just be reminded that you are doing something because you
want to achieve something. Productivity also means that you are not wasting time or effort in doing something or as
you move on with your plans. You are gaining something. You are moving forward. In making business plans, you
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should consider the result of your effort and the limitations and eventual expansion of your resources. Productivity as
a key should follow the rule that “there’s no day but today” in getting what you want or keeping yourself on track.
2. Logical Decisions – A plan should be empirically based, meaning you are not basing your assumptions
on fantasy (becoming a millionaire after a month or so of working, or getting the dream house without any concrete
move or action). The rule of logic also follows the rule of intelligent decision-making. You are to minimize mistakes
with the use of logic and step-by-step analysis of things and situations. You must base your decisions after realizing
the pros and cons. Don't make hasty decisions. Logical steps create logical results, and these results are efficiently
following the rules of time. Following the process will keep you definitely on time to reach your goals.
3. Resources – The availability of your resources may affect the execution of your plan. In estimating the
time frame, you need to get to the end of it all. Good managers are insightful about the limited conditions due to the
limited quantity of materials, manpower, and most importantly time. But because there are expected limitations, a
good plan can help an individual who is expecting these possible problems or scenarios prepare better. Time,
though not a basic resource, is a factor itself that affects the availability of the said requirements. For example,
delays in delivery or the absence of a particular reference material would mean a lot of things for an entrepreneurial
venture. To manage this situation effectively, a good estimate or an initial expectation would cause less panic on the
part of the people involved in the operation.
Finally, your plans are just plans and they are not the products of your achievement until you begin taking
actions. Moreover, your plans should be flexible and should not be a source of anxiety or frustration in case you do
not meet your set of expectations.
The Use of Action Plans
The use of action plans is different from making a “what to do list” since in the latter, you are just making a
list of what to do for a particular task or project. You must give focus on what you need to do in a period of time to
reach for your aim. Action plans will give you concentration and a clear line on where you would start and how you
would utilize your effort/energy to become an achiever. In making an action plan consider the following:
1. Go back to your goals, what are your objectives?
2. Go back to your strategies, how will you do it?
3. What are the most logical ways of doing your tasks or plans? What are the points between A and Z?
4. How will you do you plans within a period of time? One day, a week, a month or a year? How realistic
are you in getting the desired result?
The most important and valuable insight of an action plan as a strategy or tool for time management is how
it gives you focus and motivation in finishing your task in less time. It will also give you an organized feeling of
finishing a project. You need the list of your possible moves and the time frame that will require you to achieve such
actions. For example, if you are making plans and you are still confused on how to execute your theoretical
framework, try solving the basics first. In organizing an event, you may compartmentalize the different sets of tasks
that need to be finished within a period of time. List down the necessary actions you need to do on each of the
defined tasks. Then try to picture the situation in a more general manner and you would realize that you are actually
defining the blueprints of your move, and therefore becoming more organized in your attempt to achieve success.
Remember to make plans in every important aspect that you do, either for complicated projects or mundane
activities. Just keep in mind that you are here for a purpose and that is to be positive as much as possible, everyday
of the week, every minute of every hour. Mental plans will give you a feeling of security especially in facing
scenarios like meeting new people or your boss or your parents-in-law. However, do not become slaves of your plan
since this will make you obsessive and anxious. Just make sure that if your plan doesn't work or you are not able to
achieve your expectations, go for your next move. The more choices you have, the better planner you are.
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Scenario: You feel unmotivated because every move you make seems futile. You think that you are not
getting any younger and your achievements are as tall as the newly cut grass of your lawn. You don't seem to be
getting anywhere, you are a floating ship and your sail is broken. You feel sick and tired of your routine inside the
office. You feel that time does not cooperate with you since it became wicked, forcing you to finish things and tasks
beyond schedule or boring you with a slow melting trepidation.
Solution: Now what you can do is scrap this kind of life and start with a leap of faith by changing your
destiny. You can start this by getting a pencil and a paper and listing down your past and present, and highlighting
what you want in the future. Motivate yourself with aims that will give your heart a different and cheerful smile.
Remove the dread by having positive projection and by thinking of what you want as an individual, as part of your
family, friends, and society. Write the word SUCCESS in bold letters and take action!
ORGANIZING AND TIME MANAGEMENT

After carefully laying out your plans, you have to work with the execution using an organized structure to
efficiently manage time. Time Management tools involve a lot of organizational aspects that limit and control the flow
of resources.
A suggested organizational method you can do to manage your time and to entail great results is by using
Time Estimates. First you need to know where your time goes or how you would like to spend the rest of your day. If
you work in an office, calculate how much time you spend in your office and at home. Time estimates will give you
the idea of your workflow, your efficiency in doing work, and your time to relax and rest. For other time estimates,
try considering these:
1. Time of Work – The regular workload for most people is 8 hours, more or less. You have to maximize
your time and energy during this productive period. Work time should also follow regulation that is created to
sustain a harmonious atmosphere for both employees and employers.
2. Personal time – This is the time in which an individual can have personal space and time for reflection.
This can be either a time to contemplate or rest for a while (during coffee breaks, a prayer, or cigarette break).
Personal time can be short but it is very meaningful for an individual who is seeking refuge and silence after a day of
hustle and bustle. This is also a moment of reflecting the time spent on other things like work and other activities.
3. Interaction moments – These are times spent talking with colleagues, friends, relatives, and loved ones
about relationships, professional matters, personal things, or anything that concerns the speaker and the listener.
Usually we become unconscious on the time spent for this activity but we should be aware of the many things
learned from interaction and socialization.
4. Time for Relaxation and Recreation – This is the time when you reward yourself after spending so many
hours and days at work. This is a time to feel free and to enjoy the moments of life.
You can organize your time by creating a daily agenda and by checking your agenda at the end of each
day to track down your schedule on a daily basis. Other suggestions include:
1. Keep an activity log in which all your activities, either major or minor, can be written down and later on,
be analyzed by you. You would see that you have a remarkable capacity to do so many things or, on the opposite
side, there are so many things that you have not done because of tardiness. This would also help you become more
aware of your strengths and your weaknesses. You can also analyze your period of alertness and productivity
through this activity log.
2. Track-down your idle moments or your periods of tardiness. For example, know what might have been
the cause of the delay of finishing tasks such as writing a report or going to your appointment. This way, you would
also know your weaknesses when it comes to motivation and goal setting.
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3. Know your personal histories, your family history, and learning insights from the past. This way, you
would recognize the importance of time and how it has affected your development as an individual or as part of
your family or society.
4. You may also compare your work efficiency with the work style of others. But this should not frustrate you
if you see that others leave you behind. Contrary to this, you should be motivated to excel or to improve your
condition if you see that you are not working as fast or as efficient as they are.
Importance of Filing
Some people think that filing is a complete waste of time. The opposite is true. The benefits of filing far
outweigh the inconveniences of engaging in such task.
The importance of filing lies in the fact that you don’t have to wade through lots of stuffs when you’re looking
for a particular item. You’ll know exactly where it is located.
Here are some super tactics for organized filing.
1. Get colorful. Buy folders of different colors, each color representing a specific category. For example:
green folder is for bank accounts, blue folder is for health records, red folder is for utility receipts, and so on. You
may even put labels of various colors in every folder. Let’s say in the bank accounts folder, you can put a label
colored brown for one bank, then orange for the other bank.
2. Go through all your stuffs and just keep the things you need. People sometimes keep things that they
don’t even need or that they don’t find any value in. Give to your relatives or to charity your old clothes that are now
too small for you to wear. This applies to your other things. Upon checking an item, just ask yourself, “Will I still find
use for this thing in the future?” If the answer is “No,” then give it away or dispose of it. Then properly organize and
file whatever is left.
3. Create a unique folder for each day of the month. This may be a little time-consuming at first; but once
you’re done, you have a very efficient system for organizing and scheduling your tasks. The way it works: Create a
folder for the 1st day of the month, 2nd day, 3rd day, and so forth. After having 31 folders (representing the maximum
number of days in a given month), you are now ready to utilize this tactic. Let’s say your credit card bill arrives on
the 12th of June, but it won’t be due until the 20th. You may put it in the Day 20 folder, or Day 19 (to give you some
leeway). By using this method, it would be hard for you to miss out on any important date or occasion.
Deduction and Induction
There are ways to organize sets of ideas. Like in a story or a narrative, one can look for the conclusion in the
end or sometimes, as most flashback stories would narrate, you can go backward. This is also true in the process of
Deductive and Inductive Logic. You could either start from Generalization to Specific details in the process of
Deduction. You may create your hypothesis first like: “Earning more in three years through small business ventures
with close friends is possible if…” and giving specific details like how to do it or what should be done to follow the
organized pattern towards a successful conclusion.
On the other hand, Inductive Logic may involve specific details first (like what are the factors that lead to
bankruptcy) to form a general conclusion or an overall analysis. In creating an organized strategy to manage time,
you can also employ the deductive and inductive way of projecting ideas or concepts. To further concretize these
points here are some situations, which use both deduction and induction in the process of calculating time.
Deduction:
 At the grocery, when buying things, you might consider the needs of your family, your own needs, your
budget, or your general preference in choosing items. It would also be helpful if you prepare a shopping list. On the
other hand, you may also think of the menu you are about to cook for the whole week and from this, you can create
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your shopping list. This way, you are not only saving time spent in the grocery but you may also estimate your
money for such expenses.
 During business meetings or formal negotiations, the objectives agreed by both parties should be the
guiding principle in knowing what to discuss and in what order. In negotiating something, goals or conclusive
statements like “a successful bargaining agreement” would be the necessary end that will condition the creation of
means or moves.
 In writing a book, one would have a general idea of the story and the flow of the narrative.
 In preparing for a party, one would be wary of the theme or the desired atmosphere that the organizer
had thought of.
Induction:
 In some research work for an unknown knowledge or conclusion, the researcher has to look for
evidences or facts that will give conclusive results.
 Planning for a grand vacation might have no conclusions yet but during the preparation or the actual
trip, a person may experience a lot of different moments, which can contribute to a memorable vacation or a
regrettable one.
 To make architectural plans, much specific details should be considered (though this can also be done
using a general theme or conclusion). The final plan is based on the availability of the resources, the time frame on
which the house or structure should be built, and other factors that are involved in the construction.
 In solving some problems, you have to know the different factors, which might have been the cause of the
dilemma. There are many things to think of in solving difficult situations but these factors or details would help you
create a clear picture about what might have happened and what can be done to resolve conflicts and
contradictions.
The process of logical reasoning is a good strategy to create and organize plans and execute preparations
that you have made. There are more ways to create strategies and these two are just the basic directions that can
guide you in finishing your task. You must be creative and flexible in handling the situation and you can base the
direction you are following on these two scientifically proven processes. You must intelligently choose from these
directions based on carefully crafted ideas to succeed in less time and effort.
THE BENEFITS OF ERGONOMICS

Ergonomics is the organized and scientific study of space and its possible perfect feature for better human
management and labor. The use of space to avoid cluttering and pressure is very important in minimizing errors and
mistakes that could lead to the disruption of operations during work.
Ergonomically crafted office space is better than unplanned or disorganized working scenarios. In making
office supplies and machines that aid human work and behavior, the intelligent use of space and human efficiency
are considered to better equip highly complicated labor scenarios like big offices and factories, or specialized
venues like hospitals, laboratories or even our homes.
However, planning the place for work doesn't only give comfortable working conditions but it is also saves
time and energy as you engage in different tasks. Organized space can lead to a more organized flow of work and
the production of better products and services. On the other hand, it would also help an individual in avoiding
pressures, mistakes, and obstacles from unfit spaces and conditions. Here are some ways to help you create an
ergonomically better working space and lifestyle:
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1. Avoid clutter. Neatness doesn't only give an impression of human cleanliness but it also makes a room
free from dangers and oversights. It would also be easier to find a tool or a document if things are in their proper
order. This would minimize your time looking for such objects. Examples:
 Keep a handy box that will serve as your multi-purpose box whenever you pick lost objects in your
house. You can use this box after cleaning a room or making an inventory inside your closet. Finally,
make sure that those objects you will find go into their proper places.
 Clean as you go. Maintain the habit of cleanliness, in small ways or in general clean up. You can spend
10 minutes picking up objects or misplaced things. You may involve other people to engage in this habit
too.
 Never put garbage anywhere. More so, don't let these unnecessary objects hide inside your cabinets,
closets, or under your bed until they become little monsters of their own.
 Your table should be your soul. A clean and organized working table will help you become more
efficient. Daily tasks or mundane things (like sharpening a pencil or putting staple wires on a stapler)
wouldn't become a detraction to more complicated activities like analyzing entries of an accounting book
or filing important documents if your table is neat and highly organized.
 Do not buy bulky appliances or office equipment. Your house or office should have more space for
movement and accessibility for things you need for your daily tasks.
 Always follow the "On the fly" philosophy: Close an open drawer when you pass by it, empty a full
wastebasket, pick-up a clothing item lying down on the floor and hang it up, file papers and never let if
fly around the house or office space.
 Check the items if they are arranged according to their proper grouping. A pencil shouldn't be with the
knives, spoons and other utensils. Milk cartons shouldn't be near toilet disinfectant. Food and insecticide
being together could endanger people’s lives.
 Compartmentalize, organize each box, label them and arrange them in such a way that no heads will
suffer bumps from falling objects.
2. Keep updated on the ergonomically designed houses or office spaces. You can either hire a professional
industrial interior designer to do the job of keeping your space organized, or learn the principles of maintaining an
efficient and cozy working environment.
3. Use colors that will motivate or encourage people to become cheerful, happy, and interested with their
works. Bright colors can subdue the feeling of loneliness in a vast office space but brightness shouldn't become a
distraction or an irritant to the eye. The color gray, on the other hand, commands formality and a savvy environment
fit for serious and corporate setting. Verdant or green surrounding relaxes the mind and eyes but these should be
balanced by neutral colors such as black or blue to avoid redundant feelings or laxity.
4. Make the temperature just right. Temperature is also a factor that could either irritate or motivate a
person to work. Temperature should be just right and the senses must be tempered with pleasant stimuli during work.
Make sure that the air conditioner or thermostat of your heater works properly and gives the right temperature
according to the change of weather.
5. Use modern gadgets and equipment. They can be of big help in maintaining a functioning working
environment. Chairs should be adjustable, with tilting features and rotating bases. Acquire forearm and wrist
supports. Fax machines, telephones, computers, modems, printers should be in proper network to help you work with
things faster. However, delays and malfunctioning of these gadgets can be a source of headache or time wastage if
improper use is frequent or if technology and human conditions are not properly managed. Also, technology should
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not be a hindrance in creating a better working environment; therefore, you should learn from the basics and should
be updated on the current information in the use and maintenance of sophisticated office equipment.
These are just some of the ways you can improve your house or your working space. Now if you try to follow
some of these, you would notice that your working time would become fast and efficient. You would also become
aware of your environment. This would give you the feeling of command and control over your workplace, your life,
and the time that surrounds you.
GET ORGANIZED - TIPS AND TOOLS FOR MANAGING TIME, SPACE

AND PAPER
BASIC ORGANIZING RULES AND SECRETS
Discover organizing rules
You're about to begin a six-part course on how to get more organized. You'll discover why clutter
accumulates and how to avoid it, or at least control it. You'll also figure out ways to manage your time better. By the
end of the course, you'll have:
 Less clutter in your home
 Better techniques for handling paper at home and at work
 A schedule that allows you more time for the things that really matter
 An organized kitchen and clothes closet to help you be more efficient as you prepare meals or get ready
for work
 Systems in place to organize your family
 Routines for keeping your home and life more organized
Organizing is a vast topic, of course, and one that's of interest to almost everyone. Who couldn't stand to be
more organized? But needs and situations vary: not everyone has children, and not everyone works outside of the
home. This course doesn't attempt to address every possible situation; rather, it provides you with general organizing
tips and systems that you can apply to your own life, wherever you need the most help. Throughout the course, you'll
find tips that show you how to use technology tools -- your laptop or desktop computer, a scanner, your PDA, your
Internet connection, and/or commonly used software -- to help organize time, space, and paper.
Be sure to complete the assignments and take the quizzes for each lesson. They help reinforce all the
organizing secrets you're about to discover. The course message board is a major part of this course, as well. Check
in frequently to share questions, comments, and experiences with your instructor and classmates -- and feel free to
share organizing tips, goals, challenges, and accomplishments, as well.
This first lesson covers basic organizing rules you can use to organize anything. You'll also learn how to
control clutter and set up organizing systems. Are you ready to live a more organized life? Let's go!
Two simple rules of organizing
Review the following rules before you try to organize anything. Professional organizers live by these basic
concepts which, when put into action, can cure disorganization. Write them down. Post them. Do them until they
become second nature to you:
 Keep like items together. Store all snack items together in your kitchen or pantry. Place all your casual
shoes on one shelf. Keep tape, scissors, and stapler in the same place.
 Keep things where you use them. Store printer paper next to your printer. Place drinking glasses near the
fridge. Store blankets and sheets in the bedrooms.
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Let's say you're getting ready to organize your family room. Your first step is to collect like items and put
them in piles. You might have videos, reading materials, games, and a teacup collection.
Your second step is to consider where each category is used. The videos belong near the TV, reading
materials near the couch, and games near the coffee table. Instead of having teacups spread throughout the room
and on windowsills, display them together on a shelf.
Finally, as you go through each item, make a decision. Do you use it? Is it a beautiful decorative item or a
cherished memento? If your answer is no to both questions, why are you keeping it? Donate or dispose of the item.
Next up
Why is it so hard to tame clutter?
Tame that clutter
Taming clutter is high on the list of reasons why people want to get organized. Why is it so difficult to live a
clutter-free life? Here are five common excuses:
 I paid a lot of money for that. You're also wasting money taking care of it. Every item we own costs us in
time, upkeep, and space. If you don't use it or love it, cut your losses and let it go.
 It was a gift. Do you love it? Do you use it? Remember the nice gesture, but donate the item.
 I might need it someday. Why will you need it? Exactly how will you use it and when? Will you be able
to find it when you need it? Don't keep an item just because you have it.
 It just needs to be fixed. How long has it been in need of repair? Either fix it yourself now, have it fixed
this week by a professional, or get rid of it.
 It's a souvenir. If you don't love it and you have photos or other mementos of the trip or event, get rid of
it. There's no rule that says you must keep all 50 seashells you brought home from your first beach
vacation.
TIP
Scan or use a digital camera to photograph your mementos, then use PowerPoint to create a scrapbook of
your daughter’s graduation, or your first Christmas together, or your honeymoon in Hawaii. Use the Notes area to
jot down memories while you've still got a tan. The beauty of doing this is that you can easily share your
presentation with family and friends -- either on a CD or over the Internet.
The secrets of uncluttering are to work on one small space at a time and to make a decision on each and
every item you pick up -- as soon as you pick it up. It's best to save closed spaces, such as drawers and closets, for
later. Begin with an area that bothers you most. After you've successfully completed a small area, you'll feel
motivated to continue to other areas. Perhaps your entry is always cluttered with backpacks, jackets, keys, and mail.
Perhaps your dining room table is filled with paper, toys, and books. Those are good places to start.
An item is useful only if you can find it. Otherwise, it's clutter.
Before you begin uncluttering, gather some supplies. You'll need trash bags, a pen, sticky notes, and three
baskets or bins. Mark the three containers as follows:
1. Elsewhere: This container is for items that belong elsewhere in your home.
2. Donate: This container is for items you'll give to someone else, perhaps to a charity or to your Uncle
Charlie.
3. Memento: This container holds the items you keep because they mean so much to you.
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TIP
Assign a designated place (memory box, trunk, or container) for each household member to keep mementos
and souvenirs.
Next, plan a reward for yourself upon completion of your organizing session. Looking forward to a brisk
walk through the woods or a soothing bubble bath can motivate you to complete 45 minutes of organizing.
Finally, set a timer for 20 minutes; take a five-minute break, and work for 20 more minutes.
TIP
Wouldn't it be great to see a reminder pop up on your computer telling you "Take a bubble bath"? Use your
Outlook Calendar to schedule your 45-minute organizing session ... and your reward.
Where do I start?
Now you're ready to begin. Start in one corner of your entry or at one end of your table and work your way
around. Make a decision on each item as you pick it up. Ask yourself the following questions:
 Do I (or others in the household) use this?
 Is it a decorative item that is beautiful or loved?
 Is it a treasured memento?
 Is it a piece of paper I must act on or keep for legal or tax purposes?
If you answer no to all these questions, your solution is simple: get rid of it. If you answer yes, you need to
decide where the item should be stored and how. Review the organizing rules and put those simple concepts into
play. After you've done this a few times, you'll find it easier to make quick decisions.
If you're organizing your cluttered entry, perhaps you need to hang some hooks for backpacks, jackets, and
keys. Add an attractive wicker tray for mail. Try a small wipe-off board for quick notes to family members.
Next up
Why systems are so vital.
Set up systems
If you have trouble deciding where an item belongs, it's because you're lacking systems. To keep any home
running smoothly, it's necessary to develop routines and systems. You'll learn about specific systems for various
aspects of your home and life in upcoming lessons, but for now let's assume that the family room is a huge clutter
problem zone in your home. Once you unclutter it, it's time to put a system in place. How do you do that?
TIP
Work on one small space at a time.
As you unclutter, make a list of specific problem areas. Maybe your children leave videos everywhere. There
are chip bags and candy wrappers scattered throughout the room. Newspapers and magazines are piled on every
available surface. Try this system:
 Place a large basket in the room to hold reading materials. Then, set a throw-away date. For example,
any newspaper two days past its publication date and any magazines more than two months old go in
the recycling bin. (You can schedule recurring throw-away dates in your PDA or Outlook Calendar and
let your computer remind you when they come due.) Teach household members to use the basket or
suffer the consequences. Perhaps you'll throw out any reading materials you find outside the basket or
maybe you'll confiscate them. Household members can then earn them back by doing an extra chore.
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 Place a large trashcan in the family room for easy disposal of trash. Put a tray on the coffee table for
anything that goes back to the kitchen. Give nightly clutter duty to a family member -- that includes
returning the tray to the kitchen and picking up any trash.
 Finally, analyze the video problem. Is there adequate storage space for videos and games? Maybe an
open bin will work better to contain the video clutter on a daily basis. Someone can then have the
weekend task of returning videos to the cabinet.
It's easy to set up systems once you think through your clutter challenges. The easier you make it to put things
away, the more likely people are to put them away.
TIP
Organizing is a process, not a one-time accomplishment. Set up systems to stay organized and keep away
clutter.
Next up
How organized are you?
Where are you?
Take this informal quiz to help you decide where you are on the organizational scale. There are no wrong
answers -- and no bonus points for especially neat and tidy answers! Have fun with these questions and begin to
understand your starting point.
1. How often are you late for work/school, appointments, and social events?
a. Never. Never ever without a good reason.
b. Only once in awhile when my day gets out of kilter.
c. Regularly, and usually for the same reasons.
d. Almost every day, all day long.
e. You mean it's actually possible to get somewhere on time?
2. Can you find your keys?
a. I always know where both sets of keys are at all times.
b. They are usually in my (front pocket, purse, dish near the door, etc.).
c. Hmm. I think I set them on the counter.
d. I know I had them just a minute ago, or maybe that was yesterday.
e. I knew there was something I needed to take with me!
3. Could you have friends over to your house to socialize, or accommodate overnight guests?
a. Sure! Bring on the party!
b. Yes. Just let me put out fresh towels and check the refreshments.
c. Well, okay. Give me half an hour to clean up a bit.
d. Now? I really need to take the day off to get this place in shape.
e. You're kidding, right? I can't have anyone over here!
4. How's your paperwork?
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a. Fine. Why do you ask?
b. Bills paid, everything's filed, but don't touch the contract on my desk.
c. I have a folder of things to file, and some action items sitting out.
d. I know I'm behind on this. I think my electric bill is overdue.
e. I'll never catch up with the piles, and people are talking.
Let's find out where you are now -- organizationally speaking. Add up your points using the following key:
A=1, B=2, C=3, D=4, and E=5. If your total is:
 17-20: You're not alone in disorganization. You've come to the right place.
 13-16: It could be worse. You're right to think you can be better organized.
 9-12: You have some organizational systems in place, but there's room for improvement.
 8 or fewer: Here to sharpen your skills?
No matter what your score, just remember that anyone -- anyone -- can get organized!
Moving forward
You now have some basic knowledge to organize and unclutter any area in your home. You know the rules,
and you know what clutter trouble areas to watch for. You're ready to set up systems so your home will run more
smoothly. Organizing is a simple process, so don't allow yourself to become overwhelmed. Focus on one small
space each day and you'll have an organized home in no time.
Assignments are designed to help you apply the information learned in the lessons.
Organize a space
Now that you're familiar with the rules of organizing and clutter-control techniques, you're ready to begin
organizing an area of your home. Here's your assignment:
1. Choose an area of your home to unclutter and organize. Start small. Perhaps you'll want to begin with
one corner of your family room or bedroom.
WARNING
Trying to tackle a large area can be frustrating. Do a little bit at a time to stay motivated.
2. Pick your reward. Decide how you'll reward yourself at the end of the session. You might enjoy a bubble
bath or a nap.
3. Gather supplies. You'll need a trash bag, a pen, sticky notes, a timer, and three containers. Label the
containers: Elsewhere, Donate, and Memento.
4. Set your timer for 20 minutes; take a five-minute break, and work for 20 more minutes.
PAPER IS POWER: SMART SORTING AND FILING STRATEGIES

STEP ONE: SORT IT
In this lesson we'll focus on devising specific systems to eliminate paper piles wherever they occur.
There are four easy steps to set up this system:
1. Buy supplies. You'll need a file box, hanging folders, manila folders, and an in-box.
2. Decide on folder names. Start with a few names and expand as needed.
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3. Label folders. Keep handy a pen or your laptop and labeling software.
4. Begin sorting. Place all your loose papers in your in-box. Pick up one piece of paper at a time and make
a decision about it.
Let's go over these steps in more detail.
Supply must-haves
Professional organizers recommend purchasing a portable file box to sort and manage incoming paper.
There are several sizes and styles available. Some boxes have hinged lids and handles; some have removable lids.
Look them over and buy the style you prefer.
You'll also need letter-size hanging files, manila file folders, and a pen. The basic paper-sorting system is
easy to set up. As you use it, you'll want to add and delete folders according to your personal preferences.
WARNING
Keep your system simple. If it's too complicated, you'll stop using it and eventually be right back where you
started.
It's important to remember that this file box is for active files only; this is not a permanent filing system. Ask
yourself, "Do I need to do something with this piece of paper?" If the answer is "Yes," it goes in this file box. If the
answer is "No," put the paper into a filing basket or a to-be-filed file. We'll talk about permanent filing systems later
in this lesson.
Folder names that work
The following is a list of possible folder names into which you can sort your paper. Use the minimum number
of files possible, and keep your system simple. Some of your options might include these:
 Urgent: Place any paperwork that needs to be dealt with immediately in this file. You can also call this
folder Today or Now.
 Do: This file is for any item you need to act on. Perhaps you need to make a phone call or reply with a
short note. Put it in here if it's not urgent.
 Consider: When you receive information on an item you might want to buy or an event you might want
to attend, put it in this file.
 Hold: Your son has a class zoo trip next month, and you're a chaperone. What do you do with the
directions and instructions until then? Put them in the "Hold" file. This is also the place to put tickets to
upcoming events.
TIP
Use Outlook Calendar to schedule the trip, then scan the directions and attach the document to the event.
You'll be prepared and on time, and ready to share the directions with less-organized parents.
 Read: Sort newsletters, notes, and letters into this file. You might also want to place a basket near the
couch or in your bedroom for magazines and catalogs.
 Spouse: Any item for your spouse goes into this file. You can also set up files for other household
members if they receive lots of mail.
 File/Scan: If a piece of paper simply needs to be placed into your long-term filing system or scanned into
your computer, you can put it in this file while you sort.
 Computer: When you come across a Web site address you want to visit, place it in this file. If you need
to reply to a note via e-mail or typed letter, put it here. Anything that needs to be done on the computer
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can be kept in this file. You'll be much more efficient if you do all your computer work at the same time.
 Pay: If you don't currently have an effective bill-paying system, simply place bills in this file until it's time
to pay them. The article "10 Tips to Organize and Simplify Bill Paying" on Organized-Mom.com has
some good bill-paying tips.
 Receipts: You return from a shopping trip. What do you do with the receipts? Put them in this file, and
match them up with your credit-card statement at the end of the month.
Of course, there are other names you can use. Choose the ones you think will work for you, and try them out
for a month. Adjust the system as necessary to fit your personal needs. If you use labeling software, changes to your
system are easy and painless.
TIP
When organizing bills, make a note of the due date in the upper-right corner of the pay envelope so you can
quickly see the date without opening the bill. Later, you'll cover it with a stamp and no one's the wiser. To make
doubly sure you pay it on time, schedule the due date in your Outlook Calendar or PDA and set a reminder for five
days ahead.
Sort those papers
After setting up your system, gather your paper piles from around your home. Make a decision on each
piece of paper: What do I need to do with this? What is my next step?
The purpose of this system is to keep your papers organized. You completely avoid paper piles if you use this
system consistently. As you sort your paper, remember that the file that sees the most action should be the trashcan
or the recycling bin.
After you sort your paper items, you can begin working on the items in your Urgent folder. Sorting is
important, but it's only one step in the process.
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The beauty of this system is that you can sort paperwork while you're watching TV or sunning on the deck.
You can then carry the box with you to the computer and to your permanent filing system.
Place an in-basket or tray near your file box. Any piece of paper that enters your house should be placed
into this basket. Take a few moments to sort daily and you'll never have a paper pile again!
You'll probably find holes in your sorting system after you use it for a few months. That's normal. Organizing
is a process, so any system needs to be adjusted every once in awhile. If you find papers piling again, you either are
not sorting often enough or you need more file topics.
Next up
What to do with the sorted papers.
STEP TWO: FILE IT
After your active files are in place, you can begin working on your permanent filing system. The secret to any
usable filing system is to keep it simple. Here's how:
 Have an easy-to-use filing cabinet or box. If your file drawers stick or are crammed full of files, you're
less likely to use them. Before you begin organizing your permanent files, make sure that you have a
solid filing cabinet or portable file boxes.
 Make a list of your current file headings. This takes only a few minutes and will save hours of work later.
On paper, quickly separate all your files into three categories. Mark them with an F for financial-related,
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an H for home-related, and a P for people-related files.
TIP
If you're going to scan your files, use these same categories when you set up your electronic folders.
 Separate all your financial files. These files include insurance policies, pension and retirement funds, tax
returns, pay stubs, bank statements, credit-card bills, and any other financial information you might
have.
 Separate files that have anything to do with your home. You might have files for utilities, services,
decorating, closing information, and appliance warranties.
 Separate files that are people-related. This category is for medical bills, health insurance information,
education, vacations, personal projects, and hobbies.
 Decide how much space you need for each category. It's best to use a separate file box or drawer for
each category.
 Put the files away into three drawers or boxes. Then, go through each file and consolidate or divide as
necessary.
 Make a new file index and tape it to your filing cabinet or box. It's easy to maintain this list in Word or
Excel. This simple step makes retrieval and filing go much more quickly.
Eighty percent of files are never retrieved.
Be careful when labeling files. Within each of the three categories, you'll have numerous headings that
belong in hanging folders. For example, you'll have a Medical hanging folder under the people category. Headings
(hanging folders) break down into subheadings (manila folders). For example, you'll have a folder for each
household member's medical history, a folder for health insurance information, and a folder for health insurance
claims. Label each manila folder with the hanging folder name and then the folder name. For example, you might
label a folder with Medical. When filing, think in terms of broad categories.
TIP
A laptop and labeling software keeps the big picture in view and makes rearranging and inserting new
categories and folder names a snap.
Many people are afraid to throw away papers because they "might need it someday." The truth is that once
filed, most papers are never accessed again, so keep only important information. Sort through your files annually to
get rid of the bulk. The easier it is to file papers, the more likely you are to use your filing system.
Filing how-to
Here are some tips to make filing easier:
 Use staples to hold papers together. Paper clips add bulk to your files.
 Position hanging file tabs. Place the tabs in the same position on each hanging file. Your eyes can more
quickly scan a straight line than a zigzagged one.
 File papers flat, if possible. Folded papers take up more space.
 Remove large items. Take out catalogs and binders. Clip out and file important information, or store the
bulky items elsewhere.
 Use few words. Use as few words as possible for file headings.
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Ask your accountant or attorney for paper retention guidelines. These vary by state and will give you a better
idea of what you need to retain from a legal perspective.
You'll also want to keep the really important documents in a fireproof safe or safe deposit box. These include
(but aren't limited to) copies of wills, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and retirement information.
What if a flood or fire destroyed your wedding photos?
One of the easiest ways to cut down on paper clutter is to scan the items you want to keep -- photos,
certificates, children's artwork, love letters, insurance policies, contracts, tax returns, expense reports -- and store
them on your computer. You can print them on demand. Some things you don't need access to on a regular basis,
such as birth certificates and love letters, you want to keep originals of, but you can store these in a safe deposit box.
Storing digital images of important documents does two things: it makes an inventory of the things you have, and it
acts as a back up in case the original document is destroyed, which makes replaceable items easier to replace and
ensures that irreplaceable items aren't gone forever.
Be careful, though, not to keep so much extraneous information on your hard drive that you get bogged
down searching for the documents you need. Rather than store scanned reference information (documents that you
may need at a later date) on your computer, back it onto CDs or other types of external tape drives and delete it
from your computer's hard drive. Make it easy to find these documents by storing them by category. For example, all
family documents could be on one CD or tape and tax information on another.
Next up
What to do with all those odd bits of paper.
Dealing with bits and pieces
Sometimes, the little pieces of paper lying around the house cause the most clutter. What do you do with all
the napkins, business cards, and sticky notes littering the counters? Here's a quick and easy system to deal with
them:
 Clean out your purse, briefcase, car, junk drawer, and backpack. Also gather the small pieces of paper
from around the house.
 Rewrite, staple, or tape the information into a spiral notebook. Each day, move a couple of items to your
daily to-do list. If the information is simply a phone number or e-mail address, take the time to put it in
your address book or on your computer (more on this in Lesson 3).
 Establish a routine. Get in the habit of placing small pieces of paper directly into your in-basket until you
have time to deal with them.
Reading materials often cause feelings of stress and guilt. In our information society, we feel like we can't
keep up with all the information being thrown at us on a daily basis. Be picky about the type of information you
read. Choose a few subjects that interest you and limit your reading to those subjects.
TIP
Carry reading material with you wherever you go. Grab your reading file from your box whenever you
leave the house. You'll be surprised at the opportunities you'll have to catch up on your reading: while waiting at the
doctor's office, for a friend at a restaurant, or in line at the grocery store.
If you collect information on hobbies or other subjects of interest, try using a binder for each topic. Use index
tabs to break down the topics. For example, you might have a Parenting binder with sections on Baby, Young
Childhood, School Years, and Teens.
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Use Word or Excel to create an electronic index of the items in each binder to simplify updating and
rearranging the list. When you maintain the list electronically, you can do a search for "Tarantula Book Report" and
know just which binder to pull off the shelf.
Next up
What to keep and what to pitch.
Retention schedules
If you're holding excess paper -- and who isn't? -- it might be worth your while to review your legal
obligations. Records managers call these guidelines retention schedules . Rules for retaining papers vary by state,
industry, and individual practice. When in doubt, consult a professional: an attorney, accountant, or other reliable
source.
Common sense says that you need to keep papers that will support your actions in matters of business, law,
taxation, and property. In other words, keep what proves your position with regard to legal and financial matters.
The tax man cometh
Everyone asks, "What about the IRS?" The IRS maintains the legal right to question your federal tax return:
 For three years from your filing date or for two years after the date you actually paid the tax, whichever
is later.
 If the IRS believes you misrepresented your income by 25 percent or more. The agency can request an
audit of your return up to six years later.
 Whenever there is a question about a fraudulent return or if you fail to file. There is no time limit.
The long and short of it is that you need to keep your tax returns (and any documents necessary to support
your position) indefinitely. The IRS offers Publication 552: Recordkeeping for Individuals as a guide to personal
records retention; and Publication 583: Starting a Business and Keeping Records for small business owners. See
www.irs.gov.
When reviewing incoming information, filing, or weeding old files, ask the following questions:
 Is this needed (instead of just wanted)?
 Is this current information? Will it be current when I need to reference it?
 Can I find the information again elsewhere?
 Where will I think to look for this information (versus Where will I stash it?)?
Divide your retention schedule into three segments: indefinite (forever), long-term, and short-term.
Remember, these are suggestions. Be sure to consult your attorney, accountant, or a reputable business advisor.
Learn More: To get some tips on how long you should keep important papers, read Retention Guidelines.
TIP
Keep an inventory list of these documents in Word or Excel.
Next up
Discontinue receiving paper statements whenever you can.
Consider banking and bill paying online
You can relieve the amount of paper coming into your home by investigating whether the companies you do
business with -- bank, credit card, mortgage, utility, telephone, internet, cell phone -- offer online statements and
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billing. If they do, take them up on it. Often you can download statements and save them on your computer to review
any time you'd like.
Most banks allow you to download your statements in formats that are ready to import into common money-
management software such as Money or Quicken. This gives you a head start when it comes time to do your taxes.
If your bank offers an online billpay option, sign up for it. When payment is due, you can access your
account and make a manual electronic payment or schedule an automatic recurring payment. If your bank doesn't
offer billpay, or you don't want to pay for the service, you can often schedule automatic payments with the vendor. If
the charge is variable, say, for example, an electric bill, you can put a "not to exceed" cap on the amount of money
the company can deduct from your account so that an excessive amount of money isn't deducted without warning.
TIP
Add a reminder to your calendar to check your bill online a few days before it's due.
Moving forward
You now know some basics for dealing with paper. You learned how to sort incoming mail and papers, how
to set up a permanent filing system, and what to do with miscellaneous bits of paper. You also learned what to keep
(and for how long), and got some tips for using technology to help deal with all the paper in your home.
If you find it tough going to stay with your filing, try it in small doses. Set a timer for 15 minutes once a day.
Play music you like and file away! When the timer sounds, that's the end of that session (unless you're really
enjoying it and have time to keep working on your files).
Assignment: Paper is power: smart sorting and filing strategies
Assignments are designed to help you apply the information learned in the lessons.
Set up your paper system
Part 1: Set up a filing system
Go to your local office-supply store and purchase a portable file box. There are several kinds available, so
choose one that best fits your needs. If you don't already have them, buy some letter-size hanging files, manila
folders, and a basket
Set up your own system using some or all of these headings
 Urgent: This folder is for items that you need to take care of immediately.
 Do: Place all the non-urgent tasks that you must do in this file.
 Consider: Include invitations and items you might want to buy in this file.
 Hold: This folder is for anything that needs to be held for a future date, such as directions, instructions, or
tickets.
 Read: Letters and newsletters belong in this file.
 Spouse: Place any paperwork for your spouse in this file.
 File/Scan: This folder holds any item that will go directly into your permanent filing system or will be
scanned into your compute.
 Computer: E-mail addresses, letters to type, and interesting Web site addresses belong in this file.
 Receipts: Drop receipts in this file.
 Tax 2005: Place any tax-related receipts, information, or paid bills in this file.
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Part 2: Schedule a paper sort
After you sort your files, make an appointment for "First Annual Paper Sort" in your Outlook Calendar and
set a reminder for one week ahead. That way you won't forget when it's time to lighten the paper load. And don't
forget to schedule a reward for yourself, as well.
MANAGING YOUR TIME: DERAILING DISTRACTIONS,

PROCRASTINATION, AND LATENESS
WHY MANAGE YOUR TIME?
Have you ever met someone who is highly accomplished at work, calm and organized at home, and still
finds time for sports, hobbies, and friends? Did you ever wonder how he or she got that way? Did you think that
person was lucky, or just born like that?
There is a secret to achieving that kind of life, the kind that brings you not just professional success but
relaxation and pleasure too. The secret is time management, and anyone can master it through study and practice.
"Management" and "planning" are words we typically associate with the business world. Because of their dry,
boring, workaday sound, we may think they have no place in our personal lives.
But once you take a few steps to get a grip on your schedule, instead of letting the hours slip away from you,
you'll find that incorporating time management and planning into the way you live will not only work wonders for
your career, but will bring about dramatic improvements in your life as a whole.
The benefits of good time management
There are many benefits of getting a grip on time. You will:
 Reduce stress in your life, which can minimize serious health
 problems, including ulcers and heart attacks
 Lead a more balanced life, with time for leisure pursuits, friends, and family
 Have more focus on each of the things you do
 Become more reliable to other people
 Experience less pressure, and feel more in control
 Achieve more in your career
 Get what you want out of life
Does this last item sound like a bold claim? It isn't. The people who achieve their dreams had to
acknowledge those dreams in the first place. The key to achieving your dreams is to make each dream a goal; break
it down into small, manageable steps; and take those steps today. In short, get organized!
Next up
Understanding how time slips away.
Where does it all go?
The first step in learning how to manage your time is to understand where it goes. There are many ways in
which we use up our time, or create schedules that cause us to feel overwhelmed. Depending on what kind of person
you are, you probably face a few of the following hurdles.
Procrastinating
Procrastinating means putting off a task until later. Procrastination comes in two flavors: overt and covert.
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Overt procrastination is easy enough to identify: you know very well that you are procrastinating when you put off
starting a homework assignment and watch television instead. Covert procrastination is harder to spot and
sometimes you have to examine your life carefully for the signs. Suppose you have two tasks you must complete at
work. The more important one is challenging and stressful. The other one is easy but time-consuming. If you spend
your morning doing the easy, time-consuming task, you are covertly procrastinating. You look busy, and it may
appear to others and even to yourself that you are working hard. But putting off the most difficult and important
work until later is just another way to procrastinate.
Procrastination is the thief of time. We have all heard that many times before. The tendency to procrastinate
is the primary reason that many people lead lives of quiet desperation and retire poor. It is not that people do not
know what to do to be more successful. Most people are quite clear about the steps they could take to improve their
lives or their work. The problem is that they continually find reasons not to do it today until it is too late. They
procrastinate until there are no more tomorrows left.
One of the most valuable habits you can develop in life is a sense of urgency, an inner drive to get on with it,
to get the job done now. A sense of urgency is the opposite of procrastination and its most powerful overriding
factor. A sense of urgency can help you as much as any other habit you can develop.
Move On To the Fast Track
In a recent survey, 104 chief executive officers were asked what specific qualities would most mark a young
person in their companies for rapid promotion. They were given a list of 50 qualities and behaviors to choose from.
Surprisingly enough, 84% of them agreed that two of the 50 qualities were more important than any of the
others.
The first of the two qualities was defined as “the ability to separate the relevant from the irrelevant.” It was
the ability to set priorities on the use of time. Every manager has had the frustrating experience of coming upon one
of his staff working away at something that is of low priority when something of higher priority is being left undone.
Many organizations are over-staffed and under-efficient simply because so many people in the organization spend
so much time on items of low priority.
The second quality identified by the 104 CEO’s was “the ability to get the job done fast.” It was the ability to
take the ball and run with it without hesitation or delay. Everyone intends to do good work, but the road to failure is
paved with good intentions. It is only actions that count, and only those actions aimed at accomplishing the most
important tasks.
When You Get Around To It
I was a speaker at the annual convention of a successful national sales organization recently. As each person
came into the room, they were handed a small wooden disk with the words “To It” printed on either side. They called
these disks “Round To-It’s.” They are handed out generously to people who are going to do something as soon as
they get a “Round To-It.”
Once they have been given one of these round disks, they no longer have any excuses for procrastination or
delay.
The ability to select your most important task and then to get it done quickly will do more to move you on to
the fast track in your career than any other habit you can develop, rather than waiting until you get around to it.
Develop a Reputation for Speed and Dependability
If you work for an organization, or if you run your own business, or if you are in sales, and you develop a
reputation for speed and dependability, you will never have to worry about being successful, promoted or rich. With
a reputation for speed and dependability, you will be able to write your own ticket. When you can separate the
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relevant from the irrelevant and get the job done fast, you move to the front of the line in terms of success and
opportunity.
Alleviate Time Poverty
The biggest single shortage among employed people today is “time poverty.” They may have the money they
need, but they don’t have the time to enjoy it. Because of this lack or shortage, free time is becoming more important
than higher cost for many people.
Today, we will pay more for people who will save us time, and for people who will do things for us quickly.
When we ask something to do something for us, or we call a company to supply us with a product or service, we
value and respect them far more when they move fast.
Today, we consider speed of response to our needs to be indicative of higher quality products and services.
People who move quickly are thought to be more intelligent than those who move slowly. We will buy from them
faster and pay a higher price, with less resistance.
On the other hand, when we deal with an individual or organization that moves or responds slowly to our
requests, we automatically assume that organization to be poorly run. We assume that a slow company is managed
by inefficient and ineffective people. We assume that their products are worth less than the products and services of
companies that do things more quickly.
Time Is of the Essence
One of the final clauses in almost every contract written in business today is a clause that says, “Time shall
be of the essence of this agreement.” Today, time is of the essence of virtually everything we do.
Learning to overcome procrastination is a vital step upward on the ladder of success. Without this ability,
you simply cannot succeed at anything worthwhile. Fortunately procrastination is a habit that can be overcome.
Developing a sense of urgency is a habit as well, which can be learned.
Developing a Sense of Urgency
There are seven steps you can take to program your mind with a sense of urgency. This will motivate you to
overcome procrastination, get started on your most important job, and stay at it single-mindedly until it is complete.
1. Set Worthwhile Goals

Set worthwhile goals for yourself, goals that you intensely desire to achieve. All motivation requires “motive.”
A major reason for procrastination is that there is no specific goal that the person wants badly enough to get started
and then to persist until the job is complete.
Many people procrastinate and delay because they don’t really want to do what they are doing. As a result,
they find every excuse to delay and put off getting started. To counter this, you can use goals as a motivator. The
more goals you have, the less likely you will be to procrastinate on the tasks necessary to achieve them. When you
set a large number of goals for yourself, you trigger the Law of Forced Efficiency. You find yourself moving faster
and working more efficiently simply because you have so many things that you have to get done in a limited period.
2. Visualize Your Tasks as Completed

Program your mind to overcome procrastination by continually visualizing your tasks as completed. Visualize
your goals as already achieved. Imagine how you will feel with the job behind you. Imagine and create the feeling
of satisfaction that you will have when the task is accomplished. The more pleasurable the feeling of completion that
you can create in your mind, the more focused you will be. The greater clarity you have of your finished task, the
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more energized you will be. Clear mental pictures of a desired future reality sharpen your mind and enable you to
concentrate better.
For example, if you set an income goal that you want to achieve in a certain time period, and you vividly
imagine how you are going to enjoy the extra money, what you will buy, where you will go, and what you will do,
you will find yourself internally motivated to do the things necessary to achieve this goal. Every time you visualize
your goal as complete, you increase the intensity of your desire and strengthen your resolve. You will then develop
the willpower to do whatever is necessary to transform your mental image into reality.
3. Practice Positive Affirmations

Use the power of positive affirmations to program a sense of urgency into your subconscious mind. At the
beginning of each major task, repeat and affirm over and over, the words “Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!”
Starting as a fatherless boy selling newspapers on the streets of Chicago, W. Clement Stone built an
insurance fortune worth more than $800 million dollars. In his book Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, he
wrote that the repetition of the affirmation “Do it now!” was a key factor in his rise from poverty to great wealth. By
constantly disciplining himself to “Do it now,” he became one of the richest men in the world.
Throughout his company, with branches throughout the United States and around the world, the entire staff
would come together each morning and shout out the words, “Do it now! Do it now! Do it now!” 50 times before
starting the day. This repeated affirmation had a tremendous impact on the salespeople and staff of his company.
Even after they went on to other jobs and companies, they still repeated it to themselves. Many successful men and
women all over the world today trace their success back to their association with W. Clement Stone and his motto
“Do it now!”
You can develop any mental habit you desire by repeated suggestions, in the form of affirmations and
mental pictures, from your conscious mind to your subconscious mind. At a certain point, your subconscious will
accept these words and pictures as new commands. These commands will then become your new operating
principles. Soon, you will find that acting with a sense of urgency is just as much of a habit for you as breathing.
4. Set Clear Deadlines for Yourself

Set deadlines for yourself on all important tasks. Put yourself on record. Tell other people that you will have
the job done by a specific time. You will find that promising others motivates yourself. We all work very hard to fulfill
our promises and to avoid disappointing other people. Often, promising others that you will have something done
by a certain time and date is more powerful than promising yourself.
Setting a clear, specific deadline also programs the task or goal into your subconscious mind. You will then
find yourself internally driven toward getting the job done. When you set a deadline for yourself, your subconscious
mind installs an automatic override on your tendency to procrastinate.
5. Refuse to Make Excuses

Refuse to rationalize or make excuses for procrastination. All procrastination seems to be accompanied by
rationalization. And rationalization is best defined as “attempting to put a socially favorable interpretation on an
otherwise socially unacceptable act.”
Rationalizing is explaining away and making excuses for unproductive behavior. You will notice that people
who procrastinate always have what they think is a good reason to let themselves off the hook. Don’t allow yourself
the luxury of making excuses. Commit yourself to completing a particular task by a certain time, and then burn your
mental bridges. Refuse to consider the possibility of not working on your task. Never seek for reasons to justify non-
completion.
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6. Reward Yourself for Completion
Create a reward system for yourself. Give yourself a reward for successful completion of each part of the job,
as well as for successful completion of the whole job. We talked about this in an earlier chapter. You can actually
program yourself into being eager to start a job, and to continue with it until it is finished. Just give yourself a reward
at each step.
In behavioral psychology, this is called “operant conditioning.” It is used to train both humans and animals.
Behavior is shaped by designing a specific result or consequence that follows every act of the individual. Rewards
tend to reinforce and encourage specific behaviors. Punishments tend to discourage those behaviors. Over time, the
habits of the individual can be shaped and their responses made automatic with repeated rewards.
Develop Positive Habits
Fully 95% of everything you do, or fail to do, is determined by your habits, either good or bad. One key to
success is to develop good habits and make them your masters. You develop the habit of overcoming procrastination
by rewarding yourself every time you do it until you rewire and reprogram your subconscious mind permanently.
Creating a reward system for yourself only requires a little imagination on your part. For example, if you
have a big task to do, and there are five parts to the task, give yourself a reward upon completion of each step.
The reward can be something simple, such as a cup of coffee, a break when you get up and walk around, or
even lunch. If it is a major task, or a major part of the task, you can reward yourself by going shopping, buying
something you like, taking yourself out for dinner, or even taking a vacation with your spouse or family.
When you put a reward system in place, and you discipline yourself not to take the reward until you have
completed the task, or part of the task, you eventually find yourself internally motivated to start and to finish your
tasks and responsibilities. In a way, your focus of attention moves away from the difficulty of the task itself and onto
the enjoyability of the reward.
Overcoming Call Reluctance with Rewards
For example, to help salespeople overcome the fear and reluctance associated with cold calling on the
telephone, we set up a simple reward structure. The salesperson sets a specific time and place to telephone. He sets a
specific goal for a number of calls, appointments or sales. He then gets a fresh cup of coffee and puts it in front of
him. Every time he makes a call he is allowed to take a sip of coffee. Soon, he becomes motivated to make as many
calls as possible so that he can drink the coffee before it goes cold.
Sometimes we take a cookie and break it up into small bites, or place a bowl of jellybeans in front of the
salesperson. Each time the salesperson makes a call and gets through to a prospect, he or she is allowed to eat a
piece of cookie or jellybean. In no time at all, like the Pavlovian response, where the bell rang and the dog salivated,
the salesperson becomes eager to make calls and enjoy the reward. It sounds simple and even childish, but it is
extraordinarily effective in developing the habit of overcoming procrastination.
You can practice operant conditioning with your children to train them in the good
habits that they will need as adults. Offer to take them to McDonald’s or watch television if
they clean up their room or complete their homework. Refuse to allow them the reward until
the job is done satisfactorily. You will be amazed at how quickly they get started, and keep going until the
job is finished.
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7. Accept Complete Responsibility for Completion
Seventh, program yourself to overcome procrastination by accepting 100% responsibility for the completion
of the task on schedule. Look only to yourself. Rely only on your own ability. No matter what the obstacle in your
way, resolve to find a way over, around or past it. Refuse to make excuses.
Accepting complete responsibility for results, and never allowing yourself the luxury of a mental escape
hatch, is the equivalent of putting your own feet to the fire. It is amazing how much more you will get done when you
eliminate your excuses and reasons for putting it off.
Five Ways to Get Yourself Started
Overcoming procrastination permanently requires that you use every method and technique possible to get
yourself organized and motivated into starting and completing the job. Here are five things that you can do in
advance to reduce your tendency to procrastinate.
1. Create a detailed plan of action
Begin by creating a clear, written plan with each part of the plan and each step organized in order of
priority. Put an A, B or C next to each step.
Determine the most important thing that you can do to get started and put a circle around that item.
A written plan leads you into action. It gives you a track to run on, and a blueprint to follow. The more you
break down your goal into individual steps, and then list those steps, the easier it is for you to take the first step.
Often, that’s all you need to get going.
2. Clean Up Your Workspace
Clean up your workspace. Begin with only one thing, the most important thing, in front of you. A clean
workspace is a real motivator to action. A good time planner or system of organization can be very helpful in this
regard because it keeps you focused on the next task.
3. Separate the Urgent from the Important

Remind yourself that important tasks are usually not urgent. An urgent task is usually not important. Start off
working on the tasks that are both urgent and important, the tasks that have short time fuses, which must be done
immediately. Then move onto the tasks that are merely important but not urgent. It is these important but not urgent
tasks that contain the greatest potential consequences for your career and your future.
4. Start with Your Most Important Tasks

You always tend to procrastinate on large, important tasks with considerable future value. Successful
completion of these major tasks can make a major difference in your life. There seems to be a universal tendency to
delay working on, or completing, the most important tasks until the last moment.
Some people say that they work better under pressure. This may be true in some cases, because then, you
have no time for excuses. The heat is on. The consequences of not completing the job are too serious to delay. But it
is always better to have the job done well in advance of the deadline.
5. Practice Creative Procrastination

Fifth, learn to practice creative procrastination as part of your time management program. This requires that
you consciously procrastinate on those tasks that contribute little or nothing to the accomplishment of your major,
high-value goals. Since you can never do everything that you have to do, you are going to have to procrastinate on
something. The difference between effective people and ineffective people is that effective people procrastinate on
the things that don’t really matter.
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On the other hand, ineffective people always procrastinate on the tasks that could make a real difference.
Use your willpower and self-discipline to put off and delay doing minor, irrelevant tasks in favor of major, important
tasks.
Many small jobs, left to themselves, have a tendency to become unnecessary. If you don’t do them for a
while, you eventually reach a point where they don’t need to be done at all. These are the tasks that are the best
candidates for creative procrastination.
Before you start on a job, ask yourself, “What would happen if this task were not done at all? ” If the answer
to this question is “Not much,” then put it off as long as you can. Often you won’t have to do it at all.
Sixteen Ways to Overcome Procrastination
Because procrastination is such a major concern of so many people, and has been a bugaboo for people
throughout the ages, a series of ideas and methods for overcoming procrastination have been developed over the
years. Here are sixteen of the most powerful techniques ever discovered to help you to overcome procrastination in
your work and personal life. Think about which one of these ideas could be most helpful to you right now, in your
current situation.
1. Think on paper.
Prepare thoroughly. List every step of the job in advance. Break the job down into its constituent parts before
you begin. The very act writing out every detail and thoroughly preparing in advance will help you to overcome
procrastination and get started.
2. Gather all the necessary materials and work tools that you will require before you
begin.
When you sit down to work, or when you begin a task, make sure that you have everything at hand so that
you won’t have to get up or move until the task is complete. Being fully prepared is a powerful motivator for staying
with the task until it is finished.
3. Do one small thing to get started.

There is a 20/80 rule that says that the first 20% of the task often accounts for 80% of the value of that task.
This is probably what Confucius meant when he said that, “A journey of 1000 leagues begins with a single
step.” Once you have taken even one small step to start the job, you will often find yourself continuing on with the
task and through to completion.
4. Salami slice the task.

Just as you would never try to eat a whole loaf of salami at once, sometimes the best way to complete a
major job is to take a small slice and complete just that piece, just as you would take a single slice of salami and eat
it.
You have heard the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The answer of course is “One bite at a time!”
There is a saying that, “by the yard it’s hard, but inch by inch, anything is a cinch.”
When you select a small piece of the task and then discipline yourself to do it and get it behind you, it will
often give you the momentum you need to counter inertia and overcome procrastination.
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5. Practice the Swiss cheese technique.
Just as a block of Swiss cheese is full of large holes, you treat your task like a block of cheese and you punch
holes in it. Select a five-minute part of the job and do only that. Don’t worry about the whole job. Just pick a small
part of the job with an identifiable amount of time required and then do that part.
For example, if you wanted to write an article or a book, you can break the task down into small pieces and
do just one small piece at a time whenever you get a chance. Many authors begin by writing one page per day. If
you are doing research, you can read one article per sitting. Many people write complete books on airplanes, or
complete their college degrees with snatches of time between other activities. If you wrote one page per day for a
year, you would have a 365-page book by the end of the year.
6. Start from the outside and complete the smaller tasks first.
Often there are preparatory steps you must take before you can tackle the main part of the job. In that case,
starting from the outside and doing all the little tasks necessary will help you to overcome procrastination and get
you started on the big tasks.
7. Start from the inside and do the larger tasks first.

This is the opposite of number six. Look over your list of everything that you have to do to complete the job,
and ask yourself, “What is the biggest single task on this list?”
What is the one item that will take the most time, or require the most effort? Then discipline yourself to start
with that item and stay with it until it is complete. All the other smaller tasks on the list will then seem easier by
comparison.
8. Do the task that causes you the most fear or anxiety.

This usually has to do with someone else. Often it has to do with overcoming the fear of failure or rejection.
In sales, it may be associated with prospecting. In management, it may be associated with disciplining or firing an
employee. In relationships, this may have to do with confronting an unhappy personal situation. In every case, you
will be more effective if you deal first with the item that is causing you the greatest emotional distress or fear. Often
this will break the log jam in your work and free you up mentally and emotionally to complete all your other tasks.
9. Start your day with the most unpleasant task first.

Get it over with and behind you. Everything else for the rest of the day will seem easier in comparison.
A recent study compared two groups of people. One group started an exercise program in the morning. The
second group started an exercise program in the evenings after work. The researchers found that the morning
exercisers were much more likely to still be in the program six months later. They found that starting the day with
exercise was much more likely to lead to the habit of regular exercise than putting it off until the end of the day when
it was easier to make excuses and procrastinate.
Mark Twain once wrote that, “The first thing you should do when you get up each morning is to eat a live
frog; then you will have the satisfaction of knowing that that is probably the worst thing that can happen to you all
day long.”
Your “live frog” is your biggest, most difficult, most unpleasant task. When you start and finish this task
before doing anything else, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that the rest of your day is going to proceed
much more smoothly.
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10. Think about the negative consequences of not doing the job or completing the task.
What will happen to you if this job is not done on schedule? Both fear and desire are great motivators of
human behavior. Sometimes you can motivate yourself by the desire for the benefits and rewards of task completion.
Sometimes you can motivate yourself into action by thinking about the negative consequences of not doing the job as
promised.
11. Think about how you will benefit from doing the job and completing the task.
Write down all the reasons why it would be helpful for you to get this job done on time. The more reasons
you have for completing the task, the more intense will be your desire to begin, and the greater will be your internal
drive to complete what you’ve started.
If you have one or two reasons for getting a job done, you will have a mild level of motivation. But if you
have 10 or 20 reasons for completing the job, your level of motivation will be considerably higher, and so will be
your persistence and self-discipline.
12. Set aside a designated 15-minute period during the day when you will work on your
project.
Set aside a specific time period, sometime during the day, say from 10:00 to 10:15 in the morning, or 2:00
to 2:15 in the afternoon, and resolve just to work for that brief 15 minute period without worrying about anything
else. This technique will often get you launched into the task and completion will be much more likely.
To get the most out of this technique, you must make an appointment with yourself and write it down. Then,
when the designated time comes, have your tools and materials at hand and begin the 15-minute work session.
At the end of the 15 minutes, you may feel like continuing to work. If not, put it aside and schedule another
15-minute appointment at another time. And then keep your appointment with yourself.
13. Resist the tendency toward perfectionism

Since perfectionism is a major reason for procrastination, decide not to worry about doing the job perfectly.
Just get started and work steadily. You can always go back and make corrections and revisions later. Nothing
worthwhile has ever been done perfectly the first time anyway.
Not long ago, a friend of mind started a consulting business. I asked him how it was going. He told me that
he had not done anything yet because it was going to take a full month before he got his brochures, business cards
and letterhead back from the printer.
I told him that his brochures, letterhead and business cards would never get him a nickel’s worth of business.
What he should do was to write his new telephone number on the back of his existing business cards, or get some
made up quickly at a quick copy place, and then just get out and talk to prospective clients. I told him that this would
do him more good than all the brochures he would ever design.
He phoned me a week later and told me that this advice had transformed his thinking about himself and his
business. He had started calling on prospective customers that very day and was already doing business and making
money.
14. Pick one area where procrastination is hurting you.

Select a single identifiable area where you know your tendency to procrastinate is holding you back. Pick the
most important area and resolve to conquer that specific example of procrastination.
Set priorities on your areas of procrastination and then concentrate single-mindedly on the one area where
overcoming it can make the greatest contribution to your success. Always attack the most difficult tasks first.
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Challenge yourself to confront the hardest parts of your work and then get them done before anything else.
15. Develop a compulsion to closure.

Once you have launched, and begun to work on your task, refuse to stop until it is completed. When you
develop the discipline to start a major task and then stay with it until it is finished, you will be laying down the
foundation for a life of persistent, purposeful work. Force yourself to finish the last 5% of the job. That is the part that
is worth all the rest in terms of personal satisfaction.
It is amazing, and somewhat sad, the number of people who overcome procrastination sufficiently enough to
get started on a task, but they never carry it through to completion. As they get closer and closer to the end of the
task, they find more and more reasons and excuses to put off the last 5% or 10%. This is the reason most university
theses and dissertations to complete Masters or Doctoral Degrees never get completed and submitted. A person may
spend years of study in college and leave without the degree because he was unable to push through and complete
the last 5% or 10%.
You only experience the joy, satisfaction and exhilaration of finishing the task when you bring it to
completion. As you wrap up the last detail, you feel a tremendous sense of relief and accomplishment. Your brain
releases endorphins and you get a surge of happiness and well-being. But this is only possible when you complete
the task 100%.
16. Maintain a fast tempo.

Fast tempo is essential to success. Resolve to work at a brisk pace. Walk quickly. Move quickly. Write fast.
Act quickly. Get on with the job. Consciously decide to speed up all of your habitual actions.
It is amazing how much more you will get done when you push yourself to move faster rather than moving at
your normal pace. In fact, if you continually force yourself to work harder and faster, you will start to feel the magic
of the “flow experience.” When you get into this “flow,” you will experience an enhanced feeling of confidence and
competence. When you are in “flow” you will start to plow through enormous quantities of work in a much shorter
period of time than you’ve done in the past.
Deliberately organizing your life, work and tempo so that you regularly trigger this experience of “flow” is a
key to great success. All truly effective people enjoy this mysterious flow of energy on a regular basis. It is activated
by consciously speeding up the tempo of your work and keeping up the pace until you lift off, like an airplane
clearing the ground.
STAYING MOTIVATED
Just look around you, it’s a beautiful world out there. Life is wonderful provided you have the time and can
afford to sit back and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. This is a feeling that hits us every now and then. And then
when we realize that we have to be confined within the floor walls of our office, doing some work that has no scope
for imagination, we end up depressed.
Every job loses its charm after some time if nothing out of the way is done to make the job interesting. To
make things worse, there are too many distractions around us. We end up thinking that this is not the job that I
wanted to be doing. And when we realize that we will be doing this same job probably till the end of our lives, we
will want to scream.
It is a human tendency to get bored with something after some time. When we get a new job, ten for the first
couple of weeks we are like the peasant boy who walked into a new palace. Every thing is new and interesting and
our interest is completely captured. We try to learn things as quickly as possible and are eager to impress and prove
to the world that we are perfect for the job. But after a few months we get used to everything and slowly everything
begins to lose the charm. We get bored and start looking for greener pastures.
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It is at this stage that procrastination starts raising its villainous head. If the tasks that we are doing are
repetitive ad monotonous, the picture becomes bleaker. Along with this, if the requires that we remain on toes all day
long, then the future is sealed. It is in such situations that we need to keep ourselves motivated.
Speaking from the Organizational Behavior point of view let us take a look at what motivation is all about.
The human brain as I mentioned earlier is a virtual store house of energy. There is nothing that we cannot do once we
put our mind to it. Yeah, sure, all that has been proved time and again. But along with it comes a string attached. The
same brain is easily distracted.
In fact our imagination is probably the one thing that can travel faster than light. And so it is no easy task to
keep the brain occupied in the same task for an extended period of time. If the job is monotonous the task becomes
more difficult and if the job is demanding and involves a lot of pressure to keep time then you are done for.
Motivation can be thought of as the process of channeling the surplus energy of the brain towards a definite
goal or purpose.
So how long can the human mind focus on the same thing. Studies have shown that the maximum attention
span of an average human being is just 45 minutes. 45 minutes? So much for those meetings and discussions that
lasted for three or four hours! No wonder nothing much comes out of such meetings. In all likelihood most of the
audience conked out after the first 45 minutes and after that focused their attention on staying awake.
If you have a good boss or superior, then the task of keeping you motivated rests with them. But even then you
have the responsibility to keep yours self motivated, and believe me, self motivation is the best motivation because it
comes from within.
So here are a few tips on how to ward boredom away and keep you motivated.
12 Tips to stay motivated and keep procrastination away
1. Never keep doing the same task for two long
2. Try to take breaks every half an hour. Get up and walk or do some stretching exercises
3. Try to alternate between two boring tasks. This will reduce the boredom in both tasks by 50%
4. If you have someone else with you who is doing the same job, try exchanging jobs with the person
5. Talk about your job to a sympathetic listener who can give you encouragement
6. Reward yourself once you have done a job well
7. If you have an uninteresting job left to do, write it down and pin it somewhere in your work station so that
you can see it and get constantly reminded about it till you do it.
8. Try to make your work environment more attractive by pinning up some motivating words or some
pleasant wall posters, preferably something that can make you smile. Those ‘Dennis the Menace’ posters
are really wonderful for this.
9. If you are allowed to, try playing some soft music while you work.
10. Write down a list of not-so-interesting tasks that you have done and pin it up. It just tells you that if you
have done it before, then you can surely do it again.
11. If possible keep a small potted plant near your work station; watching it grow is a wonderful source of
inspiration. But take care to look after it properly. If you are going to watch it wilt and die, then it is going
to have the opposite effect.
12. Take time to relax, just sit back and close your eyes and hum a favorite tune for a minute or two. But do
not fall asleep!
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Most of the points mentioned above are self explanatory but I would like to elaborate on one point that is
rewarding your self.
This is one tactic that I have found to work wonders with me. If you have finished doing a job, you have every
right and reason to reward your self. All the more if the task was a boring one or one that involved a deadline.
The reward does not have to be any thing great. It can be something like treating yourself to a good dinner in
a favorite restaurant or it could be a simple chocolate bar if you have a sweet tooth.
But most of you weight watchers, it would be best if you could buy yourself something material that does not
just go down your throat. If it is something that can be displayed in your work station, then it’s all the better.
Many such cute (but practically useless) baubles are available in most gift shops.
PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
Before you are going to do something, there is nothing as sensible as a plan. A plan as we know it is
something thought about and chalked out in advance before the real action takes place. Pretty good definition, huh? I
made it up myself.
But then, the word ‘plan’ does not need much of a definition. It has been used so much that it has become
quite hackneyed. So, we all know what it means, but how many of us really resort to planning before we start a
course of action.
No, I’m not referring to a mental picture that we cart out in our minds that is in one word VAGUE. I mean a
real plan in black and white, that is, put down on a piece of paper. Please do not underestimate the importance of a
written down plan. Once we write down something it clears up a lot of hazy areas and opens aspects that we
probably overlooked.
And the most important of all is that with a plan and only with a plan can we get a rough estimate at least of
how much time the course of action would take. Plans should always be time bound and there we get the relation
between time management and planning. In fact planning is as fundamental to time management as organizing
and prioritizing.
The advantages of planning are given below
The 8 advantages of planning
1. Planning helps us to have a better idea about the course of action that we propose to take.
2. Planning better defines the course of action that we propose to undertake.
3. Planning gives a rough estimate of the time required for a project.
4. Planning gives us a fairly good
5. idea about the expenses involved in the project. In fact a budget is only a financial plan.
6. Planning helps us to get prepared for emergencies that may arise during the course of the project.
7. A well though about plan gives us a clear idea about want is to be every day, every week and every
month.
8. Planning helps avoid duplication of labor.
9. If a plan is followed every one will have a clear idea about his or her role.
A point that I would like to add while we are talking about planning is that we should have both sort term
plans as well as long term strategy plans. At the same time we should also try to draft out contingency plans to
deal with a crisis if it arises.
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I thought it would be useful for you to have a brief overview of the different steps involved in planning.
The six steps in planning
1. Set objectives
2. Assess you present situation
3. Survey your alternatives
4. Decide on the course of action
5. Provide for control
6. And Implement the plan
But whatever be the plan I again want to stress the point that a plan should always be TIME BOUND.
But as the project moves along, the plan should be flexible in the sense that it should incorporate any changes
that might prove necessary ounce the project is put into action.
Planning the work in your office
You have to understand that there is nothing like a very routine work that doesn’t require any planning. The
belief that it will go on by itself is wrong. Even tasks that ca be done on an everyday basis can be improved if there is
good planning involved.
Everywhere there is scope for improvement, better methods that are yet to be implemented and problems that
have to be solved. And for all this you need proper planning. Let’s take a look at the different steps involved in
planning for a week.
The best way to plan the work for a week is to maintain a planning sheet. Now, please remember that this is
apart from the routine work that is done in the office.
The following steps will help you to make a planning sheet.
1. Take a fairly big sheet of paper and divide it into the number of working days in your office.
2. The column for each day should further be divided in to the morning and afternoon sessions.
3. Divide the job to be done ad assign each part to a concerned person.
4. Decide on which part of the task is to be done on each day and at which part of the day.
5. Put a cross mark followed by the concerned person’s initials on that section of the day on which you
propose to do the decided part of the job.
6. At the end of the day, if the job is done put a circle round the cross.
7. If the job is not done, carry over the cross and add it to the next day’s cross.
In this way, at the end of the week, you can find out how much of the work was done each day and
subsequent plans can be made for the following weeks
In this way you can plan for a week or a month, depending on your requirement.
While you are drafting your plan and estimating your expenses, you must never forget the fact that time
means money. But your plan should be realistic as well. In order to finish the task at the earliest possible date, there is
no sense in chalking out a schedule which would mean that you will have to break your back in order to meet the
deadline. And that’s about planning.
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ARE YOU A WORKAHOLIC?
There is nobody as good as a person who keeps time. That person is a man of his word, he is dependable
and every employer’s dream come true. It is a pleasure doing business with such a person and the list goes on. But
over here, there is the scent of a problem.
Sometimes the preoccupation with time can make a person a workaholic. Now, this is no joke in fact it is a
phenomenon that is very much on the rise especially among executives. Are you a workaholic? Well, why don’t you
find out? There are a series of questions given below, if you have the time, why don’t you go through them and find
out if you are a workaholic or not.
All you have to do is answer yes or no to the following questions.
1. Do you find yourself constantly preoccupied with your work?
2. Do your family and friends complain that they hardly get to see you?
3. Do you take your work with you when you go home?
4. Do you find it increasingly difficult to get time to relax and have fun?
5. Do you find it difficult to have food at the correct times?
So what are your answers like? If your answer to all the questions was ‘yes’, then you might as well join the
club of “Alcoholics Anonymous”. If three of your answers were affirmative, then you might send in your membership
request. If you gave only two yes answers still you are not safe, none of your answers should be yes!
But I have bad news for you. Becoming a workaholic is not all that good. I suppose you have heard the
proverb, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” Man is not a one-dimensional piece of glass. He has a lot of
facets and sides, interests and drives which must all be developed. He is more like a diamond that must shine and
sparkle when viewed from different angles.
It’s almost as if money becomes the only thing that motivates a person. Now, I want to make one point very
clear. Workaholism is very different from meeting deadlines. We all get deadlines and times when work just piles up
in the office. But that should be a passing phase, probably like when an audit or an inspection is taking place; then of
course all the people are just flying around.
That is not workaholism. In such a situation everyone just joins the team and works as hard as possible to get
things done in the best possible way within the limited time. Though every one may groan and swear, it is something
that gets over within a few days or in a week at the most. That is not an unhealthy thing. In fact the, very though t that
there are lot of people working along with us is something that gets the drudgery out of the job.
Workaholism on the other hand is very different thing. It means that you are going to miss out on a lot of the
good things in life. And before you even know what happened to you, you will end up like one of those steel collar
workers, or in other words a living robot.
Work is important in life. We need to work to earn our daily bread. But work is not the only important thing in
life. Being a person who is very time conscious does not mean that you have to end up being obsessed with your
work. In fact if you are time conscious and are really concerned about getting things done on time, then there are very
little chances that you will end up as a workaholic.
Getting things done on time means working well within the office hours. And that in turn means having
enough free time to enjoy your leisure hours. Every body need time to unwind. And unwinding must certainly be
there. Or else you will end up totally worked up.
Contrary to popular belief workaholism is in reality counter productive. That’s because when it lasts it might
seem good enough, but nothing in this world lasts for ever. Sooner or later you will experience what experts now
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refer to as the Executive Burnout. I will deal more with the executive burnout in the next chapter.
Imagine that you have been working a little more than harder the whole day. You have been on your toes
doing this and doing that. Towards the end of the day you realize, or you just come to know that there is some urgent
work to be done that must be dispatched the following day.
You have two alternatives before you, you can tell the security that you will be working a few extra hours
while the others pick up their bags and leave. The very thought that you have to stay back when the others are leaving
is going to weigh down on you, though you might feel kid of grand when you look at others with the air of a
person who has to do his duty.
Then you have to telephone your spouse or friends and tell them that you will be late and may probably have
to call off the date that you had fixed for the night. That itself is going to make you grumpy especially if you hear an
unenthusiastic grunt from the other side of the line.
After that with a private sigh of resignation you have to sit down to finish that @#%^& piece of work. (I’m sure
you will think of unprintable words to describe the work at this juncture). You have to remember that you are already
exhausted with the busy day that you had. It goes without saying that if at all you finish the task, the work will be far
from satisfactory.
Your other alternative is that you take a quick look at the work and estimate how long is will take for you to
finish it. Then you forget completely about it and pack you things and clear up your workstation and leave with all the
others, bidding a cheerful goodnight to every tom Dick and Harry, and every Jane Susan and Mary. You reach home
in the best of spirits and have a nice time with the kids or enjoy yourself with your date. You go to sleep early and
wake up thoroughly refreshed in the morning. You work out for sometime, have a shower and a good breakfast and
try to reach your office a little earlier than usual with a song in your heart and a spring to your step.
Now if you sit down to do the work, not only will the quality of the work be much better but in all likelihood
you will take les time than is really required for it. Well, what do you think, isn’t it worth trying out?
THE BURNOUT SYNDROME
We have experienced it haven’t we, the din and bustle of modern life, the fret and fury of life in the city,
tensions, worries, anxiety, deadlines... This is going to pay off some day and if you are not careful, before you know
it you will be experiencing the scourge of the modern executive that is the Executive Burnout.
You will be amazed at the number of executives who are hard hit by the burn out syndrome as some
psychologists call it. It has become an almost universal phenomenon among executives across the globe. So what are
the symptoms of Executive Burnout? If you would like to find out if you are on the verge of a burnout, try answering
the following questions.
1. Do you experience flashes of memory loss?
2. Do you sometimes get that ‘BLANK’ feeling when you cannot get head or tail of what you have to do
next?
3. You know that there is a lot of work to be done but you have no idea where to start/
4. You find that you are becoming increasingly irritable and lose your temper quite easily
5. You feel mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the day but still you are restless in the night and
cannot get a good night’s sleep.
6. Even after remaining in bed for 6 to seven hours you wake up feeling weary
7. Your eyes start having dark circles around them
8. You tend to forget meal times and even if you remember them you eat at the most insensible times
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9. Instead of eating square meals you find the t you are sustaining yourself on caffeine and nicotine, which
means you are drinking too much coffee and smoking too many cigarettes.
10. You find yourself working too hard but unable to accomplish all that you want.
Jeepers brother! If at least five of the above statements are true for you then you are in BIG trouble. You have
got to do something about it or you are going to ruin your health.
You will soon start experiencing condition like insomnia (sleeplessness), loss of appetite and stress. These
things will manifest themselves in diseases like hypertension (high blood pressure), ulcers and even a mental break
down. And if you are not careful before long you could end up in an asylum.
Tell me is your life and work worth your job? Shouldn’t it be the other way round? You should decide what
your job should be and not let your job rule your life. It’s really not worth it.
The underlying principle of this argument is that time management is not about doing your job well. It is about
living your life well. You should have time for everything. And everything means work, play, enjoyment, freaking out
and just time to sit and stare; because that is when the most creative ideas are born.
TARDINESS-DON'T WASTE MY TIME
It goes without saying that tardiness is a no-no in any professional establishment. Even if you are standing at
a booking office or in a queue and you notice that the person in front of you is taking his or her own sweet time, you
might start counting to ten so that you do not lose your temper. Most of us cannot tolerate slowness. Sometimes even if
the person who is taking a long time is a senior citizen and is incapable f making haste we produce a range of
sounds to show our exasperation.
So we have so much impatience with others, how much patience will others have with us. I believe that there
are three groups of people in this world. They are:
1. The people who always are on time
2. The people who make an honest effort but more often than once fail to reach on time
3. The group of people who make a living by selling used toothpicks.
Actually there is no group like the third group. The people who really come in that group are the people who
do not make any effort at all to be on time. But then they cannot be considered as people at all and are better off
selling used toothpicks and my blessings into the bargain.
I used to find it very difficult to believe that there could actually be people who didn’t care two hoots
for time. But there are! I don’t know about you, but I really believe that people who consciously waste their time and
because of them, the time of others as well, are real criminals. They should be made to walk the plank! While the rest
of us are struggling so hard to make the maximum use of the time that we have, there are people who don’t care a
damn about things like being late or making others wait.
I suppose most of us fit into the second category that is the group of people who do make an honest effort to
reach on time and do things on time but often fail mainly due to reasons beyond our control. So is there any way out
of this? Of course there is and that is what we are going to talk about.
The first thing that we have to do is develop a deep concern for the time of others. Of course we have the
liberty to waste our time. (I consider even that wrong, but opinions may be different). But we have no right to waste the
time of others. It is just very, very bad manners to keep a person waiting. It shows inconsideration and selfishness on
our part.
Once you instill this thought deep into your mind there is a lesser chance that you will keep another person
waiting because we all want other to think and speak good about us.
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The second thing that you have to do is understand that if you are late for something that involves more than
one person than the severity of the situation ids raised several fold. Like for instance you are late for a meeting that
involves , say, 12 people and they are waiting for you reach to begin the meeting.
You might be just five minutes late. That seems ok enough because five minutes is not such a big deal. But a
crucial point that you may be missing out there is that it not just five minutes that is wasted. Since there are 12
people who are waiting for you, you are in effect wasting…12 times 5, which is 60 minutes of productive time!
Now that looks bad doesn’t it, wasting one hour of productive work?
These two thoughts are enough for any normal person to make some haste and see that there are no
unnecessary delays because of that person.
But still in the course of our daily life, we come across what we call emergencies. Unforeseen events take
place, like your car might refuse to start, or the might be a puncture, or some guests might walk in just when you are
leaving. Hey, we are only human and catastrophes are bound to happen. Just see to it that others are not kept waiting
because of a slight misfortune that you encountered.
If you have a cell phone (every body has a cell phone nowadays) it would be best to call the other person and
inform that you are late. S long as you can inform the other person your offence becomes pardonable.
In case you are unable to inform the person then you really must make amends. Do not, and I repeat it, do
not take it for granted that the other person will understand. Too many things have been taken for granted in today’s
world. You have to go out of your way to apologize for being late.
If you are unable to meet the person on the said day, it would be an excellent idea to send the person a sorry
note to make up for your mistake. At least in the way the person can know that you did make a sincere effort but
things were beyond your control. Such gestures really streamline our relationships with others.
So what do you if you make good efforts to be on time but still do not , because, well because ...of no reason
in particular! It happens you know. You start to get ready to go well in advance and everything works out fine without
any catastrophes on the way. But yet you reach the place a couple of minutes late and everyone stares at you in
disapproval.
In such cases the solution is to work your time backwards. Sounds strange, huh? Well, let me explain how it
works. You should start to calculate the time you need to reach your destination not starting from your home but from
the destination itself. You could try writing it down till you become comfortable with such a mental chart.
Your chats will look something like this.
Time needed to reach the office in the elevator: 1 minute Time needed to park car and pick up things:
1 minute Time needed to find parking space: 5 minutes
Time needed to drive to office from home: 10 minutes Time needed to reach car park from apartment:
3 minutes Time needed to lock apartment: 1 minute
Time needed to dress and get ready: 15 minutes
Time needed to shower and dry yourself: 10 minutes
Now you just have to add up these figures and you will get an exact idea of how long it takes you to get to
office. Again there is something left to do. You may have to make allowances for certain things where crises may
crop up.
Like for instance the drive to office. It would be a god thing to anticipate a traffic jam and give your self some
grace time over there. Similarly finding a parking space can sometimes prove to be more trickier than a treasure
hunt. So you could give yourself a couple of minutes extra time here and there if such activities are involved. Again I
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would like to remind you that the figures given here are just random figures. The figures may vary from person to
person.
At the same time I can’t help wondering why a person would want to shower for than 10 minutes!
If you work backwards like this, you can get a very accurate idea of how long you will need for something.
Then how can you possibly go wrong?
Some tips on making meetings less time wasters.
Meetings have a very bad reputation of being time wasters. How many of us have had to sit through longs
hours of meetings and had to listen to people who ramble on and on about issues which I fact need probably five or
ten minutes to be decided.
As a result, meetings are seldom looked forward to. I thought it might be useful to you to include some tips on
how to make your meetings more time effective. The fact is that meetings are not really all that bad and if meetings
are well planned they can prove to be the best way to brief a group of people on matters like policies, progress, and
points of action.
Meetings, in which brain storming sessions take place, bring out the best ideas from people on how to solve
issues.
So here are 9 tips on time saving for meetings:
1. The participants should be aware of the subject matter of the meeting. Instead of just announcing that a
meeting is to be held, it would be a good idea to inform the participants as to what why the meeting is
being called and what are the matters that are going to be discussed in the meeting.
2. Try to get the members seated in time, if one or two members are going to be late and everyone else has
to wait for them, that is going to upset the pace of the meeting.
3. Try to provide all the members with the necessary papers and equipment for the discussion. Instead of
passing round one paper for every one to see, try and make copies, the extra cost is worth the time.
4. Interruptions should be avoided as much as possible, but the members must feel free to air their views
once a person has finished speaking.
5. Care must be taken to avoid eating around the bush and digressions. The presiding person must not
hesitate to point out if a person is digressing too much. The members too must be cautioned to stick to the
point as much s possible.
6. The members of course must display the high degree and patience expected from professionals.
7. A person must give a summary at the end of the meeting, so that the members leave with the knowledge
that something was accomplished and it was not just a meaningless discussion.
8. Cell phones of course must be switched of and external calls on land phones mast be deferred.
9. Refreshments if required must be laid on the table prior to the beginning of the discussion and not served
in between. If it is a very long discussion and hot beverages like tea and coffee need to be served, take a
break it saves more time.
YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE IN TIME MANAGEMENT
It takes courage and self-discipline to break the habit of procrastination. It takes hard work and
determination. But the rewards are great. You will experience greater self-esteem, self-confidence and personal
pride. You will achieve life long success. By overcoming procrastination and becoming a focused, effective person,
you will accomplish more than anyone else around you and more than you can possibly imagine today. There is no
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other decision that will be more life enhancing and satisfying than your decision to “Do it now! Do it now! Do it
now!”
Perfectionism
Some people will not begin a task because they fear that they will not do it perfectly, which will cause them
to feel rejection. Others will start a job, but then refuse to let go of it for the same reason. They may do a job over
and over until they feel that it is just right. If you have perfectionist tendencies, breaking the habit will help bring time
under your control. For example, if you are sending an internal company memo to a colleague, proofreading it one
time is probably enough -- you are wasting time if you proofread it again . . . and again . . . and again.
Overload
Anybody who really "does it all" is likely to drive herself or himself crazy. Good time management means
knowing what tasks you should delegate to others, what to pay or persuade someone else to do, and what to cut out
of your schedule altogether.
Wasted time
We are wasting time when we do something that is neither enjoyable nor useful, and that could have been
avoided. It is a waste of time to watch a television show you do not like, take a long-winded phone call from a
telemarketer, or wait in a line at the post office that you could have avoided by going earlier or sending someone
else. Simple, wasted time is the most straightforward and easy-to-identify logjam in most people's schedules.
Learn More: For a look at some common time-sinks and some proactive thoughts about how to avoid or
minimize them, be sure to read Losing Time: Another Look.
TIP
Avoid standing in line -- buy stamps online at http://www.usps.com or www.stamps.com.
Next up
Some fundamental principles of time management.
Time management basics
There are some fundamental elements of time management that can help you get a grip on your time and
your life. Take a few moments to reflect on the following.
Know your dreams
What do you want out of life? Do you want to sail away on your own yacht, become a talk show host, have
a family? Identify your dreams, however distant they may seem. Without these, you cannot make yourself a road
map - - a key tool in your time management arsenal.
TIP
Use Outlook Tasks to make a list of your life's desires and then schedule a recurring reminder to pop up
every few days or weeks to bring you back to your dream of selling your watercolors or owning a racehorse.
Set some goals
As well as dreams, each person should have goals for the medium term (six months to five years), the short
term (one week to six months), and even for every day. Start by listing your goals in the following major areas, then
add more categories as needed:
 Work (what you currently do for a living)
 True career or vocation (your dream job of the future)
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 Family and home
 Community
 Financial picture
 Hobbies, travel, and leisure
 Physical condition, health, and exercise
TIP
In Excel, create a workbook and name it "goals.xls" and then create a separate sheet for each major area.
Make a roadmap
The key to making a plan is breaking down your goals and dreams into manageable tasks. Achieving your
dream of sailing away on a yacht may seem overwhelming when contrasted with your current job, income, and
daily commute. But if you break it down into steps, it starts to look more doable. For example, taking a sailing class
or starting to put 10 percent of your paycheck into a savings account may be goals you can meet within the next six
months. To plan properly you will have to make lists, which we will discuss later in this lesson.
Set priorities
It is crucial that you learn to rank the tasks you want to accomplish by order of importance. As you do this,
you will identify high-payoff activities and learn to distinguish them from low-payoff activities -- and avoid covert
procrastination (yes, people procrastinate doing things they really want to do).
Be realistic
Lists are only as effective as they are realistic. If you keep including five tasks on your daily list that never get
accomplished, it will only increase your sense of frustration. Decide whether those five undone tasks are really
important. If they are not, wipe them off your list for good; if they are, make sure you set aside time to accomplish
them. Likewise, do not plan to accomplish something in six months that will realistically take two years.
Do one thing at a time
Sometimes we all have to multi-task. But try to keep it to a minimum, as it often makes you use up more time
than if you simply allot a period for each task. For instance, if you take phone calls while you're trying to read an
important document, every time you return to the report you have to find your place again. You could save time by
letting voicemail answer the phone while you read, then return any important calls when you finish.
Reward yourself
Days, months, or years without appropriate rewards for your hard work will quickly come to seem very
dismal indeed. Break up your years with large rewards and your workdays with small ones. For example, if you
accomplish the two things you set out to do in a morning, then do not blaze right into the next task while eating
lunch at your desk. Treat yourself to lunch in the park.
Making lists
Now it's time to take the next step in time management. Making lists is a valuable skill that will help you
manage your time on a daily, weekly, and long-term basis. It may seem like just one more thing you have to
organize, but it's one you'll come to love.
You'll need a place to keep your lists. Some people like the power and flexibility of a computer or a personal
digital assistant (PDA), while others prefer a calendar or simply a plain old-fashioned notebook. We'll review these
different methods later in this lesson. For now, let's take a look at the lists that will help you get your life under
control.
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TIP
Keeping lists in your PDA or computer gives you a bigger picture and lets you track both long-term and
short-term goals, as well as chart progress over time for such things as budgets, or weight loss and exercise
programs.
Long-term list
Your long-term list should include goals in the major life categories you set out in the previous section (home,
career, family, etc.). Revisit it at least four times a year so that you can compare the goals you have set to the
progress you have made toward them. When you review your list, think about the goals you wrote down. Have you
completed any of them? Have the circumstances that led you to establish a particular goal changed? Do you have
new objectives? Think carefully, but be flexible.
Daily list
One of the most immediate and effective things you can do to gain control of your time is to write a daily list.
Every workday morning, make a list. Every time you have to accomplish something in your personal life, such as
plan a vacation or organize a party, make a list. And to make your lists really effective, follow these principles:
 Prioritize. Always order your list by assigning a number to each item: use 1 for the most important tasks
and 4 for the least important. If you maintain the list on your computer, emphasize the priorities with
colored text or highlights. If you are having trouble ranking a task, consider whether it is a high-payoff
or low-payoff activity. High pay = high priority.
 Be realistic. In general, count on most things to take longer than you think they will. There is nothing
more frustrating than writing down the 15 things you want to accomplish in a day and completing only
nine of them -- especially if this happens over and over. So while it is great to feel energetic and
optimistic in the morning, be honest with yourself as you make your list. Unfinished tasks will just make
you feel more defeated at the end of the day.
 Allow for the unexpected. In a typical day, the unexpected comes in the form of mistakes, long-winded
phone calls, and last-minute demands. But you probably can make a good guess as to how much of your
time goes toward these intrusions. Plan accordingly.
TIP
Every day, try to accomplish at least five high-priority tasks on your list. Those that do not get accomplished
should roll over to the next day. At the end of the week, try to clear your lists so that every priority, from high to low,
has been crossed off. That way, you can start Monday with a fresh slate.
Overcoming lateness and procrastination
Now it's time to discuss strategies for overcoming some common challenges in time management.
Getting there on time
It is all too easy to recognize certain time management problems and identify their solutions. If you are
arriving at work late every day, you probably need to catch an earlier bus, and to do that you may need to either
shorten your morning shower or get up earlier. You may even have to start going to bed at a different time.
Sometimes, though, it just isn't that easy. Even if we can see the problem, we can't get ourselves on the
earlier bus. If this is true of you, don't despair. A chronic tendency to be late or to procrastinate can be fixed -- it will
just take more thought and effort.
Counteracting lateness
Continually showing up late tells others that you are selfish, inconsiderate, unreliable, and unprofessional. It
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causes you stress and creates friction between you and others, who are probably far more annoyed by your habitual
tardiness than they let on. If you are chronically late, you need to ask yourself why. Are you addicted to pressure?
Are you trying to sabotage yourself? Are you over-committed? Do you lie to yourself about how long things will
take? While you are thinking about it, try these tricks to help change your ways:
 Use a timer, alarm clock, or your PDA to tell you when to stop doing a task so that you have time to get
to the next thing.
 Set your clock or watch five minutes ahead.
 Put off distractions. If you notice or remember something that needs to be done just as you are leaving,
write a note to yourself or jot it in your PDA and do it later.
 Try to arrive early. If you always aim for 8:00 a.m. and arrive at 8:15, do everything in your power to
arrive at 7:45. This is a surprisingly effective trick.
 Streamline the process of getting ready. If you get bogged down trying on different outfits every morning,
deal with it by planning what to wear the night before.
 Always keep your keys, cell phone, and other essentials in the same place so that you do not spend time
looking for them.
 When you are late, acknowledge and apologize for it. After apologizing several times to the same group
of people, you will probably grow more reluctant to do so, giving you added incentive to stop being late.
Procrastination
Learning to overcome procrastination may be the single most important step to gaining control over your life.
Procrastination is what separates those who dream about succeeding from those who actually do. There are many
reasons for procrastination: perfectionism, a fear of failure, and reluctance to do a boring or difficult task are just a
few. Sometimes we tell ourselves that we cannot do something until the time or circumstances are just right.
Whatever your reasons are for procrastination, here are some steps you can take to overcome it:
 Nothing helps resolve a procrastination deadlock like breaking down the problem. Instead of tackling a
project all at once, separate it out into discrete tasks. If you have to do your taxes, for instance, you could
decide that on Day 1 you will assemble your paperwork, on Day 2 you will fill out one form, on Day 3
you will fill out a different form, and so on. Or, try breaking it down by time: on Monday, you will spend
exactly one hour on your taxes. Knowing that after one hour you can quit makes it much easier to get
started. And if you use Outlook Calendar or your PDA to schedule these small tasks, it's easy to see that
the project isn't as overwhelming as you think it is.
 Reward yourself for tasks accomplished.
TIP
Make an easy-to-find list of all the things you enjoy doing -- horseback riding, watching reruns of "Gilligan's
Island," reading, lingering over decadent pastries in a coffeehouse -- and when you're scheduling the task, schedule
a reward from your list.
 Alternate unpleasant tasks with ones you enjoy.
 Do the best you can with what you have. Do not wait until the stars are perfectly aligned to start a
project; do it with the resources and knowledge that you have right now.
 Get help. Sometimes we feel uneasy about facing a task because we are afraid that we do not know how
to do it. If you admit this to yourself and get help, you may find that it was easier than you thought.
 Finally, to overcome either procrastination or lateness, practice, practice, practice! The reduced stress
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and greater sense of accomplishment you feel will soon become their own reward.
TIP
The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) recommends that its members and interested
parties read Dr. Linda Sapadin's procrastination primer, It's About Time! The 6 Styles of Procrastination and How to
Overcome Them
Your tools
Tools like calendars, notebooks, and software cannot actually organize your life for you, but they can make
getting organized much easier. Everyone needs a system, but what works for one person will not necessarily work
for another.
Choose the best organizing tool
Choose the tools that fit your lifestyle. You've heard this many times already in this course, but it bears
repeating: keep it simple. If using a new tool requires too much time to learn, or is too much of a hassle, try
something else. Let's take a look at the most commonly used tools.
To-do list
We talked about making effective daily lists earlier in the lesson. Where should you keep them? Some people
use a simple notebook, and make a new heading (Thursday, Friday, etc.) every time they start a new list. Others
prefer to write their lists in a personal organizer or PDA (described later in detail). And some go for high visibility:
an erasable white board or a piece of paper tacked to the wall. In general, your daily list should be where you can
easily refer to it. Having it handy frees up your mind to think about other things.
Calendar
A calendar is essential to personal organization, but the kind you use is up to you. A traditional one hanging
on the wall, with small squares for each day, is good for marking major deadlines and appointments. But many
people will want one that devotes a page or two to each day. And still others want the convenience of an electronic
calendar, such as Outlook Calendar, so they can set reminders, color-code schedules, and flag important items.
Address book
Losing phone numbers not only means losing track of your personal and professional network -- it also
means you will spend more time searching your desk, purse, and trash bin every time you want to contact
somebody. An address book, email program, or PDA will help you stay in control.
Personal organizer
Office supply stores carry an enormous range of personal organizers. Almost all of them combine a
calendar, an address book, and space for a to-do list. Additional popular features include pockets and zippered
pouches, calculators, checkbook holders, and covers that fasten shut with Velcro or snaps. Some people find this
kind of all-in-one organizer invaluable.
Computerized organizer: PDA
Much computer software, such as Microsoft Outlook, and hardware has been designed to imitate the
functions of paper-based personal organizers. Consider a personal digital assistant (PDA), which is a handheld
computer that can be backed up to a program on your computer. Like the old-fashioned personal organizers, all of
them include, at the least, a calendar, automatic reminders, an address book, and space for lists. PDAs are compact
and easy to carry around, and some models are combined with telephones or allow Internet access. If you lose it,
your information is backed up.
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If you want to update your calendar, lists, and tasks on the go, choose a PDA (HP has several powerful
models that are, essentially, handheld PCs). Family members with busy schedules can update your calendar, grocery
list, etc. Get everyone in your household into the habit of updating information on the computer by a certain time
each day and then synchronize your PDA after the cutoff. You'll keep your schedule up to date, and everyone who
needs you to attend a baseball game or help with homework know how to reserve your time.
TIP
There are many programs you can download (often for free) to your PDA to help you organize. Check out
http://www.tucows.com/downloads/Windows/PDA/ to get an idea of what's available.
The bottom line: whatever works
You may have to try a few different organizational tools before finding the ones that really work for you. But
once you have found your method, it's important to stick with it. Habit really helps. If you change your system every
two months, you will never really know where to look for a phone number or notes on a past event. If you stick with
your system over time, you will be able to dredge up information you jotted down years ago.
Moving forward
This lesson introduced the concepts of working with time. Use some of the ideas and tips now, but don't
worry if all you do is think about the issues raised here. It will take time for you to prune your schedule and clear the
weeds from the garden of your life.
Your use of time will begin to change gradually as you change your thinking.
The next two lessons shift the focus to the home and give you a chance to roll up your sleeves and make
some serious, tangible organizing progress. Lesson 4 will give you tips and guidelines for de-cluttering two very
important zones of your home: your kitchen and your closets.
Assignment - Set up your paper system
Part 1: Your time budget
Using your day planner, computer program, or notebook, budget your time for one month. Include your
work schedule as well as all of your time outside of work. Budget time for dates with friends, for entertainment and
exercise, for errands, family, and solitude. Be sure to budget some time each week to work toward your big-picture
goals.
Now, stick with the plan for a week. At the end of a week, take note of problems, revise, and move forward.
Part 2: Focus on your goals
The point of time management is to gain control of your life and ultimately achieve your dreams. The best
way to start, then, is to work backwards from your dreams. What are they? Brainstorm. No idea is too big. Write
them down.
Identify the dream that you hold most dear to your heart, and turn it into a concrete goal. Now, still using
your pen and paper, start to break it down. How many years will it take to get there? What steps will be required?
Figure out what steps you can take this year, this month, and even today to bring you closer to your goal. If you
have other dream goals, break them down too. You now have the beginnings of a road map.
MAINTENANCE: SYSTEMS AND ROUTINES TO STAY ORGANIZED

ESTABLISH ROUTINES
In this lesson, you'll find out how to maintain organization throughout your home. It's not as difficult as you
might think.
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Organizing is a process. After you get organized, you need to establish systems and daily routines to stay
organized. Think about the following systems:
 Laundry system: Establish household guidelines for clothing. Teach your children to make a decision
when changing clothes: dirty clothes go in the hamper, and clean clothes go on hangers or in drawers.
Provide children with rolling hampers so they can take their dirty clothes to the laundry room on
designated evenings. Enforce rules by taking away privileges or adding chores.
 Meal-planning system: Keep an ongoing grocery list. Stock backup supplies of essential cooking items so
you don't run out. Make large batches of family favorites and freeze what you need for times when
you're too busy to cook.
TIP
Keep your grocery shopping list on your computer. If you prefer an electronic list, use your PDA. If you like to
scratch things off a printed a list, use Word or Excel. Excel's row-and-column format is ready to go for such a task,
but you can easily use Word's Table feature to create a similar list. Keep a master list of items you purchase on a
regular basis and then cut and paste these items into a daily shopping list. As you purchase new items, update your
master list. You can even design your list around the aisle layout of your favorite grocery store.
 Paper-processing system: Sort your mail only when you have time to sort all of it. Use your inbox for any
piece of paper that enters your home. Schedule time to do the daily paperwork. You set up a paper-
sorting system.
 Cleaning system: Keep cleaning supplies on every floor of your home. Do a little bit every day. Delegate
chores to family members.
 Home office system: Sort and file important papers and projects on a regular basis. Keep only files you
need for the current project on your desk. Instead of making a frantic dash to the store to get an ink
cartridge for your printer or paper supplies, make a note in Outlook Tasks to check supplies on a regular
basis and order online in bulk -- you'll get a better price and never run out of supplies in the middle of a
project.
 Special occasion system: To simplify gift-giving for birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays, keep track
throughout the year of the preferences of friends and family members. If you use Excel, you can maintain
one workbook with a separate sheet for each person. Your spreadsheet can have such columns as
Favorite Color, Dress/Shirt Size, Favorite Author, Favorite Restaurant, and Favorite Sports Team. During
the holidays, create a spreadsheet to manage gifts given and received. Make columns for Description,
Given By, and Thank You Card Sent.
TIP
To save money and time on greeting cards, as well as create a customized card that your recipient will love,
use the free online templates at the HP Activity Center at http://h10050.www1
.hp.com/activitycenter/us/en/index.html. With card stock and ink cartridges on hand, you can whip out a
customized card without a trip to the store and a long search among the racks to find the perfect message. Use your
own digital photos to create a card or pick from a variety of card templates.
 Time-management system: Take a few moments at the end of your evening meal to discuss upcoming
events with family members. Look at your household calendar. Reflect on tomorrow's appointments and
to-dos.
If something in your home is causing you to feel disorganized, stop and think about it. Can you develop a
system? What is causing the disorganization? If you already have a system, where is it breaking down?
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TIP
Take the time to analyze your disorganized areas, and then create a system to handle it.
You can develop a system to simplify almost any aspect of your life. If you have trouble keeping up with gifts,
consider incorporating some of the following ideas:
 Set up an area for wrapping paper and supplies
 Buy birthday cards ahead of time or a l l at once, or learn how to make
your own custom cards with a scanner, printer, and digital camera
 Buy gifts monthly or quarterly for upcoming birthdays, graduations, and holidays
 Make sure you enter significant gift occasions on your calendar (or whatever you've chosen as your
primary planning tool) and allow plenty of lead time for gift selection and wrapping
TIP
It's easy to schedule gift occasions in Outlook Calendar. Then you can set Outlook to remind you every year
10 days ahead of time to get a card for Aunt Edna, or call the florist to send her a bouquet of her favorite flowers.
Keep it clutter-free
There are two steps you need to follow to keep your home clutter-free. They're not complicated, but do
require discipline and a little bit of time:
1. Designate a home for every item.
2. Follow a daily uncluttering routine.
If you follow these steps daily, you'll save time in the long run. You won't spend countless hours searching for
lost items. Your home will appear cleaner, so you won't have to clean it as frequently if you don't want to. And you'll
have more time for your family. Let's take these steps one at a time.
Designate a home for every item
You've probably heard the old saying, "A place for everything, and everything in its place." You might feel
overwhelmed at the thought of assigning a home to every item in your home. It's not so difficult. Remember the most
important rules of organizing:
1. Keep like items together. Keep your office supplies in one place. Put all your hot tub accessories together.
Store picnic supplies together.
2. Keep things where you use them. Keep scissors and tape in every room. Store hot tub accessories near
the hot tub. Put picnic supplies in the garage in the summer and in the basement in the winter.
It's easy to assign homes for your possessions. Here's how:
1. Get a pen and paper or grab your laptop and open a new Word or Excel file. In the left column, make a
list of your most frequently used items, which might include extension cords, tape, scissors, pencils,
reading glasses, calculators, and batteries. In the right column, assign a place for each group of items.
Perhaps you'll store extension cords under the basement tool bench and batteries in the hall closet.
2. Gather the items from around the house, and put them in their assigned homes.
3. Label the assigned places. Use labeling software or masking tape and a pen.
4. Post the list. It's important to post the list while household members are learning where items belong.
Continue adding items until you've categorized and organized everything in your home. You'll find that your
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home has a calmer atmosphere. You'll know you've reached the goal when you can leave the house and tell
someone exactly where to find an item over the phone.
Follow a daily uncluttering routine
What's the minimum you need to do to keep your home uncluttered? Where does clutter accumulate in your
home? Most people find that the kitchen, family room, and entryway are trouble zones.
First, make sure that each trouble area is organized. Hang up hooks in the entryway for jackets and
backpacks. Place a mat or shelf in the area for shoes. In the winter, use baskets to collect gloves and hats.
TIP
If you or someone in your household is having difficulty getting dirty clothes to a basket or hamper (you have
one, right?), move a basket to where the clothes naturally fall most often. After you firmly establish the habit of
corralling your dirty duds, move the basket to a better location. It's progress in steps.
Next, think about what you need to do to unclutter each area. If you unclutter daily, you'll find that you can
stay more organized and live a less-stressed life. It helps if you develop a checklist you can follow to keep the clutter
at bay. The checklist may include the following daily chores:
 Take out the trash. Most children can easily accomplish this chore.
 Clean the kitchen. Wash the dishes. Wipe kitchen counters.
 Unclutter. Walk around the house with a basket and pick up clutter.
 Sort paper. Open your mail.
 Prepare for tomorrow. Lay out clothes. Pack lunches. Set out breakfast dishes. Place backpacks, shoes,
coats, and sports uniforms by the front door.
 Make a list. Look at tomorrow's schedule and make a task list. Plan no more than 70 percent of your day
to allow for interruptions and emergencies.
If you do these quick tasks daily, you'll keep your home uncluttered, and you'll have more free time on the
weekend. Be sure to delegate some of the chores to other household members.
PLAN FOR ORGANIZATION
You can take certain steps to ensure the long-range organization of your home. It's important to have the
assistance and support of your family in all your efforts. Take the time to discuss your organizational goals with
them. Make sure that they understand why you want to be more organized. If you explain that you want to have
more time to spend with them and you want to spend less time barking orders and complaints at them, you'll be
more likely to gain their support.
Pay attention to the amount of "stuff" you bring into your home. Think before you buy. When you see a
beautiful decorative object, decide whether you have somewhere to put it before you buy it. If you buy it, maybe you
can get rid of an old decorative item.
Every hobby and activity requires stuff or equipment. Organize items that go along with each hobby so you
can put them away when not in use. When someone outgrows or tires of a certain hobby, consider donating the
paraphernalia that goes with it.
If you already have too much stuff in your home, start using the in/out rule. You can't bring something into
the house unless you take something out.
Schedule a weekend twice a year to reorganize your home. People and interests change. Adapt your
systems and routines.
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We learn by doing." -- Aristotle
Running an organized household requires discipline and planning. Most of us are so busy living our
everyday lives that we feel we don't have the time to plan or the energy to be disciplined. However, it doesn't take
much effort after you have your systems and routines in place.
CONCLUSION
Time management, like any other skill, is not hard to develop. Time should be kept not as an enemy, but as a
companion towards your destined paths.
There's a time for love and romance, for jubilation, and for sorrow. There’s a time to relax, and a time to
catch up with the running moments. But what is important is to be in control of time, no matter how pressured or tight
any situation might be.
We have different perceptions regarding this temporal aspect we call time.
But in the end, what is important is to be on time for everything, under the natural conditions of things, on a
normal flow of moments.
Communication lines worldwide are vast and interrelated. Roads and transportation system create dizzying
paths and passageways. More so, data are overflowing and overwhelming, drowning us with limitless ideas and
knowledge.
Likewise, we have to be equipped with the right information and updated with the critical intelligence to get
into where we must go, wasting no time at all. We should lead our lives with ways to manage our resources, energy,
and time efficiently.
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Time Management and Organization

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TIME MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATION

TIME MANAGEMENT AND YOUR LIFE

WHAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT?

TIME MANAGEMENT IN THE WORKPLACE

4. Unclear Lines of Authority

6. Aimless or Too Frequent Meetings

7. Lack of Clarity Concerning One’s Job

3. Batch Your Tasks

4. Do More Important Things

5. Do Things You’re Better At

6. Make Fewer Mistakes

7. Simplify the Work

1. Define the Problem Clearly

2. Identify All the Possible Causes

3. Identify All the Possible Solutions

6. Determine the Worst Possible Outcome

7. Assign Specific Responsibility

THE ART OF DELEGATION

ORGANIZING AND TIME MANAGEMENT

THE BENEFITS OF ERGONOMICS

GET ORGANIZED - TIPS AND TOOLS FOR MANAGING TIME, SPACE

PAPER IS POWER: SMART SORTING AND FILING STRATEGIES

MANAGING YOUR TIME: DERAILING DISTRACTIONS,

1. Set Worthwhile Goals

2. Visualize Your Tasks as Completed

3. Practice Positive Affirmations

4. Set Clear Deadlines for Yourself

5. Refuse to Make Excuses

3. Separate the Urgent from the Important

4. Start with Your Most Important Tasks

5. Practice Creative Procrastination

3. Do one small thing to get started.

4. Salami slice the task.

7. Start from the inside and do the larger tasks first.

8. Do the task that causes you the most fear or anxiety.

9. Start your day with the most unpleasant task first.

13. Resist the tendency toward perfectionism

14. Pick one area where procrastination is hurting you.

15. Develop a compulsion to closure.

16. Maintain a fast tempo.

MAINTENANCE: SYSTEMS AND ROUTINES TO STAY ORGANIZED

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