CHAPTER I

Introduction:

What is Time Management?

Time management can be defined as activities or tools which allow you to effectively manage your time. When you practice good time management, your productivity will increase, and if you are the owner of a business, it is likely that your business will experience larger profits.

Today, time management has been broken down into a number of categories, but they all basically seek to achieve the same objectives. When you hear most people talk about time management, they are generally referring to it on a personal level.

The idea of time management is that if you can spend more time doing things that are important, you are much more likely to be successful at whatever you are trying to accomplish. Once you have succeeded, you will be a happier person that will be able to get more out of life. To become skilled at managing your time, there are some skills you will need to develop, and these are setting goals, decision making, delegating, and prioritizing. Many people resort to using sophisticated tools such as PDAs to help them. While they can be helpful, the most important factor is the decisions you make. A machine can only take you so far.

Many people think that PDAs and other day planning devices will manage their time for them. This is incorrect. The machine will only hold the information that you put into it. It is your responsibility to make sure all the tasks are carried out. The ability to make quick decisions is very important. People who are indecisive will generally perform poorly when it comes to time management. Why? Because it takes them too long to make a decision. They "sit on the gate" trying to decide which option to go with, or they make a decision and then suddenly decide to do something else.

When it takes you a long time to make a decision, or you have to change your mind after you've made one, this is a sign that you are indecisive. Being indecisive can cause you to run into a number of problems. If you want to be successful with time management, you must learn how to quickly make a decision and stick with the decision you make. How do you do this? Generally, when you are presented with a decision, it will come in the form of two or more options. You must decide which option you will choose. The option that you pick can lead to your success or failure. The best way to quickly make the best decision is to look at the pros and cons of each option. Writing them down on a board can be helpful.

Once you write down the options, write down the pros and cons of each, and compare the number of pros and cons with each option. Pick the option that has the most pros with the least cons. This is a fast and simple way to make good decisions. The next skill you will

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want to look at is goal setting. It will be next to impossible for you to manage your time if you don't have goals. You should have a list of things that you need to get done each day. Your "goal" should be to get those things done. Anything that gets in the way of you achieving your goal will waste your time and stop you from being successful.

Being able to properly delegate tasks is important. If you have a business with employees, you should become skilled at delegating tasks to all of them. Everyone who works for you should know what they need to do. When you are not able to quickly delegate tasks to your employees, you are failing as a business owner. The next thing you will need to focus on is prioritizing tasks. When you write down a list of things you need to do each day, rate them by levels of importance. This is called prioritizing. Prioritizing is important because it allows you to put your energy into the most important tasks. If you have an unexpected situation, you don't want to be stuck doing things that are not important. Placing a priority on tasks based on their importance will allow you to work at a high level of efficiency.

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Background of the Study

Do you find yourself rushing through your morning, stampeding to the door, making your way through traffic only to arrive 10 minutes late for work because you had to

wait for the train?

How does the rest of your day go?

Once you get yourself into work do you need to take a few moments to compose yourself? Perhaps you get a coffee and relax by chatting with a co-worker on your way to your desk. When you sit down you see five items that need immediate attention (some left over from yesterday) and the phone starts ringing.

You forgot the morning meeting! So you start rifling through your papers….

Is this sounding all too familiar by now?

Regardless of whether you work at home, an office or a factory or if you work for a boss or yourself, getting a grip on time seems like a daily struggle for millions of people.

Are You Overbooked?

It’s true that many of us have heaped our daily schedule full of activities. Despite cell phones, internet and microwaves it seems we never have enough time to take care of business, ourselves, our friends and family.

So many of the activities we do everyday are demanding our attention that it can be difficult to make plans for the future. Even if the plans will ease our burdens down the road. We are busy but are we productive with our time? This is where time management has become important.

What Will Time Management Do For Me?

Time management isn’t a physics course, but it is worth making the effort to review and apply in your busy life. Why?

Because time management isn’t just about having time – it’s about making certain our time is well spent. There will always be times in our life when we get extra busy (back to school, taxes, holidays, important projects) but learning the skills to manage the time we have wisely will alleviate much of the stress and frustration that can lead to burn out and fatigue.

 

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Working Smarter – Not Harder

Your time is a valuable resource – both to your employer, business and family.

When we treat every task we do as a priority it is easy to slip into bad habits that eat into our time but do not give us enough benefits. We run around ‘putting out fires’ and face every day’s activities as emergencies. Nothing is planned and we never have time to get things done properly. Identifying these areas and restructuring your routine and mindset enables you to optimize your time so you produce the most results with the least effort.

How does this work?

By identifying daily routines and your own body ‘rhythms’ you can try to plan the most energy consuming activities during your most productive times of the day and use your less productive times for activities that do not require the same amount of concentration or effort.

This applies equally well to all parts of our life – work and home. But it goes beyond that. Time management also helps you identify time (or energy) wasters. Perhaps there are activities that must be removed or delegated to someone else. By learning how to identify these we will not succumb to guilty feelings that we were not "up to the job" but we will conscientiously decide that to keep doing them is a waste of valuable resources – your time.

Time Management is a Skill

You’re not at boot camp. Although the discipline encouraged by boot camps may be useful it does not relate well to daily life. Work and family usually call for flexibility and learning the skill of time management will allow us to make wise choices without being tied to a strict routine.

Would your boss be pleased if you turned down an important assignment presented to you with urgency by hearing you say "I have a strict schedule to follow and tomorrow is my filing day so I cannot accept another assignment at this time"?

Or would your daughter, having forgotten to mention her soccer game until the night before, be satisfied with "we planned to do the laundry, remember? It’s on the schedule."

Developing time management skills with the help of this guide will show how to determine what tasks need doing and when in harmony with your overall goals at work and at home.

 

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You Can Make Last Minute Decisions

That means when you have a last minute invitation out for a ‘couples only’ supper on Friday night, but you’ve already booked up the weekend for family activities, you will determine if one more social activity will contribute to your happiness as a couple or drain you for the family activities you planned for the weekend.

When your supervisor asks you to help out with some backed up invoicing, you can determine if giving a helpful hand to an important part of the business will improve your reputation as a team player or will cause other, equally important jobs that have already been assigned to you to become delayed or jeopardized.

Making conscious decisions about why we use the time the way we do will prevent you from appearing incapable or feeling overwhelmed. You will have the confidence to give your answers (even if it’s ‘no’) without questioning your judgment.

If you do say no to a task you will be able to furnish an explanation as to why you are making that decision if need be. Or in the case of an employer or manager you can explain your situation and allow them to decide which task uses your time to the most profitable ends. You may find that they were unaware of your current load and are thankful that you are concerned about making the best use of your time and talents.

You Will Have a Purpose in What You Do

While time management is a skill that should be used day-to-day, it is also useful to help reach your long term goals.

Your goals may be hazy right now, or even obscure, but by incorporating them into the ‘why’ of what you do every day you will be making strides to accomplish them while enjoying what you do.

Even the drudgery that sometimes comes with life is easier to manage if you know why you must do it. Knowing why will make these chores a part of your plan, and thus a choice rather than a burden. Managing your time can also prevent these areas from becoming dragged out and thus affecting your usefulness and energy.

Getting Started…

The first step to getting your time managed is to find out exactly how much your time is worth…

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Statement of the Problem

Do you find yourself overwhelmed by the number and complexity of projects that need to

be completed at work each day? As the day flies by, do you often feel as if you haven't

paid enough attention to each task because other tasks keep landing on your desk, co-

workers interrupt you with questions or you can't get it all organized?

You probably know that managing your time effectively will help you get more done

each day. But it has important health benefits, too. By managing your time more wisely,

you can minimize stress and improve your quality of life.

But how do you get back on track when organizational skills don't come naturally? To get

started, choose one of these strategies, try it for two to four weeks and see if it helps. If it

does, consider adding another one. If not, try a different one.

Plan each day. Planning your day can help you accomplish more and feel more

in control of your life. Write a to-do list, putting the most important tasks at the top. Keep

a schedule of your daily activities to minimize conflicts and last-minute rushes.

Prioritize your tasks. Time-consuming but relatively unimportant tasks can

consume a lot of your day. Prioritizing tasks will ensure that you spend your time and

energy on those that are truly important to you.

Say no to non essential tasks. Consider your goals and schedule before agreeing

to take on additional work.

Delegate. Take a look at your to-do list and consider what you can pass on to

someone else.

Take the time you need to do a quality job. Doing work right the first time may

take more time upfront, but errors usually result in time spent making corrections, which

takes more time overall.

Break large, time-consuming tasks into smaller tasks. Work on them a few

minutes at a time until you get them all done.

Practice the 10-minute rule. Work on a dreaded task for 10 minutes each day.

Once you get started, you may find you can finish it.

Evaluate how you're spending your time. Keep a diary of everything you do for

three days to determine how you're spending your time. Look for time that can be used

more wisely. For example, could you take a bus or train to work and use the commute to

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catch up on reading? If so, you could free up some time to exercise or spend with family

or friends.

Limit distractions. Block out time on your calendar for big projects. During that

time, close your door and turn off your phone, pager and email.

Get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. A healthy

lifestyle can improve your focus and concentration, which will help improve your

efficiency so that you can complete your work in less time.

Take a time management course. If your employer offers continuing education,

take a time management class. If your workplace doesn't have one, find out if a local

community college, university or community education program does.

Take a break when needed. Too much stress can derail your attempts at getting

organized. When you need a break, take one. Take a walk. Do some quick stretches at

your workstation. Take a day of vacation to rest and re-energize.

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Significance of the Study

Manage Your Work, Don't Let It Manage You:Tips for Managing Your Time and Getting Ahead

Goals of Time Management  To be able to have control over your life - manage your time, don't let it manage

you! To be healthier and happier (less stress).

Seven Suggestions for Effectively Managing Your Time

1. Be Organized

Use time saving tools: appointment calendars, "to do" lists, e-mail, answering machines, file folders, etc.

Have an organized workplace (don't waste time constantly looking for your work).

Use your appointment calendar for everything, including listing study time.

Use "to do" lists for both long-term and for each day/week.

2. Plan Ahead (Schedule it and it will happen!)

Determine how long your tasks will take (do this before agreeing to take on a task!)

Consider whether any activities can be combined. Determine if big tasks can be broken down into smaller tasks that may be

easier to schedule (such as studying for exams and visiting the library as part of an assignment to write a term paper).

3. Prioritize Your Tasks

Use an A-B-C rating system for items on your "to do" lists with A items being highest priority.

Set goals for both the short term and long term as to what you want to accomplish.

Look at all of your "to do"s to gauge the time requirement and whether additional resources will be needed to accomplish them (if yes, schedule time to obtain those resources). Don't postpone the small tasks (a sense of accomplishment is good and overlooked small tasks can become larger tasks.)

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4. Avoid Overload

Include time for rest, relaxation, sleep, eating, exercise, and socializing in your schedule.

Take short breaks during study and work periods. Don't put everything off until the last minute (for example, don't cram for

exams). Learn to say "no" when appropriate and to negotiate better deadlines when

appropriate.

5. Practice Effective Study Techniques

Have an appropriate study environment. Split large tasks into more manageable tasks. Read for comprehension, rather than just to get to the end of the chapter. Be prepared to ask questions as they come up during study, rather than

waiting until just before an exam. Do the most difficult work first, perhaps breaking it up with some easier

tasks. Don't wait until the last minute to complete your projects. Read the syllabus as soon as you get it and note all due dates (and

"milestone" times) on your calendar. Be a model student! (be attentive and participative in class, and punctual,

prepared, and eager to learn)

6. Be Able to be Flexible

The unexpected happens (sickness, car troubles, etc.); you need to be able to fit it into your schedule.

Know how to rearrange your schedule when necessary (so it doesn't manage you - you manage it).

Know who to ask for help when needed.

7. Have a Vision (why are you doing all of this?)

Don't forget the "big picture" - why are you doing the task - is it important to your long-term personal goals?

Have and follow a personal mission statement (personal and career). (Are your activities ultimately helping you achieve your goals?)

Know what is important to you. (What do you value most?) Have a positive attitude!

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Scope & Limitation

Nick RepakDirector, Grad Resources

You finally decide to sit down to begin your paper. As your computer warms up, you pick up a journal that has sat in the "to be read" pile for a month. There is an interesting article on innovative research methods in your field, so you decide to take notes. Two hours later, the paper is still untouched when there is a phone call from your advisor. It seems that he was given an opportunity for a sabbatical in Europe, and the date for your proposal has been moved up six months. You immediately shove the books aside (for the paper you thought you would work on), and you begin outlining the proposal. After a few moments, there is a knock at the door. You knew your friend was having a difficult personal time but why did it have to turn into a crisis now? Being the sensitive and available person that you are, you set aside your work to listen and comfort your friend. After several hours, you realize, as your friend is leaving, that you haven't eaten, you never started on your paper, the proposal is still mainly a collection of ideas in your head; and that you were so preoccupied with the personal pressures you were feeling that you wonder if you really did your friend any good. However, you decide that the urgent things will always push out things you planned so you start to wonder if you should give up planning.

The scenario described is often referred to as "The Tyranny of the Urgent." There are some things that are out of our control, like a friend with a crisis, but there are some things that are a natural result of poor planning or an inability to say no to things. The critical issue is to not give up on organizing, planning and prioritizing. Some new method or trick may be a key to your becoming more organized, if only you have the emotional energy to try again.

The struggle of time management isn't simply a case of cutting back or acquiring new skills because the exhaustion and fatigue we feel has impact on so many areas of life--our relationships, disposition, availability, etc. The pressures of deadlines and requirements hit us in different ways. Some of us will withdraw from people and attempt to accomplish everything, while others see that they perform better when they put limits on the amount of time devoted to work with a healthy balance of leisure and distractions.

We are each refreshed and restored in different ways, so it is essential to discover which activities drain and which renew your energy levels. Some like to sit and read while others need athletic or social activity. We need to care for our emotional well-being as we work on our management skills.

One way to assess how you are doing in your planning is to keep a record for one week of how you spent your time. This journal could also be a means to chronicle your thoughts and feelings from a week under pressure. You may gain insights on how to adjust the use of your time and you may discover the best environment and hours for your personal productivity. Over time, a personal journal is a great asset for showing your

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progress in research, improved time management, and other personal goals (and a source of strokes if your advisor fails to give the feedback you desire).

Initial Suggestions

Make peace with yourself. Find the schedule that fits you best and make it work, whether it means working through the night with a stereo blaring or at 5am in total silence. Schedule your toughest work during your most productive hours. Attempt to have times when you allow no interruptions (don't even answer the phone) to tackle projects that require intense concentration.

Utilize a schedule (with set activities written in), a planner with sections for different projects (helpful for jotting ideas that pertain to a specific project), and a Things-To-Do-List where you record each item that requires your attention. But most importantly, prioritize your tasks so that you are working on the higher priority issues first.

Lord Chesterfield stated, "If you watch the minutes carefully, the hours will take care of themselves." It is most productive if you are able to utilize your time twice. This might mean having a journal with you while riding the bus, balancing your checkbook during slow office hours, or listening to tapes during drive time. Ask yourself regularly, "Am I making the most of my time right now?" The 80/20 rule states that we tend to spend 80% of our time on projects that have a 20% return. Concentrate your efforts on the 20% of things that have the highest value to you.

There is great benefit in handling things only once. If it doesn't require immediate attention but can't be thrown away, put it out of your sight or off your desk in a file or drawer for later attention. But don't put off the challenging tasks just because they feel overwhelming. The Swiss Cheese Technique calls for breaking major projects into smaller steps that can be handled in shorter time slots. You may not have five hours to work on a paper but in 20 minutes you can outline a section.

A Step By Step Approach to Time Management

Stephen Covey is the current organization guru that commands $45,000 per speaking engagement. He also earned $90 million last year on books, supplies, and materials. One of Covey's most basic rules is to begin with the end in mind. This focus on one's GOALS provides the vision and motivation to see the task through. That is probably the best place to start in our discussion of Time Management. We will first try to understand the crucial importance of goal-setting. Then we'll look at developing a personal calendar, schedule, and to-do list. Finally, we'll discuss how to overcome scheduling barriers.

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1. Goals

As Covey explains, goals give a framework for motivation. The more important goals one needs to make are those that cover the broad areas of our personal lives. Too often we start with specific goals and hope they will fit into the big picture (i.e., goals for dieting or balancing the budget), when we really need to identify a few broad categories (i.e., career, family, health, finances, intellectual, hobbies, etc.). It might be helpful to write four or five such categories along the top of a piece of paper and make columns for each.

This sort of forethought is actually a great time saver in that it gives a framework to decide what is a primary value and what is not. And yet this sort of planning time is usually neglected. Most executives, for example, feel that the number one problem they face is a lack of planning and think time.

Next, identify three to five goals per category. For example, in the category of "family," one goal might be to make my relationship with my spouse my highest priority, or to find personal balance, or to impart values to our kids, etc.

Then, using another sheet of paper for the first category, enumerate the goals along the side of the page and make a statement for each goal in that category. These goals should be specific enough to address the real-life issues you are facing. Regarding my goal to make my relationship with my wife my top priority, I've written the statement, "If Mom ain't happy, nobody's happy! Check with her on this once a week." Regarding your career planning, you might make the statement, "Get a teaching position by next January." In other words, these statements make your goals measurable. They should also include a date (deadline), and should be achievable. You should be able to reflect your goals through scheduled activities.

2. Activities

Your next objective is to identify the activities that will help you get to your goal. For imparting values to your kids, you might decide to read a good book with them at dinner or bedtime (i.e., The Book of Virtues by Win. Bennett).

How best does one best turn goals into reality? Try these three steps for starters. First, brainstorm. Create a list of all possible activities that might help you to reach your goal. Second, prioritize your activities. Here it might be helpful to employ the feedback of your spouse or a good friend. If this person both cares about you and yet can remain objective, they might help you to be realistic about which activities will actually work toward desired results and which are simply more enjoyable. Third, attempt to accomplish the activities of higher priority that day. Remember the 80-20 rule -- you need to focus 80% of your time on those activities of highest priority. In section 4 are suggestions on how to prepare a schedule that reflects one's highest values.

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3. Using a Calendar

A calendar can stimulate your vision, aid long-term planning, and help measure your personal planning success. One graduate student has created a master calendar for his entire graduate experience, with critical dates factored in. Included in his calendar is a dissertation checklist. We have included that list at the end of these notes.

Also, many students have found a monthly calendar to be quite helpful. It proves to be more portable than a large calendar, and will help you avoid schedule conflicts.

4. Scheduling your Daily Values

According to Peter Drucker, "time is the scarcest resource available." And yet, as we saw in our opening illustration, many times our highest priorities are not reflected in our actual daily activities. The Barna Research Group, in their 1990 study on graduate students, found that most students considered close personal friendships to be their top personal priority -- and yet little time was consistently given to relationship-building activities. Matching one's activities with one's values is truly no simple task!

And yet, to be effective in developing a balanced life, this connection is crucial. Here are some suggestions for making that connection:

a. Place in your schedule only the events that actually match the goals on your goal sheets.

b. Plan to plan! In other words, set in your schedule each week a small amount of time to plan for the following week. That fifteen to thirty minutes could be the most valuable activity of your week! (It has been said that every hour in effective planning saves three to four hours in execution and results.)

c. Review your schedule daily. You may want to place your daily goals at the top of your schedule for quick review.

d. Schedule time for flexibility, correspondence, and crisis management. If you can learn- to have "scheduled crises" you will be able to keep them from taking over your personal and family time. Then you should be able to keep an "ideal" work week to about 50 hours per week or less. (A study was done of those who worked 50 or more hours per week, and found that their productivity declined proportionately as their number of work hours increased past 50.)

e. Evaluate your schedule weekly. As I suggested earlier, begin keeping a journal of how time is actually spent. Drucker points out that astute managers constantly assess where their time is going for increased productivity.

f. Manage a to do list. It has been said that the palest ink is better than the best memory. Therefore, I have always recommended writing down EVERYTHING! Once your list is

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developed, prioritize your activities by placing an H, M, or L (for High, Medium, or Low) in front of each item. This system is so simple and yet can be the key factor in doubling or tripling your output. The idea is to use one's most productive hours for H items, and other hours for the M and L items. These M and L items will become higher priorities as time goes on.

5. Tips for Effectiveness

Goals, schedules, and to-do lists are incredibly helpful items -- but only if we continue to actually USE them. Here are some ideas for staying effective in your time management efforts. First, discover relationships that refresh you (as opposed to always spending time with those who drain you). I highly recommend a support group for every graduate student. Second, when possible, use your time twice. Carry stationary with you to write notes to friends if you ride a bus or are caught waiting outside your advisor's office. Third, set study times and locations free from interruptions. Fourth, delegate work whenever possible. Fifth, finish a project before picking up the next -- even skipping lunch if you have to. This cuts down on the reorienting required to start again. Sixth, keep phone numbers on the "to-do list" of those you'll need to contact (saves you from repeatedly looking them up). Finally, handle things only once if possible. For example, if you receive an email message, decide NOW if you want to respond or delete it. "Do-it-now workers" always rank highest in efficiency.

6. Barriers to Scheduling

There are several barriers to scheduling you may need to overcome. These barriers are the time wasters. The biggest, or course, is procrastination. The best way to attack procrastination is the "Swiss Cheese Method" I mentioned earlier. Divide your projects into smaller (perhaps 15 minute) chunks or tasks. You may want to set up some rewards for yourself for the completion of each task. The Swiss Cheese Method is designed to help you focus on ONE issue at a time.

The second barrier is interruptions. If you find yourself getting interrupted frequently (phone calls, drops ins, etc.), you may need to simply leave the premises. Instead of allowing your best work hours to be wasted by incoming calls, set certain phone hours in your schedule.

The third barrier is stress. It's been shown that 75% of all worries never actually happen. But the stress over these fictitious events can waste many hours. Stress can be managed, though. One way is simply to allow flex time in your schedule to deal with demanding issues.

Perhaps the best way to overcome these barriers and others is simply to create habits of good time management, because this will naturally begin to remove internally generated time wasters When you find yourself in a habit pattern that is continually wasting your time, try these steps:

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1. Start strong. Set a workable resolution plan that will attempt to tackle the time-waster. Then begin your plan boldly.

2. No exceptions until habit is firmly rooted. This is the key to beating the habit. You may even need the encouragement and accountability of a friend for your "weak moments."

3. Act quickly on new resolutions. The idea here is to not procrastinate once you've realized what the time waster is otherwise, it will only get more and more deeply entrenched into your daily routine.

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Conceptual Framework

Conclusion:Stephen Covey's seventh habit, in his bookThe Seven Habits of Highly Effective Peopleis to "Sharpen Your Saw!"

Covey asks you to imagine meeting someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree.

"You look exhausted," you exclaim. "How long have you been at it?"

"Over five hours," he returns, "and I'm beat! This is hard work."

"Well, why don't you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen that saw?" you inquire. "I'm sure it would go a lot faster."

"I don't have time to sharpen the saw," the man says emphatically. "I'm too busy sawing!"

To be the most effective person you can be, including being an effective time manager, you will need to be sure to preserve and enhance the greatest asset you have -- you. According to Covey, that includes the four dimensions of your nature -- physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual:

1. Physical. This includes regular exercise (at least three hours a week), eating the right kinds of foods (low-fat, high-fruit and-vegetable diet), and getting sufficient rest and relaxation.

2. Mental. Most grad students do very little reading for pleasure. And yet skimming or reading a good magazine or book (eg., National Geographic, fiction books, etc.) can often be a better mental break than watching TV, because it helps to expand our very focused minds and to integrate academic issues with more practical "real life" ones.

3. Social/Emotional. Renewing our emotional life also requires exercise. Our emotions are very tied up in both my relationships and in my personal integrity. First, we need to take the time to develop and keep good communication with those closest to us. Second, we need to develop the inner security derived from a life of integrity, where our heart, soul, and mind are all at peace with one another, and our daily habits are reflecting our deepest values.

4. Spiritual. According to Covey, "renewing the spiritual dimension provides leadership to your life. The spiritual dimension is your core, your center, your commitment to your value system." But this renewal, like the others, takes an investment of time. Though many grad students intellectually hold to a belief in God, some have put the development of their spiritual lives on hold. Reasons often cited are simply a lack of time or, even

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more often, that a disparity has developed between personal faith and intellectual reasoning. As one grad recently concluded, "I am currently coming to terms with my religious beliefs and sorting them out from my scientific training, and yet I must admit that this is no easy task!"

Time Management is a discipline that is sometimes accompanied by many failures. But as you begin to take it seriously, I think you'll find that the reward is worth the effort. Remember what the great European leader Winston Churchill said in his shortest, yet most famous speech: "Never give up! Never, never, never, never, never give up!"

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Definition of Terms

PDAs A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Nearly all current PDAs have the ability to connect to the Internet. A PDA has an electronic visual display, enabling it to include a web browser, all current models also have audio capabilities enabling use as a portable media player, and also enabling most of them to be used as mobile phones. Most PDAs can access the Internet, intranets or extranets via Wi-Fi or Wireless Wide Area Networks. Most PDAs employ touchscreen technology.

Sharpen the Saw preserving and enhancing the greatest asset you have you. It means having a balanced program for self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual.

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CHAPTER II

Review of Related Literature & Studies

The concept of time management is much more important today than it was in the past. We live in a fast paced world where information moves at the speed of light, and people are working harder and longer.

How you manage your time will determine how successful you become in various aspects of your life. Many people wish to become wealthy, but fail to realize that how they manage their time will play a role in their ability to create wealth. For example, if you talk to most self made millionaires, you will find that few of them spend large amounts of time watching television.

Why? Because they know that it is a waste of time. How many hours do you spend each week watching television? This is time that could spent studying information about how to build wealth. It could be spent performing market research, or finding new ways to save money. In addition to this, it is time that can be spent learning the skills that will be necessary for you to succeed. This is something that most wealthy people understand. They don't watch much television because they are too busy building wealth. It is their ability to properly manage their time that allows them to become successful.

Many people that are not successful waste time doing things that simply don't matter. After working eight hours at a job, they spend hours watching television, talking on the phone, or playing video games. Or they go out to bars or clubs and spend hours there. While there is nothing wrong with these things, spending too much time doing them will lead to failure. If you want to become good at managing you time, you will want to look at your life. Just as you would want to save money in order to build wealth, you will also want to save time in order to perfect your time management skills.

If you are like most people, you have goals. There are things you want in life. This may be a house, car, or millions of dollars. Perhaps you want to be an Olympic athlete or a famous musician. But there is a problem. Most of the people who want these things never achieve them. Why? Because they don't make the time to do so. They allow themselves to get caught up in things that are not important, and before they know it, their entire lives have passed them by, and they have not achieved the things they wanted. If you talk to most lawyers, they will charge you for the amount of time they spend talking to them. Why? Because their time is valuable to them, and for clients to use their time, they must be compensated.

To become skilled at time management, you will first want to create a goal. Each day, you will want to be focused on achieving that goal. Anything that is not related to you achieving your goal is irrelevant, and you will not want to waste time with it. If you want to become an athlete, you will want to practice every day. If your friends want

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you to go to the arcade at a time you need to practice, tell them that you can't. Going to the arcade is not important. Practicing the sport is important, and the arcade can wait. This is called prioritizing your activities. You place an emphasis on what is important, and reserve of the rest of the time you have for doing things which aren't important.

This is one of the things that separates people who succeed from people who fail. You will want to create a list each day of the things you will need to do in order to move towards achieving your main goal. I say main goal because it is the end result of the tasks you are carrying out each day. The daily tasks that you are performing are called minor goals.

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Related Literature

Many people think that simply keeping track of time is a good example of time management. However, being able to track the amount of time you spend doing things is only one part of time management.

Many people spend large amounts of energy tracking their time only to find that they have not successfully developed good time management skills. Unfortunately, many people who are in this situation give up because they have not achieved the results they were striving for. The thing they fail to understand is that tracking your time is not enough to enhance your time management skills.

To enhance the way you manage your time, you must first begin changing your own behaviors. You can track time all you want, but it isn't going to change. The only thing that can change is you. To do this, you will need to set up an effective system that can allow you to change things that are causing you to waste time. While you will want to keep track of how much time you spend doing things, this should only be the first step. Once you've done this, you will need to take the information you've gathered and use it to help you make the necessary changes. Because many people fail to do this, they fail to enhance their time management.

The secret to properly managing time is the use of categories. Take a look at your day planner for tomorrow. If you are like most people, you have filled it with a number of important things that you need to get done. However, you may not be able to finish these things because of factors that waste your time. There are five things that you will want to place in your time management category, and these are dealing with unexpected situations, interruptions, planned projects, uninterrupted time, and uninterrupted downtime. If you are the owner of a business, you will often find that there are things you will have to deal that will slow you down.

This could be phone calls, missing files, and problems with clients or employees. Interruptions can include unexpected visits, phone calls, or other issues. This is the primary killer of time management. The use of the planned projects is important because it allows you to get work done, and when you are working uninterrupted, you are usually the most productive. Uninterrupted downtime is when you can take a moment to stop and review work that has been completed. You can brainstorm alone or with your employees. These are the five categories of time management, and you will want to decide how you perform in each area.

If you are spending a lot of time dealing with interruptions or unexpected situations, you are wasting time and your productivity will not be where it should be. You should list these categories and write down how much time you are spending with them each day. Of course, you will want to do this at the end of the day because it will waste time if you do it while you are trying to work. It has been said that time is money, and this is very true. The most successful business people are those that know how to properly manage their time. They work hard to get rid of time management

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killers such as interruptions. They understand the importance of being able to spend most of their time working, and so must you if you wish to become proficient in effectively managing your time.

While running out of money is the primary reason that many businesses fail, another reason is a lack of good time management. Many business owners spend too much time dealing with issues that are not relevant or important.

That five minutes that you spend dealing with an issue that is not important will never come back, and it cannot be purchased. While spending money is optional, time is not. While this may sound like common sense, many people fail because they don't understand, or they don't take the time to apply it. You will want to write down the five categories I have mentioned here and spend time reviewing them to see how well you are doing. If you are not managing your time well, find the root of the problem and get rid of it.

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The results in 30 people that I’ve met to make survey with them.

In Group 1 (color violet) the people who are having their

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Dissertation News. Incline Village, NV: Association for Support of Graduate Students. Address: 585 Fallen Leaf Way, Incline Village, NV 89451. (702) 831-1399.

Robert L. Peters, Ph.D. Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning a Master's or a Ph.D. (New York: Noonday Press, 1992).

http://www.gradresources.org/articles/time_management.shtml

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https://www.stephencovey.com/7habits/7habits-habit7.php

http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/time-management/time-management-practices.html

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