What happens when you are NOT practicing good time management?  Stress  Tasks take longer  Illness/fatigue  Disorganization  Lack of accomplishment

What is time management? Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage events in your life in relation to time. manage

Strategies  Know how you spend your time  Set priorities  Use planning tools  Get organized  Schedule  Delegate  Stop procrastinating  Manage time wasters  Avoid multi-tasking  Stay healthy

Use a Log to Determine How You Spend Your Time Use a Log to Determine How You Spend Your Time

Activity

Determining Your Priorities Using the Matrix  Urgent  Not Urgent  Important  Not Important

Planning Tools

or Not To Do To Do …

Steps to Get Organized  Keep  Give away  Toss

Conquer the clutter in your life!  Throw it away  Delegate it  Act on it yourself  File it temporarily  Store it

Activity

Tools to “De-clutter”

Excuses for keeping things around 1. I’ll use it SOMEDAY! 2. It’s too good to throw away. 3. It will be worth something one day! 4. It will come back in style! 5. It was a gift from ______. 6. I paid good money for it. 7. As soon as I lose weight, I’ll wear it. 8. It just needs to be fixed. 9. They don’t make these any more. 10. I’m saving it for… A TOP TEN LIST…

KNOW YOURSELF!  When are you most productive and alert?  When do you tend to overcommit?  When can you more easily balance responsibilities?  When do you make time for YOURSELF?

Schedule Your Most Productive Time  Block out time for your high priority activities first  Only schedule about 70% of your time to leave opportunity for creativity

Just Say Be honest Use non-verbal language Don’t be defensive Be brief Don’t use an excuse Use positives

Get Help From Others 1. Identify the task 2. Match the task to a qualified person 3. Define the task and establish your expectations 4. Check on the progress 5. Reward success

Don’t Put it Off

How to Stop Procrastinating Break the task down into smaller segments. Complete a preparatory task to help you get started — organize notes. Reward yourself for completing smaller tasks.

Don’t let this happen to you!

Time Wasters  Telephone & voice mail  Meetings  & Internet  Family obligations  Unexpected visitors Which ones apply to you?

The phone… Problems… Conversation gets off on a tangent Person is not available Interrupts your work Solutions…  Schedule calls  Prepare an outline before the conversation  Use voic , and set aside a time of day to return calls  Use to save phone time  Stand up when on the phone  Turn off the phone

Meetings…  Don’t schedule if not needed  Know the purpose in advance  Arrive on time  Start and end on schedule  Prepare and stick to an agenda

and Mail  Set aside a specific time of day to check  Turn off instant message features  Handle each item once  Sort mail near a trash can  Limit Internet use

Family Obligations  Establish a master calendar to post time commitments  Make everyone responsible for consulting the “master calendar”  Have a central message center

Visitors  Schedule another time for visit  Indicate visit is over  Use physical indicators to end visit  Schedule open-door times  Use body language  Be the visitor

Avoid Multi-tasking Avoid Multi-tasking  Doesn’t really save time  Limits concentration  Restricts focus WHY?

STAY HEALTHY STAY HEALTHY What are YOU doing to stay healthy?

Reduce Stress  Listen to music  Practice relaxation  Treat yourself  Get active and eat healthy  Take up a new hobby

Exercise Keeping healthy doesn’t require a lot of special equipment  Practice deep breathing  Stretch regularly  Walk  Play with your kids

Practice Good Nutrition  Use MY PYRAMID as a guide  Make ½ your grains WHOLE  Vary your vegetables  Focus on fruits  Eat calcium rich food  Go with lean protein  Avoid fad diets  Don’t skip meals

What We’ve Learned… 1. Analyze where your time is spent. 2. Decide what is important and urgent. 3. Utilize tools to improve time management. 4. Implement a system that allows you to handle information once. 5. Schedule! 6. Empower others. 7. Quit putting “it” off. 8. Control time wasters. 9. Switching tasks is NOT productive. 10. Take time for yourself.

Lesson Plan Developed by Dr. Sue Chapman, Extension Coordinator, Athens, GA Peggy Bledsoe, Houston County Extension Coordinator, Perry, GA Joan Mason, Sumter County Extension Coordinator, Americus, GA Heather Walrath, AFC, Extension Intern Ten Strategies for Better Time Management