1. Building Connections: Community Leadership Program
Time Management
Building Connections: Community Leadership Program

2. Where does your time go?
Using the handout provided, allocate where your time goes each week and then answer the following questions:
What activities do you spend the least amount of time?
What activities do you spend the most amount of time?
Does the amount of time you spend on activities reflect what you value?

3. What if…
What would you do if you had 2 extra hours each day? How would you spend those 2 extra hours?
Why haven’t you made time for this before?

4. “Theory” behind time management
You only have so many hours available in a day, so many weeks in a year, and so many years in your lifetime…what happens if you don’t spend your time wisely?

5. Time
Life is really about how you spend your time and where you place your priorities.
The key to time management is NOT to work harder than everyone else. The key is to work smarter.

6. Work smarter…how do I do that?
To work smarter than everyone else, you must determine what’s important in your life through visioning, writing goals, and taking action toward achieving those goals.

7. Approaches to Time Management
There are three approaches to time management.
First approach – increase amount of available time each day.
Second approach – do more work in available time – pack more work in your day
Third approach – do only the important work in the time you have available

8. What’s wrong with the approaches?
First approach – you will stretch yourself thin – will likely result in fatigue, lack of efficiency, and even depression in the work cases
Second approach – doing more work will result in high amounts of stress (feeling as if you can never get everything done) and burnout

9. Approaches cont…
Third approach – this approach is the most effective way of managing time
Forces you to prioritize tasks to be completed during your work day

10. So, where do I start?
The first step of effective time management is to decide where your priorities are.
This is often the most difficult task of all and takes the most time!

11. Stephen Covey’s time management matrix
Covey designed a time management matrix to help people manage themselves through prioritizing tasks
YOU have to decide what is important for you to do
YOU have to decide which things are urgent and what can wait

12. Matrix URGENT NOT URGENT IMPORTANT NOT IMPORTANT I II III IV Crises
Pressing problems
Deadline driven projects
Prevention
Preparation
Relationship building
Recognizing new opportunities
Planning
Values clarification
True recreation
Interruptions
Many pressing matters
Some phone calls
Some mail
Some
Some reports
Some meetings
Many popular activities
Trivia
Busywork
Junk mail
Time wasters
Escape activities

13. Quadrant I – Urgent & Important
These activities should take first priority
The activities in this quadrant need to be dealt with immediately and they are important
In the long term, time spent here should be reduced with prevention and preparation (Quadrant II)

14. Quadrant II – Not Urgent but Important
The activities in this quadrant need to be the FOCUS!!!
You should begin to prioritize the activities that fall into this category
If you are currently spending very little time here, begin slowly and build upon it

15. Quadrant III –Urgent and Not Important
The activities in this quadrant are often the result of someone else’s sense of urgency
If you allow your priorities to fall here, you will feel rushed to get things done, followed by a lack of satisfaction
These tasks are distractions!

16. Quadrant IV – Not Urgent and Not Important
Activities in this quadrant are simply a waste of time
Should strive to minimize the amount of time you spend on activities falling into quadrant IV

17. Now it’s your turn
Use the blank matrix and write in your own specific activities

18. 10 Guidelines for Effective Time Management
Plan ahead – must be able to plan and follow through with the plan
Schedule leisure activities – schedule in blocks of time for your family, friends, exercise, etc. If you don’t, you likely will spend little time doing these activities
Under-promise and over deliver – set due dates that are not just meetable but beatable. Get your work done early!

19. 10 Guidelines for Effective Time Management
Break big jobs into manageable chunks – break big projects into small tasks and set deadlines for completing the tasks.
Keep track of your progress – If your timeline is no longer realistic, make sure your schedule allows for “work in progress”
Delegate whatever you can – if the job can be completed by someone else or with their help – DELEGATE!!!!

20. 10 Guidelines for Effective Time Management
Establish parameters for saying “NO” – learn what projects you should say yes to and which ones someone else should have the opportunity to do
Make and follow a list of priorities – maintain a list or lists of your priorities. Check your progress each day

21. 10 Guidelines for Effective Time Management
Group tasks according to the skills required – try doing the tasks that are most difficult when you are at your best
Keep your eyes open for shortcuts – learn and incorporate new and better ways of doing things
From the book “Beat Stress with Strength,” by Stephanie Spera and Sandra Lanto

22. Final Thoughts…
Great time management is one of the most important skills a person can develop – it takes practice to effectively manage your time
Remember…what’s important to you may not be important to someone else – they are your priorities – and only you need to follow them