Running head: TIME MANAGEMENT 1

Time Management

Ahmad Shahzad (F16BB102)

Ali Hassan (F16BB105)

Alishba Saeed (F16BB131)

Haris A Khan (F16BB126)

Nida Riaz (F16BB128)

Zarnab Imran (F16BB123)

Usra Ijaz (F16BB108)

Institute of Business and Information Technology IBIT (University of the Punjab)

Abstract

The write-up is about time management, and knowledge of basic planning and scheduling

skills. It also mentions several basic tools such as charts to keep scheduling simple and easy.

With the reality of things going against schedules, it explains how to accomplish things within

specific deadlines. Normally, we expect things to be easy at the beginning but when they get

complicated, time and progress play a significant role. The write-up emphasizes on the

importance of time and constraints associated. Time estimation and duration have been discussed

in details. It also shares critical parts related to time management such as uncertainties and

unexpected events. Personal time management and Professional time management have also

been included with a comparison of our thinking to reality. Procrastination and the ways to avoid

it following time management systems have been mentioned as a meaningful conclusion.

Time Management

“Time is a cruel thief to rob us of our former selves. We lose as much to life as we do to death.”

(Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey)

What is Time Management?

“Time Management” is the process of organizing and planning how to divide our time

between specific activities. Good time management enables us to work smarter so that we can

get more tasks done in less time, even when time is tight and pressures are high. Failing to

manage our time damages our effectiveness and causes stress.[ CITATION Min16 \l 1033 ]

The benefits of time management include:

 Greater productivity and efficiency.

 A better professional reputation.

 Less stress.

 Increased opportunities for advancement.

 Greater opportunities to achieve important life and career goals.

However, failing to manage our time effectively can have some very undesirable

consequences:

 Missed deadlines.

 Inefficient work flow.

 Poor work quality.

 A poor professional reputation and a stalled career.

 Higher stress levels.

[ CITATION Min16 \l 1033 ]

Why is Time Management important?

“Time does not change us. It just unfolds us.”

(Max Frisch)

Time management is important for our personal life and career successes. It teaches us

how to manage our time effectively and make the most of it.

Below are a few reasons why it is so important, and how it can help us use and manage our time:

1. Time is a special resource that we cannot store or save for later use. All of us have the

exact and same amount of time each day. Time not well used cannot be retrieved.

2. Most of us feel having too much to do and not enough time. We blame lack of time for

our poor finances, stress, bad relationships, and for not exercising our bodies. Wise time

management can help us find the time for what we desire.

3. We need time to get what we want out of our lives. If we wait for extra time to appear, we

might lose the game of life. Through right time management, we can “create” the time we

need, and not just wait for it to come. By planning our time wisely, we will have more

time to do more things.

4. Time management will help us set up our priorities.

5. Time is limited to 24 hours a day, so we must plan our lives wisely.

6. Time management helps us make conscious choices, so we can spend more of our time

doing things that are important and valuable to us.

7. We can learn to find the time for the things that are important to us. Even a small amount

of time once a day, or even once a week, may take us closer to our goals, and we may be

surprised at the progress we make.

8. We become more productive using improved time management skills and tools, and can

accomplish more with less effort and time. Time management can help us reduce wasted

time and energy, help us become more creative and productive, and enable us to do the

right thing at the right time. This will of course lead to more balance and fulfillment in

our lives.

9. Life today presents so many distractions. Therefore, it is very easy to lose time on

unimportant activities.

10. Life puts in front of us so many choices each day, and the question is, do we follow what

appears on our way, or do we consciously choose what we want to do? Do we allow

external distractions to deter us from our goals, or do we use willpower and self-

discipline to walk towards our goals in a straight line without wasting time and energy?

11. A certain degree of detachment and inner peace are useful in managing our time

effectively. They help us avoid spending too much emotional and mental energy on what

people say and think about us. They help us stay calm, despite distractions or difficulties,

and this saves us a lot of time and energy, which we can spend on better and more

rewarding activities.

[ CITATION Rem16 \l 1033 ]

Why use time management skills?

“We must use time as a tool, not as a crutch.”

(John F. Kennedy)

It is important that we develop effective strategies for managing our time to balance the

conflicting demands of time for study, leisure, earning money and jobhunting. Time management

skills are valuable in jobhunting, but also in many other aspects of life: from revising for

examinations to working in a vacation job.

Sometimes it may seem that there is not enough time to do everything that we need to. This can

lead to a buildup of stress. When revising for examinations, or during our finals when we must

combine the pressures of intensive study with finding time to apply for jobs, good management

of our time can be particularly important. Once we have identified ways in which we can

improve the management of our time, we can begin to adjust our routines and patterns of

behavior to reduce any time-related stresses in our lives.[ CITATION Uni16 \l 1033 ]

What skills are required for effective time management?

“One always has time enough, if one will apply it well.”

(Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)

Following are the most common skills, techniques, and tips we may use in our daily

lives:

1. Prioritization - The biggest reason that most of us struggle with prioritization is that we

start too late in the process. We attempt to prioritize the items that are on our task lists.
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However, if we look closely at most task lists, we would find that they contain items

which never should have made it on to the task lists in the first place. As strange as it may

sound, prioritizing should not begin with a focus on getting more work done.

Prioritization should always begin with avoiding/eliminating the tasks which we should

not be performing. Once this has been done, we can switch our focus to completing the

most valuable work we can with the time and resources available to us. Prioritization is

one of the most misunderstood and misused of the time management skills. When we get

it right, we would find that our time management has improved rapidly. This becomes

increasingly true every day. Either professionally or personally, eliminating the

“unnecessary” in life goes a long way in making us more productive. What do we

consider unnecessary? Anything that prevents us from reaching our goals. If our goals are

to clean out our email inboxes, then we must not spend 45 minutes on Facebook. If we

have deadlines to meet at work, we must not spend 25 minutes per day fielding

unnecessary phone calls. We need to draw a firm, distinct line between the “necessary”

and “unnecessary” in our lives. The stricter we define these terms, the more we would

find that a lot of things are truly unnecessary in our lives.

2. Record Keeping - When we are on top of everything and we know exactly what is going

on; we can make effective decisions and provide information quicker. Regardless of our

subject areas, accurate information is essential. We do not have to know everything off

the top of our heads but we would be surprised at how much time we can save when we

know where to find the necessary information, the moment we need it. We must

determine what information we need to have and put systems in place to ensure that it is

collected and stored.

3. Goal Setting - Time management is not a standalone skill. We cannot manage time but

we probably already know that. We can only manage how we can use our time and how

effective goal-setting should drive our time. The most fundamental of time management

skills is the ability to use our time in a manner which serves our goals. When making

decisions about what to focus our time on, we should always be cognizant of our goals

and how each action is aimed at bringing us closer to achieving those goals. We must set

ourselves specific and clearly defined goals, and make sure that these are realistic and

achievable. To do this, we first need to examine our present situation and assess what

goals are important to us and what action we need to take to achieve our targets. We must

have a contingency plan or alternative route to the goals in case we change our plans.

4. Focus - Regardless of what we are trying to do, there will always be something else

competing for our attention. It is not easy to shut everything out and focus on the task at

hand. Focus, is one of those time management skills where we do not realize how

important it is until we struggle with it. It is important to remember that no matter how

many tasks need to be done, we can only work on one task in any given moment. The

myth of multi-tasking causes many problems for those of us who wish to improve their

time management but if we want to get results, we must learn to focus on one task at a

time and block out all distractions.

5. Planning - Tasks will overlap and be dependent on each other. There will often be times

when one task cannot be started until another task is finished. Our schedule will also be

impacted by the schedules of others. These factors need to be considered at the beginning

of each project and, monitored throughout. Failure to do so can lead to delays and missed

deadlines. Planning is one of the essential time management skills because it allows us to
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foresee all the tasks which will be required to complete a project and, how they will best

fit together. A well-made plan will save us a great deal of time. We must plan to spend at

least 50 percent of our time engaged in the thoughts, activities and conversations that

produce most of our results.

[ CITATION Coa16 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Dav16 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Uni16 \l 1033 ]

[ CITATION Jas14 \l 1033 ] [ CITATION Ent16 \l 1033 ]

Our Thinking

Reality

The 2 figures above demonstrate our thinking vs reality. Things, often, are not meant to

go the way we expect them to. We must be mentally prepared for undesired and unexpected

events when achieving our goals. For example, our goal is to submit this English write-up on

time but unexpectedly, the printer at IBIT breaks down or its toner runs out of ink and every

other student at IBIT wants to use the same facility at the same time.
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Time management for students

Students must strictly follow this priority matrix. For example:

 Tests/Quizzes carry marks and, are urgent and important so we must prepare them first.

 Unmarked assignments are not urgent but important so they should be the next thing on

our lists.

 Independent studies are less important but urgent so we must not forget them.

 Things related to leisure or entertainment are neither important nor urgent so must be our

least priority.

[ CITATION Ski16 \l 1033 ]

Before looking at the amount of time students need to spend studying, they should remember

the following points:

 Some subjects consume more of our time than others. This is natural and it will depend

on how much work we need to do in each one.

 It is easy to focus on the subjects we like most, so be careful not to neglect other subjects.
TIME MANAGEMENT 11

 It can be difficult to keep on top of everything during the week, so the weekend can be a

good time to catch up in some areas. [ CITATION Orl16 \l 1033 ]

Conclusion

Last but not the least is Procrastination. We must try our best to avoid it. It is a waste of

time. It means to delay or avoid starting off with a task or thing to be done. It is a universal truth

that we all waste time and should accept it. Procrastination is caused when we do not know how

to start off with a job or if the job itself is extremely boring.

There are a couple of ways to go around this problem. To make the job or task simple, it is better

to break the task into bit sized chucks with a duration of 30 to 60 minutes. Chip away at the

problem. “Pigeon steps make giant strides”, so we must plan to do a little each day. By doing so,

we will feel a sensation of success and may reward ourselves for the parts we are done with.

Time Management Systems – To avoid procrastination, there are several Time Management

Systems available. Paper based; diary, wall planner, ‘Filofax’ etc. Electronic; PDAs,

smartphones, computer based etc. We must choose one, use it, update it and refer to it.
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