Time management working smarter

‘Working Smarter’
Making the most of your time

What stops us?
Get together in 2’s.
List down the left hand side, all the things that
stop us working smarter or making the most
of our time.
Swap your sheet with your partner and in
turn, make a suggestion to him/her of a
solution you can think of to help them.

Benefits?
What are the benefits to us working smarter &
making the most of our time?
To us as individuals?
For our immediate team?
For us as a business?
For our clients & customers?

Key Steps in Planning
Plan Action Review
•Planning saves time this time around
•Review saves time next time around

Key Steps in
Planning Systematically
•Purpose
•Outcomes
•What has to be done
•Who does what
•Resources
•Schedule and Deadlines

O
Own Part
Ask: “is this within your own control?”
If you get ‘no’
Ask: “Which bit is in your control?”
O
Own Part
Ask: “is this within your own control?”
If you get ‘no’
Ask: “Which bit is in your control?”
W
What specifically?
Ask: what specifically do you want?
With whom? Where do you want to
achieve this? By when?
W
What specifically?
Ask: what specifically do you want?
With whom? Where do you want to
achieve this? By when?
E
Ecology
Ask: if you could have that tomorrow
would you take it?
If you get hesitation ask:
What stops you?
E
Ecology
Ask: if you could have that tomorrow
would you take it?
If you get hesitation ask:
What stops you?
R
Real
Ask: can you imagine now how it will be
when you’ve achieved your outcome?
Imagine what you will see & hear, how you
will feel…
R
Real
Ask: can you imagine now how it will be
when you’ve achieved your outcome?
Imagine what you will see & hear, how you
will feel…
P.O.W.E.R. Outcomes
P
Positive
Ask: “What would you
rather have?”
P
Positive
Ask: “What would you
rather have?”

P.O.W.E.R Outcomes
• Get together in 2’s.
• Each choose something you’d like to achieve
regarding time management e.g. a particular
project or area of your role or working day.
• In turn, run each other through a POWER
outcome.
• Thoughts, comments, questions?

Time & Priorities
1.List all of the activities that you actually do at work
•Divide them into categories A, B and C, with A being most important for the success of the business and C
being least important.
•Within each category number the activities with #1 being the most vital
•Write next to each activity how much time you spend doing it each week or, in some cases, each month.
Then ask yourself:
1.Can I allocate my time more effectively? How?
2.What activities can I give to someone else?
3.What is my job at the company/business, really?
List all of the activities you wish you were doing at work, but that you never get around to doing.
•Divide the activities into categories and prioritise them as above.
•Write next to each activity how much time each week/month it would take you to complete.
Then ask yourself:
•What would be the benefit of doing this activity?
•What recurring breakdowns could I avoid by doing this activity?
•What is my job at this company/business, really?
Work through steps #1 to #4. Then share what you wrote and having read other people’s responses,
decide on 3 areas of the business to reorganise and/or redesign work systems, accountability procedures,
management systems or training and development of staff.

Time Management Matrix
Important 1
“fire-fighting”
2
“proactive time
management”
Not
Important
3
reactive use of
time
4
waste of time
Urgent Not
Urgent

Where do you spend most of your time? i.e. in
which of the quadrants.
In your role, what are your 3’s and 4’s?
Which of your 4’s could you get rid of? How?
Which of your 3’s could you spend less time
on? How?
What in your job is a 2 and how could you
spend more time on it?

Minimising Time Thieves
1. Choose a single Time Thief you really want to minimise.
2. Set a clear, realistic outcome (goal) and check inside that you feel
congruent about it.
3.Write out the sentence, “In how many ways could I reduce the amount
of time I spend doing x?”
4. Freewheel/brain dump any ideas or half notions that occur to you,
including silly or unworkable ones. Have fun!
5. Go back over the list. Pick out two or three ideas that may have
potential.
6. Make a plan (see Planning Systematically page …….)
7. Implement the plan. If you hit problems, go back to step 2.

Techniques for Saying ‘No’
•If “No” really is the answer – non-negotiable for you, just say “No, I’m
sorry” or “No, that won’t be possible”. Keep it brief, don’t justify or
bluster.
•If under pressure, explain that “No” is the answer, and you would rather
be truthful than say ‘yes’, then let them down.
•Get all the necessary information before you say “yes”, otherwise you
could be led into making a commitment you can’t – or don’t want – to
keep.
•Say “Yes, if …” Be specific and clear about the if. Ensure that the if is
something that’s in their control.
e.g. “Yes, alright, I can get you these figures by 4 o’clock if you can take
my place on the help desk between 2.00 and 3.00”.

Time management working smarter

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