Time management and Project Management

Undergraduate Research Skills Nayda G. Santiago ARG - CAHSI

Outline

Time Management Project Management

Why manage your time?

Is this the picture that represents you in your normal state?

Or is it more like

We need to manage time because:

? ? ?

What is your reason?

Understand your time

Time is your most valuable resource.

Analyze your time to understand the most efficient way to use it.

To understand the value of time

Value Every Minute Author Unknown To realize the value of one year: Ask a student who has failed a final exam. To realize the value of one month: Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby. To realize the value of one week: Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper. To realize the value of one hour: Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. To realize the value of one minute: Ask the person who has missed the train, bus or plane. To realize the value of one second: Ask a person who has survived an accident. To realize the value of one millisecond: Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics. Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

Taken from: http://www.worldofquotes.com/

Calculate

Calculate the cost of your time*

1.5 annual salary cost per hour working hours per year

cost per hour cost per minute 60

Calculate one of my minutes

My salary (secret): $75,000.00 My hours per year (10 months): 1500

$75 per hour, $1.25 per minute

*Taken from [1]

Analyze your time

Taken from Kathleen Riepe, University of Wisconsin, Parkside, Time Management presentation

Compute your leisure quotient

Whats your LQ
Leisure Quotient?

Sometimes we just dont realize how much time we spent in non productive ways.

Here are some examples of leisure:

Chat Listening to CDs Watching tv Daydreaming

What others can you think of?

Exercise: Finding your LQ

Keep a close record each day of how much time you spend on leisure activities. Divide this number by 960* minutes to get your LQ. *960 minutes equals 16 waking hours per day. Leisure activities are important to help you recharge, but too much can be detrimental.

Exercise

Fill the document with yesterdays tasks. Find out your leisure quotient.

The WADE Method

W Write it down

Record everything you have to do Use a planner or to-do pad Estimate how long your tasks will take

A Add it up

Best, Worst, typical?

D Decide

What will you actually do? Are you overloaded? Delete, delegate, delay, diminish (to shorter tasks) Do not procrastinate, do not do things perfectly
Taken from [2]

E Execute your plan

Mark Twain
If you want to kiss a frog, kiss it fast Do difficult tasks first. They grow.

Not sleeping a solution?

Student lag

Jet lag

Are you creating the equivalent of jet lag by keeping an inconsistent sleep schedule?

Do you get up at about the the same time each morning? Do you almost always get 7-9 hours of sleep per night? If you answered no to any of the questions, you are compromising your bodys efficiency.

Decreased Sleep

Cumulative sleep loss can lead to decreased waking alertness, impaired performance and worsened mood.

Decreased performance related to sleep loss has been implicated in some major disasters.

Bonnett, 1985; Broughton and Ogilvie, 1992

Exxon Valdez

Sleep deprivation is equivalent to the effects of alcohol intoxication

24 hrs of sustained wakefulness is equivalent to 0.10 % Blood Alcohol Concentration.

Fatigue Among Clinicians & the Safety of Patients, David M. Gaba, MD and Steven K. Howard, MD, New England Journal Med; Vol.347 No 16; 10/17/02 Dawson and Reid , 1997

Surgeons awake all night had 20% more errors and took 14% longer to complete the task than those who had a full nights sleep.

Lancet, 1998

Symptoms

Feeling tired; not rested Mood changes

Impaired Cognitive Functioning

Irritability Affective liability

Inability to reliably estimate your ownalertness due to above symptoms

Poor concentration and memory Decreased attention Calculation problems Difficulty in making quick, correct decisions

Sleep Deprivation

Gilberto Colon Latimer QEPD

Are you working youre As off?

How would prioritize this list of daily tasks?

Write the underlined word of the tasks which would be on your

A List B List C List

Buy laundry detergent. Write a eight page essay for English. Prepare for a Biology quiz. Dust the videos on the bookcase. Review for midterm test that counts for 50% of grade. Schedule an appointment with a Professor. Complete a journal entry. Email a high school friend on another campus. Shop for a new pair of athletic shoes. Armor-al the dashboard of the car.

Are you working your As Off? or Do You Have C-Fever?

A LIST 1 Midterm test that counts for 50% of grade. 2 Write a eight page essay for English. B LIST 3 Prepare for a quiz in Biology. 4 Schedule an appointment with a Professor. 5 Complete a journal entry. C LIST 6 Buy laundry detergent. 7 Dust the videos on the bookcase. 8 Email a high school friend on another campus. 9 Shop for a new pair of athletic shoes. 10 Armor-al the dashboard of the car.

C Fever
Have

you ever noticed?

That the videos must be alphabetized before you can settle in to review for a test. That rumpled pile of clothes left in the corner since Thursday night just has to get folded and put away before you can start that English essay.

If so, you may be suffering from C Fever

Conquer Procrastination

5. Conquer Procrastination

Why is C fever as common as the cold?

The A tasks may : Produce minimal endorphins Be too lengthy Be too difficult Be too threatening because of the possibility of failure Be too threatening because of the possibility of success

Its All about Endorphins - The Feel Good Hormone

Develop a Conditioned Response to the Tasks you Procrastinate Set a goal to complete a task/project After completing the task, reward yourself with something that is pleasurable for you The body releases endorphins- the feel good hormone Over time with repetition, you will come to associate feeling good with completing a task/project You wont procrastinate as much

Pacing

Athletes know the phenomenon of running with someone ahead of them to increase their times. The same effect can be achieved with studying and completing schoolwork.

Because work expands or contracts to fit the time allotted, make pacing work for you by doing the following:

Estimate the time needed to complete a task. Subtract 15% from that estimate. Set a timer to help you reach the goal of completing the task in reduced time.

Take the Offensive With a Planner

Take the Offensive with a PLANNER

A planner helps you:

See the big picture

Be time efficient

Record deadlines, appointments, etc.

Be Realistic in your Expectations

Be Realistic

Examine your schedule. Be realistic about what you can accomplish. Dont try to juggle too many things. Dont set yourself up for failure.

Is The Jar Full?

Stephen Covey in his book, First Things First, "Okay, time for a quiz." He reached under the table and pulled out a wide-mouthed gallon jar. He set it on the table next to a platter with some fist-sized rocks on it. "How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?" he asked.

ROCKS

IS

THE JAR FULL?

Gravel

IS THE JAR FULL?

Sand
"Is

this jar full?"

Water

Is

the Jar Full? What is the point?

If

you work really hard you can always fit some more things into your life."

No, that is not really the point

The point is this:

Put the

Big Rocks in First

References
1.

2.

3.

Tim Hindle, Manage Your Time, Essential Dk Managers, DK Publishing, Inc., 1998. Julie Morgenstern, Time Management From Inside Out, Second Edition, Owl Books, 2004. Kathleen Riepe, University of Wisconsin, Parkside, Time Management presentation