Time Management Process - Example

Learning Task 2: Individual Assignment Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0 Theoretical Concepts 3 1.1 Pareto Principle of 80-20 3 1.2 Prickle Jar Theory 4 1.3 Maslow Time Management Theory 5 1.4 Silent Cockpit Theory of Time Management 7 2.0 Action Plan Outcomes and Measures of Achievement 8 2.1 Week Four 8 2.2 Week Five to Week Seven 9 2.3 Week Seven to Week Nine 10 2.4 Week Ten 11 References 13 Learning Task 2: Individual Assignment 1.0 Theoretical Concepts 1.1 Pareto Principle of 80-20 Successful completion and presentation of my term paper relies greatly upon proper time management. Specifically, I believe that exercising full control over the amount of time I spend on analyzing previous student reports and on preparing my term paper will improve efficiency and effectiveness in the work (Morgenstern, 2004). In addition, I will be able to make my presentation on time and within a span of three minutes. According to Allen (2001), time management involves planning of activities that one wants to do mainly by writing them down on a plain piece of paper. This is followed by psychological preparation to perform the task and a later analysis of whether the spent time can be accounted for or not. Human beings’ minds are clogged with lots of activities that they want to perform every minute. Efficiency in completion of these activities calls for priority setting that requires an individual to make prompt choices on which activities are to be done first. Allen’s ‘Two-Minute-Rule’ states that, one can help free up his or her mind and time over the long run by doing anything that must be done within the available two minutes or less. Pareto analysis or Pareto Principle of 80-20 also emphasizes that time can easily be managed if 80% of the aligned tasks can be completed in 20% of the throwaway time, while the remaining 20% of the tasks will be accomplished in 80% of this time (Allen, 2001). This rule provides an opportunity for prioritization of task. It is clear that less time will be spent in the first category of the principle than the second category and tasks that fall under the first category need to be given a higher priority. The Pareto Principle can be translated to mean that a work efficiency of 80% can be achieved by doing 20% of the available task. In relation to the task involved in compilation of my term paper, setting only 20% of the time I have to perform 80% of the work is likely to result into highly comprehensive research to come up with a perfect term paper. Higher prioritization of tasks is therefore required if productivity and efficiency is the aim of time management for both organizations and individuals (Allen, 2001). A person needs to adopt simple methods to complete a task instead of using complex methods that are time consuming (Morgenstern, 2004). 1.2 Prickle Jar Theory Working environments are characterized by several things or events that might act as distractions leading to improper time management. Time management requires people to understand their lives and the nature of the tasks they are required to perform at any given time (Morgenstern, 2004). The nature of these tasks must also be related with the surroundings in which they are to be performed to help avoid any distractions that may derail successful completion (Fiore, 2006). This makes environment selection a very important factor in task performance as far are productivity and efficiency are concerned. Availability of distractive factors in a working environment may lead to procrastination which eventually results into time wastage. Fiore uses the Prickle Jar Theory to illustrate how procrastination can be avoided to promote proper time utilization. The theory also explains how one can prevent a feeling of guilt following any failure to complete a task within the available time. This theory conceptualizes that a prickle jar is a container filled with four different types of materials namely; large rocks, pebbles, sand and water. All the four materials compete for space within the jar and the one with the strongest force will obviously take the greatest share of the space inside the prickle jar. This theory equates a person’s life with the prickle jar, the large rocks with endless responsibilities, the pebbles with hobbies and sand and water with the different types of distractions in a person’s life (Fiore, 2006). A person should learn how to deal with the technical forces that prevent completion of responsibilities that need to be accomplished in life. Mostly, procrastinations result into a feeling of guilt and inadequacy that can easily be avoided if one fails to succumb to distractions within a working environment. A school set up is one informal example of environment that has quite a number of distractions that can prevent completion of a given task. High levels of certainty with what one is expected to do at any given time helps avoid any technical forces that may prevent completion of a task (Morgenstern, 2004). I have one common goal of producing a perfect end of semester term paper. Full acceptance of personal goals and interests in this task therefore forms the basis of successful both in my research and production of the term paper (Fiore, 2006). I will be able to avoid postponing my work but instead perform a portion of it within the available timeframe. 1.3 Maslow Time Management Theory Human beings have several needs to satisfy in their daily lives. As such, they are compelled to satisfy certain needs ahead of others on matters of importance considering their current life situations. Maslow time management theory suggests that individuals must first meet those needs that are at the lowest levels of his constructed pyramid before they can acquire the motivation to fulfill others (Le Blanc, 2008). Needs that are at the lowest level of the pyramid encompass physiological needs such as food, water and shelter while those at the highest level of the pyramid are growth needs which cannot be completely satisfied . According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, fulfillment of physiological needs should be followed by safety and security needs, love and belongingness needs, self-worth and self-esteem needs, deficiency needs, need to know and understand, aesthetic needs, need for self- actualization and growth needs in that order. Satisfaction and productivity can be achieved if this order is critically followed and when activities are satisfactorily organized (Le Blanc, 2008). Similarly, translating this into the field of academics and time management process, the student must be aware of the most crucial tasks that must first be fulfilled before others. This helps in efficient time allocation making tasks to be performed in a chronological manner thereby enhancing time management. For example, as the end of semester approaches, I need to remember that I must produce a good term paper consisting of what I have learnt during the semester. In addition, I need to know that a perfect term paper can only be produced if I conduct a comprehensive research on previous reports done by other students, before I can embark onto the actual writing task. Another thing that I must fulfill is planning my time to present the prepared paper within three minutes and this must be done in the next six weeks (Le Blanc, 2008). It is only through this comprehensive program that I can be able to plan well for these activities to provide the most basic needs first before other things in the order stated. By applying Maslow Time Management Theory in my task performance, I will be able to use the available time efficiently and minimize time wastage. The process of identification of the importance of these tasks must therefore begin early enough to avoid last minute inconveniences and anxieties (Morgenstern, 2004). 1.4 Silent Cockpit Theory of Time Management According to Secunda’s (1999), 15 Second Principle, human beings either fail to really care about their dreams or they are completely afraid of their outcomes. This form of confusion can easily be avoided by taking as little time as possible to think about individual life dreams and planning ways to achieve them. Application of the 15 Second Principle to enhance time management prevents individuals from giving up on aspirations and hopes. It also highlights that failure to fulfill the set dreams as planned attributes to blames extended to ones’ self because one needs to learn to make good use of every opportunity presented to him or her. The success of every activity is also based on the level of confidence that a person possesses when attempting to handle the task (Morgenstern, 2004). This is also supported by extreme levels of concentrations to maximize accuracy and minimize error. Time is effectively managed when a task is performed to the best standards possible as little time will be spent in error corrections and perfections. Silent Cockpit Theory of Time Management can also be used to explain the importance of confidence and concentration in task performance (Secunda, 1999). This theory argues that the pilot should not experience any interruptions below 10, 000 feet of the takeoff time. This is a time when the piloting activity begins and maximum level of accuracy in piloting is required to ensure safety of passengers. In most organizations, effective management practices are realized when there is time for working and relaxing when one feels like doing so. Like a pilot, one must plan all tasks that are to be done to fit within the available time. In addition, he or she must be composed enough to perform the task, putting time constraints into consideration. Critically focusing onto the outcomes of an activity can help increase the level of seriousness that is put in to ensure efficiency and effectivity (Morgenstern, 2004). 2.0 Action Plan Outcomes and Measures of Achievement 2.1 Week Four After critical analysis and configuration, I learnt that increasing my study time to 10 hours per week will only be possible if I manage the little time I have well. Since this is the task that I had to accomplish, I started by making prompt choices among all activities involved to be able to set what is to be done first ahead of others, and how much time should be allocated for it. I started by applying Allen’s ‘Two-Minute-Theory’ of mind relaxation by performing every task that could be done within two minutes or less to free my mind as much as possible (Allen, 2001). Among the tasks that I did within two minutes or less includes drafting a timetable indicating days that I would allocate for the term paper and for studies towards end of semester examinations. Since I was required to accomplish two tasks by the end of the semester, that is, presenting the term paper and sitting for an examination, I applied the Pareto Principle of 80-20 to maximize efficiency in both areas. To achieve this, I had to set priorities for the two tasks giving the term paper more priority than the end of semester examinations, with task percentages of 80 % and 20 % respectively (Allen, 2001). This enabled me to manage my time by spending 20% of my total time in completing my term paper to maximize success. This gave me a positive end result because I managed to go through quite a number of previous reports done by students and to extract relevant information from them by the end of week four. From this mode of time allocation to task completion, I was able to learn that every little time counts in a person’s life and proper utilization of the available time promotes effectivity and efficiency of every work done (Morgenstern, 2004). In addition, I was able to prove why those who spend little time doing a task normally become successful than those who spend a lot of time on a small task. Generally, I acquired very important time management skills that are not only applicable to my future years in school but also to my life after school. 2.2 Week Five to Week Seven The whole process of term paper composition and preparation for the end term examinations were to be done at a school set up. I was compelled to get my goals and priorities right in order to avoid distractions from events and people, which are common in such environments. The main theory that helped me in this is the Prickle Jar Theory that I relied upon to select the life distractions that I was exposed to and plan how to avoid them (Fiore, 2006). The Prickle Jar Theory enabled me to understand my life responsibilities as well as the positive and negative factors affecting their fulfillment. Based on the principles of this theory, I managed to prioritize my areas of weakness such as drawing concepts from literature reviews or reports and multitasking. I have always had difficulties synthesizing literature reviews and written contents to relate them with the issue at hand, and performing more than one task at the same time. These acted as sources of my distractions but I managed to overcome them by declining to procrastinate the tasks that I had (Fiore, 2006). Instead, I spent much time synthesizing the written contents and making a rough draft of my term paper. I gained a lot of positive changes as far as time management is concerned by learning how to strategically control and overcome procrastination. In addition, I was able to acquire in-depth understanding of effective planning and the crucial steps involved in avoiding procrastination (Morgenstern, 2004). These include; diving the task into small steps to make it more manageable, allocating sufficient time for each step, having personal goals, developing achievable standards to motivate one to pursue a task, evaluation of any possible anxieties that may interfere with an individual’s efforts to accomplish a task, establishment of high degree of certainty of what one is expected to do and seeking for assistance whenever one is unable to handle a task (Fiore, 2006). I am confident that I can help others manage their time by taking them through these important ideas. One needs to put all these steps and procedures into consideration in order to manage and control any technical factors that may lead to avoidance of a particular task that needs to be completed (Morgenstern, 2004). 2.3 Week Seven to Week Nine The world of endless needs provides individuals with opportunities to classify those needs on matters of importance by getting to know which one is more crucial than the other. The tasks I heard for the preparation of my term paper is an example of a combination of several minute needs that I had to give the necessary classifications. Specifically, a perfect term paper cannot be obtained without good grammar and punctuations. In addition, the three minutes presentation must be achieved by preparing good slides that are visible and arranged in a chronological manner. I applied Maslow’s Time Management Theory to come with this promising ranking of tasks (Le Blanc, 2008). Based on the arguments of the theory, I managed to rate content quality and appearance at the bottom of the hierarchy of needs, giving me an opportunity to fulfill them first. Following this classification, I worked hard to strengthen my term paper by ensuring that it was almost free of grammatical, punctuation and spelling mistakes. This is because, what I needed the most at the end of this presentation were high marks attributing to good grades. By the end of my presentation, I was able to score good marks due to the absence of grammatical, punctuation and spelling mistakes that might have led to loss of marks. In addition, I could properly utilize the little time I had to make presentable power point slides and to practice my presentation. The outcome of this mode of task grouping was very encouraging as I passed well both in my term paper and in my end of semester examinations. It also made my presentation to stand out among those of my fellow classmates. Based on these outcomes, I could critically judge that my time between week seven and week nine was properly managed, leaving me with no option but the ability to account for the spent time. The Maslow Time Management theory brought great improvements in my life as far as time management is concerned. From this theory, I could learn that having a good order of tasks that one has at hand provides an easy way of time allocation which eventually promotes efficiency. It is important therefore for a person to take his or her few minutes to classify any task that is to be completed on matters of importance (Le Blanc, 2008). 2.4 Week Ten Life dreams are believed to assist an individual to live a positive life full of hopes and directions. One therefore needs to develop high expectations for success to make realization of these dreams possible (Morgenstern, 2004). In the course of my term paper development, I had a dream of producing a perfect tem paper that I could present in three minutes that was provided for this. I lived to meet my expectations explaining why I had to strive to increase my study time to ten hours per week within the next ten weeks, by week four of the semester. I based my plans on the 15 Seconds Principle that enabled me to use every little time I had on my term paper and for end of semester examinations studies (Secunda, 1999). This made me perform every task I had ahead of me with a lot of confidence that helped improve the level of accuracy achieved and minimize the rate of errors encountered in the work. I also applied the Silent Cockpit Theory of Time Management that enabled me to concentrate on researching on the requirements for the term paper, especially during the early days of the work. This theory helped me to reserve my free time for extensive library research, completion of the final term paper and for studying for end of semester examinations. In addition, the two theories assisted me in proper time allocation for completion of my term paper which ended with a lot of success enabling me to make my presentation by the end of week six and within three minutes. The 15 Seconds Principle of Time Management and the Silent Cockpit theory of Time managed served to improve my time management skills very significantly (Secunda, 1999). I was able to understand that one should spend every little time available on doing the available task bit by bit because a lot of time might sometimes not be available at all. I also learnt that the success of every task depends on the level of confidence and concentration given to it, especially at the early stages of beginning working on the task. Generally, properly managed time promotes high confidence and concentration levels applied in handling a task which leads to achievement of accuracy (Morgenstern, 2004). References Allen, D. (2001). Getting things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. New York: Viking. Fiore, N. A. (2006). The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt- Free Play. New York: Penguin Group. Le Blanc, R. (2008). Achieving Objectives Made Easy! Practical Goal Setting Tools & Proven Time Management Techniques. Maarheeze: Cranendonck Coaching. Morgenstern, J. (2004). Time Management from the Inside Out: The Foolproof System for Taking Control of Your Schedule—and Your Life (2nd ed.). New York: Henry Holt/Owl Books. p. 285. Secunda, A. (1999). The 15 Second Principle: Short, Simple Steps to Achieving Long-term goals. New York: Berkley Books. Read More