My Time Management Skills example essay topic

For me it seems like there is too many tasks to complete and seldom enough time. Effective and efficient time management is something that I have room for improvement on and have great use of. I started by taking a time management survey. #1 Accept Problem My results from this diagnostic survey on time management assured me that my time management skills are low. The survey revealed that I am on the bottom of the scale of time management. There were two sections of the survey.

One section measured your time management skills in an office setting and the other section measured your time management skill in your personal life. By having two sections you can compare your time management skills for the two different settings. The total score measures your overall time management skills and it also puts the score in a category. My scores of 27 points for personal life and 31 points for office settings combines to a 58 point total score. My combined score falls in to the lowest category that suggests that training is necessary and will considerably enhance my effectiveness. The first step of solving a problem is identifying it.

After taking this survey I have proof that my time management skills are low. Time management has been a long time problem for me. I have always found excuses for not doing things on time or running late. My main excuse is being involved in so many things as a college student.

All of this is true, but it shouldn't be an excuse. I currently work as a lifeguard between classes, tutor nights and weekends, work at a bar weekends, I hold a vice president position in American Marketing Association, I am a member of Society for Human Resource Management, team captain for Cleveland State's division I swim team, and I am co-president for Student Athletic Advisory Board. Good time management is needed for all these extras. If I could improve my time management skills I think I would get better in most things that I do. I would be able to enhance my grades in school and be better in the workforce. I would be more relaxed and have a feel of control.

#2, Goals and Priorities The first step in effectively managing time is to develop a statement of long-range goals. This statement of goals will allow you to set short range goals and to prioritize specific activities according to how much they contribute to your goals. Setting these long-range goals may be difficult. The process can force you to confront decisions that you have been putting off, or value issues that you don't want to handle. My long-term goals, intermediate, and short-term goals could look something like this: Long-Term Career Goal: o Career as a Small Business Manager / Owner (6 to 8 years). Intermediate Career Goals: o Enter a MBA program in Business Management (3 to 5 years). o Graduate Assistantship at the Bachelor's level (2 to 4 years).

Short-Term Personal Goals: (Present): o Major in business. o Courses in management, economics, and accounting. o At least a 3.5 average for my bachelor's degree. o Improve my career best swim times. #3, Daily, Weekly, and Semester Scheduling To be effective in time management, weekly time organization is necessary. A semester-long calendar to lay out all of your major obligations is a good tool as well. Without having clearly defined goals, scheduling will be difficult for two reasons. First, there will not be any guidelines to use for prioritizing your activities; and second, there will be trouble finding motivation to complete the tasks in the schedule. I might, for example, be tempted to go to a movie instead of studying accounting.

Two general approaches to weekly scheduling can work well. The first is fairly simple and involves a daily list of things should be accomplish that day. In order to use this method, goals are essential. What activities and obligations are essential for the next several weeks? This will allow you to make a daily list and modify and prioritize with a clear understanding of your short-term and daily goals. This kind of approach appeals to me because I don't like to be locked into an hour-by-hour schedule.

Following is an example of a two-day period using the daily list type of schedule with a simple A-B-C priority system (A = Highest Priority, B = Moderate Priority, C = Lowest Priority. ). I found that this is a good scale to use. Some people have scales 1-5, but I prefer this more simple kind of rating. This could be my schedule: Thursday (Home from school at 6: 30 p. m.) Review notes for business law class. (A) Study for human resources test.

(B) Work out at the gym. (B) Go out for dinner with girlfriend. (A) Write an email to parents. (C) Friday (No classes.) Do marketing project. (A) Get a haircut.

(B) SHRM meeting. (C) Work out. (A) Review notes for test next week. (C) Watch a movie. (C) In this schedule, long-term goals should be reflected but there is flexibility to this schedule. One of my goals from the goal-setting example is to finish my bachelor's degree.

Keeping this in mind, it also appears that another goal is to be a good boyfriend and son. This is a balanced schedule because it includes time for exercise, contact with parents, and a movie. A written list is essential. The list should be somewhere available throughout the day. I could carry a notebook or card with the items on it. It could also be helpful to post the list somewhere as a reminder.

I considered a more detailed kind of schedule. It is recommended for people who need more structure than the flexible list method offers. The most common method is to use an hour-by-hour weekly schedule. This allows you to allocate time specifically and gives you a very clear guideline of what to do when. Basically this involves using an hour-by-hour weekly calendar. I decided to go with the more flexible schedule because I think it is hard to estimate how long time some tasks will take.

I often find that things come up at the last minute; with this schedule I know my priorities and can then skip something that is less important. The key of course, is keeping to the schedule. I need to be realistic. It is important to allow plenty of free time. It is vital to keep the goals in mind to be able to find motivation to follow schedule. #4, Balance Everyone needs a balanced lifestyle.

A common time management mistake that people make is not allowing for a balanced life-style. One's overall health and wellness require attention to seven important life areas. o Physical (exercise, nutrition, sleep) o Intellectual (cultural, aesthetic) o Social (social relationships) o Career (school and career goal directed work) o Emotional (expression of feelings, desires) o Spiritual (quest for meaning) o Family (spend time with family) Ultimately time spent should be divided equally between the seven different categories. This only happens in a perfect world, but the more balance the better. With proper life balance it is easier to cope with stress that cannot be eliminated.

If time is spent in only a few categories stress might occur. #5, Take Use of Technology Technology can help me be better at time management. There is plenty of software that allows us to keep a calendar, 'to-do" lists, and phone and address books on your computer. Using a computer will help get rid of all the paper and it will be easier to keep things organized. Much of organizing comes from streamlining your life. The more clutter in life, phone numbers on slips of paper, business cards in notebooks, a desk piled high with calendars and lists, the more likely you are to waste time trying to stay organized and on top of things.

To even take it a step further using a hand held organizer could help a lot. It is easy enough to bring everywhere and it also allows us to keep a calendar, 'to-do" lists, and phone and address books. It connects easily to your computer, which makes it unproblematic to keep both a computer and a hand held organizer synchronized. A handheld organizer can also be used for reviewing word and other office applications. This can be used when waiting for a meeting to start and also when traveling. Taking the Right Steps As stated earlier, the first step in time management, as figure 1 shows, is to realize and accept that there is a problem.

I had good knowledge of this but the survey helped me to realize even more that I have a problem. This step is critical, if you cannot understand the problem it becomes much harder to solve it. This step should not take more than a week to complete. The second step as figure 1 is showing is the goal setting. For this action plan to work it is important to set up goals. These goals will help you keep focused and should keep you motivated throughout the process.

If motivation is lost, go back to this step and review and revise your goals and priorities. They are the foundation of the action plan and will lead you not only throughout the action plan but also help you in many ways with your life. This is why this step should not be taken lightly. Take time to think about your goals and priorities, 1-3 weeks should be used, go back and make changes if needed. The third step as the figure 1 explains is to schedule daily, weekly and for whole semesters. This step is maybe the step that people think most of when talking about time management.

However, it is important to have the two previous steps finished before trying to go through this step. If you take a shortcut you will most likely find yourself off track or not motivated to go though the schedule planned out. This is a big step and will take considerable longer time to go through than the first two steps. Start this step by scheduling out the semester; make sure to get all important things in your calendar (test days, papers due, staff meetings). The point of this is that you get everything in the calendar; if something is missing the whole point of it is wasted.

When you have your calendar under control you can move on and start making a weekly schedule. This will be more specified then your calendar. A weekly schedule does not only tell you when things are due but also when to do things. Go on with this until that you feel that you have the weekly schedule under control. This might take up to 6-8 weeks. The last step within this step is to have a daily schedule.

This will look something like the exampled provided earlier. This might also take up to 6-8 weeks to get comfortable with. Total time for this step could be somewhere around 18 weeks, but most likely more around 10 weeks. Once you have your goals and priorities set, as well as your calendar and schedule, it is time to start thinking about what should be on the schedule. The fourth step is to balance your life with different activities. First you want to look at the activities you are currently doing.

Identify the categories that you spend the most time on and the categories that you spend the least time on. Try to balance out the unbalance by cutting time from your most represented category and put that time in your lowest category. It is hard to get this balanced but the more balanced the better you will feel. Schedule time in your schedule for all of these activities. As a manager it is hard to get the balance, however make sure that every category is represented in your life. If your motivation fails here, go back and look at your goals and priorities and maybe revise them.

This step will take some time; it is not done over night. I estimate that it will take around 10 weeks. The last step is taking use of technology. This step could be implemented earlier, as early as the third stage. I think it is easier to start out with a real calendar then it is to have it on a computer or hand held. Once you get used to using a calendar it is then easier to change over to an electronic device.

Otherwise it might be easy to get hung up on some technical issues. This is also the only stage that would require some sustainable investments, if you do not already have the software required or a hand held organizer. For me I am using this as a last step also as a goal. When I reach this point I will allow my self to buy a hand held computer.

This would be my reward for reaching this far. This step should take 1-3 weeks. Implementing I have many times tried to improve my time management. Every semester I start with a calendar, but about half way through I usually do not use it anymore. This semester I decided that I needed to use it all the time and I am still using it. I think that if I had used this action plan the first time I wanted to start using a calendar I would have been successful at first.

Now when I will start using this action plan I am sure that I will keep using my calendar and also be able to live a less stressful life. It will stop me from my last minute studying for tests and forgetting about meetings. I will be able to live a well-balanced, goal-oriented life without unnecessary stress.

Bibliography

Poser, B. (2003) Time Management for Students web D.
Cameron, K. (2002) Developing Management Skills.