Personal working techniques
· Time planning/time management
· Optimisation of day’s schedule
· Effectivity and efficiency reserves
· Priorities
· Leadership techniques
Why does timing have to be planned?
In a year-long study, "stopwatch in hand", a Pittsburgh consultancy firm investigated what was causing the chronic time famine of the average American.
According to this study, he spends
· five years of his life queuing,
· including six months at red lights,
· eight months of his life throwing out rubbish,
· one year looking for lost items and
· two years trying to call people and not getting through.
Planning which gains time
- Analysis of the actions which are really necessary to achieve the goal
- Reduction to these actions
- Anticipating glitches mentally and thus avoiding them
- Alternative behaviour should the actions be delayed
- Reduction of stress and hecticness, since these have a blocking effect.
Planning means gaining time
Why must I plan in writing?
- Writing things down improves concentration and thus increases loyalty to the plan
- Less work for the memory ("external storage")
- High self-motivation thanks to clear goal orientation
- Good opportunity to check results: have I achieved all the points?
- Transparency and overview of everything to be done
- If kept: documentation ("journal effect")
How do I plan correctly?
1. Divide the day into individual activities
(morning, afternoon, evening)
2. Estimate the time needed for the individual activities
3. Build in time cushions
4. Take account of what you didn’t achieve the previous day
5. Set priorities
Use performance peaks consistently
- During the times with few interruptions, plan the empty hours and complete the A tasks
- Complete less important tasks during the times liable to interruptions