Time Management

Introduction:

Time is usually a scarce commodity in our lives. Planning and self-discipline are helpful prerequisites to maximizing important and purposeful time.

Skill Definition:

• I can remember key dates and times for meetings and events.
• I can set and hold personal priorities consistent with goals.
• I can plan and accomplish “A” priority (important) tasks to meet commitments.

Key Learning Points:

• Your time is valuable. Manage it in a deliberate way to move toward your goals.
• Calendar time, task time, personal energy and attention are four aspects of time management. See the One-Point Lesson.
• Understand how procrastination impacts you so that you can be proactive.

Faith Worldview:

“Recognize that time belongs to God. He made it and He sustains it. All we can do is manage ourselves in the way we use the time God has so graciously given us. It is not time, it is our purposes and goals and plans and actions that we are able to manage.” Source: Redeeming the Time on Crosswalk.com by Gregg Harris.

Learning Path:

• Review the Goal Setting topic. Goals are an important prerequisite in prioritizing your time.
• Know the difference between important and urgent. See the section below.
• Know how procrastination or time wasters show up for you. Watch the Eat the Frog video below.
• Find a planning tool with calendar and to-do list that works for you and practice weekly and daily planning.

Deeper Topics:

• Prioritize and Schedule:
  • Identify what is important: thinking quarterly and monthly to review goals.
  • Plan your meetings and tasks weekly on a macro basis. Then daily, develop a list of things to do (prioritize and schedule on paper, PC or index cards).
  • Act daily: know your “productive” time of day to do your top priority tasks.
• Urgent and important: Know the difference. Get the important tasks done first!

	Urgent	Not Urgent
Important (A priority)	Help crying sick baby Phone call to confirm job	Exercise Complete work assignment
Not Important (C priority)	Interruptions Distractions	Busy work Time wasters

• Use a planner. Planners can take many forms, e.g. software (Outlook), web sites (Google and more), index cards, notebook or smartphone. Some are free. Add meetings and key tasks.
• 80/20 Rule: This is the idea that 80% of tasks can be completed in 20% of the disposable time. The remaining 20% of tasks will take up 80% of the time.
• Procrastination. Examples include: Working on the unimportant, allowing interruptions to distract you, allowing the urgent to delay the important, prioritizing everyone else and leaving little time for your own goals and work.
• Make Time. You make time by doing the most important work first, by saying no to tasks that don’t fit with purpose and goals and by avoiding distractions. Learn to work smart, not harder.

Exercises for Older Teens and Adults:

• Complete a “task analysis” using the Task Analysis template.
• Complete the Weekly Planner for this week’s classes, meetings and tasks.

Exercises for Younger Teens (13-16):

• Complete the Weekly Planner for this week’s classes, homework, meetings and chores.

Questions to Encourage Critical Thinking:

• Why is time management important to you? List 2-3 things.
• What is procrastination? How does procrastination show up for you? Make a list of 2-3 things.

Tools and Templates:

• Weekly Planner.
• Task Analysis.
• Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar.
• Index cards. Add a goal to the top line of an index card. Below it, write a task needed to support it. Add as many tasks to other index cards as needed to complete that goal.

Word Definition:

• Urgent. Requiring immediate action: calling for immediate action or attention.
• Procrastination. To postpone doing something: to postpone doing something, especially as a regular practice.

Short Stories/Essays:

• The Six Most Important Things I Must Do Tomorrow.

Books:

• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey

Web Articles:

• Effective Time Management on EffectiveTimeManagementStrategies.com
• Time Management on MindTools.com
• 10 Ways to Do What You Don’t Want to Do on ZenHabits

Videos:

• Eat That Frog on YouTube by Brian Tracy.
• Learn to Say No on YouTube by Mastin Kipp.

Quotes:

Faith-Based Quotes:

• “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 (ESV)
• “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)

Other Quotes:

• “You will never find time for anything. If you want time you must make it.” Charles Buxton
• “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” Michael Altshuler
• “To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping.” Chinese Proverb
• “You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage—pleasantly, smilingly, non-apologetically, to say “no” to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger “yes” burning inside.” Stephen R. Covey

One-Point Lesson:

• Four Dimensions of Time.
• Important vs. Urgent.

 Related Skills:

• Goal Setting.
• Self-Discipline.

Summary 2-page Lesson Examples, coming soon:

• Time Management 1 (for younger teens).
• Time Management 1 (for younger teens with instructor notes).
• Time Management 2 (for older teens and adults).
• Time Management 2 (for older teens and adults with instructor notes).