Tuesday, we looked at how we spend our time. Fabulous! Now we know what we do with our days. Hopefully, we have found a few things that we do to waste our time, so we can throw that stuff away and have more time to spend on those things we need to do – like our Topaz projects!
So how do we prioritize new tasks? Make long range plans? Short range plans? As a teacher, I do this every semester and what I have for you is a version of how I do that. I call it backwards planning – I’m sure there is some really snazzy word for it, but I’m a simple person and I think backwards planning says what it needs to say. Here goes:
- Using a clean sheet of paper, list your tasks.
- Estimate how much time it takes to complete each task.
- Eliminate unnecessary tasks from your list, drawing a line through each. (Are you doing these tasks because you must or because you feel you should?) Notify others if necessary, explaining that you’re currently too overwhelmed. You’ve already freed up a significant amount of time.
- Delegate some tasks to others. Are there tasks your spouse, children, or coworkers could be doing? Put a check-mark next to tasks you’ll delegate, or pass along, to others. Write name(s) next to each task. Successful delegation takes some finesse.
- Prioritize your tasks by numbering them in order of importance. If you have difficulty establishing what’s most important, ask yourself what’s necessary to fulfill your basic needs, what’s necessary to be successful at work, and whether you have any deadlines to meet. If so, write them next to the appropriate tasks.
- Create an Action Plan for large tasks. If you have a really large task and are working in a team, you can also work with your team to create an action plan. An action plan is a list of steps that must be done to complete a larger task or goal. Details are below.
- Establish a deadline for the project. For me, it’s always the last day of the semester.
- Work backwards. Once you have the task that make up the project lined out and know approximately how long each will take, put them in order from last to first and use the time estimate (#2 above) start plugging the tasks into your calendar.
Creating an action plan
To create an action plan:
- Determine the measure of success for each task.
- List each step it takes to complete the task.
- Establish the best way to complete the task. Consider experimenting with different methods and asking for advice.
- Find ways to multitask, or do more than one thing at once.
- Assemble the people and resources you need to create your action plan.
- List possible rewards or incentives.
You’ve made a significant investment learning ways to better manage your time. Do your best to follow through with your action plan. Work with your team to create and fine-tune the plan if necessary. Refer to it when you feel overwhelmed. And learn to say “no” to new tasks. When you’re ready, refer to the list of things you wish you had more time for and begin folding those things into your routine.
Assignment:
There is no immediate assignment for today’s lesson. You will use this information when you begin your team project and be graded on your time mamagement and action plans at that time.
