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Time Management

Randy Pausch
Department of Computer Science
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Pausch@Virginia.Edu

Remember that time is money


Advice to a Young Tradesman
Benjamin Franklin 1748

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Introduction
Time must be explicitly managed, just like
money
Much of this wont make sense until later
(too late?): thats why the handouts...
Faculty vs. Grad Students

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One Good Thief is Worth Ten


Good Scholars:
Time Management for Teachers
Cathy Collins
Parker Publishing Company, 1987
CareerTrack Seminar:
Taking Control of Your Work Day 1990
(303) 447-2300

Lightning pace, heavy on techniques


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Outline
Why is Time Management Important?
Goals, Priorities, and Planning
TO DO Lists
The Office: desks, paperwork, telephones
Scheduling Yourself
Delegation
Meetings
Technology
General Advice

Why Time Management


is Important
The Time Famine
Bad time management = stress
This is life advice, not job advice

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Scholars are Really in Trouble


Academia has not kept up. Teachers: only
white collar worker without telephones

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The problem is severe


By some estimates, people waste about 2
hours per day. Signs of time wasting:

Fireside Chat, February 23, 1942


Franklin Delano Roosevelt

messy desk and cluttered (or no) files


cant find things
miss appointments, need to reschedule them
late and/or unprepared for meetings
volunteer to do things other people should do
tired/unable to concentrate

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Never before have we had so little time


in which to do so much

Hear me now, Believe me Later...

Goals, Priorities, and Planning

Being successful doesnt make you manage


your time well.

Druckers Dictum: Doing things right is


not as important as doing the right things.

Managing your time well makes you


successful.

Benefit/Cost analysis
Lou Holtz: list of 100 things before I die

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Questions To Always Ask:

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The 80/20 Rule

why am I doing this?

critical few and the trivial many

what is the goal?

Having the courage of your convictions

why will I succeed?

Good judgement comes from experience

what happens if I chose not to do it?

Experience comes from bad judgement

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Inspiration:

Planning is Important

If you can dream it, you can do it


Walt Disney
Disneyland was built in 366 days.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.


Plan Each Day
Plan Each Week
Plan Each Semester

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Separate Planning from Action

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TO DO Lists

Update your plans

break things down into small steps

Pause to think, but remember:

like a child cleaning his/her room


do the ugliest thing first

Sometimes I sits and thinks and


sometimes I just sits
Musing is not planning
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The four-quadrant TO DO list


Due Soon

Not Due Soon

Important

Not
Important

On My Desk
An OUT BOX
Box of Tissues
Wall Calendar for year
Work order form (see example)
Envelopes
Post-it Notes
Thank you cards

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Paperwork

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Reading Pile

Clutter is death; it leads to thrashing.


Keep desk clear: focus on 1 thing at a time

only read something if youll be fired for


not reading it

a good file system is essential

note that this refers to periodicals and


routine reading, which is different than a
research dig

touch each piece of paper once


correspondence: answer on the letter itself
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Telephone

Telephone

Keep calls short; stand during call

When done, get off: I have students


waiting

Start by announcing goals for the call

If necessary, hang up while youre talking

Dont put your feet up

group outgoing calls:


just before lunch & 5pm

Have something in view that youre


waiting to get to next.
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Vacations

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Office Logistics

your message-taker should give two


options

Make your office comfortable for you, and


optionally comfortable for others

if this cant wait, contact John Smith at


555-1212

No soft comfortable chairs! I have folding


chairs, some people cut off front legs

otherwise, please call back June 1

People respond to physical objects


signs vs. window shades
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Scheduling Yourself

Learn to say No

You dont find time for important things,


you make it.
Everything you do is an opportunity cost
Learn to say No

Will this help me get tenure?


Will this help me get my masters?
Will this help me get my Ph.D.?
keep help me broadly defined

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Gentle Nos

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Everyone has Good and Bad


Times

Ill do it if nobody else steps forward;


Ill be your deep fall back, but you have
to keep searching

Find your creative/thinking time. Defend it


ruthlessly, spend it alone, maybe at home.

Moving parties in grad school; Honey, the


washer & dryer...

Find your dead time. Schedule meetings,


phone calls, and mundane stuff during it.

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Interruptions:

Cutting Things Short

6-9 minutes, 4-5 minute recovery five


interruptions shoots an hour
you must reduce frequency and length of
interruptions
blurting: save-ups

Im in the middle of something now...


start with I only have 5 minutes you
can always extend this
stand up, scroll to door, complement,
thank, shake
Clock-watching; on wall behind them

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Time Journals

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Using Time Journal Data:

its amazing what you learn!


monitor yourself in 15 minute increments
for between 3 days and two weeks.
update every 1/2 hour: not at end of day

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What am I doing that doesnt really


need to be done?
What am I doing that could be done by
someone else?
What am I doing that could be done
more efficiently?
What do I do that wastes others time?
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Procrastination

Balancing Act

Procrastination is the thief of time

Work expands so as to fill the time


available for its completion

Edward Young, Night Thoughts,


1742

Parkinsons Law
Cyril Parkinson, 1957

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Avoiding Procrastination

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Comfort Zones

doing things at the last minute is much


more expensive than just before the last
minute

Identify why you arent enthusiastic

deadlines are really important: establish


them yourself!

Fear of failure?

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Fear of embarrassment

Get a spine!

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Delegation

Delegation is not dumping

No one is an island

require responsibility, accountability

You can accomplish a lot more with help

grant authority

Mostly Faculty to grad student; listen to


this advice from your perspective

treat your people well


I vacuum the lab myself
grad students & secretaries are your
lifeline

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Challenge People

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Sociology

People rise to the challenge: You should


delegate until they complain
Communication Must Be Clear: Get it in
writing Judge Wapner
Give objectives, not procedures.

beware upward delegation!


reinforce behavior you want repeated
Ignorance is your friend I do not know
how to run the photocopier or the fax
machine

Tell the relative importance of this task


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Meetings

Technology

average executive: > 40% of time

Computers are faster, but they take


longer janitor, UCF

lock the door, unplug the phone

If its not spell checked, stop reading it!

maximum of 1 hour
prepare: there must be an agenda
1 minute minutes: who is responsible for
what by when?

Secretaries are better than answering


machines; where are the costs & benefits
of a technology? (transcription)

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Technology

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General Advice

Electronic mail
VIRGO & LEO: I havent been in library
in 3 years
Speed dialing speaker phone: hands are
free to do something else Youre on one
of those things... Yes I am
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kill your television (how badly do you want


tenure or your degree?)
turn money into time especially
important for people with kids or other
family commitments

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Care and Feeding of Advisors


get a day timer (pocket calendar)

General Advice
never break a promise, but re-negotiate
them if need be

write things down


whens our next meeting?

if you havent got time to do it right, you


dont have time to do it wrong

what do you/I need to have done by then?

recognize that most things are pass/fail

who to turn to for help?

feedback loops: ask in confidence


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THE SEVEN HABITS, BRIEFLY


From: The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic, by Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989.

1. BE PROACTIVE. Between stimulus and response in human beings lies the power to choose. Productivity, then, means that we are solely
responsible for what happens in our lives. No fair blaming anyone or anything else.

2. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND. Imagine your funeral and listen to what you would like the eulogists to say about you. This should
reveal exactly what matters most to you in your life. Use this frame of reference to make all your day-to-day decisions so that you are working
toward your most meaningful life goals.
3. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST. To manage our lives effectively, we must keep our mission in mind, understand whats important as well
as urgent, and maintain a balance between what we produce each day and our ability to produce in the future. Think of the former as putting out
fires and the latter as personal development.

4. THINK WIN/WIN. Agreements or solutions among people can be mutually beneficial if all parties cooperate and begin with a belief in the
third alternative: a better way that hasnt been thought of yet.

5. SEEK FIRST TO BE UNDERSTANDING, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD. Most people dont listen. Not really. They listen
long enough to devise a solution to the speakers problem or a rejoinder to whats being said. Then they dive into the conversation. Youll be more
effective in your relationships with people if you sincerely try to understand them fully before you try to make them understand your point of view.

6. SYNERGIZE. Just what it sounds like. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In practice, this means you must use creative
cooperation in social interactions. Value differences because it is often the clash between them that leads to creative solutions.

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Time Management
Randy Pausch
Department of Computer Science
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Pausch@Virginia.Edu

7. SHARPEN THE SAW. This is the habit of self-renewal, which has four elements. The first is mental, which includes reading, visualizing,
planning and writing. The second is spiritual, which means value clarification and commitment, study and meditation. Third is social/emotional,
which includes service, empathy, synergy and intrinsic security. Finally, the physical element includes exercise, nutrition and stress management.

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