Time Management

Author(s): Ronald Partin

Source: American Secondary Education, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Autumn 1982), pp. 4-6
Published by: Dwight Schar College of Education, Ashland University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41064296 .
Accessed: 14/11/2014 02:47
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Dwight Schar College of Education, Ashland University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and
extend access to American Secondary Education.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 202.94.83.73 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:47:37 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

TimeManagement
Ronald Partiti
each activity
as to its value to you.
Lakeinsuggestsassigningactivities
to
priority
categoriesof "A," "B," and
"C."1Also look forpatterns:
whatare
timewasters?Whatpeople or events
are habitual interruptions?
Which
activitiesdo you least enjoy?Which
wouldyou like to spend more time
Has thisjournalbeen on yourdesk doing?Answers
to thesequestionswill
more than a month? Are your facilitate
thenextstep:goal setting.
Do you
In a surveyof 375 publicschool
interruptions
interrupted?
the
same
stacks
of
home
the followingwere
carry
paper
administrators,
dayafterday?Areyouso busycoping listed as the most frequenttime
withdailycrisesthatyou have little wasters: telephone interruptions,
chance to focus upon the broader ineffective
delegation,
drop-invisitors,
picture? If you gave affirmative meetings,and crisismanagement/
responsesto these questions,time shifting
priorities.2
demands are preventingyou from
2. Setgoals andpriorities.
Muchlike
the airlinepilotwho radios,"We're
maximizing
yourcareerpotential.
The broadjob responsibilities
of a
making
goodtime,butwe'relost,"itis
school administrator
in working
with possibleto wasteyourtimeandenergy
parents,clericaland custodialstaff, withouta clear purposeor direction.
can be
faculty,community
residents,board Such wastedtimeand effort
and studentscan becomea
minimized if you have clear
members,
time-eating monster. Although conceptionsof yourlong-range
goals
administrativetraining includes and short-term
objectives.The prime
courseworkin financial planning, value criterionfor any particular
personnel supervision,and public activityis how much it contributes
to
relations,seldom is the effective towarda goal whichis meaningful
of time,a scarce and you. If yourtimejournalrevealsthat
management
valuable resource,includedin this you are spendingexcessivetimeon
For thoseadministrators activits
unrelated
to anyofyourgoals,
preparation.
who do not presentlyhave time to considerreducing
or eliminating
these
a
in
time
time
wasters.
complete
workshop
Reviewyour major personaland
management,the followingdozen
forimproving
timecontrol professionallife goals annually.Be
suggestions
are offered.
sure to includenot onlycareerand
1. Discoveryourtimethieves.Self- financialgoals, but assess the social,
observation
and analysisofone's time leisure,personal,and spiritual
aspects
usage patternsis the firststep in ofyourlifeforpotential
goalsas well.
and rereadthem
gainingcontroloverwastedtimeand Put themin writing
realigningpriorities.Keep a time weekly.This willassistyou in setting
on thedailyuse ofyourtime.
journalforone week,recordinghow priorities
use each 15-minute
block.
The ParetoPrinciple
the19thyouactually
(from
To be helpfulyourjournalmustbe
centuryeconomistVilfredoPareto),
are prone
specific,accurate,and honest.If you suggeststhatadministrators
aboutyour to spendthebulkoftheirtimedoing
spend15 minutes
worrying
a leakyball the trivialand mundane,and onlya
golfhandicapor repairing
torate small portion of their time on
pointpen,recordit!It is helpful
This articleis forthe administrator
whois oftenfrustrated
bytelephone
ineffectivedelegainterruptions,
tion,drop-invisitors,meetings,and
crisismanagement.

activities
whichcontribute
significant
mostto theimportant
goals.Does the
80/20 rule apply to your daily
A review
schedule?
ofyourtimejournal
willtell!
Recognizethatsome dayswe may
withtheadministrator
who
sympathize
"When
are
to
quipped,
you
up
your
derrirein alligators,
it is difficult
to
rememberthat yourinitialobjective
was to draintheswamp!"Sure,there
are crises or emergencieswhich
sometimes demand immediate
butrecognizethaton some
attention,
days the overridinggoal must be
simplyto make it throughthe day.
However, if every day is but a
succession of mini-crises, your
leadershipin shapingthe futureof
your school will be random and
probably
eventually
stagnant.
3. Plan. The old saw proposesthat
to fail."It
"Failingto planis planning
is notsufficient
to havea goal,a vision,
or a dream.Successfuladministrators
arethosewitha planforrealizing
their
or
as
the
old
objectives,
spiritualso
"All
who
dream
about
aptlystates,
heavenain'tgoin'there."
To succeed,anyplanmustincludea
concretecourseofaction.Answerthe
questions,"Who needs to do what?
When? Where? And how?" for
guidance in planning.The cliche
"Think the job through before
is especially
soundadvice.An
starting"
new
old talecirculates
ofthebeautiful
school buildingwhichcontainedno
janitorial closets. Including the
custodians in the planningphase
wouldhave decreasedthe probability
Whilethereis a
ofsuchan oversight
toturnevery
reluctance
project
healthy
it is wise to
over to a committee,
includein theplanning
processothers
affected
Besides
byyourgoals.
saving
time, it also encourages their
commitment
to the success of the
project.

This content downloaded from 202.94.83.73 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:47:37 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

'

homethesame
time.Save thattimeforyour papers?Do youcarry
Plan for the unexpected.
Don't energy
Do you
after
day?
day
task.
papers
or
creative
but most demanding
becomea dedicatedpessimist,
memos,
papers,
misplace
hour
frequently
reserve
an
administrators
Some
Take
constraints.
potential
anticipate
Are
and
swamped
you
reports?
letters,
those
for
in
and
their
earlymorning analyzing
probability,
stepstominimize
Ifyour
material?
excessive
reading
have a "Plan B." problemswhichrequirethe most with
wherenecessary
be
are
answers
caught
may
you
yes's,
As
concentration.
considered
if
the
will
do
What
big-name intense,
you
energy
early inthepaperchase.
speakercancelsthenightbeforethe mostpeoplehavegreater
Three guidelinesmay help you
What in theweek,tacklethebiggest
jobs
in-service
scheduled
program?
orWednesday.
escapefromthe paperchase.First,
ifa schoolbusbreaks Monday,
Tuesday,
areyouroptions
eachpieceofpaperatonceifat
time.The old handle
is ill?Effective 6. Minimize
waiting
downoryoursecretary
or
a letter
all
Uponreceiving
possible.
upandwait"often
phrase"hurry
schools,like happymarriagesor army
If
to
in
education. memo,try respond
immediately.
cars,don'thappenby finds expression
smooth-running
on
the
answer
write
to
feasible,
your
chance.Theyoccurbecausesomeone Throughscheduling,attempt
andreturn.
The
oftheoriginal
blocksofwaiting
time. bottom
to makethatgoal minimize
theeffort
empty
putforth
will
of
backFor
schedule
generally
response
your
speed
meetings
example,
becomereality.
a
ofhaving
theadvantages
Notonlydoesitkeepthefirst overshadow
To be used to-back.
4. Schedule
effectively.
formal
it
also
minimizes
but
on
reply
typed.
other
like
task,
meeting
mostwisely,time,
any
Set up a
Second,get organized!
mustbe allocated the time waitingfor the second
limitedresource,
withtheaidof
tobegin.
filing
system
systematic
withcare.Yourgoals,and plansfor meeting
Getoutofthehabitof
ruleinconductingyoursecretary.
Andthecardinal
be
them,mustultimately
achieving
"justincase."Seta
A day meetings
oughtto be "starton time!" savingeverything
intodaily.activities.
translated
limit
on
papers.Ifthey
keeping
calendaris an essentialtool in Those personswho arrivepromptlytime
them
in
throw
that
used
aren't
notbepunished
period,
toward ought
bythetardiness
channeling
yourdailyschedule
the
be
wastebasket
can
A
out.
soon
large
youmay
goals.The daycalendar of others.Otherwise,
longer-term
in
office.
valuable
most
for
late
find
furnishing
your
your
arriving
shouldnot onlyincludescheduled
everyone
Third,beginwithan organized,
but also meetings.
and conferences
meetings
workspace.A cluttered
withextra undistracting
upcomingeventssuch as faculty If youdo findyourself
withyour
interferes
not
desk
it
an
use
as
only
time,
opportunity
holidays, waiting
birthdates,
specialreligious
createsa
but
also
or
solve
set
to
concentration,
and
read,
plan,
goals,
family
report deadlines,
a
it
also
be
upon
many
impression
negative
may
However,
some
Also
schedule
problems.
open
obligations.
Rid yourdeskof stacksof
with valuablechancejust to relax,day- visitors.
andfordealing
timeforplanning
dream,observepeople,or stareinto papers, bowling trophies, and
thenormal
daily"crises."
invest
Ifnecessary
souvenirs.
to includeeach space.Not everyminuteof the day excessive
It is oftenhelpful
in
bookcase
suitable
in
or
a
credenza
with
As need be charged
high-energy
day's"to-dolist"on thecalendar.
to
which
projects.
keepyourpending
workthrough
timepermits,
yourlist, productivity.
No
9. Avoid overcommitment.
No school
withthe mostimportant 7. Delegateeffectively.
beginning
to
all
all
can
be
administrator
and
can
do
administrator
things
everything,
task.
in
the
Be
realistic
all
the
time.
if
it
were
should
not
even
people
has
Zero-basedfiscal budgeting
probably
Failuretodelegate
you make,forif you
as a meansofreassessing possible.
effectivelycommitments
gainedfavor
too thin,all your
the allotmentof moneyto past is a naggingproblemfor many spreadyourself
will
suffer.
efforts
to
believes
that
Bliss
administrators.
time
Such
zero-based
priorities.
meansto entrust, Learntosay"no"politely
yetfirmly.
willassurethatyouarenot delegateeffectively
budgeting
not
the
which
setting
priorities,
your
goals,
Analyzing
Past
time
rule.
to
the
80/20
only
requires
giving
prey
falling
and delegating
a taskbut scheduling
to complete
inlight responsibility
effectively,
be re-evaluated
should
patterns
in
shouldlendguidance
to make the responsibility
sufficient
ofpresent
authority
goalsandpriorities.
worth
most
activities
those
decisions
as well.4Suchan selecting
5. Do it now! Combat necessary
is morelikelyto gain the yourtime.
The surestway to attitude
procrastination.
ofothers
thanusing
andeffort
is to support
Acceptthefactthatyoureallyare
make an easy task difficult
not
Of
commands.
if
it.
Even
indispensable. Your nonin
course,
usually
you
procrastinatebeginning
in any one particular
substantial
cannot
the
participation
to
have
don't
policy
delegate
complete job,
you
isnotgoingtoclosetheschool,
or repetitiveactivity
Lakein's"SwissCheesetechnique"3 issues,butmanyroutine
or end your
willpoke holesin a largertaskby itemscan be handledbyotherswho ruin the community,
or abilityto career.You willgaingreater
respect
on somesmallfacetsofthe have the knowledge
working
on
livelonger)
Givethema chanceto (andprobably
them.
bytaking
complete
job. Taskswhichseemoverwhelming
them
well.
fewer
but
themselves.
projects doing
whentheyare prove
becomemanageable
Some
10. Minimize
ofpaperwork.
Are
interruptions.
actions. 8. Gaincontrol
intoa seriesofsmaller
broken
of
a
sense
of
stacks
administrators
reshuffling
gain
continually
you
A corollary
is todiscover
yourprime

This content downloaded from 202.94.83.73 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:47:37 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Vf
byhavinga steadystream
importance
of visitorsand phone calls. Yet
is
too manyinterruptions
tolerating
inviting the 80/20 principle to
dominateyourjob. Littleproductive
time is leftfor the most important
goals.
Drop-invisitorswillminimizetheir
staysif you standto talkwiththem,
down in your
turnthe temperature
less
than
comfortable
office,provide
or
tell
them
chairs, politely
you have
to
"five
chat
minutes"
only
to screen
Workwithyoursecretary
Use yourdailyjournalto
interruptions.
identifythe sources of constant
What can you do to
interruptions.
eliminatethem?If necessary,finda
where
otherthanyouroffice
hideaway
youcan workuninterrupted.
11. Avoid duplication. Don't
thewheel.Findouthowother
reinvent
havehandledproblems
administrators
likeyours.Learnfromtheirmistakes
and successes. Read professional

journalsforideas, and keep up with settingup the dreamerfor certain

currentissues and proceduresby failure.Once a projecthas progressed
and workshops. to a level of acceptability,
conferences
doubling
attending
will
in pursuit
ofperfection
If you send the same basic letter youreffort
that
of
devisea masterwhichcan likely increase the quality
repetitively,
be typedas needed.The newmemory projectverylittle.You mustthenask
"Is thatthe best use of my
are especiallyvaluablein yourself,
typewriters
time?"
Reward direction, not
such
routine
duplicate
handling
both in yourselfand in
perfectioncorrespondence.
others!
for
time
journal
Again,analyzeyour
Time cannot be saved. It is a
effortAreyou
instancesofduplicated
You eitheruse
doing the same activitiesagain and perishablecommodity.
who
again? Are other people doing the itor lose it Those administrators
same thing as you? Are there use it effectively
havegreatercontrol
overtheirlivesandtheircareers.Using
to consolidatetasks?
opportunities
12. Avoid perfectionism. As time effectivelydoes not mean
LeBoeuf points out, a perfectgolf obsessivelyscurryingaround with
scoreis 18; an excellentgolfscoreis clipboardand stopwatchtryingto
Brain squeeze the last minuteout of every
72! There is a big difference!
and
airplane landingsmay endeavor. Rather, effectivetime
surgery
the
is seekingto improve
but the mass of management
demandperfection,
ofgoals
willdo quitewellwith qualityoftimespentinpursuit
humanactivity
andprofessionally
whicharepersonally
mereexcellence.
in all effortsis a
Perfectionism
>
meaningful.
neuroticdream,and an impossibility

NOTES
1. A. Lakein,How to GetControlof YourTimeand YourLife(NewYork:DavidMcKayCo., 1973).
MethodsforYou and YourStaff(Chicago:The DartnellCorporation,
2. R.A. MacKenzie,New TimeManagement
1975).
3. Lakein,ov. cit.
4. E.C. Bliss,Getting
1976).
(NewYork:Scribner's,
ThingsDone: TheABC's of TimeManagement

in
RonaldPartinis DirectorofAdvancedProgramsin theCollegeofEducationat BowlingGreenStateUniversity
BowlingGreen,Ohio.
__

PHOTOGRAPHS
THEME:

RelatedTo AnyAreaof

AMERICAN SECONDARY EDUCATION

SEND BLACK/WHITE GLOSSY TO:

Editors
Room 319, Education Bldg.
B.C.S.U.
BowlingGreen,Ohio 43403

EXAMPLES OP SUITABLE PHOTOS: SecondarySchools and their

Activities,Pupils, InnovativePrograms,and Personnel.
Name of contributorand school will be prominentlyidentified.

This content downloaded from 202.94.83.73 on Fri, 14 Nov 2014 02:47:37 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions