Planning to manage your time

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Planning to manage your time


Workshop objectives

• Assess the time you spend on your research in a ‛typical’ week

• Develop an ‛ideal’ time allocation for a week

• Remind you of key tools for planning and time management

• Discuss possible solutions for changing your ‛current’ situation to your ‛ideal’ situation


A ‛typical’ day

Work

SleepEat


• Block out time on the handout for activities you routinely do:- sleep, socialise, work, research etc- use a key, colours, stickers, icon etc

• Do this for the whole week• Once complete, total up the hours spent in each

category• Then record:

- your most productive time- your most productive location

How do you spend your time?


• Allocate time in your ideal week• Use the categories from the last exercise• Section off the wheel with the allocation for each

activity• Make sure you are comfortable with this:

- enough sleep, socialising, research- think of your priorities

• After the workshop, redo week plan using this as a basis:- remember productive time!

Your ‛ideal’ week


Key planning toolsPlan

DoReflect and

review


• Long-term tools:- Mind maps or work breakdown structures- Yearly planners/wall charts

• Mid-term tools:- Gantt charts- Milestones and objectives

• Short-term tools:- Prioritisation quadrant- To do lists- Daily schedules

Planning tools


Planning techniques

• Time estimation

• Setting deadlines

• Stakeholder analysis

• Risk analysis


• Make an effort to stick to them

• Use a project manager

• Establish a study routine

• Use incentives

• Communicate your plans, actions and outputs to interested parties

Implementing plans


• The most crucial phase!• Assess progress: - Need milestones and objectives to do this• Reality vs the plan:

- What went right?

- What went wrong?

- What needs to change?

- How do you change it?

Reviewing how it turned out


• Why doesn’t your current week match your ideal? • What is the biggest reason?• Is it due to planning issues?

– Do you plan? Use planning tools? Estimate and review estimates? Analyse stakeholders? Analyse and mitigate risks?

• Is it a problem with implementing them?– Do you use a project manager? Stick to plans? Set

routines? Reward yourself?• Is it outside influences? • Are you easily distracted? Do you never say ‘no’? Do you

allow others to set your priorities?

Personal review/reflection


• On the top half of a flip chart, record why you are in your group (2 mins)

• Pass your group’s flip chart to another group

• Brainstorm ways to solve these problems (15 mins)

• Pass back

• Is there anything you can try? (5 mins)

• Action plan; think SMART

Review discussion


• Planning and time management tips are known by all but not acted on

• Get into the Plan – Do - Review habit

• This session has been a chance to review… what most people forget.

Probably THE most important transferable skill

for any career

Workshop objectives

Planning to manage your time

Business

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