Time Management for LibrariansTime Management for Librarians

Taming the Beast ….Taming the Beast ….

Overview

Why time management is necessary

Formal theory of time management

Ways to manage time in the real world

Helen Salmon

University of Guelph LibraryAssociate Chief Librarian, User ServicesResponsible for:

Information Resources Information ServicesAcademic LiaisonEvaluation and AnalysisArchival and Special Collections

Other duties as assigned …

Our roles outside of work life

GardeningHiking

Wife, Mother, Daughter

And all the other stuff!!

The time crunch

With the advent of technology, the distinction between workplace and home and between weekdays and weekends has blurred

We structure our leisure more formally, so it feels less “restful”

Cycles of economic downturn and downsizing means fewer hands to do the same work

Multi-tasking means multi-pressures!

How can we juggle it all?How can we juggle it all?

Time is the scarcest resource of themanager; If it is not managed, nothing else can be managed.

– Peter F. Drucker

What is it anyway?

Work: time management refers to the development of processes and tools that increase efficiency and productivity.

What is it anyway?

Life: managing our time to waste less time on doing the things we have to do so we have more time to do the things we want to do.

Formal theories of time management

Pareto’s principle:

A small number of causes (20%) is responsible for a large part of the effect (80%)

“the vital few and the trivial many”

Implications

The relationship between input and output is not balanced:

20% of a person's effort generates 80% of the person's results; 80% of your success comes from 20% of your efforts

It is vital to focus 80% of your time on the 20% of your work that REALLY counts

Other Examples of Pareto in the workplace

80% of a manager's interruptions come from the same 20% of the people

80% of customer complains are about the same 20% of your projects, products, services

80% of your staff headaches come from 20% of our employees

80% of a problem can be solved by identifying the correct 20% of the issues

80% of the decisions made in meetings come from 20% of the meeting time

Focusing on the “right” 20%

What they didn’t (couldn’t) What they didn’t (couldn’t) teach us in library schoolteach us in library school

Time Management 101Time Management 101::

Planning

Scheduling

Organizing

Meetings

Delegating

Collaborating

Decisions

Saying no

Interruptions

Procrastinating

And other things…

Planning and Prioritizing

Take time to think and to consultAlign your work with what matters most

to your institution: Mission statement and goals Supporting important work that others are

doingDetermine priority before urgency

Scheduling

Negotiate and manage realistic deadlines

Use available scheduling tools to best effect

Structure in adequate time for all stages of the work, then review and revise often

Check in with colleagues and clients

You are in charge (not the schedule)

Organize yourself

Keep an updated “to do” list, in priority order Deal with paperwork/email once … or treat it

as a scheduled event Staged filing Practice the “deep filing" method

Organize yourself

Use technology wiselyManage professional readingOrganize your workspace (match your

own mental models)Use project management techniquesTime shift

Managing Meetings

Question the need and frequency of meetings Shared agenda building (only) the right participants Facilitate well Keep minutes brief (a record of the agenda +

decisions + designated followup) Maximize email collaboration, document

sharing, and work between meetings

Delegating

Don’t delegate if you can eliminate

Delegate appropriately, gradually and strategically

Give support and credit Time invested now has

a future payoff DO NOT micromanage!

Collaboration

Assigning/sharing workload

Maximizing the strengths and productivity of a team

Making good use of the ideas of others

Asking for help when you need it

Borrowing models and templates from other sources

Decision making

Make informed decisionsDO make decisionsCommunicate effectively and clearlyUse common sense

It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions. -- Jim Rohn

Learn to say NO

Recognize your limits Take time to think about

it Be honest and vocal

about why Offer to defer or take a

turn next time Discuss workload with

supervisor - suggest an alternate approach

Managing interruptions

For crucial deadlines, make yourself inaccessible

Schedule formal “check-in” meetings

Schedule social time Be polite but direct Offer an alternate time Manage self-

interruptions

Procrastination

A little pressure helps – too much leads to poor work

Fear of failure Habit of doing the

easy or trivial stuff first

Lack of clear deadlines

Avoiding procrastination

Divide project into small, schedulable stages

Do collaborative work

Don’t be a perfectionist

Take a break at the end

Maximizing the “fun” parts

Choose work that you likeImportance of humourMake the work as pleasant as possibleRewarding yourself for reaching small

and large goals

Microsoft redesign of Windows

Software aesthetics is not a matter of superficial sex appeal. Beautiful design has an effect on our mental states – we think differently under the sway of beauty. “The brain has been wired through evolution to be attracted by good things…when we seethings that are pleasurable, when we’re enjoying ourselves, it makes us more willing to explore, more imaginative.”

…The keyboard jockeys of the information age – precisely the people using Microsoft Windows – do their best work when they’rerewarded, rather than discouraged, for creativity and mental agility.

- Discover, May 2004 issue

Your Mom was right…

• Take care of yourself Avoid burnoutTake breaks and time off and don’t compromise themRewards for good work doneForgive mistakes….and learn from them

• Play nice

• Use your common sense

• Take your umbrella

Thanks for listening!