Problem & Solution in Time Management

Time management is a way in which a person can set a diurnal schedule and keep their events and dates in order, and accomplished in a timely fashion.  The daily schedule of any person who has multiple responsibilities is very tight. Choices of scheduling can be dominated by scholastics, family, personal time, and career responsibilities.  With a limited number of hours in each week, a person must make due how one can as Tracy states,

Perhaps the greatest single problem that people have today is “time poverty.

” Working people have too much to do and too little time for their personal lives. Most people feel overwhelmed with responsibilities and activities, and the harder they work, the further behind they feel. This sense of being on a never-ending treadmill can cause you to fall into the reactive/responsive mode of living. Instead of clearly deciding what you want to do, you continually react to what is happening around you. Pretty soon you lose all sense of control.

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You feel that your life is running you, rather than you running your life (Tracy paragraph one).

Without premeditation and a set schedule that should be adhered to every day procrastination can be the daunting factor in a time frame reference.  Once the framework of a schedule is procured it must be adhered to not only every day but also every week.  Thus a personal daily schedule can be obtained and followed, and a diurnal routine can be established.  Time enough for everyday tasks must be included in such a routine.

A personal schedule must be similar each day so that a routine can become habit.  Such a routine should consist of personal hygiene in the morning and before going to bed, regular meals and the entire days obligations which can include exercise, school, work or family events, not to forget personal time, and time for reflection (Time Management Guide paragraph five).

Managing time can also be difficult when the weekend is considered a different avenue for scheduling than are the weekdays.  It is during this time that leisure and relaxation are in order unless a previous commitment to a job is required.  Time management on the weekends is very important because it allows for a person to unwind from physical and emotional stresses of the week.

Daily routines, that is, time management, should maximize a person’s ability to achieve daily success out of necessity.  The efficacy of a daily schedule and adhering to that schedule can limit unwarranted breaks and wasted time such as back and forth trips to town when one trip is all that should be needed.  Also, on the note of procrastination, a daily schedule allows a person to more effectively control where they place their time and gives certain allotted amounts of time to specific tasks such as cooking, tv watching, or internet use.  The obligations of life in general can sometimes become daunting, but with problem time management, the day’s priorities are accomplished and the next day’s priorities are sure to follow suit (Pavlina paragraph two).

Due to procrastination being such a difficult thing to overcome, managing time wisely doesn’t only allow for work to be accomplished but also sets aside time for rumination, family, and this in turn lowers a person’s stress rate because they won’t feel as though they are spreading their selves thin and can rest at the end of the day because that day’s tasks were accomplished.

People would rather spend their time away from work or academics leisurely and time management allows them to do this, as Torres (2005) states in In Good Time, “To get any system to succeed, you'll have to make an effort--whether it's organizing your incoming e-mails and voice mails or clearing out your inbox into to-do files. All that takes undivided attention, notes Clark. He suggests using a bulk of time in the beginning of your day (say from 9:15 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.) to organize and plan your schedule. Let everyone in your office know you're unavailable during that time. "After a while, when [people] see you're really efficient, they'll start respecting that [unavailable time window]."” (Torres)

Everyone probably would like to spend less time at work; especially jobs which require overtime and work at home projects.  Although in such jobs a person is rewarded monetarily, they are also compromising their personal time.  Unrealistic job goals such as working eighty hours in one week don’t bode well for personal venues and family time.  Thus a set scheduled time allowable for after hours work would greatly benefit a person.

  The goal in managing time is not only to permit for work but also to know when too much work is being done, as Torres states, “Divide your list into action items by order of importance and the time it'll take to complete each task, says Clark. If you look at something in your e-mail inbox, ask yourself, "Can I complete this task in two minutes?" If so, do it, because it will take you longer than two minutes to file it. If not, take that time to file it and put it on your calendar.” (Torres)

Managing time wisely can lead to a more fulfilling lifestyle; such aspects of this lifestyle include more time to devout to ones health such as working out, and nutritional watch.  The ability to attend a gym regularly is very much dependent on managing time.  Certain set dates must be put into practice and these in turn must be considered in respect to other pressing obligations, as Tracy states,

Personal time management begins with you. It begins with your thinking through what is really important to you in life. And it only makes sense if you organize it around specific things that you want to accomplish. You need to set goals in three major areas of your life. First, you need family and personal goals. These are the reasons why you get up in the morning, why you work hard and upgrade your skills, why you worry about money and sometimes feel frustrated by the demands on your time. (Tracy paragraph six).

A strong factor in time management is the ability of a person to dedicate a half hour to one hour segments to working out, and this can only be done through proper time management as Kallen (1999) states in Just Say Now,  “This kind of procrastination is no big deal if it happens only once in a while - but if it becomes a regular occurrence, it can seriously interfere with your workout goals. How do you keep an occasional bout of laziness from gradually pulling you toward the outskirts of couch-potato-land? We asked procrastination experts for some timely advice on the matter.

Put the strategies they describe to work, and do it now” (Kallan)  Kallen also states that , “Chronic procrastinators tend to have high levels of anxiety, and Worrying about YOur workouts will just add to the pressure.  When you dwell on the sessions you've missed, exercise can start to seem like an odious chore. Instead, concentrate on enjoying your next Workout more than the last. Think about the "high" you'll get when endorphins flood Your body, or anticipate the feeling of accomplishment you'll have when you've gotten one step closer to your goal.” (Kallen).

The article Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is actually a synopsis of the book “Is About Time: The 6 Styles of Procrastination and How to Overcome Them” by Linda Sapadin, PhD.  The first style is dreamers.  These are people who live a dream world and want a pain-free life with no rules.  Their solution is to ground themselves in the present.  Worriers are procrastinators who fear risk or change.  They should focus on the possibilities of each new situation to overcome procrastination.  Defiers resent authority, albeit covertly.  They do not follow through with their promises, which gives them a sense of power.   The solution for them is to realize that true power lies in action (Sapadin).

            Those procrastinators who create drama by waiting until the last minute are labeled crisis-makers.  They must increase their motivation thereby decreasing the emotional damage caused by waiting until the last minute in order to change.  Perfectionist are those who fear not measuring up, thus procrastinating is a way for them to put off judgment.  They should focus on the realistic and allow themselves to err occasionally and realize that life goes on.  Overdoers are procrastinators who try to do it all without any balance in their lives.  They need to learn to say no.  In summary, the article states to stop trying to do everything, but to do what you can.

The article Putting An End to Putting it Off identifies underlying issues in procrastinating and gives steps in dealing with each one. The first source of procrastination is that of fear.  Becoming aware of this fear can help the procrastinator to dissolve it. Counteract the fear with remembrances of past successes.   Turn a weakness into a strength.  Another source is perfectionism.

They fear they won’t measure up to their own standards. Perfectionists need to examine their values and recognize whose they are; their own or someone else’s, and to reset their goals accordingly.  Crisis making, yet another source, envelope those who thrive on deadlines and feel they can’t get motivated until the last minute.  They need to bring balance to their lives and increase their productivity and quality of work.  Another source of procrastination is expectation anxiety.    This person needs to accept themselves.  Overextending.  Those who overextend need to recognize what is most important and set goals.  They should under-promise and over-deliver.

            There are steps one can take in overcoming procrastination once the source is recognized.  They should schedule tasks by prioritizing a list.  Do a task daily and then reward themselves.  Taking action is another step (Chapman paragraph one).  This can be accomplished by visualizing they are not a procrastinator.  They should do an unwanted task for a least ten minutes and then decide to continue or not.  Procrastinators do well to be held accountable to a friend when lagging on a project.  Journaling is also a useful tool.  Here one can stroke their own ego for accomplishments, record mistakes to learn from, and write one’s frustrations.

The article Beating the Big Put-Off begins by defining procrastination as the epidemic that can even cause an early death because people put off seeing their doctor.  The author continues by offering strategies to combat procrastination.  First, a person must understand what is wrong with procrastination (i.e. it stunts professional and personal growth).  The author then goes on to say that a person should stop procrastinating immediately.  Don’t allow any excuses.  He quotes a Middle Eastern proverb “Do today what you want to postpone till tomorrow”.  (Parachin)

           Realistic goal setting will bring more success than setting your sights too high.  One should also expect difficulties along the way as change is a challenge.   One must keep moving ahead.  Procrastinators need to prioritize responsibilities and objectives (Bates paragraph two).  Sharing their commitment to overcoming procrastination with a friend who will be supportive is a great aid. One should visualize their goals as completed.

For this, the author gives a three-point plan: “ visualize the steps needed to complete the task, see yourself carrying out those steps, and picture yourself with the end product in hand” (Parachin).  Rewarding themselves will help the procrastinator to continue.  The author concludes by stating that it is never too late to break the procrastination habit and a person will by happier by doing this.  Once procrastination is broken, and the once procrastinator follows these time management rules from dedicating segments to time to self, family, work, etc. then procrastination and not having time become problems in the past tense.

Work Cited

Bates, R.  Take Control of Your Day!.  Jewelers Circular Keystone.  September 2006.   Online.  Retrieved 23 November 2007.            http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3195/is_200609/ai_n18946809

Chapman, A.  Time Management Tips.  Business Balls.  2007. Online.  Retrieved 23    November 2007.  http://www.businessballs.com/time.htm

Dominguez, L. R.  Putting an End to Putting Off.  HR Magazine.  1999.

Heavey, B.  Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.  Men’s Health.  1997.

Kallen, B.  Just Say Now. 1999.  Online.  Retrieved 23 November 2007.            <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_4_15/ai_54237561>

Parachin, V.  Beating the Big Put-Off.  Listen: Hagerstown.  1998.

Pavlina, S.  Time Management.  Steve Pavlina.  2006.  Online.  Retrieved 23 November          2007.  http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles/time-management.htm.

Time Management Guide.  Personal Time Management Guide.  Online.  Retrieved

            23 November 2007. http://www.time-management-guide.com/.

Torres, N. L.  In Good Time: make the most of your precious minutes with a time           management system that works.  2005.              <http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DTI/is_12_33/ai_n15923461>

Tracy, B.  Managing Your Time.  Money, Finance and Business.  2007.  Online. Retrieved 23 November 2007.