Transcript A short introduction to research methods for your dissertation

Time Management
Session 3
Judith Shawcross
[email protected]
Agenda for Today
Introduction
Developing a single planning system
Using Goal Planning Sheets
How to become more effective and efficient
Eliminating Time Issues
What is stopping you
Continuing to be effective
The Challenge
Course Review
Homework
1. Develop your own (single) system for planning and
organising yourself.
2. Complete Goal Planning Sheets on at least one key
goal to enable you to populate your planning and
organising system.
3. Put into practice strategies for dealing with at least one
of your most significant time issues.
4. Prepare an Annual Time Budget
Goal
Planning
Sheets
GOALS
To publish my
research in Nature
by July 2012
To co-author a book
on carbon nanotubes.
Milestones
1.
2.
3.
Tasks
Time
Resource
Risks
4 Rules of Effective Planning & Organisation
1. Have one system only for planning and
organising.
2. Plan, review & schedule – monthly, weekly,
daily
3. Do, Diarise or Ditch for communications
4. Stay tidy and organised
One minute of planning saves ten minutes
in execution – Brian Tracy
RULE No. 1
HAVE ONE SYSTEM ONLY FOR PLANNING
AND ORGANISING.
Why?
You can use meeting /
note books but make
sure you transfer all
your actions / tasks.
• You don’t miss anything
• No double bookings
• Enables you to see everything all together
Your system needs to be able to capture your goals,
tasks and schedule
RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule
Monthly
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Set aside 2 to 3 hours at the end of each month
to plan, review and schedule the next months
and the immediate month in detail.
Review your goals – what are the key goals for
this month?
Prioritise - which of these are most important?
Plan how to achieve each of these in detail.
What will your high return activities be?
How can you measure if you are on track.
RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule
Scheduling
• Use a big picture of time – month to view
• Ensure all your timed commitments are there
– Meetings, training, seminars, teaching,
• Schedule blocks of time to achieve your goals
and work on your high return activities.
• Don’t fill up your schedule completely
• If a task is going to take 1 hour or more then
schedule it
REVIEW – DOES THIS LOOK ACHIEVABLE?
RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule
Weekly
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Set aside ½ hour at either the start or end of
every week to review planning and schedule for
week ahead
Review your progress – did you achieve
everything you planned? If not, why not?
Review your commitments for the following week
and ensure you have allowed sufficient time for
any preparation / travel etc.
Review your priorities – put them in order.
Revise schedule as required.
RULE No. 2 Plan, Review, Schedule
Daily
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Spend 5 minutes at the start and end of each
day reviewing planning
Ensure you have a detailed time plan for the day
and remind yourself what it is
Ensure high priority tasks are done first –
schedule these for when you work at your best
Group small tasks – e.g. Communication
Review what you have achieved at the end of
the day
RULE No. 3
DO, DIARISE OR DITCH - for communications
• Set yourself some time each day to deal with
correspondence
– This could be twice a day / once a day
– This should not be first thing in the day
• If the task arising is short and important i.e. less than 15
minutes then DO it.
• If the task arising is longer and important i.e. An hour or
over then DIARISE it – schedule it in your calendar.
• If the task arising is not important then DITCH it.
RULE No. 4
STAY TIDY & ORGANISED - If it takes you
more than 2 minutes to find something then you
need to be more organised.
Is your filing system
simple and effective?
Clear working space?
What do you really need to keep in hard copy?
Coping with multiple projects
• Plan each project in detail – key milestones/
tasks/ ensure all deliverables are defined
• During planning allocate day’s of the month /
week depending on task / priorities
• Blocks of time – length & frequency – what
enables you to make progress without getting
stuck / bored / tired? etc.
• Allocate time for all key tasks
• YOU MUST HAVE ONE TIME MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM and make it work
Points to remember
• Strive for results and not perfection – set aside a
reasonable time to accomplish a task and stick to it.
• Work in a regular pattern – so you don’t rely on “feeling
like it” and others get to know how you prefer to work
• Exercise Self Discipline - stick to your plan
• Reward yourself – on achievement of a goal / completion
of a difficult task etc.
Goal Planning Sheet Review
• In your groups – review your goal planning
exercise
• What aspects of the tool did you find most
helpful and why?
• What aspects of the tool did you find least
helpful and why?
• How did completing this sheet affect your initial
perception of achieving this goal?
Q4. Are you doing these activities in an efficient
and effective way?
• Research what is best practice
• Ask for advice
– Fellow Researchers
– Your PI
• Compare yourself with your colleagues
– Why can X write twice as fast as you?
– How can X keep such a clear desk?
Grasshopper is a
Chronophage or
‘Time Eater’
My Time Eaters
• What high return activities are your biggest time
eaters?
• What non high return activities are your biggest
time eaters?
My ways to improve productivity
• What skills – if could you improve them now –
would make the biggest difference to your
productivity?
• What skills – if you could improve them in 3 to 6
months would make the biggest difference to
your future productivity?
Effective ways to improve your skills
• Training courses – make sure you plan to use the skills
you learn immediately to maximise your learning and
beat learning decay.
• Do things in Bitesized chunks
• Get someone to show you / coach you
• Allocate some time every month for improving skills.
Eliminating Time Management Issues
• Put into practice your strategies for dealing with
one or more of your most significant time issues.
• Examples of success
• Examples of not being successful YET !!!!
Break
Time Budget – what is it for you?
Approx 44 working weeks / annum
Maintenance Time Allowance ?
1 week – training and development
2 weeks – travel to & conference attendance
1 week – seminar / network event attendance
1 week – admin / IT issues
2 weeks – essential reading
2 weeks – proposal writing, peer review papers
What about
play time?
9 weeks for maintenance
~ 20% of your time – 1 day/week – 1 hr 36 mins/day
Q5. What is stopping you - Some common
issues?
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I sometimes lose my focus
I’m always getting interrupted
I tend to put off tasks I don’t like doing
I get distracted easily
I can’t get to see my supervisor/PI when I need to
I have to fit in other commitments – family, training,
socialising
• I just can’t get motivated until I have a deadline
• I didn’t realise that would take so long
What is stopping you?
PROCRASTINATION
Eat that frog!
By Brian Tracy
Some jobs will never be easy now
or later – so get them done first
These jobs are likely to be your ‘IMPORTANT ACTIVITIES’
So essential to achieving your goals.
Developing better habits
• Common mistake is try and change too much
too quickly
Don’t look
at email
first thing
For a greater chance of success
• Take things in bite-sized steps
Eat the
frog
• Focus on one change at a time
first!
• It takes 21 – 30 days to change a habit.
• Use visual and other reminders to help you
make the change. Stick post it notes around your screen
Inspiration....
.....gets you started
Habits keep you going
Dealing with Procrastination
Newton’s First Law
“ A grad student in
procrastination
tends to stay in
procrastination
unless an external
force is applied to it”
How to apply an
external force?
• Set a deadline –write
it down & tell people
• Set up regular
meetings to review
progress
• Arrange a reward
conditional on
achievement
More strategies for Procrastinators
• Schedule it first & do it first
• One small “chunk” at time
– write 200 words / 2 paragraphs
– read 5 pages / 1 chapter / 2 sections
• Line up the incentives e.g.
– good coffee at end of first “chunk”
– x minutes of email
• Buddy Up – share the pain
• Get busy – schedule in activities
e.g. at the end of the working day
Keeping your research on track
Newton’s Second Law
“The age, a, of a
doctoral process is
directly proportional to
the flexibility, f, given
by the advisor and
inversely proportional
to the students
motivation, m”
Controlling flexibility
• Agreed milestones / goals
with your Supervisor
• Regular Progress
Meetings
Keeping motivated
• Regular goals
• Finishing before funding
runs out
• Links to longer term goals
Meeting Management
• Planned and prepared in advance
– Agenda – shared
– Items for comment / discussion sent in advance
• Clear purpose and objectives
• Time available sufficient and structured to give
enough time to each item
• Effective Meeting Management – depends on
size of group
– Communication, Facilitation, Effectiveness
Recognising Distractions
Newton’s Third Law
“ For every action
towards graduation
there is an equal and
opposite distraction”
“Failures do what is tension
relieving while winners do what
is goal achieving” Dennis Waitley
• Work Related
Distractions
• Personal Distractions
• Desperate
Distractions
Dealing with Distractions
• Just say no...........is it that easy?
– How / what reasons can you give that will help you to
do this?
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Separate personal & work email
Turn them off
Put them out of sight
Physically separate yourself from them
Set aside time for them outside of work
Some tips – protect your uninterrupted time
• Keep a note book handy / pile of ‘post its’ to jot down
unrelated thoughts / activities as you work.
• For people you communicate with on a regular basis –
keep lists of things you need to tell / discuss with them.
Tim
Jo
Sam
Chris
• Keep a to do list handy to make a note of bits and pieces
tasks that are not time critical.
Dealing with Interruptions
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Hide
Say No - Sorry I can’t BECAUSE........
Make an appointment
Encourage them to solve their own problem
But what if this doesn’t work............
Keep a log of interruptions, who, what, times etc.
Enables you to diagnose the problem
But I like distractions / interruptions?
I know I’m wasting time / not using time efficiently
but...................
I like to feel busy
I like the buzz / excitement
I like to feel involved
I don’t like to say no
I like to feel wanted
It doesn’t really waste that much time..........I think?
Getting to know yourself
Identify those attitudes and
habits that impact on your
time management
https://www.bbc.co.uk/labuk/
experiments/personality/
Understanding yourself and
others: using MBTI
http://www.training.cam.ac.uk/g
dp
A one day course offered by PPD team
Continuing to be effective & continuous
improvement in productivity
• Apply the four rules
• Invest time in planning and organisation – it is a
high return activity
• Review your goals regularly
• Take time to identify “time eaters” and improve
your skills
• Stay disciplined and focussed
• Continue to challenge yourself to improve – this
is much easier with a coach / buddy
The Buddy Challenge
• Find a time management buddy / buddies
• Swap contact details with your buddy
• Identify a key time management challenge that
you would really benefit you to solve in the next
couple of months
• Share this with your buddy
• Contact/meet up with your buddy in two weeks
and four weeks and check on how you are both
progressing.
My buddy is called:
My buddy’s contact details are:
My Challenge
My buddy’s challenge
GOALS
Milestones
Tasks
‘Newton’s’ Laws
of Graduation
Making an Impact
In two months time you will be getting an email
from CPPD.
You will be asked
• What changes you have been able to make as a result of
attending this course?
• Did you achieve your “challenge”?
• What benefits you are enjoying as a result of these
changes?
• What challenges you would like further assistance with ?
Opportunity to have a follow on discussion
Making the most of your time investment
• We’ve covered loads of tools and techniques
• Take some time to review course materials and
decide on key aspects (no more than five) that
will make the biggest difference for you.
• Put these in priority order for action
• Focus on one change at a time
– if it’s a change in habit get that habit established
before starting to change another
• Schedule other changes for subsequent months
Course / Session Summary
ASK YOURSELF ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS
ON A REGULAR BASIS
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Am I doing the right activities?
Am I doing them at the right time?
Am I spending enough time on these?
Am I doing these activities in an effective and
efficient way?
If not why? What is stopping me?
Effective Self Management
•
undertaking tasks, activities
and responsibilities that
provide a high return for you
and your department
investing time doing the right
thing, in an effective and
efficient way at the right
time and for the right length
of time.
Investing your time well
will make you successful
Urgent vs. Importance Matrix
High
Importance
•
Who is the CEO of your
time?
Important
Activities
Distractions
Low
Low
Critical
Activities
Interruptions
Urgency
High
SMART Questions will enable you
to check whether your goals are
ACHIEVABLE & REALISTIC
Define your goals
and
write them down
GOALS
Milestones
Tasks
FOUR RULES................
1. Have one system only
for planning and
organising.
2. Plan, Review, Schedule
Monthly, weekly, daily
3. Do, Diarise or Ditch
4. Stay tidy and organised
Effective Time Management
A = Critical
B = Important
C = Nice to Do
D = Delegate
E = Eliminate
Prioritise
Decision Making
Discipline
Determination
‘Newton’s’ Laws
of Graduation!
Course Aims
By the end of this course you will be able to…….
• apply tools & techniques to manage YOUR time
effectively
• recognise common issues and problems and
know how to overcome them
• know 3 things you should do to improve how you
manage your time.
Resources
• VITAE
www.vitae.ac.uk
Previously UK GRAD Programme and UK Higher
Education Researcher Development UKHERD
Booklet: The Balanced Researcher
• The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen
Covey
• The Time Paradox, Using the new Psychology of Time to
your advantage (Paperback) by Philip Zimbardo and
John Boyd, Rider Books, 2008
• Why People Fail – The 16 Obstacles to Success and
How You Can Overcome Them by Simon Reynolds,
Jossey Bass 2012
Resources
• Mike Clayton, 2011, Brilliant Time Management, What
most productive people know, do and say, Pearson
• Michael Heppell, 2011, How to Save an hour every day,
Prentice Hall Life
• Jurgen Wolfe, 2010, Focus: Use the Power of Targetted
Thinking to Get More Done, Prentice Hall Business
• Give Me Time, 2006, The Mind Gym, CIPD
• David Allen, 2001, Getting Things Done – How to
achieve Stress-free Productivity, Piatkus
• Brian Tracy, 2004, Eat that Frog! Get more of the
important things done, Today!, Mobius
Thank you for participating in these workshops.