Time Well Spent: Getting Things Done Through Effective Time Management

258 Pages·2009·1.44 MB·English

by  Lyndon H Jones

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TIME
WELL
SPENT
Getting things done through
effective time management
Lyndon Jones and Paul Loftus
London and Philadelphia
Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this
book is accurate at the time of going to press, and the publishers and authors cannot
accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, however caused. No responsibility
for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting, or refraining from action, as a
result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor, the publisher
or the authors.
First published in Great Britain and the United States in 2009 by Kogan Page Limited
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism
or review, as permi�ed under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this
publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmi�ed, in any form or by any
means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of
reprographic reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the
CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside these terms should be sent to the
publishers at the undermentioned addresses:

120 Pentonville Road 525 South 4th Street, #241
London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19147
United Kingdom USA
www.koganpage.com
© Paul Lo�us and Lyndon Jones, 2009
The right of Paul Lo�us and Lyndon Jones to be identified as the authors of this work
has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
ISBN 978 0 7494 5649 8
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jones, Lyndon H. (Lyndon Hamer)
Time well spent : ge�ing things done through effective time management /
Lyndon Jones and Paul Lo�us.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7494-5649-8
1. Time management. 2. Self-management (Psychology) I. Lo�us, Paul. II. Title.
HD69.T54J665 2009
650.1'1—dc22
2009008503
Typeset by JS Typese�ing Ltd, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan
Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd
Contents
About the authors xiii
Preface xvii
Introduction 1
1. Determining and a�aining your life goals 5
Personal SWOT analysis 7
Goal se�ing: what do you want to achieve? 8
Some useful techniques for life goal se�ing 9
Your personal action plan 11
Periodic review 13
Midlife 16
The third age 18
The possibility spectrum 18
Concluding comments 19
2. Increasing your leisure time 21
Valuing your own time 23
Work–life balance 24
How do you spend your non-working time? 27
Using your commuting time 30
Making your sleep work for you 31
3. Choosing the way you spend your time 33
Time structuring 35
Personal drivers 36
4. Ge�ing to know yourself be�er 39
Personality tests 41
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) 42
Personal Profile System (DiSC) 42
The Platinum Rule 46
vi CONTENTS
5. Avoiding procrastination, the time thief 51
How people procrastinate 53
Some reasons why people procrastinate 54
Excitement 56
Some ways to avoid or correct procrastination 56
The Pareto principle: the vital few and the trivial many 57
Are you a procrastinator? 59
Living and working with procrastinators 61
Some practical hints 62
6. Removing barriers to your time effectiveness 63
Facing up to your mental set 64
Mental set and your job choices 67
Prioritizing your tasks 69
Mastering your mental set 70
Encourage out-of-the-box thinking 71
7. Exploiting your prime time 73
Harnessing your natural energy cycle 75
Are you an am or a pm person? 75
Managing the sleepy period a�er lunch 77
Biorhythm theory 78
Circadian rhythm 80
Jet lag and other irregular effects 81
8. Analysing and improving your time expenditure 85
Some potential time stealers 86
Keeping a time log 87
Job analysis 90
Efficiency, effectiveness and excellence 90
Work logs 93
Work sampling 93
Follow-up action 94
9. Organizing your workload 95
Personal category problems 96
External category problems 96
CONTENTS vii
Effective personal organization 97
Use of planning guides 97
Daily ‘Do’ list 98
Se�ing priorities 101
Follow-up 102
Urgency versus importance 103
The tyranny of the urgent 104
A bad decision because of urgency 106
Working through your ‘Do’ list 106
At the end of the day 107
10. Organizing your workplace 109
Location 111
Space 111
Occupancy time 112
Equipment 113
Is your desk really necessary? 113
The cybercafé workplace 115
Handling incoming papers and reports 115
‘Bring forward’ file and message systems 116
Find a suitable chair 117
The effects of colour 117
Time-saving tips for homeworkers 118
11. Handling interruptions 121
Management by walking around 122
The effect of the drop-in visitor 123
How to control interruptions 124
Concentration 126
Other ways of reducing drop-in visits 127
The effect of office layout 128
Strategies for handling the unwanted visitor 128
Controlling the duration 129
12. Managing information 131
Personal factors 132
Organizational factors 133
viii CONTENTS
Managing information on paper 134
Send fewer and be�er le�ers 137
The one-word le�er 138
Speeding the action 139
Filing and finding papers 141
13. Making your reading and writing more effective 143
Managing your reading load 144
Prioritizing and streamlining your professional
reading 145
Adjusting your reading style and speed 146
A reading-time improvement plan 148
Keeping reading under control 148
More effective writing 149
Expressiveness versus pomposity 151
When to use a long word and when not 151
Some tips for polishing your writing 152
Readability tests and the fog index 154
How interesting 156
14. Active listening 157
Progressive deafness 158
Why listening skills differ 159
The three processes 160
Towards effective listening 162
Listen with your eyes 164
Training to listen 165
Action plan 168
15. Effective use of the telephone 169
Hold that tiger 170
Quiet hour 171
Keeping a telephone log 171
Effective screening by a PA 174
Use the telephone effectively 174
Use the type of phone and service best suited to
your needs 176
CONTENTS ix
Some time-saving tips 177
Taking phone calls 178
Make notes 179
Save the time of others 179
16. Effective use of technology 181
A system for e-mail 185
Responding to e-mail 186
Voicemail 187
Social impact 189
17. Dealing with a boss who wastes your time 191
A�itudes towards the boss 193
Who is at fault? 193
Believing is not always seeing 194
Helping the work flow 195
Giving the boss effective response 195
Managing your relationship with the boss 196
Upward delegation 197
It’s in your own interest 198
Concluding comment 198
18. Effective delegation 199
Advantages of delegation 200
Types of delegation 201
Why managers don’t delegate 203
Why isn’t delegation done more o�en? 205
What are the indicators of a poor delegator? 205
How to delegate 206
What if the direct report or team member refuses? 211
19. Effective meetings 215
Meeting purpose 217
Planning a meeting 219
Preparation checklist 220
Improving meeting leadership 225
The role of the chairperson 225