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**Time Management Curriculum: Take Control of Your Time By Working
Effectively - SkillSoft**

Table of Contents

[Your Time and You 4](#__RefHeading___Toc220735763)

[Techniques for Improved Time Management
6](#__RefHeading___Toc220735764)

[Developing Excellent Time Management Habits
8](#__RefHeading___Toc220735765)

[Taking Control of Your Time Simulation 9](#__RefHeading___Toc220735766)

Your Time and You

**Overview/Description**\
Before you can decide how to manage your time better, you need to
recognize how you manage your time now.\
Busy people do what is required, and rarely have the opportunity to stop
and consider whether they are making the best use of their time. A brief
analysis of what you do currently may surprise you, and it may help you
to identify some changes that could be made.\
This course will help you to consider the activities that currently take
up most of your time, and how you plan and log them. You will also be
encouraged to consider the work-life balance to which you aspire, and
what steps you could take to make this wish a reality.\
Each of us is different, and this inevitably affects the way in which we
approach time management. Some people habitually wake early, and find
that the morning is the best time for them to handle creative tasks or
difficult problems; others prefer to rise and work late\--these people
probably prefer to tackle only easy, routine tasks in the morning. Our
personalities also play a significant role in the way we handle tasks
and manage time.\
You are probably already doing certain things well, but there will
inevitably be areas that can be improved. The last lesson in this course
will help you to approach these changes in a positive and constructive
way.

**Target Audience**\
Anyone in business who would like to have more time to do things that
they really need or want to do

**Expected Duration**\
3.0 hours

**Lesson Objectives**

**Course Overview**

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of reviewing current time-management practices.

**The Pareto Principle**

 identify examples of the Pareto Principle in action.

**Methods for Recording Time**

 observe the activities of given individuals and make recommendations
for appropriate time-logging methods.

**Work-Life Balance**

 use life chart categories to determine an individual\'s satisfaction
with his current situation.

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of understanding the impact of energy and
personality on time management.

**The Energy Cycle**

 schedule tasks to take advantage of the energy cycle.

**Impact of Personality Type on Time Management**

 suggest ways in which individuals can better manage time, based on
their personality types.

 match different personality types with their characteristics.

**Time or Task Oriented?**

 respond appropriately to task- and time-oriented individuals in a
given scenario.

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of taking better control of time management.

**Active Listening for Better Time Management**

 apply the principles of active listening to improve time management in
a given scenario.

 identify the steps for active listening to improve time management.

**Learning to Say \"No\"**

 deal effectively with demands on time in a given scenario.

 characterize the three elements of the strategy for saying no.

**Changing Your Approach to Time Management**

 distinguish between drivers and resistors for changing the approach to
time management.

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**Techniques for Improved Time Management**

**Overview/Description**\
If you don\'t feel that you are the organized type, or if making lists
or drawing up detailed plans doesn\'t come naturally, don\'t worry.
There isn\'t just one way in which time can be managed effectively. This
course will introduce you to several different techniques for improving
your time-management skills\--experiment with them, and then choose and
apply the tools which best suit your own situation.\
In order to achieve anything it is important to establish goals. You
need to know what you want to do, before you can decide how and when you
are going to do it. You then need to establish deadlines. If these
deadlines are unrealistically tight, your interest and commitment in the
task may be undermined, or you may experience stress which can have a
negative effect on your performance. Deadlines are important, but they
have to be realistic.\
Making \"To-do\" lists is a useful technique, but you can end up feeling
overwhelmed by the amount that has to be achieved in a day, a week or a
month. It is vital to prioritize the tasks, and the Priority Matrix is a
quick and effective way of sorting the urgent, from the less important.\
It is relatively easy to make changes to the way in which you work while
you are concentrating on making improvements, but it can be much more
difficult to sustain these improvements. Once you have taken better
control of the way in which you manage time, you need to find ways of
maintaining this control. The final lesson in this course will provide
some suggestions as to how this can be done effectively.

**Target Audience**\
Anyone in business who would like to have more time to do the things
that they really need or want to do

**Expected Duration**\
2.5 hours

**Lesson Objectives**

**Course Overview**

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of establishing goals and setting priorities.

**Setting Realistic Deadlines**

 identify methods for setting realistic deadlines.

**Making Use of Lists**

 identify which criteria have been applied in examples of to-do lists.

**The Priority Matrix**

 apply the Priority Matrix to a described situation.

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of using tools for effective time management.

**Estimating Time Frames**

 use the time frames equation to estimate the shortest possible
completion time for an activity.

**Improving Time Management by Sequencing**

 apply sequencing to a described situation.

**Using Queuing to Improve Time Management**

 make recommendations for the use of queuing to improve time management
in a described situation.

**Lesson Overview**

 recognize the benefits of maintaining control of time.

**Making Decisions**

 apply the PMI technique to make the right decision.

**Improving Efficiency**

 apply methods for improving efficiency and time management in a
described situation.

**Blocking Out Time**

 match the types of blocking out time with examples.

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**Developing Excellent Time Management Habits**

**Overview/Description**\
Time management shouldn\'t be a separate activity\--it should be an
integral part of the way you do things. For this to happen, you need to
be able to develop good time management habits and avoid bad ones.\
An effective use of time also involves managing your environment,
managing your use of technology, and managing the time-wasting
activities of people around you.\
Today we are often overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork that crosses
our desks, or the number of e-mails that appear on our screens. There is
a real danger that we end up being reactive rather than creative, and
spend all our time responding to what we have been sent, rather than
initiating new ideas. To avoid this, you need to develop techniques for
handling paperwork, telephone calls, and e-mails to maximize their
value, and minimize their disruptive potential.\
Technology makes it possible for us to be more efficient\--get more
done\--in many different ways. But you need to make sure that you are
really controlling the technology so that it also helps you to be more
effective\--getting the right things done, rather than allowing it to
control you.\
There are many time stealers. Demands and interruptions from bosses,
peers, or customers can prevent you from achieving your goals, and these
must be dealt with appropriately. Not all time thieves are external.
Most of us are prone to some degree of seemingly harmless
procrastination, but this can be the most insidious and dangerous time
waster of all.

**Target Audience**\
Anyone in business who would like to have more time to do the things
that they really need or want to do

**Expected Duration**\
3.5 hours

**Lesson Objectives**

**Course Overview**

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of reviewing how factors within the working
environment affect the use of time.

**A Technique For Managing Paperwork**

 apply the file/pass on/throw away/read technique for managing
paperwork, in a described situation.

**Physical Organization for Better Time Management**

 identify examples of improvements in the physical organization of the
office that can enhance time management.

**Preparing to Save Time**

 determine to what extent time-saving procedures are used appropriately
in specific scenarios.

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of knowing how to use technology to improve time
management.

**Controlling E-mails**

 determine to what extent e-mails are properly controlled in a specific
scenario.

**Electronic Organization Systems**

 match electronic organizer systems with corresponding situations.

**Lesson Overview**

 identify the benefits of knowing how to avoid time stealers.

**Dealing with Demands**

 distinguish between the ways in which inner-directed, other-directed,
and autonomous people respond to demands.

**Avoiding Reverse Delegation**

 apply appropriate behaviors to avoid reverse delegation in described
situations.

**Beating Procrastination**

 apply methods for beating procrastination in a described situation.

**Handling Interruptions**

 manage interruptions in a way that manages time effectively in a
described situation.

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**Taking Control of Your Time Simulation**

**Overview/Description**\
You are the Senior Editor for the catalog and online home furnishings
company, House and Homes Furniture. Currently, you are working against a
deadline to complete the copy on the company\'s new Polynesian Settings
collection, which is a collection of indoor and outdoor
Polynesian-inspired Koa wood furnishings. This is a brand-new line, and
it has been a constant scramble and struggle to have these pieces
included in the upcoming catalogs. The copy is due to both the print and
web publishers by Friday, and it is already Wednesday. Additionally, you
belong to the employee activities committee and the company employee
barbecue and softball tournament is fast approaching. This is an event
that you oversaw the planning of last year, and you\'ll have to decide
what contributions you can realistically make this year based upon your
schedule. You barely have enough time to get your work done, so how you
balance and manage your time and other activities is critical to your
success. Because different personality types inherently have different
strengths and weaknesses for managing time, it is important to not only
pay attention to your own personality type but also those of your
coworkers. This simulation is based on the SkillSoft series \"Take
Control of Your Time by Working More Effectively\" and has links to the
following courses: pd_01_a01_bs_enus. pd_01_a02_bs_enus, and
pd_01_a03_bs_enus.

**Target Audience**\
Anyone in business who would like to have more time to do things that
they really need or want to do.

**Expected Duration**\
0.5 hours

**Lesson Objectives**

**Taking Control of Your Time Simulation**

 listening effectively.

 setting realistic deadlines.

 making decisions.

 organizing your office.

 managing paperwork.

 controlling e-mail.

 handling interruptions.

 preparing to save time.

 saying \"no\".

 beating procrastination.

 avoiding reverse delegation.

 controlling your day.

 working with different personalities.

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