Understanding the evolution of these approaches can assist you to recognise and evaluate the contemporary manifestations of each approach. Following is an overview of some different approaches. Typical strategies are relatively close range and focus on the short term. Advice and training covers areas such as delegation, dictation, filing systems, interruptions, mail, meetings, reminder systems, telephones and how to conduct a time and motion study of work activities. However, while minutes or even seconds can mean the difference between life and death or winning an Olympic gold, once you have reasonably sound work habits you are not going to solve your time problems by finding a few more seconds in the day.
Typical strategies are more mid-range, medium term.
For example seminar brochures exhort people to be results oriented not activity oriented, to set big hairy audacious goals then ruthlessly purse them, and to use your diary as a goal setting and performance management tool. They warn that if you are failing to plan you are planning to fail and that you cannot have career success if you are not effectively managing the resource of time. Advice and training covers areas such as objective setting, priorities, planning tools and techniques, self discipline and positive mental attitude. It is certainly true that if you don't know where you are going, then any path will get you there. However, a lot of these approaches are hard to sustain or personally unsatisfying.