time crunchers a guide

8/6/2019 Time Crunchers a Guide

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/time-crunchers-a-guide 1/87

The Time Crunchers Guideto Time Management...

It’s a Matter of Priorities

and Strategies

Guía para una gestión efcaz

del tiempo personal...

Es cuestión de prioridades

y estrategias

C o l e c c i ó n H e

r r a m i e n t a s 5 / 2 0 1 0

Publaes del inico

RobeRt L. SchaLock

MigueL angeL VeRdugo aLonSo

O T . 2 0 2 7 7 1 5 C M Y K P . 2 0 2



The Time Crunchers Guide to Time Management…

It’s a Matter o Priorities and Strategies

Guía para una gestión eficaz del tiempo personal...

Es cuestión de prioridades y estrategias



The Time Crunchers Guide to Time Management…

It’s a Matter o Priorities and Strategies

Guía para una gestión eficaz del tiempo personal...

Es cuestión de prioridades y estrategias

RobeRt L. SchaLock

MigueL angeL VeRdugo aLonSo

Publicaciones del INICO

Instituto de Investigación en la Comunidad (INICO)

Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 2010



Acces a la publicación en frmat electrónic a través del Servici de Infrmaciónsbre Discapacidad, SID.http://sid.usal.es/librs/discapacidad/22952/8-1/the-time-crunchers-guide-t-time-management-aspx

Ls cntenids de esta publicación sn prpiedad intelectualde sus respectivs autres.

Clección Herramientas 5/2010(Distribución gratuita)

1ª Edición: 2010

Autres:Rbert L. Schalck

Miguel A. Verdug Alns

Edita y distribuye: Institut Universitari de Integración en la Cmunidad

Avenida de la Merced, 109-13137005 SalamancaTeléf. y Fax 923 294 695crre-e: [email protected]://inic.usal.es

Depósit Legal: S. ????????

ISBN: 978-84-692-9034-7

Imprime:Imprenta KADMoSSalamanca, 2010



DEDICATION

Dedicated to all those who taught us the value o time...

and the importance o choices.



The Time Crunchers Guide to Time Management...It´s a Matter o Priorities and Strategies

SUMMARy

This book on time management has two basic premises: eectivetime management involves irst understanding one’s priorities andsecond, using eective time management strategies. These twopremises provide the ramework or the book’s three sections. SectionI ocuses on our use o time and how to determine time allocationpriorities; Section II summaries what we know about eective timemanagement strategies; and Section III suggests that eective time

management is more than crunching time and involves using thosestrategies and uture scenarios shared b ‘true time gurus’ in the ieldo intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A book on time management should be brie and helpul.Although we never have time to do everthing we want to do, we dohave time to do what’s important. This book is about understandingthe dierence between the two. your reading o this book will notgive ou more than the 1440 minutes in a da, or the 168 hours in a

week. However, this book will give the reader: (a) a method to use toanale how ou use our time; (b) a standard against which ou canevaluate our time utiliation; (c) a process to determine our timeallocation priorities; and (d) a number o speciic time managementstrategies that are based on good science and good judgment.

As pschologists, we have also incorporated into the suggestedtime management strategies what pschologists tell us about eective

7



8

behavioral change. Data are ver clear that eective behavior changerequires ive things: (a) an understanding o the behavior in question(time utiliation); (b) an understanding o alternative actions (timeallocation priorities and management strategies; (c) a commitmentto action; (d) obtaining eedback as to the eectiveness o the actiontaken; and (e) rewarding onesel or success. Exercises presented inthe book are based on these ive actors.



9

Guía para una gestión eica del tiempo personal...Es cuestión de prioridades estrategias

RESUMEN

Este libro sobre la gestión del tiempo tiene dos premisas básicas:la gestión eica del tiempo consiste en, primero, entender las propiasprioridades , segundo, utiliar eicamente estrategias de gestióndel tiempo. Estas dos premisas son el marco de reerencia de las tressecciones del libro. La Sección I se centra en nuestro uso del tiempo en cómo determinar las prioridades para el tiempo disponible; laSección II resume lo que conocemos sobre estrategias de gestión eica

del tiempo; la Sección III expone que la gestión eica del tiempo esmás que comprimir el tiempo, e inclue utiliar aquellas estrategias escenarios uturos compartidos por los ‘verdaderos gurús del tiempo’

en el campo de las discapacidades intelectuales del desarrollo.

Un libro sobre gestión del tiempo debe ser breve útil. Aunquenunca tenemos el tiempo necesario para hacer todo aquello quequeremos hacer, sí tenemos tiempo para hacer aquello que esimportante. Este libro examina la dierencia entre ambas situaciones.La lectura del libro no va a proporcionar más de los 1.440 minutos deun día o las 168 horas de una semana. Sin embargo, el libro permitiráal lector disponer de: a) un método para analiar cómo usa su tiempo;b) un estándar con el que comparar su utiliación del tiempo; c) unproceso para determinar las prioridades de disponibilidad de tiempo; d) una serie de estrategias especíicas de gestión del tiempo que sebasan en buena ciencia buen juicio.



10

Como psicólogos que somos hemos incorporado en las estrategiasrecomendadas de gestión del tiempo lo que la psicología nos dice acercadel cambio eica del comportamiento. Los datos son mu claros nosdicen que un cambio eica en la conducta requiere cinco cosas: a) Una

comprensión de la conducta analiada (uso del tiempo); b) comprensiónde las acciones alternativas (prioridades de disponibilidad de tiempo estrategias de gestión); c) un compromiso para la acción; d) obtención deleedback sobre la eicacia de la acción emprendida; e) premiarse a unomismo por el éxito. Los ejercicios presentados en el libro se basan en estoscinco actores.



11

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List o Tables .............................................................................................. 11

Part I: Our Use o Time: Actual and Desired ............................................. 13

Chapter 1: Wh you Should Read This Book....................................... 15Chapter 2: How Do you Use your Time .............................................. 19

Chapter 3: Identiing your Time Robbers ........................................... 23

Chapter 4: Determining your Time Allocation Priorities ...................... 27

Part II: Eective Time Management Strategies ........................................... 35

Chapter 5: Be Proactive ....................................................................... 37

Chapter 6: Talk to yoursel .................................................................... 41

Chapter 7: Be Organied ..................................................................... 47

Chapter 8: Sta Focused ...................................................................... 51

Chapter 9: Take Control ....................................................................... 55

Chapter 10: Recharge your Batteries ................................................... 63

Part III: Time Management is More Than Crunching Time ........................ 67

Chapter 11: Time Management and Criteria Used b Time Gurus ..... 69

Chapter 12: Strategies and Scenarios .................................................. 75

Reerences/Sources Used .......................................................................... 79

Acknowledgement .................................................................................... 83



12

LIST OF TABLES

2.1. Time Utiliation Patterns ................................................................ 20

2.2. Determining your Time Utiliation Baseline .................................. 22

3.1. Leisure Time Patterns ...................................................................... 24

3.2. Analsis o Potential Time Robbers ................................................ 25

4.1. Priorities Based on Roles and Functions: The Discrepanc Index . 30

4.2. Personal Time Priorities .................................................................. 31

4.3. Qualit o Lie Domains and Their Importance

in Time Allocation .......................................................................... 31

4.4. Establishing a Holistic Approach to Time Allocation ..................... 325.1. The Eight Principles o Behavioral Change .................................... 39

6.1. Factors Inluencing Sel Talk and Available Time ............................ 45

9.1. Decision Making Analtic Framework........................................... 56

11.1. Rank Ordering o Time Management Strategies Used b the

Respondent Group ......................................................................... 70



PART IOUR USE OF TIME: ACTUAL AND DESIRED

Why You Should Read this Book

How Do You Use Your Time? Identifying Your Time Robbers

Determining Your Time Allocation Priorities



15

CHAPTER 1WHy yOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

There is always time….if you know your priorities.

We are all time crunchers. Each o us requentl eels in atight or critical situation regarding available time, and man o usview our perceived lack o time as stressul. This book is a guide ortime crunchers to manage their time better (i.e. more eicientl).Its two basic premises are that effective time management involves first understanding one’s priorities, and second using effective time management strategies . These two premises provide the rameworkor the book. Part I ocuses on our use o time and how to determinetime allocation priorities (in case ou need help); Part II summarieswhat we know about eective time management strategies (here,we all need help). So, in reading this book, our mantra should be:Priorities and Strategies .

A book on time management should be brie and helpul.Although we never have time to do everthing we want to do, we do

have time to do what’s important. This book is about understandingthe dierence between the two. your reading o this book will notgive ou more than the 1440 minutes in a da, or the 168 hours ina week. However, the book will give ou: (a) a method to use toanale how ou use time; (b) a standard against which ou canevaluate our time utiliation; (c) a process to determine our timeallocation priorities; and (d) a number of specific time management strategies that are based on good science and good judgment.



16

you will need to be an active participant in reading the book.Speciicall, ou will be asked to:

• Anale how ou use time. That analsis will involves bothtime obligations (such as home, amil, and job) and time

robbers (such as TV, video games, and disorganiation).• Understand how people use time. We can learn a lot rom

time utiliation studies since the provide a standard againstwhich we can compare how we use our time.

• Determine our time use priorities based not just on ourcurrent time obligations, but more importantl on actors thatshould drive our use o time. Here, ou will be introduced touturistic and holistic perspectives or determining priorities

and allocating discretionar time.

• Tr out a number o time management strategies that arebased on both good science and actual use b a numbero ‘time gurus’ that we have interviewed or the book. Thisrequest, along with the preceding ones, sets this book apartrom the 100s o available time management books.

• Engage in right to let thinking (which is also unique to this

book). Right to let thinking is a ke concept ound in themanagement literature (Drucker, 1999). It involves identiingvalued outcomes, which in reerence to this book are havingtime to do those things that relect our personal prioritiesand being more relaxed about time utiliation and timepressures. Once these priorities are identiied, one thinksrom let to right and asks, “what speciic time managementstrategies do I need to use to maximie eective use o timeand hence achieve m desired outcomes?” In this sense, time

management is both a process and an outcome.The pschological literature is ver clear: eective behavioral

change requires ive things: (1) an understanding o the behaviorin question (time utiliation); (2) an understanding o alternativeactions (time allocation priorities and management strategies); (3) acommitment to action—ou MUST DO SOMETHING; (4) obtainingeedback as to the eectiveness o the action taken; and (5) rewarding



17

onesel or success. These ive elements are at the heart o each o the ollowing short chapters, and relect our personal belies that theperson who knows wh will alwas do better than the person who just knows how.

Since most o us live in a world characteried b ‘one minutemanagers’ and ‘the acceleration o just about everthing’ (Gleick,2002), we promise not to waste our time. We will ollow LewisCarroll’s wise advice given in Alice in Wonderland , “Begin at thebeginning… and go to the end, and then stop.” But we also promiseou this: “There is alwas time…..i ou know our priorities.”



19

CHAPTER 2HOW DO yOU USE yOUR TIME?

Do not squander time…..that is the stuff life is made of (Anonymous).

Beore asking ou to determine how ou use our time, let’slook at how others use theirs. This inormation will help resolve theseeming paradox between eeling that we do not have enough timeand the empirical inding that we do.

What do tiMe utiLization StudieS teLL uS?

Two major studies shed considerable light on this question. Theirst one (Bureau o Labor Statistics, 2005) asked 13,000 householdrespondents to describe how parents in the Untied States spend timeduring a tpical week. These results are summaried in Table 2.1.



20

Table 2.1. Time Utiliation Patterns

Personal care/sleep:Fathers: 69 hours, 30 minutes (41.5% o the week’s time)Mothers: 71 hours, 30 minutes (42.8%)

Work:Fathers: 42 hours, 30 minutes (25.4%)Mothers: 23 hours, 48 minutes (14.1%)

Free time: Fathers: 34 hours, 30 minutes (20.6%)Mothers: 31 hours, 42 minutes (18.9%)

Housework:Fathers: 9 hours, 42 minutes (5.6%)Mothers: 19 hours, 24 minutes (11.6%)

Child Care:Fathers: 6 hours, 30 minutes (3.8%)Mothers: 12 hours, 54 minutes (7.5%)

Shopping:Fathers: 5 hours, 18 minutes (3.1%)Mothers: 8 hours, 48 minutes (5.1%)

The second longitudinal stud (Robinson & Godbe, 1999,2005) reports similar time utiliation patterns. Two patterns areespeciall important to note. First, those surveed (approximatel20,000, aged 25-54, including those with children) believed thehad ewer than 20 hours o ree time a week, which was abouthal the amount actuall recorded in their dail time-use diaries.Second, Americans o working age have as much leisure time aswork time—about 35 hours per week (the discrepanc between

work time here and work time in Table 2.1 is due to averagingacross gender).

the tiMe PaRadox

The results o these two studies present an interesting paradox:even though people eel that the do not have enough personal time,it appears as though the do. How might this paradox be explained?

Here we suggest three things to think about.

First, there are too man alternatives available to us thatwe can spend time doing. Barr Schwart in his recent book,The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less (2004) discusses threepotential responses to being aced with choice overload: reee andmake no choice; make a wrong choice; or make the right choice,but question our decision. Each response impacts time usage and



21

relects the well-known ‘law o unexpected consequences.’ Forexample, indecision leads to procrastination which, in turn, leadsto inactivit and passive time loss. Making a wrong decision leadsto active time loss when we engage in activities that ma havelittle priorit or importance to us. Questioning one’s decision canresult in excessive rumination and worr---both o which are timerobbers.

Second, the paradox can be explained in terms o our beingover-extended and or whatever reason, tring to do more thanavailable time permits. Pschologicall, being over-extended isrequentl related to tring to please everone, saing ‘es’ to all[time-related] requests, and being ‘other directed’ wherein otherscontrol our time more than we do. Four additional phenomena that

den us more personal time: an irrational belie that “I can/will indthe time” which relects a poor estimate o available time; a eeling o alwas being rustrated that our personal priorities are not being metand thereore alwas under time pressures; a ‘shot gun’ approach totime management wherein we give a little here and a little there; ornever eeling or being reinorced or completing important prioritactivities. This latter result is quite important since pschologists tellus that in order to be highl motivated, we need to be reinorced

75% o the time!Third, the paradox can be explained on the basis o not knowing

or understanding clearl our time allocation priorities. More o this inChapter 4.

In summar, although we requentl eel we do not have adequatetime, generall we do. As just discussed, this paradox can be explainedin regard to having too man alternatives, being over-extended, or notknowing our time allocation priorities. I this is true, then eective time

management needs to be based initiall on an understanding o howwe currentl use time. This requires us to do two things: First, to doa baseline o how we currentl use time (which is done in Table 2.2below), and second, to anale our time robbers (which is done in thenext chapter).



22

undeRStanding hoW We uSe tiMe: deVeLoPing YouR tiMe utiLization

baSeLine

A time use baseline can be established on the basis o minutesper da (1440) or hours per week (168). In completing Table 2.2 use

whichever method ou preer, but do our baseline more than oneda since ou need to increase its stabilit b analing our time usepatterns across das wherein activities will var.

Table 2.2. Determining your Time Use Baseline

Activity/Category Minutes Devoted per Day

(1440) Hours Devoted Per Week

(168)

Personal care/sleep

WorkFree time

Housework

Child care

Shopping

Other

There is no correct or optimal baseline---it is what ou are

currentl doing. At this point, the ke thing is to get an accuratepicture o how ou currentl spend time. I interested, ou can alsocompare our results to the time utiliation studies discussed earlier(Table 2.1). Our next step orces ou to list those activities that canpotentiall rob ou o personal time… time that might better be spenton personal priorities. Analing our time robbers is the ocus o theollowing chapter.



23

CHAPTER 3IDENTIFyING yOUR TIME ROBBERS

Time is a great teacher; but unfortunately it kills all its pupils. (Berlioz, quoted in

Gross, 1987, p. 350).

Few o us eel that we have all the time we need (or want) eventhough the studies summaried in the previous chapter suggestthat we do (see Table 2.1). This ‘time paradox’ suggests that as timemanagers we have two alternatives: either to increase our eiciencb using eective time management strategies (see chapters 5-11) orreduce unnecessar or extraneous time usage. This chapter ocuseson the second alternative and asks that ou think about how ou killtime….a concept we reer to as ’time robbers.’

Most o our robbing o time relates to discretionar time,which is generall reerred to as ree time or leisure time. Accordingto various surves (summaried in Time Magazine , October 30,2006, pp. 52-53) Americans have gained rom 4 to 8 hours a weeko leisure time since 1965, due primaril to appliances that havereduced housework. On average, we have about 5 hours per da orleisure. Table 3.1 shows how people use their ree time on weekendsand holidas (Bureau o Labor Statistics, 2005) and on a tpicalda (Robinson & Godbe, 2005). It is clear rom these data that ourprincipal use o time is to watch TV or socialie.



24

Table 3.1. Leisure Time Patterns (Hours/Minutes per Da)

Leisure Activity Weekend and Holidays Typical Day

Watching TV 2.8 hours 2.6 hours

Socialiing 1.1 hours 41 minutes

Reading 27 minutes 22 minutes

Computer use (including games) 24 minutes 17 minutes

Relaxing, thinking 21 minutes 20 minutes

Sports, exercise, recreation 20 minutes 20 minutes

Other -- 31 minutes

In addition to the leisure time patterns summaried in Table 3.1,the general time management literature (plus personal experience)suggests we spend excessive (and requentl unproductive) time ona variet o potential time robbers. Examples include: a cluttereddesk (or example, we can add one ear o lie i we handle a pieceo paper onl once); making lists (making them ma take moretime than actuall doing the activit/task); hording behavior (withcorresponding time spent on organiing or tring to ind ________;saing “es” too oten; being over-extended and not completing anone thing; and/or having a love aair with technolog (including ourcomputer, computer-related gadgets, and anthing electronic). Oneo our avorite cartoons shows a person in a hospital bed hooked upto his ‘tos’: overnight deliver, cell phone, ax, ast ood, Blackberr,iphone, and e-mail. The attending phsician tells the nurse: “he’llbe ine…his essentials were depleted.” In Table 3.2 ou havethe opportunit to identi our potential time robbers. your task isto indicate approximatel how man minutes or hours per da/week

ou devote to each activit listed (plus an others ou wish to add).



25

Table 3.2. Analsis o Potential Time Robbers

Activity Estimated per Day (minutes or hours)

Estimated per Week (minutes or hours)

From Table 3.1Watching TVSocialiingReadingComputer UseRelaxing/recreation

Video games

Time spent un-cluttering desk

Time spent inding horded things

Saing “es” or apologiing orbeing over-extended

Technolog love aair

Other

So, what’s the total time per da (or week) ou attribute to thesepotential time robbers? I it signiicantl exceeds the ive hours thatou theoreticall have, ou are probabl eeling time pressure andtring to determine how to either crunch time or reduce our timerobbers. Potential solutions or both are ound in the subsequentchapters on determining our time allocation priorities and usingmore eective time management strategies.

Completing Table 3.2 and analing the resulting time robberpatterns should result in an increase in our knowledge regardingboth the time paradox and how well ou manage available time.Knowledge is power and this inormation should provide a goodbaseline or where ou are. We still need, however, to work on whereou are going, or as yogi Berra (1998, p. 50) reminds us, “the troublewith not knowing where ou are going is that ou might end up inthe wrong place.” Getting to the right place in terms o maximiingtime is acilitated b understanding our time allocation priorities.This we do in Chapter 4.



27

CHAPTER 4DETERMINING yOUR TIME ALLOCATION PRIORITIES

Time is a precious commodity.

Thus ar ou should have: (a) agreed that reading this bookwill be helpul (Chapter 1); (b) understood better how ou currentluse time (Chapter 2); and (c) identiied potential time robbers. Thischapter is about determining our time allocation priorities and“being lamps unto oursel” (Buddha, quoted in Gear, 2005, p. 31).

Time is a precious commodit. Thus, how we use time needsto be aligned with those people, things, and activities that are our

priorities. In this chapter, we suggest the ollowing two guidingprinciples regarding how we determine time allocation priorities:

• Embracing the uture and adapting to important social andpolitical trends (‘the uturistic perspective’).

• Using a balanced approach to time allocation (‘the holisticperspective’).

Each o these principles will be discussed on subsequent pages,

along with our having the opportunit to determine our timeallocation priorities. B the end o the chapter ou will have botha list o our time priorities (Tables 4.1 and 4.2) and the rameworkprovided b uturistic and holistic perspectives that can be used toallocate personal time.



28

the FutuRiSt PeRSPectiVe

Human lie is a constant preoccupation with the uture.Pschologists, or example, recognie the ke role that the utureplas in our thinking, our actions, and our successes and ailures

(Lombardo, 2006). Futurists talk a lot about the need to understand anumber o transormational trends. In reerence to determining one’stime allocation priorities, these include (Cetron & Davies, 2005;Cove, 2004; Friedman, 2005; Snder, 2004):

• The impact o cultural moderniation and its emphasis onequalit, personal reedom, sel-regulation, and sel-ulillment.

• The prevalence o economic globaliation and universal

connectivit.• The emphasis on transactional transparenc and the increased

demand or social responsibilit.

• The domination o technolog on the econom, societ, andourselves.

These our trends have three proound impacts on how we use timeand how we establish our time use priorities. First, lie-long education

and training is required. For example, the concepts o ‘hperjobs’ isemerging. The are the kind o work that leverages peoples unique,noncomputeriable skills and abilities, and power the emergingglobal societ. The are based on ke skills related to (Samson, 2005):discover (ind the wh o things), creativit (ashioning somethingnew), implementation (making the ruits o creativit real in the world),inluence (interacting with others to inspire, direct, or empower), andphsical action (interacting with things or people in mindul was).

Second, time capital (i.e. time availabilit) will become asimportant as social, political, or inancial capital. In that sense, wewill come to view time allocation in the same wa as we currentlview asset allocation and will continue to look or a good return onour [time] investment.

Third, time priorities need to be based on core personal valuessuch as cultural creatives and the emerging global ethic. Cultural



29

creatives place emphasis on relationships, communities, spiritualit,nature and the environment, real ecological sustainabilit, andresponsible individualism (Eckersle, 2004). The emerging globalethic relates to individual responsibilit, treating others as we wishthem to treat us, respect or lie, economic and social justice, nature-riendl was o lie, honest, moderation, reedom (expressed in wasthat do not harm others), and tolerance or diversit (Bell, 2004).

the hoLiStic PeRSPectiVe

Determining one’s time allocation priorities has a lot to do withone’s philosoph o lie and the qualit o lie one wants to live. Our

philosoph o lie is relected primaril in the roles and unctions weperorm (e.g. wie, husband, parent, sibling, emploer, proessional,emploee, helper, learner, teacher, mentor etc.). Our qualit o lie isrelected in how we balance the 8 core qualit o lie domains listedlater in Table 4.3. Implementing these two holistic perspectives isessential to determining our time-allocation priorities. Two exercisesor doing so are described next.

Priorities Based on Roles and Functions

We should lead airl balanced lives in how we devote timeto the various roles that we pla and the unctions that we perorm,realiing that an shit in prioritied roles and unctions will impacttime utiliation. The ollowing exercise will let ou identi ourpreerred activities, and the discrepanc between the desired andactual time ou spend on each. The exercise requires that oucomplete the our columns shown in Table 4.1 as ollows:

Column 1: List the current roles/unctions that ou perorm orwould like to perorm. Examples include husband/wie, parent,emploee, proessional, child care provider, writer/author,researcher, communit member, riend, advocate, mentor, etc.

Column 2: List the number o hours our currently engage in eachrole/unction per week.



30

Column 3: Indicate the number o hours per week you would like to engage in the respective role/unction.

Column 4: Determine our discrepanc index. The dierence (column4) between columns 2 and 3 is our time discrepancy index .

A discrepanc can be either spending more time than ouwant to on a particular role/unction, or less time than ou wantto. In either case, a large index (or discrepanc) relects both arustration and a challenge: rustrating (and a guaranteed stressor)since the pschological literature is ver clear: a blocked goal leadsto increased rustration and stress; challenging regarding the need toreduce the discrepanc (through either priorit setting or using moreeicient time management strategies).

Table 4.1. Priorities Based on Roles and Functions: The Discrepanc Index

Roles/Functions # Current Hrs./Wk. # Desired Hrs./Wk. Discrepancy Index

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

(Add more i ou need them—but remember: Each role/unction takes time.)

The discrepanc indices obtained in Table 4.1 can be ver helpulin determining our time allocation priorities. Use this inormation tocomplete Table 4.2 that asks ou to list our personal time prioritiesbased on those roles and unctions that ou have ound the timeto complete (and thus will have a low or positive discrepanc) andthose that ou want to spend more time on (i.e. the ones that havea large and negative discrepanc). Once identiied (and listed) givespeciic examples or each. These examples can be used as objectivesto monitor time utiliation patterns (that is, behavioral changes) asdiscussed in Chapter 5.



31

Table 4.2. Personal Time Priorities

Desired Roles/Functions Speciic Examples

1.

2.

3.4.

5.

Priorities Based on the QOL Concept

At its core, the qualit o lie (QOL) concept makes us think aboutwhat we value most in our lives and to which activities we should

devote our time. Over the last 20 ears, we have been involved instuding QOL and doing research on the eight core domains listed inTable 4.3. The material ound in Table 4.3 gives a ver brie deinitiono each core QOL domain, and an indication as to wh each domainis important in determining one’s time allocation priorities.

Table 4.3. Qualit o Lie Domains and Their Importance in Time Allocation

Quality of life Domains Importance

Emotional Well-Being Experiencing contentment(satisaction and happiness). Accomplishment, completingtasks, rewards, motivation

InterpersonalRelations

social interactions andrelationships

Source o support, eedback,and connectedness

Material Well-Beingadequate inancial resources, job, and housing

personal well-being and liestle

PersonalDevelopment

attitude, skills, andknowledge

personal competenc,increased eectiveness andeicienc

Phsical Well-Being itness, energ, phsical andmental unctioning

Sel-Determinationexpression o autonom andpersonal control

internal locus o control, sel concept, motivation

Social Inclusionintegration and participationin the communit

valued roles support sstems,sense o belonging

Rights respect, dignit, and equalitopportunities, sel concept,motivation



32

In using Table 4.3 to help determine how ou prioritie ourtime, please keep the ollowing guideline clearl in mind. Althoughsome domains may be more important to you than others, don’t overlook the holistic perspective in determining your time allocationpriorities . For example, good mental and phsical health makespeople more eective; sel-determination will allow ou be proactiveand take control; interpersonal relations and social inclusion result inreadil available social supports; and personal development allowsou to respond better to the transormational trends mentionedearlier in the chapter. A procedure or implementing this guideline ispresented in Table 4.4.

Table 4.4. Establishing a Holistic Approach to Time Allocation

QOL Domain Currentl Enters Into Would Like DiscrepancEmotionalWell-Being

3 2 1 3 2 1

InterpersonalRelations

3 2 1 3 2 1

Material Well-Being

3 2 1 3 2 1

PersonalDevelopment

3 2 1 3 2 1

Phsical Well-Being

3 2 1 3 2 1

Sel-Determination

3 2 1 3 2 1

Social Inclusion 3 2 1 3 2 1

Rights 3 2 1 3 2 1

Directions:Column 1: Ask oursel this question: ‘To what degree does each o the 8 listed QOL

domains currentl enter into m time allocation priorities?’ Circle our response:3=considerabl; 2=somewhat; 1=little or none.

Column 2: Ask oursel a related question: “To what degree would ou like each o the 8listed QOL domains to enter into our time allocation priorities?’ Circle our response:3=considerabl; 2=somewhat; 1=little or none.

Column 3: Place a check adjacent to the domain(s) where the score or what ou wouldlike is bigger than what ou currentl do (i.e. where there is a discrepanc).Use these check marks as a compass or guide or determining our holistic approach totime allocation.



33

In summar, this chapter has suggested a useul ramework todetermine our time allocation priorities. It is a ramework basedon embracing the uture, adapting to important social and politicaltrends, and using a balanced approach based on preerred roles and aholistic perspective. There is alwas time, i ou know our priorities.But even then, time is both scarce and precious. Learning how tomaximie our time is the theme o Part II in which we describe sixtime management strategies that are based on good science and good judgment. Even though ou ma think ou are currentl handlingtime well (and mabe ou are), we are certain ou will ind somehelpul new strategies in the ollowing chapters.



PART IIEFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

Be Proactive

Talk to Yourself Be Organized

Stay Focused

Take Control

Recharge Your Batteries



37

CHAPTER 5BE PROACTIVE

Don’t expect the world to change unless you yourself are willing to change (B. Blatt)

Ultimatel, each o us controls how we use time. Granted,everone has externall based time demands, but in the end eacho us decides how we use our discretionar time and the variousstrategies we use to manage ALL o our time. Hence, we need to beproactive in time usage and be orward thinking in our actions. In thatregard, i ou missed the basic point o Chapter 4, lip back and re-read the sections on the uturist and holistic perspectives. These twoperspectives provide the ramework or not just establishing our timeallocation priorities, but also on being proactive in the developmentand use o the time management strategies presented in the ollowingsix chapters.

Being proactive means understanding three undamentalpschological principles: (a) knowing one’s options and choosingamong those options to increase available time; (b) maintaining aninternal locus o control wherein one believes the have the abilitto make a dierence and control their lives; and (c) understandingthe basic principles o behavioral change. Each o these principles isdiscussed in this chapter.



38

knoWing one’S oPtionS

The intent o the previous exercises resulting in understandinghow we use time (Table 2.2), how we potentiall waste time (Table3.2), and what our personal time priorities are (Table 4.2) was to

know one’s options. The inormation contained in these tables shouldindicate clearl our ulilled time priorities, desired personal timepriorities, non-essential activities, and time robbers. Thus, ou cannow ask oursel:

1. “Can I ulill m time priorities in less time b being moreeective?” That’s what the eective time management strategiesdiscussed in subsequent chapters is all about.

2. “Can I increase available personal time b reducing theamount o time given to m time robbers?”

3. “Can I reduce the time devoted to non-essential activitiesb either outsourcing the task, saing ‘no’ more oten, orcombining two or more tasks into one?”

Being proactive results in answering each o these questions“es.” When ou do so, ou also exhibit what pschologists reer toas an internal locus o control.

inteRnaL LocuS oF contRoL

There is an extensive literature on the concept o locus o control, which reers to whether we eel we control our own behavior(internal locus o control) or whether we eel that our behavior isinluenced more b others (external locus o control). In reerence totime management, a sense o internal locus o control is basic to sel-

determination, personal control o time, and empowerment. Thus,an internal locus o control potentiall reduces the number o ‘otherdirected/initiated’ and non-essential activities and some o the timerobbers that ou identiied in Table 3.2. One other act about internallocus o control: Those exhibiting it have both a more positive sel concept and are more highl motivated.



39

PRinciPLeS oF behaVioR change

Being proactive and changing one’s behavior to increase personaltime is challenging. However, we do know that behavioral change isacilitated when certain principles o behavioral change are ollowed.

There is ample evidence in the pschological literature that peoplecan change their behavior (and hence get more time) b ollowingthe eight principles o behavior change summaried in Table 5.1.

Table 5.1. The Eight Principles o Behavioral Change

1. Anale where ou are and where ou want to go (Tables 2.2, 3.2, 4.2).

2. Know where ou are going (uturistic and holistic perspectives).

3. Know how to get there (Chapters 6-11).

4.Set speciic, obtainable goals (e.g. increase m personal, discretionartime b 2 hours per week).

5.Proceed in small, obtainable steps. The literature is ver clear: makesmall changes over an extended time so that two things happen: ousucceed, and ou have multiple opportunities to reinorce oursel.

6. Evaluate our changes (or outcomes) requentl.

7. Reinorce oursel requentl or each successul step.

8. Tr alternative strategies i at irst ou don’t succeed.

In summar, gaining better control over both time demandsand time usage requires that one is proactive. Since absolute timedoesn’t increase (tr as we might to get more than 1440 minutes a

da or 168 hours per week) we need to think about those two optionswe mentioned earlier: either increase our eicienc or reduceunnecessar or extraneous time usage. Either option requires thatwe know our options, believe that we are the ultimate controllers o our time, and understand the basic principles o behavioral change.Thus, beore beginning to read about, understand, and use the timemanagement strategies suggested in the ollowing chapters, let’s



40

do a realit check. Proceed onl i ou answer “es” to each o theollowing our questions:

1. I agree there is a need or a book on time management andhave completed all o the table shells presented thus ar.

2. I understand the time paradox and how I currentl use time.

3. I have a clear time management ramework that includes mtime use priorities, the options that I have to increase personaltime, and the basic principles o behavioral change thatunderlie speciic time management strategies.

4. I want to learn more.



41

CHAPTER 6TALK TO yOURSELF

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind is blowing.

(Dylan, 2004, p. 20).

Contrar to what ou might have read or heard, it’s oka to talkto oursel. The important thing is what ou sa to oursel. William James reminded us that ideas have consequences. For example,saing to onesel, “I can do it”, “it will be oka”, or “I have time”leads to ver dierent consequences than saing to onesel, “I can’t,

won’t, or don’t have the time.”This chapter is about the in and the ang o time management…

that is, the eects on time management o positive and negativesel talk. It’s also about how our personalities aect both sel talkand time utiliation. Speciicall, reading this chapter will increaseour understanding o the eects o personalit on time utiliation,the power and eicienc o optimism, the time-robbing eects o irrational belies and cognitive traps, and actors inluencing our sel

talk and use o time.

the eFFectS oF PeRSonaLitY

McCrae and Costa (1987, 1999) have developed a useul iveactor model o personalit. These ive actors and their impact ontime utiliation are:



42

• Extraversion: characteried as outgoing, sociable, upbeat,riendl, assertive, and gregarious. Generall, extraverts getmore done in a given time period.

• Neuroticism: characteried as anxious, hostile, sel-conscious,

insecure, and vulnerable. People who score high on this actorget less done; the are also less willing to delegate and trust.

• Openness to experience: associated with curiosit, lexibilit,vivid antas, imaginativeness, artistic sensitivit, andunconventional attitudes. This actor is somewhat independento time management, but closel associated with the theme o Chapter 10, “Recharge your Batteries.”

• Agreeableness: characteried as smpathetic, trusting,

cooperative, modest, and straightorward. These characteristicsit well with the time management strategies related to thepower o optimism (Chapter 6) and the eectiveness o snerg (Chapter 9).

• Conscientious: characteried as diligent, disciplined, well-organied, punctual, and dependable. This actor is closelassociated with higher productivit, and eicient timeutiliation.

How much people can change their personalities is debatable.B all accounts, however, to maximie how we use time requiresthat we move towards being more extraverted, open to experience,agreeable, and conscientious.

the PoWeR and eFFiciencY oF oPtiMiSM

Optimism is the general tendenc to expect good outcomesand generall to not ‘sweat the small stu.’ Optimists maximie theuse o time and also have some additional characteristics that aretime-sensitive. Four o these characteristics relate to social supports,coping with stress, locus o control, and right to let thinking.



43

Social Supports

Social supports reer to various tpes o aid and succor providedb members o one’s social networks. Social supports and socialcapital have been shown to enhance health, subjective well-being,

and available time (Willis & Fegan, 2001).

Coping with Stress

Research suggests that optimists cope with stress in eectivewas (Aspinwall et al., 2001). Speciicall, optimists are more likel toengage in action-oriented, problem-ocused coping. The are also morewilling to seek social support, and the are more likel to emphasie

the positive in their approach to stressul event. Once again, beingoptimistic increases one’s eicienc and thus available time.

Locus of Control

The issue here is to whom (or what) we ascribe the basis o ouractions: an internal locus o control (“me and m”) or an externallocus o control (“ou and the”). Evidence is quite clear about two

things: First, people with a high internal locus o control have a morepositive sel concept and a higher level o motivation (thus the getmore done within a given time period). Second, intrinsic motivationhas more positive outcomes than extrinsic motivation (Deci & Ran,1994).

Right to Left Thinking

It has been our observation that optimists are comortable inusing right to let thinking that is characteried b looking at one’sdesired time-related outcomes and then asking, “How do I need tomanage m time or these desired outcomes to occur?” That tpeo reasoning saves time since it is action oriented, focuses on task completion, and allows one to marshal efforts towards a clearly defined goal or objective . Thus, a person can reward themselvesor completing the task. Internal reward leads to positive sel talk,



44

increased motivation, and connecting eort to outcomes. These, inturn, increase eectiveness and eicienc---hence enhanced timeutiliation.

iRRationaL beLieFS and cognitiVe tRaPS

Cognitive pschologists talk a lot about irrational belies andcognitive traps. As we’ll see, each signiicantl aects what we think,what we do, and how we spend time.

Irrational Beliefs

These are belies that are diicult i not impossible to obtainregardless o how much time and energ are expended. Two commonexamples are “we must be competent in everthing we do” and “wemust be loved b everone.” It’s oka to occasionall be a clod,and to accept the act that some people just might not like us. Bothsituations are ine, and understanding the irrationalit o these twobelies can save countless hours o phone calls, goodwill eorts,buing lowers, and lost sleep.

Cognitive Traps

These are similar to irrational belies but don’t relect desired,albeit irrational, outcomes. The ollowing six cognitive traps can bereal time robbers:

• All-or-nothing thinking: you see things in black or whitecategories, and i a situation is anthing less than perect, ou

see it as a total ailure. The realit is that most o lie is a shadeo gre.

• Overgeneraliation: you see a single event as a never-endingpattern o deeat b using words such as alwas or never.

• Mental ilter: ou pick out a single negative detail and dwellon it exclusivel. One word o criticism erases all the praiseou have received.



45

• Emotional reasoning: you act quickl on the basis o how oueel at the moment. Remember: count to 10.

• Should statements: you tell oursel that things should be thewa ou hoped or expected them to be. These statements can

also lead to eelings o guilt and time spent worring.• Personaliation and blame: you hold oursel personall

responsible or events that are not entirel under our control.

What iS YouR SeLF-taLk?

We have summaried in Table 6.1 the ke actors discussed inthis chapter. This is a simple table to complete since ou need onl

to make two check marks per actor. Check ‘es’ under ‘status’ i ouexhibit the actor listed, and then place a second check mark in thecolumn entitled, “eect on available time”--does the actor increaseor decrease our available time? Once done, anale the patterno check marks. Use this pattern as a basis or behavioral changeconsistent with those principles summaried in Table 5.1.

Table 6.1. Factors Infuencing Sel Talk and Available Time

FactorStatus Eect on Available Time

Present Absent Increases Decreases

Extraversion

Neuroticism

Open to Experiences

Agreeableness

Conscientious

Optimism-Eects on:

Social supportsCoping with stressLocus o controlRight to let thinking

Irrational belies*

Cognitive traps*

*See text or examples.



46

In summar, sel talk helps us to put things into their proper per-spective. In that regard, we need to remember three things: (a) don’tsweat the small stu (unless everthing is small, which is seldomthe case); (b) don’t worr about things ou can’t control (95% o thethings we worr about never happen); and (c) be proactive to increasepredictabilit and control and thus reduce stress. Talking to onesel isa ke time management strateg—assuming that it increases ouravailable time. Hopeull, this chapter has sensitied ou to that actand suggested was that our sel talk can increase our eicient useo time. To that end, note the ollowing general guidelines:

• Strive to be extraverted, open to experiences, agreeable, andconscientious.

• Be optimistic and remember that the power and eicienc

o optimism relates to social supports, coping with stress,internal locus o control, and right to let thinking.

• Minimie our irrational belies, remembering that one doesnot have to be competent in everthing and no one is lovedb everone.

• Watch or cognitive traps that relate to all-or-none thinking,over-generaliation, mental ilters, emotional reasoning,

should statements, and personaliation and blame.• Complete Table 6.1, which will get ou read (i.e. organied)

or Chapter 7.



47

CHAPTER 7BE ORGANIzED

If you build castles in the air, your work need not be lost: that is where they should

be. Now put the foundation under them.(Thoreau, 1960, p. 46).

Disorganiation is one o the greatest—i not THE greatest—time robber. Our belie is that the most important time saver is anelectronic, phsical, or mental iling sstem that allows one to indthings easil and thus prevents wasting time looking or needed

things. Estimates are that we spend at least 40 minutes per dalooking or lost articles, reerences, or other items. Furthermore,we can save two weeks per ear o productive time i we handleeach piece o paper we encounter onl once. That could add up toincreasing our lives b 1-2 ears!

LiStS VS. FiLeS

No book on time management can pass the muster withoutdiscussing the importance o list making. So, beore we turn to themajor ocus o this chapter—a usable inormation storage and retrievalsstem (es, a iling sstem)—let’s think briel about list making andhow that relates to being organied and time management.

We seriousl doubt i making lists per se increases our eectiveuse o time, even though it does help us be better organied. Making



48

a list is more o a memor cue and a wa to prioritie activitiesthan a time management strateg. Although our lists give others(and probabl ourselves) the impression o being organied, ouropinion is that lists deal more with memor than time. Even though

ou ma disagree (and that is ine) let us point out our two mainconcerns about lists and list makers: First, some people spend moretime in making their lists than doing the tasks or activities listed; andsecond, watch the tendenc to use list making as a subtle orm o procrastination. We’ve seen this a lot, especiall among those whopost or ile their lists as i the were a commodit.

In distinction to lists, which are memor cues, iles are used orinormation retrieval. In that regard, an eective iling sstem (or to

use pschological jargon a usable inormation storage and retrievalsstem) that is based on important tasks and personal prioritiesaccomplishes the ollowing:

• Helps us organie and communicate our thoughts, plans, andcreativit.

• Allows us to ind things we need easil and thereore preventswasting time looking or those needed items.

• Reduces our sensor overload. Everone is bombarded dailwith a million bits o inormation. We need to ilter outunnecessar inormation and we can use iles to do that.

• Allows us to sta ahead o the 8 ball and be proactive—andthus eel less stress, increased predictabilit and control, andget a good night’s sleep the night beore the exam or grantdeadline rather than pulling an ‘all-nighter.’

• Reduces the amount o time we shule papers on our desk orwork area. Subsequentl, we reduce both the time requiredto ind something and shel space. The criterion or a goodarticle or book chapter, or example, is to rip it out and ileit according to upcoming projects. It’s amaing how muchextra time that simple process gives (sorr book and journaleditors).



49

We do not think it makes an dierence whether one uses paperolders, electronic devices, or mental iles (all o us know peoplewhose iling sstem is in their heads). What is important are twothings: First, organie our iles around topics or projects that areimportant to ou personall. Second, one needs to understand howan eective [iling] sstem work.

chaRacteRiSticS oF an eFFectiVe SYSteM

Eective sstems have an input, a throughput, and an output.So should our iling sstem. The input is controlled b important andprioritied projects or topics. The throughput includes ideas, articles,and other relevant inormation related to those important and

prioritied topics/projects. The output reers to what ou do with theinormation---the report/article written, the trip taken, the tax returniled, and the book or poem written (and hopeull published).

At this point, throw the ile awa! Don’t become a ile hoarderor one who keeps iles that are never looked at again. Files should beactive participants in one’s lie. As stated b James Gleick in Faster,The Acceleration of Just About Everything (2000), …a actoid muchbruited in the time-management business holds that 95 percent o all

documents ever iled remain iled orever, in the eternal ile-oldernight, never to be looked at again. Thus….thou shalt index th iles,or the sake o organiation and quick retrieval. But don’t orget toempt our inbox and purge six iles, an six iles, ever da. (p.229)

In summar, the eective use o time requires organiation. Thischapter has suggested primaril that our organiation increases (andthus gives us more discretionar time) through the use o an eective

iling sstem. But there is more: Being organied also involves theollowing time-related aphorisms that we have developed:

• Treat time as capital. Just as political and social scientists talk aboutpolitical, social, and inancial capital, we also need to appreciatethe importance o time capital, and treat time as a commodit.Viewed rom this perspective, good time management is like agood investment—it pas handsome dividends.



50

• Be earl in meeting deadlines. That will allow not just morediscretionar time, but will also reduce the stress connected withovernight deadlines and missed deadlines. It’s so much easier inthe long run to be earl.

• Write it down beore ou orget it. Remember the earlierdiscussion o wh making lists is important.

• Respect the computer, but don’t become its slave. Two recentarticles in the Futurist (2006) caught our attention in this regard.The irst article discussed how the internet will increase theneed or social connections and indicated that new orms o mental anguish (reerred to as mental illness in the article) suchas ‘digital depression’ and ‘connected aloneness’ are on the rise

as people spend more time engaging virtuall with others. Thisrelates directl to a second article that discussed how computersma soon have artiicial empath or their users. The thrust o this article was that computer scientists are developing was ormachines to sense their users’ mood, and that a more user-awarecomputer could one da pick up on our bod language, acialexpressions, and tone o our voice and then perhaps pull up asoothing photo o our pupp to calm ou down i ou’re upset.

• Maintain a health balance among our essential tos: overnightdeliver, cell phone, ax, e-mails, and electronic devices.Remember, he who dies with the most tos [ma not] win.

• Throwing things awa is oka. It saves shel space, storage bins,and shuling time.

• Organie our ideas. I ou need help, check out the “ScienceFair Web Site Plan.” Here ou will ind reerence to Mindmanager

6 (currentl used at 60 o the FORTUNE 100 companies orbrainstorming and streamlining meetings), and Inpiration 7.6(used in schools throughout the countr to teach students how tooutline).

• Don’t overlook the time saving advantages to a good nightssleep, balanced nutrition, and proper weight. That too takesorganiation.



51

CHAPTER 8STAy FOCUSED

It is not enough to have a good mind.The main thing is to use it well.

(Descartes; Geary, 2005, p. 20).

The mind is a unn thing….it likes to be organied and processinormation in a airl determined and well understood wa. Thischapter is primaril about understanding how the human brainprocesses inormation and how that understanding can help ussta ocused, and in the process use time more eicientl. Ourunderstanding o how the brain works leads to two observations:multitasking might not be all that eective (or eicient), and usingaphorisms help us sta ocused and save time.

hoW the bRain PRoceSSeS inFoRMation

The crowning glor o the central nervous sstem is the brain.Although the human brain weighs onl about three pounds (regardlesso our IQ) it can be held in one hand. It contains billions o

interacting cells that integrate inormation rom inside and outside thebod, coordinates the bod’s actions, and enables talking, thinking,remembering, planning, creativit, dreaming, and es…using timeeicientl.



52

The human brain processes inormation and orms memoriesin three sequential steps (Atkinson & Shirin, 1968, 1971; Weiten,2004):

• Sensory memory is a ver quick process that holds a large

amount o inormation just long enough (generall less thana second) or a small raction o it to be selected or longerstorage. This tpe o memor provides the basis or inormationstorage and retrieval that involves three ke processes:encoding (entering inormation or orming a memor code),storage (maintaining encoded inormation in memor overtime), and retrieval (recovering inormation rom memorstores). Thus, or inormation to be retrieved in a timel

ashion, it must be encoded--and this requires paing closeattention (and mabe even rehearsing) to the inormationimpacting one’s sensor memor.

• Short term memory is a limited-capacit store that canmaintain unrehearsed inormation or up to about 20 seconds.Three important qualities to short term memor are importantor time management. First, the inormation in short termmemor is lost quickl unless it is rehearsed. Second, short

term memor is limited in the number o items it can hold(about 7+/- 2 digits—or about the number o digits in one’stelephone number). Third, ou can increase the capacit o short term memor b combining items, acts, or ideas toacilitate later retrieval.

• Long term memory is an unlimited capacit store that can holdinormation over length periods. The ke thing about longterm memor is retrieving it, and that is where lists and ilingsstems come into pla. However, these preclude the impacto one other aspect o human inormation processing: whwe orget. Forgetting is generall due to ineective encoding,deca due to non-use over time, and intererence rom othermaterial. The irst and third o these reasons suggests that eventhough ver popular and commonl used, multitasking manot be an eicient wa to process inormation and save time.



53

cautionS about MuLtitaSking

Given what we have just discussed about how the human brainprocesses inormation, consider this oxmoron that appeared in arecent Time Magazine article (Januar, 16, 2006, p.72): “E-mail and

cell phones help us multitask, but the also drive us to distraction.”It is not our intention to either down pla the potential importanceo multitasking or to knock it (i it works or ou, ine); however, it isour intention to point out ‘a potential mth o multi-tasking’ and thatit ma not be all that eective in the long run as a time managementstrateg (Kirn, 2007). Note, or example, the ollowing statement b Jordan Graman, chie o the cognitive neuroscience section o theNational Institute o Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS):

Decades o research (not to mention common sense) indicatethat the qualit o one’s output and depth o thought deteriorate as oneattends to ever more tasks (Time , p. 51).

Scientists are just beginning to assess the impact on memor o multitasking as well as its eects on learning, reasoning, socialiing,creativit, and [as ou might guess] time management. Thereis increased understanding o ‘toggling action’, the anatom o

multitasking, and the suggestion that i one were to multitask, allowenough time or—that is pa extra attention to—the sequential natureo inormation processing. As a sidebar, two interesting phenomenaare occurring in reerence to inormation overload and multitasking.One is that we now have a new generational name: The MultitaskGeneration. The second interesting phenomenon is ound in EdHallowell’s recent book (2006) entitled, Crazybusy: Overstretched,Overbooked and About to Snap—Strategies for Coping with a World Gone ADD . Therein, the author introduces three new terms to ourlexicon: Frazzling (which is rantic, ineective multitasking, tpicallwith the delusion that ou are getting a lot done, but with the qualito work poor); pizzled (which is how ou eel when someone ou’rewith pulls out a cell phone or a BlackBerr and uses it withoutan explanation or apolog); and doomdart (which is the internaldistraction o a orgotten task that pops into our mind when ou aredoing something else; doomdart is a side eect o raling).



54

the VaLue oF aPhoRiSMS

Two popular and requentl reerenced books are The Oxford Book of Aphorisms (Gross, 1987) and The World is a Phrase: ABrief History of the Aphorism (Gear, 2005). An aphorism is a

concise statement o a principles or a terse ormation o a truth orsentiment. According to Gross and Gear, the major characteristicso an aphorism are: it is brie (e.g. “I never let school interere withm education”), is a generaliation (e.g. “time is mone”), it oers acomment on some current aspect o lie but meant to be permanentand universall applicable (e.g. “make love not war”), is a orm o literature that bears the stamp and stle o the mind that createdit (e.g.” lie is like plaing a violin solo in public and learning theinstrument at the same time”), and it stands b itsel (e.g. “human lieis a constant preoccupation with the uture”).

So, what do aphorisms have to do with time management? Alot. The stimulate our thinking, help us to organie our thoughts,communicate, and sta ocused. Thus, the provide a ramework orthinking and doing, and in that sense allow us more time or otherendeavors.

In summar, staing ocused saves time. For that to occur,

however, we need to understand how the brain processes inormationand how essential it is to get material into the memor sstem toacilitate its storage through good mnemonics, and retrieve it inmeaningul was. Meaningul and organied inormation is storedand retrieved much more eicientl, and that is a real time saver.That’s wh a good writer alwas starts with a detailed outline.

From our perspective, the jur is still out regarding multitasking.So, be cautious. As the Roman poet, Manlius suggested: finis origine

pendet : the ends depends on the beginning. For man o us, however,aphorisms do help in either getting or staing ocused as well asstimulating and organiing our thinking. As Descartes reminded us, itis not enough to have a good mind. The main thing is to use it well.



55

CHAPTER 9TAKE CONTROL

Don’t wait for the last judgment.It takes place every day.

(Camus; Gross, 1987,p.347)

Aristotle had it right when he suggested that the purpose o all thought is action. In addition, there are three kinds o people inreerence to the wise use o time: those who make things happen,those who watch things happen, and those who wonder whathappened. Converting thought into action and making things happendepends on taking control o one’s lie.

Taking control o one’s lie requires that we make decisions,understand our cognitive learning stle, cooperate with others (aconcept reerred to as ‘snerg’), be persuasive, and use a number o ‘take charge tactics.’ Taking charge is important not just as an eectivetime management strateg, but also as an eective mechanism orreducing stress. Never orget that the two major causes o stress(including stress related to having no time) are lack o predictabilitand lack o control. Thus, this chapter is reall about both how toreduce stress and how to increase discretionar time b getting morepredictabilit and control into our lie.



56

Making deciSionS

Decision making involves evaluating alternatives and makingchoices among them. Although it sounds simple enough, decisionsregarding how we use our time are complicated due to external

actors over which we might have little control, and internal actorssuch as the lack o a ramework or establishing time use priorities.Not making decisions can be a real time robber i it leads toprocrastination, excessive worr, and/or inaction. Thus, decisionmaking can be acilitated (and thus one can save time) throughanaling the pros and cons o each alternative. A ramework or thisanalsis is shown in Table 9.1.

Table 9.1. Decision Making Analtic FrameworkAlternatives Relative Importance Advantages Disadvantages

1.

2.

3.

Completing the analsis involves a airl simple 4-step process.First, list the alternatives (generall there are three or ewer). The

ma involve spending time on one activit vs. another activit,buing product 1 or 2, spending time with amil vs. working on amanuscript, attending a meeting or managing b walking around,building a house or renting, moving, or not moving etc. Second,rate the importance to ou o each alternative on a 3-point scale:3 = highl important; 2 = somewhat important; 1 = not ver or notimportant. you should check our time use priorities (Table 4.2)i relevant. Third, list the advantages and disadvantages to each

alternative. Fourth, anale the results. The relative ‘importance xadvantage actor’ will be ke in making a decision.

Over the ears we have used this 4-step process both personalland proessionall. It generall works ver well in regard to assistingone to make decisions and saving considerable time that otherwisewould be spent in excessive worr, procrastination, debate,indecision, and inaction.



57

cognitiVe LeaRning StYLeS

People learn and process inormation ver dierentl. Forexample, visualie a matrix with a horiontal and a vertical axis.In reerence to the horiontal axis, we can gather information b

attending to details (‘receptive’) or looking or general points orrelationships (‘perceptive’). Analogousl, in reerence to the verticalaxis, we can process information b being ‘sstematic’ or ‘intuitive.’Time utiliation is inherentl involved in these two processes. It takesmore time to be ‘sstematic receptive’ than ‘perceptive intuitive.’Thus, rom a time management perspective, we should attempt to bemore perceptive intuitive.

This suggestion and observation underlies the ke theme in

M. Gladwell’s highl successul book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005) in which he discusses the concept o ‘rapid cognition.’ Eective time management strategies based on theeectiveness o both being perceptive intuitive and practicing rapidcognition include:

• Look or cues, general points, patterns, and relationships.Don’t get bogged down in compulsive details.

• Be willing to use trial and exploration. Give ideas a chance;most decisions can be reversed.

• Avoid preconceptions like “I don’t have time.”

• Rel on a delicate balance between deliberation andintuition.

• Recognie that rugalit matters in time management. Reducethings down in decision making to their simplest elements.Remember the acronm KISS (“keep it simple stupid”).

• Complete the loop and inish the task. Make the decision andthen reward oursel.

• Explain cognitive learning stles to those colleagues whoare sstematic receptive and encourage them to be moreperceptive intuitive. This will save both o ou time.



58

SYneRgY

Steven Cove (2004) introduced the concept o snerg asa principle o creative cooperation. Indeed, 1+1 requentl = 3.Snerg is built on trust and cooperation. The process can also save

us signiicant time. Creative cooperation (i.e. snerg) can be both aneective time management strateg and a time booster as we:

• Build on one another’s strengths and contributions. There isno reason to keep reinventing wheels.

• Be proactive and involve others in creative endeavors andovercoming challenges. Everone likes to be a part o awinning team.

• Think “win-win” so that through collaboration everone wins.The corollar is that shared responsibilities result in more timeor everone.

• Know our strengths and limitations, and then delegate oroutsource i necessar. you can waste a lot o time or what arepair person can do in ver little.

PeRSuaSiVeneSS

How much time do ou spend persuading oursel and othersto do something? It could add up to quite a bit. I the purpose o allthought is action, unortunatel time spent in persuading others isrequentl lost time. How then can we save time persuading ourselvesand others? Ver simpl: b understanding the persuasive process andke actors aecting that process.

The process o persuasion essentiall boils down to who (the

source) communicates what (the message) b what means (thechannel) to whom (the receiver). Ke actors aecting each o thesevariables include (Lippa, 1994; Pett & Wegener, 1998; Pett et al.,1997):

• Source factors : Credibilit, expertise, trust worthiness,likeabilit, attractiveness, similarit. These actors relate notonl to the person attempting to persuade others, but also to



59

how one eels about themselves in regard to credibilit (e.g.good judgment), expertise (e.g. do ou have the acts?), andtrustworthiness (e.g. do ou accept our own judgment?).

• Message factors . Fear vs. logic (logic is better), one sided vs.

two sided argument (two sided is better as exempliied inthe 4-step decision making process described earlier), andrepetition. A recentl published and ver popular book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (Heath &Heath, 2007) expands on the source and message actors.In this book, the authors explain how to get people to paattention to what ou sa and suggest speciicall that oucreate traction b taking our idea and present it as simple,unexpected, concrete, credible, and [as an] emotional stor.

• Channel factors : In person (b ar the best), phone/texting(eectiveness depends on man actors), or computer (quiteeective, but i important, most people will want a hard copand/or ollow up with a call).

• Receiver factors : expectations (it is good to orewarn) andprior knowledge o the issues. Inormation and knowledgein the receiver generall acilitate the eectiveness o our

attempted persuasion and hence saves time.

take chaRge tacticS

you can’t take charge without being assertive. One needs to takecharge o as much time as realisticall possible, realiing that we have jobs, amilies, personal/ proessional responsibilities, and hobbies.you can take charge o time and still have riends b emploing the

ollowing take charge tactics:• Be decisive, make decisions quickl, and don’t procrastinate.

• Learn to sa no. As suggested b William Ur in his new book(2006) The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes , to sa es to the right things requires having to sano to a lot o other things. Suggestions oered in that regardinclude: (a) serve our no sandwiched between two eses; (b)



60

ocus on underling interests instead o positions; (c) developa plan B; and (d) sa no without saing no as in ‘I have otherplans’ or ‘I would rather decline than do a bad job.’

• Be perceptive intuitive in how ou gather and process

inormation. Filling a sponge takes time.• Be snergistic. Not onl does 1+1 = 3, but increased social

supports and time sharing are requent b-products.

• Be persuasive. Valuable time can be saved i we understandthat it is not just the message, but also actors that relate tothe message, the channel, and the receiver that determine ourpersuasiveness. ‘Made to stick’ makes good sense rom a timemanagement perspective.

• Add predictabilit to our lie. This can be done b turningo e-mail during parts o the da, scheduling a set time o daor writing or other important tasks (e.g. exercise when ouare watching or listening to the news), working awa rom themajor source o interruptions (e.g. the oice, the living room),turning o the phone (85% o cell phone calls are social, notbusiness related), putting a ‘do not disturb’ sign on our door(people will still like ou), or establishing a consistent wake/ sleep ccle (irregular ccles are a major cause o insomniaand thus decreased productivit).

• Recognie that the task at hand can requentl be perormedlater, considered rom a new angle, or i a waste o time,ignored.

• Stop ooling onesel about our capacities to juggle. We needto resist the sel-talk that “it will onl take a second” impulse

to read an e-mail, answer a text message, or talk with acolleague or riend.

• Stop pretending that we are machines that can endlesslprocess tasks without a break. As suggested b Hallowell(2006), prioritie ruthlessl and cultivate the lilies or thethings that ulill ou and cut the leeches that deplete ou. Thissuggestion relates to the strategies suggested in Chapter 10



61

related to recharging our batteries, and described in Chapter4 regarding determining one’s time allocation priorities.

• Be aware o successul execution actors. As discussed bClove (2004) these relate to clarity (knowing goals and

priorities), commitment (buing into the goals), translation (understanding what one needs to do), enabling (perceivingthe proper structure, sstem, and reedom to do the task),synergy (working with others), and accountability (celebratingsuccess and holding ourselves accountable).

• Simpli our lie.

In conclusion, we cannot put o living until we are read.As discussed b the Spanish philosopher Jose Ortega Gasset

(reerenced in Gross, 1987, p. 348) the most salient characteristico lie is its coerciveness; it is alwas urgent, ‘here and now,’ andwithout an possible postponement. Thus, to get time, we need tomake time b taking control. This chapter has suggested that takingcontrol o one’s lie requires that we make decisions, understand ourcognitive learning stles, cooperate with others, be persuasive, anduse a number o take charge tactics. And as Dr. Johnson in The Idler (1758, reerenced in Gross, 1987, p. 349) reminds us, “time ought,

above all other kinds o propert, to be ree rom invasion.”



63

CHAPTER 10RECHARGE yOUR BATTERIES

Nature refuses to rest.(Updike, 1997)

Batteries wear out when are used or long periods without beingrecharged. The same is true o people. Pschologists use the term‘burnout’ to relect this condition.

Burnout is a well researched phenomenon whose majorcharacteristics include the development o a negative sel concept;reduced interest in people, jobs, and activities; and a progressive loss

o idealism, energ, and purpose. Some o the major work on burnouthas been done b Leiter and Maslach (2001) who describe theantecedents, components, and consequences o burnout. The major antecedents are work overload, lack o social support, lack o controland autonom, and inadequate recognition and reward; the major components are exhaustion, cnicism, and lowered sel-eicac; andthe major consequences are increased phsical illness, increasedabsenteeism and turnover, decreased commitment to one’s job, andreduced productivit. Each o these three characteristics result in lesseicienc and poorer time utiliation. Thus, we can gain time and atthe same time become more eicient b recharging our batteries. Inthis chapter we suggest three strategies or recharging one’s batteries:pursuing creative outlets, practicing eective stress management, andstopping and rewarding oursel.



64

PuRSuing cReatiVe outLetS

Creativit involves the generation o ideas or products thatare original, novel, and potentiall inventive. Creative thinking isresh, innovative, and inventive. Although some jobs require and/

or reinorce creativit, most jobs ocus on convergent rather thandivergent thinking. The dierence between the two is important intime management.

• Convergent thinking involves narrowing down a list o alternatives to converge on a single correct answer, approach,or product. This is the tpe o thinking we use in decisionmaking (see Table 9.1).

•

Divergent thinking involves expanding the range o alternativesb generating man solutions, ideas, or works o art. This is thetpe o thinking that should guide our use o personal time topursue creative outlets. Such thinking also increases the senseo meaning that people need to eel.

Wh is pursuing creative outlets an important time managementstrateg? There are a number o reasons. First, it allows ou to controltime, rather than eeling being controlled b time. Second, it prevents

burnout due to repetition o jobs or tasks. Third, it allows ou to becreative and produce something o which ou can be proud, and orwhich ou can receive either internal or external reward.

PRacticing eFFectiVe StReSS ManageMent

Prolonged stress can lead not onl to burnout but phsicalcomplications as well. Either eect reduces available time. Stressis best understood as a 3-phase process that involves potentiallstressul events, subjective cognitive appraisal, and one or morestress responses that can be emotional, phsical, and/or behavioral.Increased time or personal priorities results when we: reduce stressulevents b ocusing on how we can increase their predictabilit andthe control we have over them, rerame how we perceive the stress(e.g. viewing the event as an opportunit rather than a problem), andminimie our non-productive responses.



65

Successul stress management strategies ocus on reducing thethree major sources o stress: lack o predictabilit (understand theantecedents and consequences o behavior), lack o control (usethose ‘take charge tactics’ discussed in Chapter 9), and negative sel-

talk (wherein one requentl tells themselves, “it will be oka” and“there is time”). An eective stress management strateg also usesconstructive coping strategies that (Weitan, 2004):

• Involve conronting problems directl.

• Are based on reasonabl realistic appraisals o stress andcoping mechanisms.

• Involve learning to recognie, and in some cases inhibit,

potentiall disruptive emotional responses.• Include making eorts to ensure that m bod is not especiall

vulnerable to the possibl damaging eects o stress. Properrest (recommended: 7 1/2 to 8 hours per night) and propernutrition (count those calories and understand the oodgroups/pramid) are essential.

The beneits o these our strategies are that when used

eectivel, the improve our pschological and phsical wellnessand thereb increases both the eective use o time and the amounto discretionar time.

StoPPing and ReWaRding YouRSeLF

Are ou surprised that stopping and rewarding oursel canbe an eective time management strateg? It should not surprise

ou, since sel reward ma be the onl kind we get and rewardingbehavior leads to man positive consequences, including increasedavailable time. This section o the chapter explains wh.

Pschologists tell us that in order or people to be motivatedthe must be rewarded 75% o the time. That is, people need tobe rewarded requentl in order to be motivated. Thus, we need tothink about how to internall (and occasionall externall via gits to



66

ourselves) reward ourselves. Some examples o sel talk that involvesrewarding oursel are:

• I did a good job.

• I stuck to m diet.

• I completed that manuscript/project ahead o time.

• I understand the ood pramid and ollow it.

• I delegated and trusted….and the results were good.

• I killed one more time robber.

• I ound personal time.

• It’s oka to work hard and then pla hard.

Stopping and rewarding onesel is directl related to a positivesense o pschological well-being. The work o C. D. R (1989), orexample, provides a useul pschological well-being ramework oridentiing the areas wherein one can sel-reinorce and at the sametime understand the importance o outcomes rom its use. Accordingto this ramework, a person should stop and reward themselves or sel-acceptance, positive relations with others, autonom, environmentalmaster, purpose in lie, and personal growth.

In conclusion, eective time usage and recharging one’s batteriesare highl (and positivel) correlated. The bottom line is that wewill have more available time—and use the time we have moreeicientl—when we take the time to recharge our batteries throughpursuing creative outlets, practicing eective stress management, andstopping and rewarding ourselves.

So, how long does it take to recharge one’s batteries? How

long it takes is not the issue. The eect o the recharging is what isimportant, and recharging one’s batteries is not a thing that we do; itis a lie stle that we lead.



PART IIITIME MANAGEMENT IS MORE THAN

CRUNCHING TIME

Time Management Strategies and Criteria Used by Surveyed Time Gurus

Strategies and Scenarios



69

CHAPTER 11

TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND CRITERIA USED

By SURVEyED ‘TIME GURUS’

Find out how things work and then accept it.(Schopenhauer, Geary, 2005, p. 113).

As part o the development o the material or this book, 27colleagues and riends whom we consider good users o time(i.e. ‘time gurus’) were surveed regarding the top three timemanagement strategies the used, and the top three criteria emploed

to allocate time. Each respondent (see Acknowledgments-page 83)is a well known and well published proessional in the ields o intellectual disabilit, developmental disabilities, special education,or management. Respondents were 11 emales and 16 males rom10 countries (Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Ital,Mainland China, Spain, Taiwan, and the United States).

tiMe ManageMent StRategieS

In Table 11.1 ou will see the rank ordering (based on percentage)o the time management strategies used, along with exemplars o each strateg. It is clear rom these data that the our most requentlused time management strategies are being organied, taking control,being proactive, and staing ocused. Snerg, recharging batteries,and talking to onesel are strategies reported to be used less oten.



70

Table 11.1. Rank Ordering o Time Management StrategiesUsed B the Respondent Group

Strateg andExemplars

Percent Using

Be Organied

Lists

38%

Schedules (calendars, electronic organiers)

Files (especiall or high priorit areas)

Blackberries and e-mail

Mind watch and outlook calendar

Take Control

Prioritie tasks and requests

21%Schedule time or writing

Turn o e-mail during parts o da

Outsource non-essential tasks

Be Proactive

Schedule time blocks outside the oice

15%Arrive at work earl to plan and prepare

Establish personal deadlines

Plan ahead

Sta Focused

Do things right the irst time

12%Do most important things irst

Work on endless tasks a little at a time

Balance time costs with personal beneits

Snerg

Involve others

8%Team work

Invest time in others

RechargeBatteries

Use prime productive time to increaseeicienc

3%Schedule personal rewards

Allow time or regular exercise

Talk to yoursel

Build on previous successul experiences/ materials

3%An hour is made up o minutes…use them all

Give oursel time or personal relection



71

tiMe aLLocation cRiteRia

Five time allocation criteria were mentioned most requentl(and in equal percentages) b the respondents: amil, qualit o lie considerations, proessional contributions and responsibilities,

personal values, and the development o others. Ke aspects o eachincluded:

• Famil: the need to attend to amil issues, relationships, andcommitments.

• Qualit o lie considerations: the importance o a balancedlie; the need or a holistic perspective; and the relevance o personal growth, phsical well-being, sel-determination, and

social relationships.• Proessional contributions and responsibilities: the need to

meet deadlines, pursue proessional growth and development,obtain tenure and promotion, and honor ke roles (e.g.commissions, oices, positions).

• Personal values: whether and how closel the opportunitmatches values, lie goals, and contributes to a better world;whether the opportunit will help one learn and develop

as a decent and responsible human being; and whether theactivities are trul important to onesel or others.

• Development o others: investing one’s time in making thetime o others more productive; determining whether someoneelse could do the same task as well or better, in which case letthem do it; supporting others; and keeping others on task andresponsible or producing outcomes.

The equal weighting given to these ive criteria suggests stronglthat the are not discrete phenomena and that we use time allocationcriteria in an interactive and dnamic wa to relect the importanceo—and obligation to—one’s amil, proession, colleagues, personalvalues, and desired lie o qualit. In that regard, lie would besimpler (mabe) i onl one criterion or allocating time was requiredto be met. At the same time, however, it is good that we have theopportunit to make choices and allocate our valuable time to those



72

entities, activities, and responsibilities that we value. Prioritiingcriteria will obviousl var rom person to person and understandablor an one person, rom time to time. What’s worth remembering,however, is that or most o us, time will be allocated on the basis o

actors related to amil, proession, personal values, and supportingothers.

tiMe ManageMent aPhoRiSMS

The respondent group also provided a number o potentiallver useul time management aphorisms that are listed below. Wetrust that these aphorisms will be beneicial, eective, and make ou

think.• An hour is made up o minutes…use them all.

• Schedule time or writing….like a meeting with oursel.

• Schedule time or personal rewards and regular exercise.

• Be proactive: anticipate upcoming issues and problems…andplan ahead.

•

Use technolog to simpli routine tasks and enhance personaleicienc and eectiveness.

• Prioritie lists and update dail.

• Use prime productive time or just that…productivit.

• Do things right the irst time so the don’t have to be redone.

• Don’t compile the traditional ‘to do list’ based on habit andritual. The ke thing to inding time to do the important stu isto no longer spend time on the tasks and responsibilities thatwe need to let go—hence develop what ‘I’m not going to dolist.’

• Arrive earl with a clear head.

• Throw awa hard copies o everthing ou can….and storethe rest on line.



73

• Look or ‘two-ers’, ‘three-ers’ etc. to get multiple beneits/ needs addressed rom one investment eort.

• Alwas look or the smallest task that will produce the largesteect.

• Invest our time in making the time o others moreproductive.

• Start each da with the most important task, not the mostpleasant task.

• Balance opportunities with how well the match personalvalues, lie goals, and the development o others.

• Don’t look at emails (other people’s priorities) until ou have

completed our priorities.• Giver oursel personal time.



75

CHAPTER 12

STRATEGIES AND SCENARIOS

….and now I have a better understanding of which problems are important and which

ones aren’t (Kandel, 2007)

Time management is more than crunching time. Rather, it isALL about knowing our time utiliation priorities and practicingeective time management strategies. It is also about understandingwhich time-related problems are important, and which ones are not.Thus, rather than attempting to crunch time, we should ocus on

maximiing the available time that we have and making good timeallocation decisions. To do so requires the book’s suggested mantra:priorities and strategies.

Throughout this brie book we have stressed the importanceo understanding the value o time and the importance o choices.That understanding is based on how one uses time and how time isallocated. But as the Japanese proverb reminds us, ‘vision without

action is a dadream.’ Thus, we need to implement eective timemanagement strategies such as those six described in Chapters 5-10: be proactive, talk to oursel, be organied, sta ocused, takecontrol, and recharge our batteries.

Each o us uses one or more o these strategies to one degree oranother and to varing degrees o success. To maximie that success,let’s review the ke points stressed throughout the text.



76

• Eective time management involves understanding one’spriorities and using eective time management strategies.

• Eective time management starts with understanding how oneuses time, identiing one’s time robbers, and determining

one’s time allocation priorities.• Time allocation priorities relect both uturistic and holistic

perspectives.

• Eective time management strategies are based on beingproactive, talking to onesel, being organied, staing ocused,taking control, and recharging one’s batteries.

In conclusion, human lie IS a preoccupation with the uture.

The jur is still out, however, regarding whether or not in theuture we will have more or less control over time demandsand our use o time. Note the ollowing two scenarios(Robinson & Godbe, 2005):

• In the future we will have more control over our use of time .More lexible work schedules and 24-hour services will allowpeople to customied their dail and weekl use o time, andtechnologies will reduce the time involved in an one activit.

In addition, workers will insist on lextime and part-timeschedules, ewer people will have to travel long distances oressential goods and services, services will be more customiedand personalied, technolog operating in real time will allowmore people to work outside o the traditional 9 to 5 workda,a decline o standardied lie stages will mean a broadeningo the concept o retirement, and dierences in perceivedtime scarcit will highlight ‘time povert’ as a legitimate social

problem.• In the future, we will have less control over our use of time .

Factors contributing to increasing time stress in the utureincludes the growing elderl population that demands caregiving rom working adults, terrorism and securit-relateddelas at public acilities, transportation gridlock, and sensoroverload.



77

In addition, the jur is still out regarding the impact o technologon time utiliation and time management. For example, RaKurweil in his recent (2005) book, The Singularity is Near: WhenHumans Transcend Biology , discusses the uture where the pace o technological change will be so ast and ar-reaching that humanexistence will be irreversibl altered. According to Kurweil, we willcombine our brain power—the knowledge, skills, and personalitquirks that make us human—with our computer power in order tothink, reason, communicate, and create in was we can scarcelcontemplate toda. This merger o man and machine, coupled withthe sudden explosion in machine intelligence and rapid innovationin gene research and nanotechnolog, will result in a world wherethere is no distinction between the biological and the mechanical, or

between phsical and virtual realit. But, one should ask, “will thismovement towards ‘singularit’ give us more time?”

Regardless o which o the above scenarios prevail in our utures,what is certain is that we will still be dealing with how we allocate1440 minutes in a da and 168 hours in a week. That decision isessentiall ours. Thus, it will continue to be important to understandone’s time allocation priorities and use eective time managementstrategies that result in our having suicient time to do those things

that we value….assuming that we know our priorities and use ourtime well.



79

References/Sources Used

Atkinson, R. C., & Shirin, R. M. (1968). Human memor: A proposedsstem and its control process. In K. W. Spence and J. T. Spence (Eds.),The psychology of learning and motivation (pp. 120-149). New york:Academic Press.

Atkinson, R. C., & Shirin, R. M. (1971). The control o short term memor.

Scientific American, 225 , 82-90.Aspinwall, L. G., Richter, L., & Homan, R. R. III. (2001). Understanding

how optimism works: An examination o optimists’ adaptivemoderation o belie and behavior. In E. C. Chang (Ed.), Optimism and pessimism: Implications for theory, research, and practice (pp. 95-124).Washington, DC: American Pschological Association.

Bell, W. (2004, Sept.-Oct.). Humanit’s common values seeking a positiveuture. The Futurist , 30-41.

Berra, y. (1998). The Yogi book: I really didn’t say everything said . New york:Workman.

Bureau o Labor Statistics (2005). American time use survey: Changing rhythms of American family life. (Edited b S. Bianchi, J. P. Robinson,and M. A. Milkie). Washington, DC: Author.

Cetron, M. J., & Davies, O. (2005, March-April). Trends shaping the uture:Technological, workplace, management, and institutional trends. The Futurist , 30-43.

Cove, S. R. (2004). The 8 th habit: From effectiveness to greatness . New york:Free Press (a Division o Simon & Schuster, Inc.).

Deci, E., & Ran, R. (1994). Promoting sel-determined education.Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 38 , 3-14.

Drucker, P. F. (1999). Management challenges of the 21st century . New york:Harper Business.

Dlan, B. (2004). Chronicles: Volume one . New york: Simon & Schuster.



80

Eckersle, R. (2004, Sept.-Oct.). A new world view struggles to emerge. The Futurist , 20-24.

Friedman, T. L. (2005). The world is flat: A brief history of the twenty-first century . New york: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. The Futurist (2006,November-December). Outlook 2007. Pages 29-40.

Gear, J. (2005). The world is a phrase: A brief history of the aphorism. Newyork: Bloomsbur.

Gladwell, M. (2005). Blink: The power of thinking without thinking . Newyork: Little, Brown & Co.

Gleick, J. (2000). Faster: The acceleration of just about everything . Newyork: Vintage Books.

Gross, J. (1987). The Oxford book of aphorisms . London: Oxord UniversitPress.

Hallowell, E. (2006). Crazybusy: Overstretched, overbooked and about to snap—strategies for coping in a world gone ADD . New york: BallantineBooks.

Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2007). Made to stick: Why some ideas survive and others die . New york: Random House.

Kandel, E. (2007, Februar 17). Parts o the brain seem to get better with age.The San Diego Union Tribune (A.1).

Kirn, S. (2007, November). The autumn o the mulitaskers. The Atlantic , 66-

80.Kurweil, R. (2005). The singularity is near: When humans transcend

biology . New york: Viking.

Leiter, M. P., & Maslach, C. (2001). Burnout and health. In A. Baum, T. A.Revenson, and J. E. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of health psychology (pp.415-426). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Lippa, R. A. (1994). Introduction to social psychology . Paciic Grove, CA:Brooks/Cole.

Lombardo, R. (2006, Januar-Februar). Thinking ahead: The value o utureconsciousness. The Futurist , 45-50.

McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. Jr. (1987). Validation o the ive-actor modelo personalit across instruments and observers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 52, 81-90.

McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. Jr. (1999). A ive actor theor o personalit. InL. S. Pervin and O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: theory and research (pp. 150-172). New york: Guilord.



81

Pett, R. E., Wegener, D. T, & Fabrigar, L. R. (1997). Attitudes and attitudechange. Annual Review of Psychology , 48 , 609-647.

Pett, R. E., & Wegener, D. T. (1998). Attitude change: Multiple roles orpersuasion variables. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, and G. Lindse (Eds.),The handbook of social psychology (pp. 50-75). New york: McGraw-

Hill.Robinson, J., & Godbe, G. (1999). Time for life . Philadelphia, PA: Penn

State Press.

Robinson, J., & Godbe, G. (2005, September-October). Time in our hands.The Futurist , 22-32.

R, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everthing, or is it? Explorations on themeaning o pschological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 57 , 1069-1081.

Samson, R. W. (2005, November-December). Hperjobs: The new higher-level work and how to grow into it. The Futurist , pp. 41-46.

Schwart, B. (2004). The paradox of choice: Why more is less . Ny: HarpersBusiness. (Ecco).

Snder, D. P. (2004, Jul-August). Five meta-trends changing the world. The Futurist , 22-27.

Thoreau, H. D. (1960). Walden and civil disobedience . Ny: New AmericanLibrar.

Updike, J. (1997). Nature refuses to rest . New york: Knop.Ur, W. (2006). The power of a positive no: How to say no and still get to yes . New york: Viking.

Weiten, W. (2004). Pscholog: Themes and variations . Belmont, CA:Wadsworth/ Thompson Learning.

Willis, T. A., & Fegan, M. (2001). Social networks and social support. InA. Baum, T. A. Revenson, and J. E. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of healthpsychology (pp. 209-234). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.



acknoWLedgMent

Our personal thanks to each o those colleagues listed belowwho shared with us their top three time management strategies andtheir top three time allocation priorities. Andrea Anar, Giulia Balboni,Val Bradle, Ro Brown, Diego Castañón, Maggie Chu, Doreen Croser,Bob Cummins, Jim Gardner, Rob Horner, Ken Keith, Bill Kiernan, RuthLuckasson, Trevor Parmenter, Barb Ross, Vince Scott, Marti Snell, Roger

Stanclie, Jack Stark, John Stern, yvette Talor, Jim Thompson, AnnTurnbull, Geert Van Hove, Patricia Noonan-Walsh, and Jiancheng Xu.

time crunchers a guide

Documents