Time management

Definition of time management

• Time is not something that can be changed in any way, it cannot be accelerated or slowed, or stopped.
• Time itself cannot be controlled.
• Therefore time itself cannot be managed.
• We can only control our "use" of our time.
• Time management is essentially the organization of your time in a manner that most effectively helps you meet important goals.

Benefits of time management

• Gaining control over your time
• Having improved self-confidence and greater satisfaction
• Having less stress due to easier coping with the deadlines
• Having better productivity and performance
• A quality research with no time pressure.

Risks of improper time management

•      Becoming a slave to deadlines
• The more you delay (procrastinate), the more pressure will adversely affect your performance.
• Work done just before the deadlines is of very low quality.
• There is always a risk for failure for the work done under time pressure.
• Potential negative effect on interpersonal relations (poor student-supervisor relations, weakened group interactions, anxiety in personal relations etc)

Five steps of time management

1. setting goals
2. setting priorities
3. planning
4. scheduling
5. Revising

Setting goals

• are outcome statements that define what you are trying to accomplish .
•  describe future expected outcomes or states.
• provide programmatic direction.
•  focus on ends rather than means.
• Example: "Finishing the experiments for thesis"

Setting priorities

• priority and importance are not the same.
•  Importance implies the overall significance of the outcome.
•  Priority is a measure of both "importance" and the "urgency". So the priority of a goal depends both on its importance and its urgency.
• You must assign priorities to all tasks.
• The priorities may change by time. Therefore, they may be revised from time to time.
•  You may give priorities as "high", "medium" or "low"; or 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
• You can give a high priority to a long term important task to give an early start to it.

“paralysis by analysis”:

• A perfectionist attitude will result with inabilities in assigning priority to the tasks since everything is equally important and urgent according to a perfectionist.
• They can’t easily choose a task to start with.
• At the end, they may prefer to do nothing.
• This phenomenon is known as “paralysis by analysis”.

Planning

• Planning is the listing of the tasks and establishing a time line that includes each task
• Planning involves other variables like budgeting, availability of resources, originality, data analysis methods, etc. and puts them on a timely basis.
• Planning usually starts by thinking about the goals and priorities.
• It could actually be completed in the mind.
• Most experts strongly recommend that you formalize the plan in writing to avoid forgetting something.
• You may have monthly, or weekly plans.

Scheduling

•    Scheduling is deciding when to spend the times you estimated on the tasks.
• Try to schedule your research activities into days or time-slots you are most likely to have minimum concentration distorts or disturbance.
• Leave enough flexibility in your scheduling for setbacks, time overruns, delays and other unforeseen reasons.

Revising

• Periodic revising of your goals and tasks, plans and schedules is necessary. For example, when goal-A of highest priority is finished, your Goal-B may become Goal-A.
• Revising is needed to compare your goals and objectives with your performance, and to see if you are proceeding as scheduled. If you have fallen behind the schedule, revise it.
• If you are ahead of schedule, then you can revise your goals to include more goals and objectives, or finish earlier.