Time Management - Models, Elements and Techniques - Literature review Example

TIME MANAGEMENT Student Name: Abdulkarim Alduraywish Student No: 30088395 Course code: BUMGT2601 Lecturer: Peter Osman Contents Introduction 4 Section 1 – Discussion of theoretical concepts. 4 Need for time management 4 Impact of time management 6 Factors impacting time management 7 Models of time management 9 Elements and techniques of time management 10 Section 2 – Learning 12 Objectives 12 Practical implications 13 Conclusion 14 References 15 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report aimed at determining how performance of an individual may be improved when more hours are spent on both academic and study through developing skills of time management. To understand time management effectiveness, theoretical concept of the study was conducted which provided insight about the topic of interest and also an execution plan was formulated and implemented to guide the learning. Eisenhower model was employed to classify learning exercises and to draw inferences on individual performance in each quadrant. Results show that time management is positively correlated to the performance of an individual as effective time management was noted to culminate to stress reduction, enhanced productivity and proper balance of work-life. However, personality factors need to be taken into account since they influence one attitude regarding time management hence, while selecting models of time management, individuals should consider their personality, priorities and the objectives which also should suit the model’s purpose. Based on the findings, the report recommends that improved performance may be achieved if techniques such as relaxing, recharging and having broad long term goals are exercised. Also, there is call for setting goals, task planning and scheduling them as well as putting them into action for success to be realized. Introduction Time is equitably distributed and is a scarce resource hence individuals need to change the way they manage it (Ciarniene & Vienazindien, 2014). It is an indisputable fact that a day will have 24 hours regardless of the place or season. Briton and Teaser (1991) argue that time is a limited resource that cannot be managed like other resources such as capital and labor. They write that time is not tangible, accessible or manageable but requires individuals to change the way they use it. Time management, therefore, involves all the actions which aim at maximum utilization of time to achieve the set objectives within the given period. It also entails individuals having control over time by pursuing the scheduled tasks within the prescribed time hence requiring individuals to set goals, be organized as they perform the tasks, remain focus and persevere (Claessens, van Eerde, Rutte & Roe, 2007). According to Pehliyan (2013), time management involves undertaking multiple activities within a given time frame and is not a goal itself but the goal is to perform various tasks within the prescribed time. Hassanzabeh and Ebadi (2007) state that time management can be learnt thus helps improve the efficiency, effectiveness and productivity of poor manager of time (Nadinloyia, Hajloob, Garamalekic & Sadeghid, 2013). Several aspects of time management have been explained more in the section below for the better understanding on the impact of time management. Section 1 – Discussion of theoretical concepts. Need for time management According to Cannon (1996), individuals need to be goal focused, prioritise activities that may result to attainment of the set goals and remain positive throughout as they undertake various task because time is limited and whenever an opportunity arises, it has to be utilized fully since it cannot be saved. There are many tasks that are being performed by individuals in their daily lives, all of which are demanding for time. This has, therefore, resulted to the increased need for time so that all activities may be pursued within the available time. According to Iz and Ozen (as cited in Pehliyan, 2013), individuals are becoming more innovative as well as they are undertaking several duties in their lives due to the intense competition in the environment, hence the need to manage time effectively. The study results are, therefore, essential to the following group of people namely students, employees and leaders. To the students, the results of time management will help them know how to prepare for exams earlier because majority of the students begins their revision a week to exams. According to Nadinloyia, Hajloob, Garamalekic and Sadeghid (2013), poor time management has resulted to their failure to achieve their potentials. Secondly, to the employees, the results will act as a guideline on how they can manage their time to achieve sustainable efficiency without minimizing their innovativeness. According to Paul and Stroh (2006), this is because working more than what is acceptable will only results to drawbacks such as increased errors, decrease in the quality of activities being undertaken, more conflicts in the workplace due to lack of delegation and decreasing focus on how to come up with new ideas each day. These drawbacks will definitely influence the achievement of the set objectives. Thirdly, to the leaders, the results will act as a guideline on how they should manage their assignments which determine the success of the whole organization, society and the nation as Paul and Stroh (2006) stated. Finally, to the researcher, the need of time management is important as it help them to remain productive and achieve long term success as stated by Chase et al. (2013). Impact of time management Jex and Elacqua (1999), disclose that perception on control over time by individuals determine the effectiveness of time management because the way individuals are utilizing their time behaviors has no significant impact on strain. According to Britton and Tesser (1991) individual perception on time enable them to reinforce long term commitment to time management hence improved performance. Time management has an impact on curbing stress associated with academic tasks among students. Macan, Comila, Dipboye and Phillips, 1990) stated that the students who believed they have control over time were noted to perform better, have balanced work life, low academic overload and low somatic impacts. In addition, Britton and Tesser (1991) acknowledged that in college, students time management skills and attitude results to the attainment of better grade as well enable student to forecast their grades (Pehliyan, 2013). The success in academic by students as well as those in colleges in turn results to increasing the morale of students hoping for better and better performance (Nadinloyia, Hajloob, Garamalekic and Sadeghid, 2013). According to Chase et al. (2013) time management has an impact on researchers as it enable researchers to attentively concentrate on their topic of interest and avoid distractions brought by time waster while carrying their research work. Time management reduces stress among employees thus resulting to team work, job satisfaction improvement and achievement of objectives in organizations. However, skills of time management as well as time management behaviors such as setting of realistic and attainable goals, prioritizing tasks according to how important and urgent each task is and organization of tasks to achieve the set goals need to be molded to employees through training as they results to healthy mind and improvement of management skills (Claessens, van Eerde, Rutte, and Roe, 2007). According to Macan (1994) time management behaviors also enable employees to improve their present performance due the sense that they have control over time and task deadline has to be met within the given time. As stated by Nadinloyia, Hajloob, Garamalekic, and Sadeghid (2013), effective time management also enhances individuals to make wise decision so as to achieve their objectives within the given time as well as improve their success and make tasks to become more satisfying. It is through effective time management, therefore, that the productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of tasks performance are improved. According to Zerihun and Krishna (2012) time management also has an impact balancing work and leisure time for long term productivity of individuals. Factors impacting time management According to Hassanzabeh and Ebadi (2007), the key factor that has an impact on effective time management is personality factor that necessitate individuals ability to have control over time which in turn supports the vital time management behaviors which includes goals of life, self-esteem, how individual plans tasks to be pursued, punctuality in meeting deadlines, ability to perform simultaneously many tasks and type A behaviors (Claessens, van Eerde, Rutte and Roe, 2007). These tacts of time management behaviors have been observed to have a positive correlation to industrious students that employs them in their academic work hence achieving high grades in academic (Nadinloyia, Hajloob, Garamalekic and Sadeghid, 2013). However, effective time management is hindered by procrastination and perfectionism (Chase et al., 2013). Procrastination involves delaying as well as forwarding the activities that an individual dislike to a later date and the probability of performing it is usually low. According to Gafni and Geri (2010), procrastination is mainly caused by mismanagement of time, failure to set goals and lack of organization of tasks. Its end outcome is increasing the likelihood of failure to complete the specified task within the specified time as well as it infringes stress and tension to an individual. According to Jackson (2009), perfectionism is another challenge to time management. It involves individuals striving to be perfect instead of striving to achieve high performance thus resulting to achieving less or even nothing in time management. Distractions in work and lack of focus results to wastage of much time as one strive to retrieve the original task. For example, Chase et al. (2013) notes that it takes thirty minutes for researchers to get back to the original task after a distractions having in mind they change their tasks after every three minutes. Some measures on punctuality improvement in the academic and organizations are encouraged to curb the drawbacks of effective time management. In academic, punctuality may be improved through assigning task to individuals with a given a deadline, sub dividing each identified tasks into small task with distinct specified deadline and encouraging students to monitor success of others, motivates them to meet deadlines of the tasks assigned to them (Gafni & Geri, 2010). This is because students cooperate in individual assignments than group work where most are joy riders. In organizations, measures including implementation of management policy and system such as having description of jobs that specifies roles and responsibilities of each employee, having appraisal systems that aims to motivate and reward employees and planning sessions to discuss progress of tasks and how to accomplish set objectives as well as establishing an organization culture that is supportive in terms of how to manage time available and motivates its employees plays a major role in time management (Ciarniene & Vienazindien, 2014). Consequently, Njagi & Malel (2012), add that provision of education to employee on what it entails of management by objectives helps in time management through enabling employee realize the importance of goal setting to improve performance. Models of time management Models such as Eisenhower matrix method, the ALPEN method, ABC method and Pareto analysis paved way on the study of time management. Eisenhower matrix method analysis tasks according to their importance and urgency hence enable individuals to know which task should be given priority. Tasks are categorized in four quadrants, that is, important/urgent tasks, important/not urgent tasks, urgent/not important task and tasks which are neither urgent nor important. The ALPEN method involves formulation, implementation and monitoring of tasks continuously based on prioritized tasks in the micro level. The model has three key variables; first, the problems that are bringing about management of time such as back logs of tasks, conflicts of who is to perform a given task, poor quality of work among others. Secondly, time planning methods and techniques which include prioritizing tasks and continuous monitoring the progress of the ongoing tasks. The last model is the end outcome of efficiency in task to both the people and organization which includes goals achievement, reduced stress in meeting deadlines, punctuality improvement and fair and equal distribution of tasks among individuals. According to Ciarniene and Vienazindien (2014), the analysis, incorporation and execution of these variables results to effective time management and hence improved performance. Lakein (as cited in Ciarniene and Vienazindien, 2014) analyzed ABC method such which entails three categories of tasks. The first one is category ‘A’ which entails important/urgent tasks. The second is category B which entails important but not urgent tasks such as recreation while the last one is category C which entails tasks which are neither important nor urgent. Pareto analysis benchmarks task as per 80/20 rule, implying that 80% of the selected tasks may be achieved in 20% of the time that is disposable. According to Ferriss, as cited in Ciarniene and Vienazindien, (2014), this implied that all tasks under this category should be given higher priority as they have potential to improve performance. Elements and techniques of time management According to Pehlivan, (2013), time management process involves self-evaluation, setting goal, assessment of time to solve the problem, listing of all possible tasks to meet the goals, prioritizing the best task to be undertaken and putting them into action to attain the set goals. It is therefore, important to explain important aspects of time management such as creating an environment that is supportive to its workforce, identifying prioritized tasks, implementing those tasks and avoid time waster for desired goals to be realized (Ciarniene and Vienazindien, 2014). Time management, therefore, entails of three key elements namely setting goals and prioritizing them, methods of managing time and the organization of activities (Macan, Comila, Dipboye and Phillips, 1990). Moreover, as stated by Claessens, van Eerde, Rutte and Roe (2007), for effective time management, for all tasks to meet the desired goals, they need to be identified and the way to utilize time need to be changed so as to be able even to manage unforeseen tasks whenever they arise. According to Britton and Tesser (1991), time management attitudes involves the perception of individual’s control over time through short range planning skills such as listing of daily activities in a to do list, avoiding non-performing activities such as checking of emails frequently and making smart decisions even though delicate situations. Effective time management may be achieved by avoiding creating of extra time through taking easy ways and avoiding task that are beyond individual ability and capability as stated by Paul and Stroh (2006). Claessens, van Eerde, Rutte and Roe (2007) explains that elements and techniques that should be integrated for effective time management includes the fundamental time management behaviors, planning factors that may help in achievement of end results and monitoring the progress of activities continuously so that corrective measures may be undertaken where necessary. Personal time management skills are very vital for efficient and effective productivity in every task to be undertaken. Meeting each assignment deadlines, remaining focus through ensuring completion of work started and balancing of work and leisure time are very crucial in time management (Hasanzabeh and Ebadi, 2007). However, Zerihun and Krishna (2012) add that usual time waster such as indiscipline, mingling, dwelling on small issues, frequent phone calls while at work and absence of delegation of tasks among others should be avoided. Several steps in time management need to be undertaken such as making measurable and achievable objectives, prescription of time for the objectives to be met, listing of all activities to necessitate achievement of the objectives, scheduling prioritized task and implementing the plan. Chase et al., state that use of software to schedule task and putting notices to avoid distraction by time waster such as putting a sign are some of the techniques that may be used for effective time management and hence achievement of set goals. Section 2 – Learning Objectives The general objective of the study is to develop personal time management skills through intensifying academic activities and the study hours hence improved performance. The specific objective is to determine the impact of additional workload in studies and leadership assignment roles on development of time management skills. A study of the past research was carried out to understand aspects of effective time management which includes its fundamentals, effect of time management to both individuals and organizations, the models to provide insight about time management and techniques that individuals may use to enhance effectiveness of management of time. Key takeaways Effective time management is vital to both individuals and organizations in the present competitive and dynamic environments as it results to improved productivity. Training employees and individual on time management behaviors should be tailored to them taking into account the personality traits. In addition, key elements such as scheduling, planning, setting of goals and an organization culture that is supportive are very essential in time management. However, time waster should be avoided for the achievement of organization objectives. Techniques such as limiting frequency of email checking, raising a do not disturb sign and reducing socialization especially social media may help reduce time wasted. The selected model of time management by an individual should be such that it will meet his/her desired objectives on time management. It is important to note that for effective time management, selection of a model, setting of measurable and attainable goals based on the selection and undertaking action plan for the selected goals is necessary. However, leisure time should be part of time management so as to avoid fatigue hence remain sustainably productive for a long term period. Practical implications Data collection methods and procedures initially involved allocating two hours of studying in the morning during week days and three hours of studying on Saturday. The afternoons were to be reserved for chores and delegating activities. The evening were reserved for exercise and socializing for sustainable productivity as well as because of the fact that it is healthy for the body and mind hence saves time that could otherwise be wasted on ailment recovering. Eisenhower matrix model was to be utilized because it is simple to administer, provides inferences of time management clearly and the model was in line with the learning objective. However, though socializing and exercising are important but not urgent, they have a long term success for personal development needs to be done frequently thus there was need to broaden my goals. Nature has equitably distributed 24 hours per day and many activities may be incorporated within this time limit. Broadening individual goals insinuated changing their procedures, hence the reason behind the use of the APLEN method that involves preparation of a detailed plan, implementation of the plan and monitoring the plan in the micro level. This method incorporated my personal traits, need for exercise and socializing and work-life balance. Procedures involved identifying clearly topics to pursue every day, scheduling 4 days a week for exercises, socializing 2 days in the evening every week, delegating most chores with an aim to achieve flexibility in time management task, set aside 15 minutes for planning the next day activities as well as monitoring the progress and 30 minutes for relaxing. The techniques applied include limiting phone calls, checking mails three times a day, saying no to friends anytime they interfered with the schedule and having a to do list to avoid losing focus. There was a need to enhance one’s concentration span in order to improve performance in the long run. Conclusion The study reveals that long term success should be the key focus as well as important and urgent task should be prioritized and performed first with no strain for effective time management. The study reveals that success in time management involves performing the unforeseen task without conflict and monitoring progress of task undertaken so that corrective measures may be taken where necessary. It is essential to set realistic and attainable goal as well as train individuals and organizations on time management behaviors which should be based on personal traits. It important to remember that the way we exercise time management skills in our personal issues reflects how exactly one will manage time in the work place hence there is need to learn, do some practice and polish the time management skills as they are very crucial in attaining work life balance. References Britton, B, K, and Tesser, A. (1991). Effects of Time Management Practices on College Grades. 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