"I don't have time" this is the regular complaint
we frequently hear from all quarters these days. Every body is rushing right
from dawn to dusk daily. Husbands don't have time for wife. Wife is busy in her
own way. Parents have no time for children. Aged parents are left on
their own without any interaction. No time for socialising. No time for
breakfast, no time for exercise, no quality time with family,
Result: Unfinished tasks, abandoned projects, family
breakup, frequent visit to family Doctor, spoiled children, poor
professional performance, total failure......
Where has all the time gone ?
We have heard of successful people who perform well in their
career, visit gym regularly (not the family doctor!), go socialising, enjoy
holidays, and find time for recreation and club activities. How do they manage
this? Are they having 40 hours in a day?
Ah! yes. how I wish I have 40 hours in a day !
Everybody is having only 24 hours a day. This is god's gift
to man. Imagine god is depositing Rs 86400 in our account daily morning, on
condition that the un-utilized portion will be withdrawn the next day morning.
We have this Rs 86400 daily and we don't know how to spend it wisely and
complain God has taken away my money. ultimately we end up bankrupt. This is
actually the quantity of time God has given at our disposal. If we don’t spend
it judiciously we end up in emotional bankruptcy.
The intelligent person knows how to make 40 hours in a day.
ie. He can do in 24 hours what others do in 40 hours. No one can horologically
stretch the 24 hours into 40 hours.
What should we do to utilise the time properly? It is
proper planning and execution. Systematically we need to plan our work and
effectively execute it. We should understand our priorities that should suit
the work environment. Plan it suitably to fit into our team. Execute it
properly without flaws. Periodical review and correction will help eliminate
the flaws. This is called “Project Evaluation and Review Technique” (PERT) in
Management parlance.
Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principle helps you think
about your priorities, and determine which of your activities are important and
which are, essentially, distractions. Some of the fatal distractors are too
much elaboration, unnecessary and unproductive meetings, Gossip Calls, and
wasting our time by others. One of the successful Manager had the following
written on his work table
“If you have nothing to do don’t do it Here”
What Are "Urgent" and "Important"
Activities? In a 1954 speech to the Second Assembly of the
World Council of Churches, former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was
quoting Dr J. Roscoe Miller, president of Northwestern University, said:
"I have two kinds of problems: the urgent and the important. The urgent
are not important, and the important are never urgent." This
"Eisenhower Principle" is said to be how he organised his
workload and priorities. He recognised that great time management
means being effective as well as efficient. In other words, we must spend our
time on things that are important and not just the ones that are urgent. To do
this, and to minimise the stress of having too many tight deadlines,
we need to understand this distinction:
Important activities
have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals, whether these are
professional or personal.
Urgent activities demand
immediate attention, and are usually associated with achieving someone else's
goals. They are often the ones we concentrate on and they demand attention
because the consequences of not dealing with them are immediate.
When we know which activities are important and which are
urgent, we can overcome the natural tendency to focus on unimportant urgent
activities, so that we can clear enough time to do what's essential for our
success. This is the way we move from "firefighting" into a position
where we can grow our businesses and our careers.
How to Use Eisenhower's Principle: To use this principle, list all of the activities and
projects that you feel you have to do. Try to include everything that takes up
your time at work, however unimportant. (If you manage your time using a To-Do List or Action
Program, you will have done this already.). Next,
think about each activity and put it into one of four categories, as shown in
figure 1, below:
Figure 1 – Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principle
Then use the strategies described below to schedule your activities.
1. Important and Urgent: There are two distinct
types of urgent and important activities: ones that you could not have
foreseen, and others that you've left until the last minute.
You can eliminate last-minute activities by
planning ahead and avoiding
procrastination .
However, you can't always predict or avoid some
issues and crises. Here, the best approach is to leave some time in your
schedule to handle unexpected issues and unplanned important activities. (If a
major crisis arises, then you'll need to reschedule other tasks. Refer PERT)
If you have a lot of urgent and important
activities, identify which of these you could have foreseen, and think about
how you could schedule similar activities ahead of time, so that they don't
become urgent.
2. Important but Not Urgent: These are the activities that help you achieve your
personal and professional goals, and complete important work.Make sure that you
have plenty of time to do these things properly, so that they do not become
urgent. Also, remember to leave enough time in your schedule to deal with
unforeseen problems. This will maximise your
chances of keeping on track, and help you avoid the stress of work becoming
more urgent than necessary.
3. Not Important but Urgent: Urgent but not important tasks are things that prevent you
from achieving your goals. Ask yourself whether you can reschedule or delegate them.
A common source of such activities is other
people. Sometimes it's appropriate to say "no" to people politely, or
to encourage them to solve the problem themselves. "'Yes'
to the Person, 'No' to the Task"
4. Not Important and Not Urgent: These activities are just a distraction – avoid them if
possible.You can simply ignore or cancel many of them. However, some may be
activities that other people want you to do, even though they don't contribute
to your own desired outcomes. Again, say "no" politely, if you can,
and explain why you cannot do it. If people see that you are clear about
your objectives and boundaries , they will often avoid asking you to do "not
important" activities in the future.
Key Points: Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principle helps you quickly
identify the activities that you should focus on, as well as the ones you
should ignore.
When you use this tool to prioritise your time,
can deal with truly urgent issues, at the same time as you work towards
important, longer-term goals.
To use the tool, list all of your tasks and
activities, and put each into one of the following categories:
Important and urgent.
Important but not urgent
Not important but urgent.
Not important and not urgent.
Then schedule tasks and activities based on
their importance and urgency.
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