speech on a time management

• Speech Topics For Kids
• Speech On Time Management

Speech on Time Management

Time management is very important for the smooth sailing of an individual. Why is it so important? Are you preparing a speech on time management? What is the relevance of this topic? What are the benefits that we acquire by managing time effectively? To know more, read this article.

Table of Contents

• Speech on Time Management- What Is Time Management?

Prioritisation and Time Management

Benefits of time management.

• Time Management- A Necessary Soft Skill

Frequently Asked Questions on Time Management

Speech on time management – what is time management.

Time management is the process of managing time effectively and efficiently so that an individual can allocate the right amount of time for performing the right activity. In simpler terms, it’s the ability to use time productively. Time management is a skill that allows individuals to perform everything they want without getting much stressed about time. Defining it in such short statements sounds cool and simple, right? The efforts to manage time efficiently, however, are huge. Have you ever wondered how some people manage to do things perfectly on time while others rush? It’s the beauty of time management skills that such people possess.

Sample Speech on Time Management

A few samples of speeches on time management are given below. Please go through them for your better understanding of the topic.

There will be occasions when we can’t get everything done on time. Even though we plan and schedule time and execute everything well, there might be more still left to be done. So the only possible solution that we have is working on things that really need attention. Prioritise things. Utilise time well and do what’s more important for you. Prepare a list based on your urgency and schedule your tasks accordingly. Make sure you are doing it on time, finish it perfectly, and shift to the next one. It’s the only possible way how things in life can be done.

We all live in a world where many things distract us. A notification sound from your mobile phone is enough to shift your focus away from your work. That itself is enough to waste your precious time.

To start with, learn how to prioritise your tasks. List everything down. Instead of thinking of a mega list of all things that you need to do, go for a small one. Enlist things of utmost importance, prepare it like a to-do list and place it somewhere you can see so that you will find it more often and will think of it. This is the simplest possible strategy to follow. All you need is a pen and paper, or you could just set a reminder on your mobile phone.

Stop procrastinating things. Don’t skip something if it has to be done or if it’s really important for you. If you keep procrastinating, you will not do it anytime soon. You will pass hours, days, and even weeks by just thinking about it rather than acting on it. There’s no point in waiting or wasting time for it. Nothing is going to change. So finish it fast and relax. Also try to follow the methodology of doing the most important tasks first. Prioritise and number the three things that are essential, and work on them with complete focus throughout the day. Once you start, you will see that proper time management is easy if you decide on a strategy and make sure that you stick to it.

Even if it is about the organisation and execution of events on time, time management offers a lot of benefits. When individuals manage time effectively, they can easily set big goals and can work to accomplish them. Let’s look at the benefits of time management.

Time management helps to reduce stress. It helps meet deadlines and soothe the work, which will eventually result in less stress and anxiety. Taking control of time helps individuals finish their tasks smoothly, and thus reduce the mental pressure to a great extent. It helps to bring work-life balance. This is one of the best benefits of time management. ‘Losing personal life because of work’ will probably be one of the complaints that any employee would share. Nearly 80% of employees are sharing this same complaint. So we can imagine how much importance work-life balance has in an individual’s life. When individuals have a good work-life balance, they can utilise more time for productive thinking and for their personal lives.

Time management helps you get more free time. Every single person needs free time. It is one of the basic things required for the growth of an individual. People must be offered freedom of choice, and be able to use some time of their own to think and act. It is always from free thoughts that great things are born. With enough free time, one can set big goals, spend more time with family and friends, pursue hobbies, deepen relationships, and even have the time to follow one’s personal interests. Good time management also improves the focus of an individual. As the individual receives abundant time, they spend more time on their work and bring out better results. With the improvements in the individuals’ ability to focus, they can easily neglect distractions and can fully concentrate on their work. Only then can they live a life of freedom, satisfaction, and happiness without which life is meaningless.

Time management – A Necessary Soft Skill

Time management is one of the top soft skills that a professional must have. Have you ever heard the term soft skills? Why are they decisive for a professional? In simple terms, soft skills are the skills that allow an individual to act professionally in a working space. These are the skills that differentiate a professional from an amateur. Soft skills are very important and necessary for excelling in life. Being an essential soft skill, time management is a vital thing when it comes to our profession.

If we organise events and arrange them for planning a day’s schedule, we can easily execute it in far less time. Time management helps give a proper structure to an individual’s workday and personal life. With the help of this skill, a professional can accomplish more in their day to day life. Time management also helps in creating a better working atmosphere. The ability to act wisely and meet deadlines during a period of uncertainty is always paramount. Improving the talent of managing time will undoubtedly benefit an individual’s professional as well as personal life.

What is time management?

Time management is the process of managing time effectively and efficiently so that an individual can allocate the right time for performing the right activity. In simpler terms, it’s the ability to use time productively.

What are the benefits of time management?

Some of the major benefits of time management are given below:

• Time management helps to reduce stress.
• Time management helps to bring work-life balance.
• Time management gives you more free time.
• Time management improves the focus of the individual.

What are the most effective prioritisation and time management strategies?

For planning a prioritisation and time management strategy, do the following:

• List things down. Instead of developing a mega list of all things that you need to do, go for a small one.
• Stop procrastinating things.
• Do the worst things first.
• Follow the methodology of doing the most important tasks.

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• Speech Writing /

Speech On Time Management For Students

• Updated on  
• Apr 30, 2024

Speech on Time Management: There are 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week and 365 days and 6 hours in a year. Some people utilize their time by learning new skills, while others waste theirs. Miles Davis, an American trumpeter and bandleader, once said, ‘Time isn’t the main thing, it is the only thing.’

The difference lies in good time management . The one who knows how to coordinate the tasks with proper organization, scheduling, prioritizing, eliminating distractions, and planning better knows how to manage time effectively. Apart from the essential features of time management, one´s attributes and capabilities. 

Also Read: Farewell Speech for Colleague

2 Minutes Speech on Time Management

‘Greetings to all the teachers and students gathered here. Today, I stand before you to deliver my point of view on time management. In this speech, I have covered the methods and the three Ps of time management, Planning, prioritizing, and performing. Furthermore, I have also discussed some barriers to time management that can create hindrances while managing time effectively. 

Time management is the key to manage things effectively. A person who knows how to manage time effectively can handle any big or small task. So, is time management the key to managing things smartly? Certainly, Yes. The one who knows how to organize can beat up any task. 

Now the question arises, what are the essential factors to know for organizing the task?

Planning is the first and foremost thing one should consider before implementing a task. 

Setting priorities for the task is what should be performed first and what can be kept for done a little later, which is managing things with set objectives. This course of action determines and assesses one goal according to the current situation. 

The second P of time management is prioritizing. The best practice to implement prioritization is to assess and categorize one´s tasks. Now that you have planned the work, it is time to give preference to the work that needs to be done firsthand and can be left. To prioritize accurately, divide the section into critical, high, low priority, and unknown.

To follow up the chain, the last comes performing. Once our task is performed, prioritize time to achieve it. Make a to-do list, get a grip on the task, and complete the one you think is the most difficult; meanwhile, get rid of distractions. 

While performing a task accordingly, remember to take care of your health. Also, try technology if needed.

Performing the task according to the three Ps will make your time management effective, boost your confidence, and help you do well in your education or career.

Thank you!’

Also Read: How is Time Management Necessary for Students?

Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC in 6 Months?

10 Lines on Time Management 

Let us understand the importance of time management in a short but important way:

1. Time management is the key to managing your time accordingly.

2. The three Ps that help the one to manage your time are Planning, prioritizing, and performing.

3. One should know how to plan according to the time as it improves the work quality. 

4. Planning in time management should include prioritization according to the level of importance. 

5. While performing a task it is important to make a to-do list so that one can get the task completed on time.

6. Avoid distractions when completing a task.

7. Taking care of one´s health is important when one is going for the task to be completed. 

8. Time management impacts the health of an individual positively. 

9. If one needs to complete the quality of work then practice to do the work on time.

10. Time management is important as it maintains discipline in life. 

Also Read: Speech on Fake News for Students in English

Effective time management improves the quality of work and makes the one discipline.

Yes, good management skills are consistently effective in any organization or field.

The first step of effective time management is Planning.  

To improve time management skills, learn to get rid of distractions. 

Time management is the process of organizing the work, with planning, prioritizing, and performing.

Related Articles

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Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with educational and informative content expertise. She has hands-on experience in Education, Study Abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and analysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particularly in the education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs related to her field to expand her expertise further. In her personal life, she loves creative writing and aspires to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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• Importance Of Time Management Speech [1,2,3 Minutes]

Time management refers to planning how to divide your time between specific activities. The key elements of Time Management are setting priorities, excluding non-priorities, goal setting, creating a suitable environment & developing the right habits.

There are a lot of benefits of time management. It can make a person more efficient, productive, and disciplined . The one who can manage his time is more prone to achieve goals within a set time. Apart from that, It boosts your confidence & reduces stress.

1 Minute Speech

“Time management is life management”. This is one of my favorite quotes which describes the meaning of time management in just a few words.

Before heading ahead to my speech on Time Management, I would like to wish you all the best wishes and also want to pay thanks for having me this valuable opportunity.

Time is a limited resource to anyone and so the most expensive. You can not buy it or extend it. But Time management is a process of planning your time between more and less important activities to fetch you faster results in any given field.

Nowadays time management is a need for everyone be it a student , office worker, or businessman. Each day you have only 24 hours to perform various daily activities. Time management assists you to bring efficient and more productive results out of your efforts. If you are not managing your time, you are wasting it.

Thank you, I hope you like my words.

2 Minute Speech on Time management

Most Reputable teachers and principle and loved friends. first of all, I want to wish you all the best wishes for the day. Also, I am very grateful for having a chance to deliver a speech on time management.

I want you all to answer a question; what is the most expensive thing for you? For me, it is time because it can not be expanded. You have only 24 hours in a day and a limited lifetime. But the good thing is that we can manage our time in a way that will achieve more in less time.

The term “time management” refers to dividing your time between your daily activities according to priorities. Time management consists of setting priorities, excluding non-priorities, goal setting , creating a suitable environment & developing the right habits.

Apart from that, in this busy era, students don’t get enough time to enjoy their childhood but if they properly schedule their time, they can get some time for other hobbies and entertainment. for working people, time management will help to free their time for their family and friends.

Time management tips

• Have a master schedule
• Prioritize your work
• Use a checklist
• Break down big tasks into smaller ones
• Reward yourself for accomplishments
• Eliminate distractions

If someone masters the skill to manage time, nothing can stop him from achieving success in life. The setting goal becomes his habit that gets faster and more accurate results. Plus, when you get frequent success, your confidence level boosts.

There is a lot to say but as a part of time management, I have to stop here. Thank you all.

3 Minute Speech on Time management

Time holds a crucial role in the field of science and human life. Everything you see is in the realm of time. Even, one of the most popular scientific theories  Einstein’s Special Relativity explains the relationship between space and time .

Before heading ahead to my speech on Time management I cordially welcome you all & I want to pay thanks for having me this great opportunity.

We all live in a three-dimensional world and time is considered the fourth dimension of reality which is used to describe events in three-dimensional space. As a part of existence, time is vital for the execution of universal processes.

Time has a feature that it does not stop in any condition. That is why it imposes a limitation on each and every element of the universe and so on humans. Now, you can understand how important is time and why it is necessary to manage your time.

Even though we can not regulate time but we have the option to use it properly by applying time management skills. Time management is nothing but dividing your time between activities according to priorities. The next question is what are the benefits of time management?

Benefits of Time Management

Time management has a lot of advantages listed below:

• Time management gets you faster results
• It gets you more work done in less time
• It helps you prioritize your work
• It boosts your self-confidence
• Time management prevents procrastination
• It prevents you from stress

How a student can manage his time

Here are some tips for students to manage time:

To sum up, If you know the art of time management, you will get success faster. If you are not managing your time, you are wasting it. Never waste your time as it never comes back.

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Short Speech

Long And Short Speech For Everyone

Speech On Time Management For Students And Professionals

Are you constantly feeling overwhelmed by your never-ending to-do list? Do you struggle to stay focused and productive throughout the day?

If yes, then it is time to take control of your time management and increase your efficiency. In this fast-paced world, being able to effectively manage your time is critical to success.

Whether you’re a busy professional, a student juggling multiple responsibilities, or someone who just wants to make the most of your day, mastering the art of time management can help you accomplish more and reduce stress.

In this speech article, we’ll look into the secrets of time management, giving you practical strategies and tips to optimize your productivity. From prioritizing tasks to eliminating distractions, we’ll guide you through the process of changing your daily routine and achieving your goals. So, buckle up and get ready to reach your full potential with these powerful time management techniques.

Here I write two sample speeches, one for students and general public-oriented. And the second speech is for business persons or professionals.

Flow Of Speech

Greetings For Audience Introduction/ Attention Grabber Questions What is time management? A disadvantage of time waste Benefits of Time Management Step to manage time? Conclusion

Speech No 1: Speech On Time Management For Students

• Speaker: Student, Any Educator
• Audience: General public, Students

Ladies and gentlemen, My dear student and Present Dignitaries.

Do you ever feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything on your to-do list? If so, you’re not alone. In today’s fast-paced world, time management has become a crucial skill for success.

Time management refers to the process of planning and organizing time effectively in order to achieve our goals and make the most of each day. It’s a skill that’s important in today’s fast-paced world, where time slips away from us if we’re not careful.

The biggest disadvantage of wasting time is that it cannot be recovered. Time wasted is time lost forever. When we procrastinate or engage in unproductive activities, we miss out on opportunities to learn, grow, and accomplish our tasks. As the deadline approaches, we often find ourselves feeling stressed and overwhelmed, regretting the moments we wasted instead of using them wisely.

On the other hand, practicing good time management has many benefits. When we manage our time effectively, we can prioritize our tasks, set realistic goals, and maintain a healthy work-life balance.

By allocating our time wisely, we can reduce stress and increase productivity. We have more control over our schedules, allowing us to devote time to activities that bring us joy, nurture relationships, and pursue personal interests.

So, how can we manage our time effectively? Here are a few simple strategies:

• Set clear goals: Start by identifying your goals and breaking them down into smaller, manageable tasks. This will help you stay focused and motivated.
• Prioritize tasks: Determine which tasks are most important and tackle them first. That way, you ensure that important work gets done, even when unexpected distractions arise.
• Create a Schedule: Develop a daily or weekly schedule to allot specific time slots for different activities. Be realistic about the time required for each task, and try to stick to your schedule as much as possible.
• Avoid multitasking: Contrary to popular belief, multitasking often hinders productivity. Instead, focus on one task at a time, give it your full attention, and then move on to the next.
• Learn to say no: It is important to recognize your limits and not push yourself too far. Saying no to non-urgent tasks or requests can free up time for more important priorities.
• Take breaks: Regular breaks can actually increase productivity. Schedule short breaks between tasks to recharge and avoid burnout.
• Reduce distractions: Identify and reduce distractions that keep you from staying on track. This could mean turning down your phone, closing unnecessary tabs on your computer, or finding a quiet workspace.

Finally, time management is a valuable skill that enables us to make the most of our time and achieve our goals. Save time and hope, we can experience stress, more productivity, and a sense of fulfillment in our personal and professional life. Embrace the power of management at times and every moment is important.

Speech No 2: Speech On Time Management For Business Personality

• Speaker: Business Men/Women, Professional
• Audience: Business Staff, Business Personality

Ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning/afternoon/evening! As business professionals, we are constantly navigating the dynamic and demanding world of commerce. Today, I want to address a topic that is essential for our success in this fast-paced environment: time management.

In our competitive industry, time is a valuable and finite resource. How we manage it can make all the difference in achieving our business goals and maintaining a competitive edge. Effective time management is not just a skill; it is a strategic advantage that allows us to maximize productivity, enhance decision-making, and foster growth in our organizations.

We are all aware of the consequences of poor time management in our professional endeavors. Missed deadlines, rushed projects and shoddy deliverables can damage our reputation and hinder our progress.

Furthermore, the stress and pressure caused by inefficient time allocation can negatively impact our decision-making abilities and hinder our ability to take advantage of opportunities. In the business world, wasted time leads to lost revenue, strained relationships, and unrealized potential.

On the other hand, adopting effective time management practices brings many benefits. By allocating our time wisely, we can optimize our productivity and efficiency, ensuring we deliver high-quality work within deadlines.

Through strategic planning and prioritization, we can focus on the most important tasks that drive revenue, innovation, and growth. Furthermore, effective time management enables us to strike a balance between our professional commitments and personal well-being, fostering a sustainable and fulfilling entrepreneurial journey.

Now, let us look at some practical strategies to master time management in our professional life:

• Set strategic goals: Clearly define your business objectives and break them down into actionable steps. Ensure that each task contributes to your overall vision and mission.
• Prioritize strategically: Identify the activities that have the greatest impact on the success of your business. Focus your time and energy on key initiatives that align with your strategic goals.
• Plan strategically: Develop a comprehensive plan that outlines your short-term and long-term priorities. Break down your plan into specific timelines and milestones, allowing for flexibility and adaptation as needed.
• Delegate tasks effectively: Identify your strengths and weaknesses and delegate tasks accordingly. Surround yourself with capable team members who can share the workload and contribute their expertise.
• Eliminate time-wasting activities: Identify and eliminate or reduce activities that do not align with your strategic goals or provide value to your business. Streamline processes, automate tasks where possible, and optimize your workflow.
• Embrace technology: Leverage productivity tools and technology to streamline your operations. Use project management software, communication platforms, and automation tools to increase collaboration, efficiency, and organization.
• Continually learn and adapt: Stay updated with industry trends, best practices, and innovative approaches. Continually seek knowledge and skills that can optimize your time management strategies, and be prepared to refine your approach based on feedback and results.

In conclusion, as business professionals, our success depends on our ability to manage our time effectively. By adopting strategic time management practices, we can increase our productivity, decision-making ability, and overall business performance. Let us take this opportunity to make deliberate choices about how we allocate our time, and in doing so, set ourselves up for success in the dynamic world of business.

Thank you for your attention, and I wish you all fruitful endeavors in mastering the art of time management in your business pursuits.

You May Add In Your Speech

Here I add some points that you can add to your speech as per your audience’s needs or flow of your speech.

Use the Pomodoro Technique for time management : This technique involves working in short, focused bursts followed by brief breaks. Set a timer for 25 minutes and work on a task without distractions. After the timer goes off, take a 5-minute break before starting the next session.

Tools and Apps for Time Management

• Todoist : A powerful task management app that allows you to create and organize tasks, set due dates, and track your progress.
• Toggl : A time-tracking app that helps you understand how you spend your time. By tracking your time, you can identify areas where you can improve efficiency.
• RescueTime : A productivity app that tracks how you spend your time on your devices. It provides insights into your digital habits and helps you eliminate distractions.
• Evernote : A note-taking app that allows you to capture ideas, create to-do lists, and organize your thoughts. It syncs across devices, making it easy to access your notes wherever you are. These are just a few examples of the many tools available. Experiment with different tools and find the ones that work best for you.

Title of Time Management Speech

Quotes on time management.

• You can add quotes at the start of the speech to grab the attention of the audience or at the end of the speech.
• “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four-hour days.”-Zig Ziglar
• Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time. ~ Jim Rohn
• Time is a created thing. To say “I don’t have time” is to say “I don’t want to”. ~ Lao Tzu
• Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got. ~ Art Buchwald

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“Time Management”

This speech was originally given at the University of Virginia on November 27th, 2007. The original slides from the lecture can be found here .

Speech transcript

(Applause.)

Thank you, that’s very kind, but never tip the waiter before the meal arrives.

Thank you, Gabe and Jim, I couldn’t imagine being more grateful for an introduction. These are two people that I’ve known a long time, I taught here at UVA, I love this school, it’s an incredible place filled with tradition and history and respect, the kind of qualities that I really admire, that I want to see preserved in American society. And this is one of the places that I just love for preserving that. I think the honor code alone at the University of Virginia is something that every university administrator should study and look at and say: “Why can’t we do that too?” I think there are a lot of things about this place to love.

I’m going to talk today on the topic of time management. The circumstances are, as you probably know, a little bit unusual. I think at this point I’m an authority to talk about what to do with limited time. My battle with pancreatic cancer started about a year and a half ago. Fought, did all the right things but as my oncologist said, if you could pick off a list, that’s not the one you’d want to pick.

On August 15th, these were my CAT scans. You can see that if you scroll through all of them, there are about a dozen tumors in my liver, and the doctors at that time said, – I love the way they say it: “You have three to six months of good health left.” Optimism and positive phrasing. It’s like when you are at Disney: “What time does the park close?” – “The park is open until eight.” So I have “three to six months of good health.”

Well, let’s do the math: Today is three months and twelve days. So what I had on my day-timer for today was not necessarily being at the UVA. I’m pleased to say that we do treat with palliative chemo, they’re going to buy me a little bit of time on the order of a few months if it continues to work. I’m still in perfectly good health. With Gabe in the audience, I’m not going to do push-ups, because I’m not going to be shown up. Gabe is really in good shape! But I continue to be in relatively good health, I had chemotherapy yesterday, you should all try it, it’s great. But it does beg the question, I have finite time – some people said: “So why are you going and giving a talk?”

There are a lot of reasons I’m coming here and giving a talk. One of them is that I said I would. That’s a pretty simple reason. And I’m physically able to. Another one is that going to the University of Virginia is not like going to some foreign place. People say: “Aren’t you spending all your time with family?” And by coming back here for a day, I am spending my time with family both metaphorically and literally because it turns out that – many of you have probably seen this picture from the talk that I gave, these are my niece and nephew Chris and Laura. My niece Laura is actually a senior… a fourth year! here at Mr. Jefferson’s university. Laura, could you stand up, so they see you’ve gotten taller? There you are. I couldn’t be happier to have her here at this university.

The other person in this picture is Chris, if you could stand up so they see you’ve gotten much taller? They have grown in so many ways, not just in height. It’s been wonderful to see that and be an uncle to them. Is there anybody here on the faculty or Ph.D. students of the history department? Any history people here at all? Anybody here who is from history, find Chris right after the talk. Because he is currently in his sophomore year at William and Mary and he’s interested in going into a Ph.D. program in history down the road and there aren’t many better Ph.D. programs in history than this one. So I’m pimping for my nephew here! Let’s be clear!

What are we going to talk about today? We’re going to talk about – this is not like the lecture that you may have seen me give before. This is a very pragmatic lecture. One of the reasons that I had agreed to come back and give this is because Gabe and many other faculty members had told me that they had gotten so much tangible value about how to get more done, and I truly do believe that time is the only commodity that matters. So this is a very pragmatic talk. It is inspirational in the sense that it will inspire you by giving you some concrete things you might do to be able to get more things done in your finite time. I’m going to talk specifically about how to set goals, how to avoid wasting time, how to deal with a boss, – originally this talk was how to deal with your advisor, but I tried to broaden it, so it’s not quite so academically focused. How to delegate to people, some specific skills and tools that I might recommend to help you get more out of the day. And to deal with the real problems in our lives, which are stress and procrastination. If you can lick that last one, you are probably in good shape.

You don’t need to take any notes. I presume if I see any laptops open you’re actually just doing IM or email or something. If you’re listening to music, please at least wear headphones. All of this will be posted on my website and to make it really easy, if you want to know when to look up, any slides that have a red star are the points that I think you should really make sure that you got that one. Conversely, if it doesn’t have a red star, well…

The first thing I want to say is that Americans are very, very bad at dealing with time as a commodity. We’re really good at dealing with money as a commodity. We are, as a culture, very interested in dealing with money, how much somebody earns is a status thing and so on, but we don’t really have time elevated to that. People waste their time and it always fascinates me.

One of the things that I’ve noticed is that very few people equate time and money and they are very, very equatable. The first thing I started doing when I was a teacher was asking my graduate students: “Well, how much is your time worth an hour?” Or if you work at a company: “How much is your time worth to the company?” What most people don’t realize is that if you have a salary, let’s say you make $50,000 a year, you probably cost that company twice that in order to have you as an employee because there’s heating and lighting and other staff members and so forth, so if you get paid $50,000 a year, you are costing that company – they have to raise $100,000 in revenue! And if you divide that by your hourly rate, you begin to get some sense of what you are worth an hour. When you have to make trade-offs of “Should I do something like write software or should I just buy it or should I outsource this?”, having in your head what you cost your organization an hour is really a staggering thing to change your behavior. Because you start realizing that, wow, if I free up three hours of my time and I’m thinking in that in terms of dollars, that’s a big savings! So start thinking about your time and your money almost as if they are the same thing. Of course Ben Franklin knew that a long time ago.

So you’ve got to manage it and you’ve got to manage it just like you manage your money. Now I realize not all Americans manage their money, that’s what makes the credit card industry possible. And apparently, mortgages too. But most people do at least understand – they don’t look at you funny if you say: “Can I see your monetary budget for your household?” In fact, when I say “your household budget”, you presume that I’m talking about money when in fact the household budget I really want to talk about is probably your household time budget.

At the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon, students would come in during the orientation, I would say: “This is a master’s program, everybody is paying full tuition.” It was roughly $30,000 a semester, and the first thing I would say is: “If you’re going to come into my office and say: “I don’t think this is worth $60,000 a year”, I will throw you out of the office. I’m not even going to have this discussion.” Of course they would say: “Oh god, this Pausch guy is a real jerk.” And then they were right! But what I then followed on with was: “Because the money is not important. You can go and earn more money later. What you’ll never do is get the two years of your life back. So if you want to come into my office and talk about the money, I’ll throw you out, but if you want to come into my office and say: “I’m not sure this is a good place for me to spend two years”, I will talk to you all day and all night because that means we’re talking about the right thing, which is your time, because you can’t ever get it back.”

A lot of the advice I’m going to give you particularly for undergraduates – how many people in this room are undergraduates, by show of hands? Okay, good! Still young! A lot of this – put it to Hans and Franz of Saturday Night Life if you’re old enough: “Hear me now, but believe me later!” A lot of this is going to make sense later, and one of the nicest things is that Gabe has volunteered to put this up on the web. I understand that people can actually watch videos on the web now.

So a lot of this will make sense later, and when I talk about your boss if you’re a student, think about that as your academic advisor, if you’re a Ph.D. student, think about it as your Ph.D. advisor, and if you’re watching this and you are a young child, think of this as your parent because that is the person who is in some sense your boss. The talk goes very fast and I’m very big on specific techniques. I’m not really big on platitudes. Platitudes are nice, but they don’t really help me get something done tomorrow.

The other thing is that one good thief is worth ten good scholars. And in fact, you can replace the word “scholars” in that sentence with almost anything. Almost everything in this talk is to some degree inspired, which is a fancy way of saying lifted, from these two books (Time Management for Teachers by Cathy Collins and Career Track Seminar: Taking Control of Your Work Day), and I found those books very useful but it’s much better to get them into a distilled form. What I’ve basically done is I’ve collected the nuggets for your bath.

I like to talk about “The Time Famine”. I think it’s a nice phrase. Does anybody here feel like they have too much time? Okay, nobody, excellent. I like the word “famine”, because it’s a little bit like thinking about Africa. You can airlift all the food you want in to solve the crisis this week but the problem is systemic, and you really need systemic solutions. A time management solution that says, “I’m going to fix things for you in the next 24 hours” is laughable, just like saying: “I’m going to cure hunger in Africa in the next year.” You need to think long-term and you need to change fundamental underlying processes because the problem is systemic, we just have too many things to do and not enough time to do them.

The other thing to remember is that it’s not just about time management. That sounds like a kind of a lukewarm, a talk about time management, that’s kind of milk-toast. But how about if the talk is: How about not having ulcers? That catches my attention!

So a lot of this is life advice. This is, how to change the way you’re doing a lot of the things and how you allocate your time so that you will lead a happier, more wonderful life, and I loved in the introduction that you talked about fun! Because if I’ve brought fun to academia, well, it’s about damn time! If you’re not going to have fun, why do it? That’s what I want to know.

Life really is too short, if you’re not going to enjoy it… People who say: “Well, I’ve got a job and I don’t really like it”, I’m like: “Well, you could change?!” “But that’ll be a lot of work!” – “You’re right, you should keep going to work every day doing a job you don’t like. Thank you, good night.” So the overall goal is fun.

My middle child Logan is my favorite example. I don’t think he knows how to not have fun. No, granted, a lot of the things he does are not fun for his mother and me. But he’s loving every second of it. He doesn’t know to do anything that isn’t ballistic and full of life. He’s going to keep that quality, he’s my little Tigger, and I always remember Logan when I think about the goal is to make sure that you lead your life – I want to maximize use of time, but that’s the means, not the end. The end is maximizing fun.

People who do intense studies and log people on videotape and so on say that the typical office worker wastes almost two hours a day. Their desk is messy, they can’t find things, they miss appointments, are unprepared for meetings, they can’t concentrate. Does anybody in here by show of hands ever have any sense that one of these things is part of their life? Okay, I think we’ve got everybody! So these are a universal thing and you shouldn’t feel guilty if some of these things are plaguing you because they plague all of us, they plague me for sure.

The other thing I want to tell you is that it sounds a little clichéd and tried, but being successful does not make you manage your time well. Managing your time well makes you successful. If I’ve been successful in my career, I assure you it’s not because I’m smarter than all the other faculty. I mean, I’m looking around, and I’m looking at some of my former colleagues, and I see Jim Cohoon up there: I’m not smarter than Jim Cohoon. I constantly look around at the faculty at places like the University of Virginia or Carnegie Mellon, and I go: “Damn, these are smart people!” And I snuck in! But what I like to think I’m good at is the meta-skills, because if you’re going to have to run with people who are faster than you you have to find the right ways to optimize what skills you do have.

Let’s talk first about goals, priorities and planning. Anytime anything crosses your life, you’ve got to ask: “This thing I’m thinking about doing, why am I doing it?”

Almost no one that I know starts with the core principle of, there’s this thing on my To Do list, why is it there? Because if you’re start asking like, why am I… my kids are great at this. That is, all I’ve ever heard at home is: Why? Why? Sooner or later they’re going to stop saying “Why”, they’re just going to say: “Okay, I’ll do it.”

So ask, why am I doing this, what is the goal, why will I succeed at doing it, and here’s my favorite: “What will happen if I don’t do it?” The best thing in the world is when I have something on my To Do list and I just go: Hmm, no. No one has ever come and taken me to jail.

I talked my way out of a speeding ticket last week, that was really cool. It’s like the closest I’ve ever going to be to attractive and blonde. I told the guy why we had just moved and so on and so forth, and he looked at me and said: “Well, for a guy who’s only got a couple of months to live, you sure look good!” I just pulled up my shirt to show the scar and I said, “Yeah, I look good on the outside but the tumors are on the inside.” He just ran back to his cruiser and… ! So that’s one positive law enforcement experience for me. The police have never come because I crossed something off my To Do list. That’s a very powerful thing because you’ve got all that time back.

The other thing to keep in mind when you’re doing goal setting is, a lot of people focus on doing things right. I think it’s very dangerous to focus on doing things right. I think it’s much more important to do the right things. If you do the right things adequately, that’s much more important than doing the wrong things beautifully. Doesn’t matter how well you polish the underside of the banister. Keep that in mind.

Lou Holtz had a great list: Lou Holtz’s 100 things to do in his life. He would once a week look at it and say: If I’m not working on those 100 things, why was I working on the others? I think that’s an incredible way to frame things. There’s something called the 80/20 rule. Sometimes you’ll hear about the 90/10 rule, but the key thing to understand is that a very small number of things in your life or on your ToDo-list are going to contribute the vast majority of the value. If you’re a salesperson, 80 percent of the revenue is going to come from 20 percent of your clients. And you better figure out who those 20 percent are and spend all your time sucking up to them. Because that’s where the revenue comes. You’ve got to be willing to say, this stuff is what’s going to be the value and this other stuff isn’t and you’ve got to have the courage of your convictions to say, therefore I’m gonna shove the other stuff off the boat.

The other thing to remember is that experience comes with time and it’s really, really valuable, and there are no shortcuts to getting it. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. So if things aren’t going well, that probably means you’re learning a lot and will go better later. This is, by the way, why we pay so much in American society for people who are typically older but have done lots of things in their past because we’re paying for their experience because we know that experience is one of the things you can’t fake. And do not lose sight of the power of inspiration.

Randy’s in an hourlong talk, and we’ve already hit our first Disney reference. Walt Disney has many great quotes. One that I love is: “If you can dream it, you can do it.” A lot of my cynical friends say, “ya-di-ya-di-ya”… to which I say: Shut up. Inspiration is important, and … I don’t know if Walt was right, but I tell you this much: If you refuse to allow yourself to dream it, I know you won’t do it. So the power of dreams are that they give us a way to take the first step towards an accomplishment.

Walt was also not just a dreamer. Walt worked really hard. Disneyland – this amazes me because I know a little bit about how hard it is to put theme park attractions together, and they did the whole original Disneyland park in 366 days. That’s from the first shovel full of dirt to the first paid admission. Think about how long it takes to do something, say, at a state university. By comparison! It’s fascinating. When someone once asked Walt Disney, “How did you get it done in 366 days?”, he just deadpanned: “We used every one of them.”

So again, there are no shortcuts, there’s a lot of hard work in anything you want to accomplish.

Planning is very important, one of the time management clichés is: Failing to plan is planning to fail. Planning has to be done at multiple levels. I have a plan every morning when I wake up and I say, what do I need to get done today, what do I need to get done this week, what do I need to get done each semester (that’s sort of the time quanta because I’m an academic). That doesn’t mean you’re locked into it! People say: “Yeah, but things are so fluid! I’m going to have to change the plan!” And I’m like, “Yes! You are going to have to change the plan. But you can’t change it unless you have it!” And the excuse of, I’m not going to make a plan because things might change is just this paralysis of: I don’t have any marching orders. So have a plan, acknowledge that you’re going to change it, but have it so you have the basis to start with.

To-do lists. How many people here, if I said, can you produce it, could show me their to-do list?

Okay, not bad. The key thing with to-do lists is you have to break things down into small steps. I literally once on my to-do list, when I was a junior faculty member at the University of Virginia, I put: “Get tenure.” That was naive! I looked at that for a while and I said: Oh, that’s really hard. I don’t think I can do that. My children, Dylan and Logan and Chloe, particularly Dylan, is at the age where he can clean his own room. But he doesn’t like to, and Chris is smiling because I used to do this story on him but now I’ve got my own kids to pick on. Dylan will come to me and say: “I can’t pick up my room, it’s too much stuff!” [sighs exaggeratedly] He’s not even a teenager and he’s already got that move! And I say: “Well, can you make your bed?” – “Yeah, I can do that.” – “Okay, can you put all the clothes in the hamper?” – “Yeah, I can do that.” And you do three or four things, and then it’s like: “Well, Dylan, you just cleaned your room!” – “I cleaned my room!” He feels good! He is empowered! And everybody is happy.

Of course, I’ve had to spend twice as much time managing him as I could have done it by myself but that’s okay, that’s what being a boss is about, is you’re growing your people no matter how small or large they might be at the time. The last thing about to-do lists or getting yourself going is, if you’ve got a bunch of things to do, do the ugliest thing first. There’s an old saying: “If you have to eat a frog, don’t spend a lot of time looking at it first, and if you have to eat three of them, don’t start with the small one.” This is the most important slide in the entire talk.

Due Soon, Not Due Soon, Important, Not Important.

If you want to leave after this slide, I will not be offended, because it’s all downhill from here. This is blatantly stolen; this is Steven Covey’s great contribution to the world. He talks about it in the 7 Habits book. Imagine your to-do list. Most people sort their to-do list either the order that I’ve got it, throw it at the bottom, or they sort it in due-date list, which is more sophisticated and more helpful but still very, very wrong.

Looking at the four-quadrant to-do list, if you’ve got a quadrant where things are “Important and Due Soon,” “Important and Not Due Soon,” “Not Important and Due Soon,” and “Not Important and Not Due Soon,” which of these four quadrants do you think – upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right – which one do you think you should work on immediately? Upper left! You are such a great crowd. Okay. And which one do you think you should probably do last? Lower right. And that’s easy. That’s obviously number one, that’s obviously number four. But this is where everybody in my experience gets it wrong. What we do now is we say: “I do the number ones, and I move on to the stuff that’s “Due Soon and Not Important.” When you write it in this quadrant list, it’s really stunning, because I’ve actually seen people do this and they say: “Okay, this is due soon and I know it’s not important so I’m going to get right to work on it.”

The most crucial thing I can teach you about time management is, when you’re done picking off the “Important and Due Soon,” that’s when you go here. Due Soon, Not Due Soon, Important – 1, 2. Not Important – 3, 4. You go to “Not Due Soon and Important,” and there will be a moment in your life where you say, “Hey, this thing that’s due soon and not important: I won’t do it! Because it’s not important! It says so right here on the chart!” And magically, you have time to work on the thing that is not due soon but is important so that next week it never got a chance to get here because you killed it in the crib. My wife won’t like that metaphor! But you solve the problem of something that’s due next week when you’re not under time stress because it’s not due tomorrow. And suddenly, you become one of these Zen-like people who would just always seem like they have all the time in the world because they figured this out.

Paperwork. The first thing that you need to know is that having cluttered paperwork leads to thrashing. You end up with all these things on your desk, and you can’t find anything, and the moment you turn to your desk, your desk is saying to you: “I own you! I have more things than you can do! And they are many colors and laid out!” So what I find is that it’s really crucial to keep your desk clear, and we’ll talk about where all the paper goes in a second, and you have one thing on your desk because then it’s like: “Haha! Now it’s thunderdome! Me and the ONE piece of paper.” I usually win that one.

One of the mantras of time management is: touch each piece of paper once. You get the piece of paper, you look at it, you work at it, and I think that’s extremely true for email. How many people here – I’m going to take it for granted that everybody here has an email inbox – how many people here have more than 20 items in their email inbox? Oooh! I’m in the right room. Your inbox is not your to-do list. My wife has learned that I need to get my inbox clear. Sometimes this means just filing things away and putting something on my to-do list. Remember, the to-do list is sorted by importance, but does anybody here have an email program where you can press this “Sort By Importance” button? It’s amazing how people who build software that really is a huge part of our life and getting work done haven’t a clue. And that’s not a slam on any particular company. I think they all have missed the boat. I just find it fascinating.

Most people I know have this inbox – oh, I’ve got to ask: How many people have more than 100 things in their inbox? Oh, I’m just not going to keep going, this is too depressing! You really want to get the thing in your inbox, look at it and say: “I’m either going to read it right now or I’m going to file it and put an entry in my to-do list.” That’s a crucial thing because otherwise every time you go to read your email, you’re just swamped and it’s just as bad as the cluttered paper.

[He shows a picture of him and his wife on their wedding day.]

You’re all trying to figure out how that heading goes with that picture. A filing system is absolutely essential. I know this because I’m married to the most wonderful woman in the world, but she’s not a good filer. But she is now! Because after we got married and we moved in together and we resolved all the other typical couple things, I said: “We have to have a place where our papers go and it’s in alphabetical order.” And she said: “That sounds a little compulsive…” And I said: “Okay, honey…”

I went out to IKEA and I got this big, nice, way too expensive wooden fake mahogany thing with big drawers. So she liked it because it looked kind of nice, and having a place in our house where any piece of paper went and was in alphabetical order did wonderful things for our marriage! Because there was never any of this, “Honey, where did you put blahblahblah?” And there was never being mad at somebody because they had put something in some unexpected place; there was an expected place for it.

When you’re looking for important receipts or whatever it is, this is actually important, and we have found that this has been a wonderful thing for us. I think file systems among groups of people, whether it’s a marriage or an office, are crucial, but even if it’s just you, having a place where you know you put something really beats all hell out of running around for an hour, going: “Where is it? I know it’s blue… and I was eating something when I read it.” I mean… This is not a filing system! This is madness!

A lot of people ask me: “So, Randy, what does your desk look like?” As my wife would say, “This is what Randy’s desk looks like when he’s photographing it for a talk.” The important thing is that I’m a computer geek so I have the desk off to the right, and then I have the computer station off to the left. I like to have my desk in front of a window whenever I can do that. This is an old photograph; these have now been replaced by LCD monitors, but I left the old picture because the crucial thing is, it doesn’t matter if they’re fancy high-tech, the key thing is screen space.

Lots of people have studied this. How many people here have more than one monitor on their computer desktop? Okay, not bad! So we’re getting there, it’s starting to happen. What I found is that I could go back from three to two, but I just can’t go back to one. There’s just too many things and as somebody said, it’s the difference between working on a desk like at home and trying to get work done on the little tray on an airplane. In principle, the little tray on the airplane is big enough for everything you need to do. It’s just that in practice, it’s pretty small.

So multiple monitors are very important, and I’ll show you in a second what I have on each one of those. I believe in this multiple monitor thing, we believed in it for a long time, that’s my research group [shows a picture], our laboratory a long time ago in Carnegie Mellon. That’s Caitlin Kelleher, who’s now Doctor Kelleher, thank you, and she’s at Washington University in St. Louis doing wonderful things. But we had everybody with three monitors, and the cost on this is absolutely trivial. If you figure the cost of adding a second monitor to an employee’s yearly cost to the company, it’s not even one percent anymore. So why would you not do it? One of my walkaways for all of you is, you should all go to your boss and say: “I need a second monitor. I just can’t work without it, Randy told me to tell you that.” Because it will increase your productivity and the computers can all drive two monitors, so why not?

What do I have on my three monitors? On the left is my to-do list, all sorts of stuff in there. We’re all idiosyncratic, my system is that I just put a number of 0 through 9 and I use an editor that can quickly sort on that number in the first column, but the key thing is that it’s sorted by priority. In the middle is my mail program. Note the empty inbox! I try very hard, I sleep better if I go to sleep with the inbox empty. When my inbox does creep up, I get really testy, so my wife will actually say to me: “I think you need to clear the inbox.” On the third one is a calendar. This is from a number of years ago but that’s like my days would be; I used to be very heavily booked.

I don’t care which software you use, I don’t care which calendars, I don’t care if it’s paper or computer – whatever works for you – but you should have some system whereby you know where you’re supposed to be next Tuesday at two o’clock. Because even if you can live your life without that, you’re using up a lot of your brain to remember all that. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have enough brain to spare to use it on things I can have paper or computers do for me.

Back to the overview. On the desk itself, let’s zoom in a little bit, look, I have the one and one thing I’m working on at the time, I have a speaker phone; this is crucial. How many people here have a speaker phone on their desks? Okay, not bad, but a lot more people don’t. Speaker phones are essentially free, and I spend a lot of time on hold, and that’s because I live in the American society where I get to listen to messages of the form: “Your call is extremely important to us. Watch, while my actions are cognitively dissonant from my words.” It’s like the worst abusive relationship in the world. Imagine a guy who picks you up at your first date and he smacks you in the mouth and says: “I love you, honey”. That’s pretty much how modern customer service works on the telephone. But the great thing about a speaker phone is, you hit the speaker phone and you dial and then you just do something else, and if it takes seven minutes, it takes seven minutes and hey, I just look at this like somebody’s piping music into my office. That’s very nice of them.

I also found that having a timer on the phone is handy so that when somebody finally picks up in Bangalore, I can say things like: “I’m so glad to be talking with you, by the way, if you keep records on this sort of thing, I’ve been on hold for seven and a half minutes.” But you don’t say it angry, you just say it as “I presume you’re logging this kind of stuff”, and you’re not angry, so they don’t get angry back at you but they feel really guilty. And that’s good, you want guilty! A speaker phone is really great. I find that a speaker phone is probably the best material possession you can buy to counter stress. If I were teaching a yoga and meditation class, I’d say, we’ll do all the yoga and meditation, I think that’s wonderful stuff, but everybody also has to have a speaker phone.

What else do we have besides the speaker phone? Let’s talk about telephones for a second. I think that the telephone is a great time-waster, and I think it’s very important to keep your business calls short so I recommend standing during the phone calls. Great for exercise, and if you tell yourself: “I’m not gonna sit down until the call is over”, you’ll be amazed how much brisker you are. Start by announcing goals for the call. “Hello Sue, this is Randy, I’m calling you because I have three things that I want to get done.” Because then you have given her an agenda and when you’re done with the three things, you can say, “That’s great, those were the three things I had, it was great to talk to you, I’d love to talk to you again, bye.” Boom – you’re off the phone. Whatever you do, do not put your feet up. If you put the feet up, it’s just all over.

And the other handy trick is, have something on your desk that you actually are kind of interested in going to do next, so the phone call instead of being, “Wow, I could get off the phone and do some work… mmm… Or I could keep chit-chatting!” Usually the person you’ve called, they’d like to chit-chat too. So this is where the time-waster in the office goes, and if you’re a grad student… [pauses] Well, if you’re a grad student, you already know about time-wasting. Having something you really want to do next is a great way to get you off the phone quicker, so you’ve got to train yourself.

Getting off the phone is hard for a lot of people. I don’t suffer from an abundance of politeness. My sister, who has known me for a long time, is laughing a knowing laugh. When I want to get off the phone, I want to get off the phone. I’m done. And what I say is: “I’d love to keep talking with you, but I have some students waiting.” Now I’m a professor. Somewhere there must be students waiting! It’s got to be! Sometimes you get in a situation like with a telemarketer. That’s awkward because a lot of people are so polite – I have no trouble with telemarketers, I’ll just go there with them!

If you’re a telemarketer and you call my house, you have made a mistake. “Yeah, I can’t talk right now, but why don’t you give me your home phone number, and I’ll call you back on dinner time.” Seinfeld did a great bit on that. Or if you want to be a little bit more over the line: “I’d love to talk with you about that, but first, I have some things I’d like to sell you!” The funny part is, they never realize you’re yanking with them, that’s… But if you have to hang up on a telemarketer, what you do is, you hang up while you’re talking. “Well, I think that’s really interesting and I would love to keep –” I mean, talk about self-effacing! Hanging up on yourself! And they’ll figure it out and if they’ll do and call back, just don’t answer! Ten years from now, all everybody will remember from this talk is hanging up on yourself.

The other thing is, group your phone calls. Call people right before lunch or right before the end of the day. Because then they have something they would rather do than keep chitty-chatting with you. So I find that calling somebody at 11:50 is a great way to have a ten-minute phone call. Because frankly, you may think you’re interesting, but you are not more interesting than lunch. I have become very obsessive about using phones and time productively so I think that everybody should have something like this [puts on a headset]. I don’t care about fashion, so… I don’t have Bluetooth, and I have this big ugly thing: “Hi, I’m Julie from Time Life!”

But the thing this allows me to do because I’m living the limit case right now of, I’ve got to get stuff done and I really don’t have a lot of time. So I get an hour a day where I exercise on my bike and this is me on my bike and if you look carefully you can see I’m wearing that headset, I’ve got my cell phone. And for an hour a day I ride my bike around the neighborhood. This is time that I’m spending on the phone getting work done and it’s not a moment being taken away from my wife and my children. It turns out that I can talk and ride a bike at the same time. Amazing, the skill sets I have! It works better in warm weather climates but I have just found that having a headset frees me up even if it’s just around the house, you wear a headset, you can fold laundry, it’s an absolute “twofor.” And I just think telephones should have headsets and someday we will all have the Borg implant and it’ll be a non-issue.

What else is on my desk? I have one of those address-stampers because I got tired of writing my address. I have a box of Kleenex. In your office at work, if you are a faculty member, you have to have a box of Kleenex. At least if you teach the way I do… There will be crying students in your office! And what I found to defuse a lot of that is that I would have CS 352 or whatever written on the side of the Kleenex box. I would turn it as I handed it to them and they would take the Kleenex and they would be like, “Oh…” I said, “Yeah… it’s for the class. You’re not alone!” So having Kleenex is very important. And Thank-You cards.

I’ll now ask the embarrassment question, and I don’t mean to pick on you but it just points things out so well. By show of hands, who here has written a Thank-You note that is not a quid pro quo. I don’t mean, “Oh, you gave me a gift, I wrote you a Thank-You note.” And I mean a physical Thank-You note with a pen and ink and paper. Not email. Because email is better than nothing but [in high-pitched voice] it’s that much better than nothing. How many people here have written a Thank-You note in the last week? Not bad, I do better here than at most places because it is UVA. Chivalry is not dead. How many people in the last month? How many people in the last year? The fact that there are a non-trivial number of hands not up for the year means that anybody who is in this audience, his parents are going, “Oooh… that was my kid.”

Thank-You notes are really important. They’re a very tangible way to tell someone how much you appreciated things. I have Thank-You notes with me and that’s because I’m actually writing some later today to some people who’ve done some nice things for me recently. You say, “Oh god, you have time for that?” and I’m like, “Yes, I have time for that, because it’s important.” Even in my current status, I will make time to write Thank-You notes to people. And even if you’re a crafty, weasely bastard, you should still write Thank-You notes. Because it makes you so rare that when someone gets a Thank-You note, they will remember you. It seems that the only place that Thank-You notes are really taken seriously anymore is when people are interviewing for jobs. They now sometimes write Thank-You notes to the recruiters, which I guess shows a sign of desperation on the part of the recent graduate. But Thank-You notes are a wonderful thing, and I would encourage all of you to go out and buy a stack at your local dime store and have them on your desk so when the moment seizes you, it’s right there, and I leave my Thank-You notes out on the desk readily accessible.

As I’ve said before, gratitude is something that can go beyond cards. When I got tenure here, I took my whole research team down to Disneyworld on my nickel for a week. I believe in large gestures but it’s also been a lot of fun, I wanted to go too! I didn’t send them without a proper shepherd running after all. What else? I have a paper recycling bin, and this is very good because it helps save the planet but it also helps save my butt. When I have a piece of paper that I would be throwing away I put it in that bin, and that takes a couple of weeks to get filled up and then actually sent somewhere else. What I’ve really done here is, I’ve created the Windows/Macintosh trash can you can pull stuff back out of. It works in the real world too! And about once a month, I go ferreting through there to find the receipt that I didn’t think I’ll ever need again but I suddenly need and it’s extremely handy. I suspected that if I were giving this talk in ten years, I would say I just put it in the auto-scanner because I find it almost inconceivable that ten years from now (first off that a lot of the stuff would be paper in my hands anyway), but if it were paper then I would have any notion of doing anything other than putting it on the desk where it goes “zzzk”, and it’s already scanned because it touched the desk. This kind of stuff is not really hard to do. So I think that’s what’s going to happen.

And of course I have a phone book. Note pad… I can’t live without Post-it Notes. And the view out the window of the dog. Because the dog reminds me that I should be out playing with him. When I got married, I married into a family. I got a wife and two beautiful dogs. There’s the other one. Could you help me with a debate I’ve had with my wife? [He shows a picture of him sitting on the couch, the dog on his lap.] By show of hands, how many people would semantically say: “The dog is on the couch”? Nobody! Thank you! Thank you! Because the dog was not allowed on the couch. And my wife came in one day… Anyway, thank you for agreeing with me, it makes me feel very good. So the dog is wonderful. The dogs have long gone on, but they are still in our hearts and our memories, and I think of them every day and they’re still a part of my life.

I’ve presented to you how I do my office, how I do things, it’s not the only way. One of the best assistants I’ve ever met was the one named Tina Cobb, and she has a really different system; she’s a spreader. If you think about it, there’s a method to her madness: Everything here is exactly one arm’s radius from where she sits. It’s like a two- armed octopus. She got so much stuff done and I never presume to tell somebody else how to change their system if their system is working. Tina was much more efficient than I was, so I would just say, do what works for you, and everybody has to find a system for themselves but you’ve really got to think about, “What makes me more efficient?”

Let’s talk about office logistics. In most office settings, people come into each other’s offices and proceed to suck the life out of each other. If you have a big cushy chair in your office, you might as well just slather butter all over yourself and send yourself naked into the woods for the wild animals to attack you. I say, make your office comfortable for you and optionally comfortable for others. So no comfy chairs. I used to have folding chairs in my office, folded up against the wall. So people who want to come in to me and talk with me, they can stand. And I would stand up because then the meeting is going to be really fast because we want to sit down! But then, if it looks like it’s something we should have a little bit more time on I very graciously go over and open the folding chair. I’m such a gentleman!

Some people do a different tack on this, they have the chair already there, but they cut two inches off the front leg so the whole time you’re in their office, you’re scooting yourself up. I’m not advocating that, but I thought it was damn clever the first time I saw it.

Scheduling yourself. Verbs are important: You do not FIND time for important things, you MAKE it. And you make time by electing not to do something else. There’s a term from economics that everybody should hold near and dear to their heart, and that term is “opportunity cost”. The bad thing about doing something that isn’t very valuable is not that it’s a bad thing to have done it. The problem is that once you spent an hour doing it, that’s an hour you can never again spend in any other way. And that’s important. How do you keep these unimportant things from sucking into your life? You learn to say “No”.

It’s great, my youngest child Chloe is at an age where this is her new word. About two weeks ago, she learned it. And it’s like, now everything is “no!” “No! No! No-no-no-no-no! No!” She should be giving this talk! I asked her, and she said: “No!” So she’s home playing! But we all hate to say “No” because people ask us for help and we want to be gracious, so let me teach you some gentle “No’s”.

The first one is: “I’m really strapped, but I want to help you. I don’t want you to be in the bind, so if nobody else steps forward, I will do this for you.” Or: “I’ll be your deep fall back but you have to keep searching for somebody else.” Now you will find out about the person’s character at that moment because if they say: “Great! I got my sucker!”, and they stop looking, then they have abused the relationship. But if they say: “That’s great, my stress level’s down at zero, because now I know it’s not going to be a disaster but I’m going to keep looking for somebody for whom it’s less of an imposition.” That’s a person that will get lots of this sort of support.

When I was in graduate school, we did a moving party with four people, a lot of moving parties, carry heavy objects, we had four people, we should have had twelve. It was a long day. And after that, I enacted a new policy, I said, from now on, when somebody says: “Will you help me move?”, I’d say: “How much stuff have you got?” And they would tell me and I would say: “Hmm, that sounds like about eight people. If you give me the names of seven other people that will be there, I’ll be there.” And I never again was at a moving party that went for 14 hours in January in Pittsburgh.

Everybody has good and bad times. The big thing about time management is, find your creative time and defend it ruthlessly. Spend it alone, maybe at home if you have to. But defend it ruthlessly. The other thing is, find your dead time. Schedule meetings, phone calls, exercise, mundane stuff, but do stuff during that where you don’t need to be at your best. We all have these times. And the times are not at all intuitive. I discovered that my most productive time was between ten p.m. and midnight which is really weird but for me it’s just this burst of energy right before the end.

Let’s talk about interruptions. There are people who measure this kind of stuff who have stopwatches and clipboards and what they say is that an interruption takes typically 6-9 minutes, but then there’s a 4-5 minute recovery to get your head back into what you’re doing. And if you’re doing something like software creation, you may never get your head back there, the cost can be infinity. But if you do the math on that, five interruptions blow a whole hour. So you’ve got to find ways to reduce both the frequency and the length of these interruptions. One of my favorites is, turn phone calls into email. If you phone my office at Carnegie Mellon, it says: “Hi, this is Randy, please, send me email.”

Again, I presume everybody here has email, how many people here, when a new message comes in, does your computer go “ding” or make some other noise? Do we still have people doing that? What the heck is wrong with you people? I love the fact that computer scientists just know nothing about anything so for years by default all these packages out of the box would go “ding” every time you get a new piece of email so we had taken a technology explicitly designed to reduce interruption and we turn them into interruptions. So you just got to turn that off. The point of email is you go to it when you’re ready, not you’re sitting around like Pavlov’s dogs saying, “Oh, maybe I’ll get another email!”

In the same way, you try not to interrupt other people. I save stuff up so I have boxes for Tina or for my research group meeting and I put stuff in those boxes, and then once a week or however often when the box gets full, I walk down the hall and I interrupt that person one time and say, “Here are the eight things I have for you.” How do you cut things short? Because people always want to spend more time than you want to spend. Where you can say, look, somebody interrupts you and says: “Got a few minutes?” and I say: “Well, I’m in the middle of something right now.” That tells them: “I’m interrupting it, and I’m going to do it quickly, but I’ve got to get back to that.” Or you can say: “I only have five minutes.” The great thing about that is that later you have the privilege of extending that if you so choose. But when the five minutes are up then you say: “Well, I said at the beginning I’ll have five minutes and I really have to go now.” So it’s a very socially played way to bound the amount of time on the interaction.

If somebody’s in your office and they don’t get it – now I’m not saying that as a computer scientist I have an inordinate amount of time or opportunity to interact with people with no social skills… But if you have someone in your office who is just not getting it, what you do is, you stand up, you walk to the door, you compliment them, for some reason this is a crucial part of the process, you thank them and you shake their hand. And if they still don’t leave which is pretty much a guarantee that you’re dealing with someone from my tribe, then you’re in the doorway, you just keep going. What I have found is that people don’t like it when you look at your watch while you’re talking with them, so what I do is, I put a clock on the wall right behind them so it’s just off access from their eyes, and I can just glance over a little bit when I need to see what time it is. It’s a very nice way to get me information without being rude to them.

Time journals. Time is the commodity, you better find out where your time is going. Monitor yourself and update it throughout the day. You can’t wait till the end of the day and say: “What was I doing at 10:30?”, because our memories aren’t that good. So what you do – and I really hope that technology within another five years or so will be so good that the time journals can be created automatically or at least some facsimile of it, but until then what we do is, we monitor it ourselves. This is what an empty time journal would look like. The details aren’t important but the key thing is that, when you fill it in, you’ve got a bunch of categories and what I was doing, and you can do this very informally but you’ll get a lot of real data about where your time went. And it’s always very different. Anybody who has done monetary budgeting, you look at it and you go, “Wow, I didn’t know I was spending that much on dry cleaning.” Or restaurants or whatever. It’s always a fascinating surprise. And you always spend more than you think. But with time budgets, you find out that the time is going wildly differently than you would have imagined.

The best example of this I know is Turing Award winner Fred Brooks’s time clocks. He’s a brilliant computer scientist but he also has this great array of clocks in his office, and when you go in and talk to him, he says: “Is this meeting about research or teaching?” or whatever, and then he flips the appropriate switch and at the end of the week he knows exactly where his time went. The man is a genius! When I meet with students – and this is, I think, just as appropriate for people in a workplace – I say: “What’s your schedule?” You have a set of fixed meetings every week and what you have to do is, you have to look at those and identify the open blocks where you’re going to waste time, and I can tell you you’re going to waste time just by looking at it. [He shows a picture of a schedule.] So in this case you’ve got a class where… you’ve got a class at a certain point, and then you’ve got a gap until the next class so I’ve identified those here. And the gaps between classes that, in this case, last an hour or an hour and a half, this is just prime time to be wasted!

So what I always told my students was, make up a fake class. The fake class is, go to one specific place in the library during that hour and when you’re sitting there with just you in the library and your books, there’s a pretty good chance you might actually study. Don’t go and hang out with friends for an hour, just make that a fake class, make your own little study hall. It’s a simple trick, but it’s amazing how effective it is when somebody just explicitly does it.

When you’ve got your time journal data, what do you figure out from that? What am I doing that doesn’t need to be done? What can someone else do? I love every day saying, what am I doing that I could delegate to somebody else? My sister is again laughing because she knows who that person was in our youth. What can I do more efficiently? And: How am I wasting other people’s time? When you get good at time management you realize that it’s a collaborative thing.

I want to make everybody more efficient, it’s not a selfish thing, it’s not me against you, it’s: How do we all collectively get more done? As you push on the time journal stuff you start to find that you don’t make yourself more efficient at work so you become some sort of über-worker person, you become more efficient at work so you can leave at five and go home and be with the people that you love. People call this work-life balance.

For the junior faculty, you may have heard of it in some sort of mythical sense but it is possible. I found that I worked less – I worked fewer hours after I got married and I got more done. And I was always fascinated in graduate school that the people who graduated fastest with their Ph.D.s were the people who had a spouse and kids. I said, how can that be? That’s like a built-in boat anchor. You’ve got all these other demands on your time and I’m a single guy and I’ve got all the time in the world and that’s the problem. I approach it like I’ve got all the time in the world so my time isn’t precious. When you’ve got a spouse and little kids, your spouse is likely to say things to you like: “You better not be into that grad school more than 40 hours a week!”, so when you come in, you’re not sitting around playing computer games. Not that I ever did that! But when you come in, you’re coming in and you’re doing work and I found like most people that once I got married and had kids my whole view of time management really got – I mean, we were playing for real stakes now! Because now there are people whose lives are impacted if I’m spending too much time at work.

The other thing about time management that makes you really start to look through a crystalline lens and figure out what’s important and what’s not – I love this picture. [He shows a picture from a newspaper article.] I blanked out her name, but this says: Blahblahblah, this is a pregnant woman, and it says: “She is worrying about the effect on her unborn child from the sound of jackhammers.” So they’re doing construction and the people here are laughing because they can see that this woman who is so concerned about the jackhammers affecting her unborn child is holding a lit cigarette. You’ve got to get really good at saying, “I’ve got to focus my time and energy on the things that matter and not worry about the things that don’t.” Now I’m not a medical doctor and I don’t play one on TV but I’m willing to bet that if I were the fetus I’d be saying, “Put the cigarette out, mom! I can deal with the noise!”

I want to tell you a little story about effective versus efficient. I actually was going to give this talk a couple of weeks ago, and I talked with Gabe about it, and we were going to come up here because as a surprise for my wife, her favorite musical group in the whole world is The Police and has been for a long, long time, a wonderful group, and so we said, hey, we’re going to drive up to Charlottesville and see them and we actually got some tickets and I said, “Well honey, as long as we’re up there, I promised Gabe a long time ago that I wanted to give my time management talk”, and she said, okay, because it’s about an three hour drive so it’s very efficient to couple these two trips together. And about two days later she said: “You know, honey, I know how you are with talks. And before you give one for a couple of days, you start to obsess.” As we talked through it, she said: “So we’re going to go up in this couple’s time away, we’ve gotten our sitter to watch the kids, and this couple’s time away is going to be eaten up by you obsessing over preparing this talk.” I thought about it, I said, “Okay, so obviously the right solution is, we should keep our couple’s time our couple’s time and we’ll go up and see the concert we’ll have our time together and I’ll just schedule a different day and I’ll go up on a one day trip and I’ll do the talk!” And she said: “Wow, that was easy!”

And that’s right! Once you’ve framed it in the right way, you say: “Yeah, the cost here is that I have to do the drive a second time.” But it turns out I’m doing the drive with my nephew Christopher and we talk and my mom turned up, so the time wasn’t even dead time so there is no loss at all. But the key thing was we said, it’s not about efficiency, it’s about effectiveness and best overall outcome. And of course one of the nice things was that we did get to the Police concert, and I really want to thank Gabe and Jim Aylor because we really went to the concert! And my wife was very happy. I’m the guy in the back, saying: “She’s not paying any attention to me today!” But it was wonderful, and he is a charming gentleman in person, he is absolutely charming.

Let’s talk about procrastination. There’s an old saying: “Procrastination is the thief of time.” Procrastination is hard and I have a little bit of an insight here for you: We don’t usually procrastinate because we’re lazy. Sometimes people rationalize their procrastination. They say: “Well, gee, if I wait long enough, maybe I won’t have to do it.” That’s true. Sometimes you get lucky. Other people say: “Gee, if I start on it now, I’m just going to spend all the time on it. If I only give myself the last two days, I’ll do it in two days because that’s, the work expands to fill the time available, Parkinson’s law.” That’s marginally true, but I think the key balance here is to understand that doing things at the last minute is really expensive. It’s just much more expensive than doing it just before the last minute.

So if you’re doing something and you can still mail it through the U.S. mail, you’ve suddenly avoided the “oh my god, I’ve got to do the whole FedEx thing”. Now I love FedEx. FedEx supports our whole universal habit of procrastination. But it also allows us to get stuff there when it really has to be there in a hurry, so that’s a wonderful thing. But I think you have to realize that if you push things right up to the deadline, that’s where all the stress comes from. Because now you can’t reach people, if somebody is out of the office for just one day, your whole plan is upset, so you really have to work hard on this kind of stuff.

The other thing is that deadlines are really important. We’re all essentially deadline-driven so if you have something that isn’t due for a long time, make up a fake deadline and act like it’s real. And that’s wonderful because those are the deadlines, when push comes to shove, you can slip on by a couple of days and it’s all right so they are less stressful. If you are procrastinating, you’ve got to find some way to get back into your comfort zone. Identify why you are not enthusiastic. Whenever I procrastinate on something, there’s always a deep psychological reason. Usually it’s, I’m afraid of being embarrassed because I don’t think I’ll do it well, or I’m afraid I’m going to fail at it. Sometimes it involves asking somebody for something.

One of the most magical things I’ve learned in my life is that sometimes you just have to ask and wonderful things happen. But you just have to step out and do that.

I won the parent lottery, I have just wonderful parents. My dad unfortunately passed away not too long ago. [He shows a picture of him and his dad and his son riding a monorail.] But this is one of my favorite photographs because my dad was such a smart guy, I could almost never surprise him or impress him because he was that good! But we were down at the family vacation at Disneyworld, and the monorails were going by and we’re going to board the monorail and we noticed that in the front, up here in the cabin, I don’t know if you can see it in this picture, but there’s an engineer who drives the monorail and there are actually guests up there with him which is kind of unusual. My dad and I were talking about that and I knew, because I’ve done some consulting for Disney.

My dad’s saying: “Oh, they probably have to be special VIPs or something.” I said: “Oh, there is a trick. There is a special way you get into that cabin.” And he said: “Really? What is it?” I said: “I’ll show you. Dylan, come with me.” And Dylan, who’s – the back of his head you can see there, we walk up and I whisper to Dylan: “Ask the man if we can ride in the front!” And we go to the attendant and the attendant says: “Yes, you can.” And he opens the gate and my dad is just like… [stares with eyes and mouth open]! I said: “I told you there was a trick, I didn’t say it was hard!” Sometimes all you have to do is ask. And it’s that easy.

Let’s talk about delegation. Nobody operates individually anymore and you can accomplish a lot more when you have help. However, most people delegate very poorly. They treat delegation as dumping. “I don’t have time to do this, you take care of it.” And then they micro-manage and it’s just a disaster. The first thing if you’re going to delegate something to a subordinate is, you grant them authority with responsibility. You don’t tell somebody: “Go take care of this, but if you need to spend any money, you’ve got to come back to me for approval.” That’s not empowering them, that’s telling them you don’t trust them.

If I trust you enough to do the work, I trust you enough to give you the resources and the budget and the time and whatever else you need to get it done. You give them the whole package. The other thing is, delegate but always do the ugliest job yourself. So when we need to vacuum the lab before a demo, I bring in the vacuum cleaner and I vacuum it. Do the dirtiest job yourself so it’s very clear that you’re willing to still get the dirt on your hands.

Treat your people well. People are the greatest resource, and if you are fortunate enough to have people who report to you, treat them with dignity and respect and to sound a little bit corny, the kind of love that they should have from someone who cares about them and their professional development. And for crying out loud, staff and secretaries are your life line! If you don’t think you should treat them well because it’s the decent thing to do, at least treat them well because if you don’t, they will get you. And they will get you good and you will deserve it and I will applaud them.

My giving a talk with Alf Weaver in the audience – where is Alf? There he is. – that’s like talking about surviving the Johnstown flood if Noah was in the audience. One of the things that Alf Weaver taught me is, whether it’s to a colleague or to a subordinate, if you want to get something done, you cannot be vague, and he said: “You give somebody a specific thing to do, a specific date and time – “Thursday” is not a specific time. “Thursday at 3:22″ gets somebody’s attention. And you give them a specific penalty or reward that will happen if that deadline for that thing is not met”, and then he paused, and he said: “And remember, the penalty or the reward has to be for them, not you!” – “I will be screwed over if you don’t meet that deadline!” [ironically:] “Oh, bummer.” This is an important point to not get wrong.

Challenge people. I’ve been told that one of the tricks is, you delegate until they complain. I don’t know about until they complain, but what I’ve found is that underdelegation is a problem. People are usually yearning for the opportunity to do more, they want to be challenged, they want to prove to you and themselves they can be more capable so let them. Communication has to be clear. So many times people get upset with their bosses because there’s a misunderstanding. And particularly in a time of email, it’s so easy to communicate via email. Even if you’ve had a face-to-face conversation, send a two-line email just to be specific afterwards. And it’s not we’re trying to be all lawyer-like, it’s just that as judge Wapner said: “Get it in writing!”, if you remember the People’s Court, and judge Wapner said: “If there isn’t a problem, it’s not a problem, it didn’t take you much time, but if there ever is a problem, well – wait a second, there won’t be a problem, because there is a written record.” And that’s the magic. There won’t be a confusion because you can’t disagree about the written word. Don’t give people how you want them do it, tell them what you want them to do. Give them objectives, not procedures. Let them surprise you with a way of solving a problem you would never have imagined. Sometimes those solutions are mind-blowing. Good or bad. But they’re really much more fun than just having them do it the way you would have done it. And you know what, if you’re at an university, your job should be to have people smarter than you, i.e. your students, and they will come up with stuff you would never have thought of.

The other thing is, tell people the relative importance of each task. Some people say: “My boss is an ogre, they gave me five things to do!” I’m like: “Oh, did they tell you which one was the most important?” – “Oh, yeah. I guess I could ask that.” Knowing that, if you have five things, which are the ones to get done is really important because if you’re flying blind, you’ve got a 20 percent chance of getting them done in the right order. Delegation can never be done too young. Does everyone see the difference in the two pictures? [He shows two pictures of him and his daughter sitting in a chair, in one he is holding her milk bottle, in the other one she is holding the bottle herself.] This is my daughter Chloe, I love her to death, but I want her to grow up to be a wonderful person, and I know, the sooner she holds her own bottle, the better. Sociology. Beware upward delegation.

Sometimes you try to delegate and people try to hand it back to you. One of the best things I ever saw was someone who had a secretary trying to say, “I can’t do this, you’ll have to take it back”, and he just put his hands behind his back and took a step backwards. Then he waited. And then eventually the secretary said: “Or maybe I could find this other solution.” And he said: “That’s wonderful! I’m so proud you thought of that.” It was just an elegant gesture. Reinforce behavior you want be repeated.

One of my favorite stories in the One Minute Manager is, he talks about, did you ever wonder about how they got the killer whales to jump through the hoop? If they did it like modern American office managers, they would yell at the killer whale: “Jump through the hoop!” And every time the killer whale didn’t jump through the hoop they’d hit it with a stick. This is how we train people in the office place. Read the book if you want to see how they actually do it because I’m curious. I know now. But it’s really cool how they get them to do it.

Reinforce behavior you want repeated. When people do things that you like, praise them and thank them. That’s worth more than any amount of monetary reward or a little plaque. People really like to just be told straight up: “Thank you, I really appreciate that you did a good job.” The other thing is that if you don’t want things delegated back up to you, don’t learn how to do them! I take great pride, I don’t know how to run photocopiers and fax machines, and I am not going to learn it. That’s certainly not how I’m going to spend my remaining time. Meetings. The average executive spends more than 40 percent of his or her time in a meeting. My advice is, when you have a meeting, lock the door, unplug the phone and take everybody’s BlackBerrys. Because if it’s worth our time, it’s worth our time. If it’s not worth our time, it’s not worth our time but I don’t have any interest in being in a room with six people who are all half there. Because that’s very inefficient.

I don’t think meetings should ever last more than an hour with very rare exception. And I think there should be an agenda. I got into a great habit a couple of years ago when I just started saying: “If there’s no agenda, I won’t attend.” The great thing about that is, whoever called the meeting had to actually think before they showed up about why we were supposed to be there because otherwise it’s like: “Why are we here?” – “Because we’re having a meeting. It’s on all of our calendars.” It’s just a classic Dilbert moment.

Most important thing about meetings, and again, this comes from the One Minute Manager, one-minute minutes. At the end of the meeting somebody has to have been assigned to inscribe, and they write down in one minute or less what decisions got made and who is responsible for what by when and to email it out to everybody because if you don’t do that, you have your next weekly meeting next week, and you’re all sitting around going like, “Who was going to do this?” It’s very inefficient. And it’s so fast, you just do these one-minute minutes.

Let’s talk about technology. I’m a computer scientist, so they say: “Which gadget will make me more time-efficient?” And I don’t have any answer for that, it’s all idiosyncratic, but I will tell you that my favorite comment about technology comes from a janitor at the University of Central Florida who said: “Computers are faster, they just take longer.” That’s Zen right there. That’s another way of saying, only use technology that’s worth it and worth it is, in the end, did it make me more efficient? That depends on how you work and we’re all different.

Remember that technology is getting insane, I walked into McDonald’s and I ordered Happy Meal number two and they said: “Would you like a cell phone with that?” I went to the grocery store to buy 16 slices of American cheese and you get Grolier’s Encyclopedia so with 16 slices of cheese you get all of men’s knowledge for free! That’s just spooky scary! Remember that technology really has to be something that makes your life better, you guys may have seen this, I just find it very humorous. [He shows a video clip of a guy angrily smashing his PC keyboard against the monitor.]

Only use technology that helps you! I find that technology is good if it allows you to do things in a new way. Just doing the same things a little bit faster with technology is nice but when technology changes the workflow… So I was carving pumpkins a few years ago and [shows some pictures of him and his friends carving pumpkins] this is F.M., a good friend of mine, and if you can see it, down by her right knee is a pattern and you lay this pattern over the pumpkin, and you get this little special carving knife, and you can instead of these amateurish pumpkins like I made, you get this “howling at the moon”, and her husband Jeff and I thought this was really cool but in sign of a reactionary burning man kind of a moment we grabbed our power drills and we carved our pumpkins that way! Use technology if it changes the way you do things because – believe me, the results of a power drill, you get these little – oh, it’s just gorgeous.

Let’s talk briefly about email because email is such a large part of all our lives. First off, don’t ever delete any of it. Save all of it. I started doing this ten years ago. An interesting thing is that all the historians talk about, “Oh, it’s such a shame we don’t have people keeping diaries, we don’t know what their days are like”, and I’m like: “You fools!” We have just entered a society circa about ten years ago and I’m a living example of it. Every piece of my correspondence is not only saved, it’s searchable. If I were a person of merit, a historian – which is a big stretch, a historian could actually look at my patterns of communication much better than the most compulsive diary writer.

Now we could talk about whether or not I am being introspective, that’s about content, but in terms of quantity it’s great, and of course you can save your email and you can search it, and that’s just wonderful because you can pull back stuff from five years ago. So never delete your email.

Here’s a big email trick. If you want to get something done, do not send the email to five people. “Hey, could somebody take care of this?” Everyone of these five recipients is thinking one and only one thing: “I deleted it first!” – “The other four people will take care of this, I don’t have to.” So you send it to one and only one person. But if you really want it to be done, send it to somebody who can do it, tell them, watch again, Alf Weaver: specific things, specific time, and the penalty can be more subtle like you just CC their boss.

And the other thing – I had this conversation with every student in my entire career because they send email and then they just wait for the person to respond. And I say: “If the person has not responded within 48 hours, it’s okay to nag them, and the reason it’s okay to nag them: Because if they have not responded within 48 hours, the chance that they are ever going to respond is zero.” Maybe not zero. Maybe that small. But in my experience, if people don’t respond to you within 48 hours, you’ll probably never hear from them so you just start nagging them.

Let’s talk about the care and feeding of bosses. There’s a phrase: Managing from beneath. Because we all know that all bosses are idiots. That’s certainly the expression, the sense I’ve gotten from everybody who has a boss. When you have a boss, write things down, do that clear communication thing. Ask them: “When is our next meeting? What do you want me to have done by then?” So you’ve got sort of a contract. “Who can I turn to for help besides you because I don’t want to bother you?” And remember, your boss wants a result, not an excuse. General advice on vacations. Phone callers should get two options: The first one is – the first option is: “Contact John Smith, not me, I’m out of the office, this person can help you now if it’s urgent.” Or: “Call back when I’m back.” Why? Because you don’t want to come back to a long sequence of phone messages saying: “Randy, can you help me get care of this?”, and you call them back, and you’ve been on vacation for a week, they already solved it.

The other thing is that it’s not a vacation if you’re reading email. Trust me on that. It’s not a vacation if you’re reading email. I can stay in my house all weekend and not read email, and it’s a vacation. But if I go to Hawaii and I’ve got a blackberry, I’m not on vacation. And I know this, when I got married, my wife and I got married, and we left our reception in a hot air balloon, which did not have wireless on it, and Dean Jim Morris at the time – we took a month long honeymoon which was great but not really long enough – and I said: “I’m not going to be reachable for a month.” And Jim said: “That’s not acceptable.” I said: “What do you mean, it’s not acceptable?” He said: “Well, I pay you. So, that’s the “not acceptable” part.” And I said: “Okay. So there has to be a way to reach me?” He said yes. And I said okay. So if you called my office there would be a phone answering machine message that said: “Hi, this is Randy, I’m on vacation. I really took 39 to get married. And so we’re going for a month. And I hope you don’t have a problem with that. But apparently, my boss does so he says, I have to be reachable. So here’s how you can reach me. My wife’s parents live in blahblahblah town. Here are their names, if you call directory assistance, you can get their number. And if you can convince my new in-laws that your emergency merits interrupting their only daughter’s honeymoon, they have our number.”

Here’s some more of my most important advice. We close with some of the best stuff: Kill your television. People who study this say the average American watches 28 hours of television a week. That’s almost three quarters of a full time job. So if you really want to have time back in your life, you don’t have to kill your television, but just unplug it and put it in the closet and put a blanket over it. See how long it takes you to get the shakes.

Turn money into time, especially junior faculty members or other people who have young children. This is the time to throw money at the problem. Hire somebody else to mow your lawn, do whatever you need to do but exchange money for time at every opportunity when you have very young children because you just don’t have enough time, it’s just too hard. The other thing is, eat and sleep and exercise above all else! You always have time to sleep. Because if you get sleep deprived, everything falls apart.

Other general advice: Never break a promise, but renegotiate them if need be. If you’ve said: “I have this done by Tuesday at noon”, you can call the person on Friday and say, “I’m still good to my word but I’m really jacked up and I’m going to have to stay and work over the weekend to meet that Tuesday deadline. Is there any way there’s any slack on that?” And a lot of times I say: “Thursday’s fine.” Because I really needed it Thursday, but I told you Tuesday.” Or they’ll say: “It’s no problem, I can have Jim do that instead of you. He has some free time.” Now if they say: “No, there’s no wiggle room here”, you say: “That’s okay, no problem, I’m still good to my word.” If you haven’t got time to do it right, you don’t have time to do it wrong, that’s self-evident.

Recognize that most things are pass/fail. People spend way too much time – there’s a reason we have the expression “good enough”. It’s because the thing is “good enough”! The last thing is, get feedback loops. Ask people in confidence because if someone will tell you what you’re doing right or doing wrong and they’ll tell you the truth, that’s worth more than anything else in the whole world. I recommend these two books. [Kenneth Blanchard/Spencer Johnson: The One Minute Manager; Stephen R. Covey: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People] Time management is not a latebreaking field, both these books are old books but I recommend them highly.

It’s traditional to close a talk with this like, “Here’s the things I told you about.” I’m not going to tell you the things I told you about, I want to tell you the things that you can operationally go out and do today.

First thing: If you don’t have a day-timer or a Personal Digital Assistant, a Palm Pilot or whatever, go get one! Put your to-do list in priority order, you can use the four quadrants or do what I do, just put a number from zero to nine, but sort it by priority. And do a time journal, and if that’s really too much effort, just count the number of hours you watch of television in the next week. That’s my gift to you.

The last thing is, once you’ve got your day-timer, make a note for 30 days from today – it’s okay if that one goes “ding” to remind you! – and revisit this talk in 30 days. It will be up on the web, courtesy of Gabe, and ask: “What have I changed?” If I haven’t changed anything, then we still had a pleasant hour together. If you have changed things, then you’ll probably have a lot more time to spend with the ones you love. And that’s important. Time is all we have. And you may find one day you have less than you think.

Thanks for reading. You can get more actionable ideas in my popular email newsletter. Each week, I share 3 short ideas from me, 2 quotes from others, and 1 question to think about. Over 3,000,000 people subscribe . Enter your email now and join us.

James Clear writes about habits, decision making, and continuous improvement. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Atomic Habits . The book has sold over 20 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 60 languages.

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5 Motivational Speeches About Time Management

• July 4, 2016

Time management is one of the key factors to success in any field of work. It is important for your personal life and for your career. Time management teaches you patience and how to tackle difficult tasks in a given space of time. It teaches you how to make the most of your valuable time and increases your productivity and efficiency.

But what basically is time management?

It is a set of teachings, practices, skills and tools that allow you to learn the importance of time and how to manage work.

A person who is an expert at managing time effectively is always a step ahead of every other person in the room. They can speed up how they work and can enjoy more leisure activities in life. Some of the world’s most successful people are experts in managing time, and they teach this to others too that time management is the sole key to success.

There is some time management software , which will help you work more productively and help you time yourself. This software will help you with time management. “A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life.” – Charles Darwin.

In this article, we will tell you a few reasons why time management is so important and will motivate you so that you can manage your time more advantageously. Here are some of the reasons:

See also: Manage your time with the Best Free Time Tracking Software for Freelancers

Andy Puddicombe – All it takes is ten mindful minutes

Andy Puddicombe said that always take time to plan out every minute of the day, from what you have to do to your breaks, you write down everything on your down and then prioritize. You might think this is time wasting, but in reality, it saves you a lot of time. Time will not repeat itself. So get up and do what is to be done!

Arianna Huffington – How to succeed? Get more sleep

Arianna Huffington said that “Sleep is as important as working throughout the day. She stressed on how the right amount of sleep can not only make you more productive but also make you better at what you do. This makes you a better wife and a better mother to your children.

Better sleep allows you to work more productively.

The truth is all about time management! Your daily routine should consist of some rest, socializing and most importantly exercising your body. I n between all this, you should always find time for what you need to do. This is wise time management.

See also: Manage your time better with top 10 Time Tracking Software with Desktop App

Nilofer Merchant – Got a meeting? Take a walk

Nilofer Merchant stressed how important it is to “create” the moment, not wait for it. She said that your body needs exercise so that it can remain fresh and able to carry you throughout the whole day. So, exercise is as important as work.

Tony Robbins – Why we do what we do

Tony Robbins talked about understanding what motivates you and to make that an important part of your daily life , so you know where to look to if you need your daily motivation. It will make you a better person.

Nigel Marsh – How to make work-life balance work

Lastly, Nigel Marsh talked about how to get a balance in your life by doing all that you love and work.

We hope this article proves useful to you and motivates you to become a better version of yourself.

Time is in your hands, so motivate yourself with these inspiring speeches and improve time management skills. Support it with easy-to-use tools.

Automated time tracking software - TimeCamp

Amazing task management app - TimeCamp Planner

See also: Top 10 Time Tracking Software for Linux

Ola Rybacka Content Specialist at TimeCamp, foodie and doxie lover, full-time otaku. よろしくお願いします！

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wow really helpful

Thanks for collecting these perfect time management speeches! I’ve heard the one from Tony Robbins before, but the rest are also very helpful.

5 Motivational Speeches About Time Management – Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Very useful information specifically the last part 🙂 I care for such information a lot. I was looking for this certain information for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.- calator.tel

Great article post. Awesome.

Short Speech on Time Management in English for Students and Children

Dear Principal, teachers, and my dear friends. Very good morning to all of you. Today I stand in front of you to speak on the topic- Time management. I am presenting a short speech keeping the importance of our time in mind.

Time management is very important for our careers. It is one of the key factors to success in any field of work. For example, if we won�t devote an equal amount of time to all the subjects you study, we may not be able to score good marks in each of them and this will affect your percentage overall.

Each work requires a certain amount of time. If we are spending more time on that work, we are wasting our time. Time is money. It should not be wasted. It is so precious that once gone never returns.

If we do not do time management, we may spend more time on a particular task and may completely avoid another. For example, people spend more time in the office and completely forget to exercise which affects their health.

In short, time management demands attention as it is very important for our overall well-being. I would request you all to manage your time and live a balanced life.

Related Posts:

Speech on Time Management In Students Life

Time management is like a secret weapon for students. It helps you stay on top of your studies and reduces stress. In a student’s life, it’s a skill that can transform your academic journey.

You might be juggling school, homework, extracurricular activities, and even a part-time job. Effective time management can make all these tasks manageable. It’s about making the most of every moment of your day.

1-minute Speech on Time Management In Students Life

Good day to everyone. Today, we are going to talk about a very important subject – Time Management in a Student’s Life.

Imagine your time as a big, juicy apple. You need to divide this apple into pieces to share it with your friends – studies, sports, hobbies, relaxation, and family. If you give too much to one friend, you may have none left for the others. So, how do we divide our apple fairly? That’s where time management steps in.

Firstly, you need to plan. Write down all your tasks for the day, week, or month. This way, you’ll know what you have to do and when. It saves you from the scary feeling of forgetting something important. It’s like having a shopping list when you go to the supermarket.

Next, prioritize your tasks. Some tasks are more important or urgent than others. Like doing your homework is more crucial than watching your favorite TV show. Remember, the TV show can wait, but your homework cannot.

Lastly, avoid distractions. It’s easy to lose focus with so many exciting things around us – games, gadgets, friends, and more. But remember, these distractions steal pieces of your apple, leaving less for other things.

To wrap up, picture that apple and remember how to divide it evenly. Plan, prioritize, and avoid distractions. This is the secret to successful time management for students. Practice this and I promise, you will see a great change in your life. Thank you.

2-minute Speech on Time Management In Students Life

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Time management is like a golden key that opens the door to success, especially in a student’s life. It’s a way to plan your day, week, or even your year so that you can make the best use of your time.

Imagine time as a huge box of chocolates. Each chocolate represents an hour of your day. Now, you have to decide how many chocolates you want to spend on study, play, rest, and other activities. If you eat all your chocolates at once, you won’t have any left for later. That’s why time management is important. It helps you divide your chocolates wisely.

Next, it’s important to stick to your plan. It’s easy to get distracted, to want to play when you should be studying, or to watch TV when you should be sleeping. But remember, every time you swap a study chocolate for a play chocolate, you’re losing precious time. So, stick to your plan. It’s like following a recipe. If you miss a step or change the order, your cake might not come out right.

But what if something unexpected happens? What if your friend invites you to a party, or you need more time to finish a project? This is where flexibility comes in. It’s okay to change your plan, as long as you make sure you still have enough chocolates for everything else. It’s like juggling balls. Sometimes, you need to catch a new ball without dropping the others.

In conclusion, time management is a skill that every student needs. It’s like a magic wand that helps you control your life. It’s not always easy, but with practice, it becomes a habit. And once you’ve mastered it, you’ll have more time for study, play, rest, and everything else that makes life fun and interesting.

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Speech on Time management [1, 2, 3, 5 Minutes]

1, 2, 3 minute speech on time management.

Dear teachers and students!

Greetings to all. and thank you to all of you to give me chance to give a speech.

The practise of planning and arranging how to distribute time effectively and efficiently is known as time management. Setting goals, prioritising activities, and making a timeline to complete those tasks are all part of the process.

Effective time management is critical for personal and professional success. It enables us to do more tasks in less time, decreases stress, and boosts overall productivity.

Setting clear and defined goals is one of the keys to good time management. You can prioritise your work and focus on what is most essential if you have a clear notion of what you want to accomplish.

Prioritizing tasks is another crucial part of time management. Not all activities are created equal, therefore it is crucial to distinguish which chores are the most important and must be finished first. This may be accomplished by employing tools such as the Eisenhower Matrix, which assists in categorising jobs based on their significance and urgency.

Making a timetable is also an important aspect of time management. By organising your day or week ahead of time, you can guarantee that you have enough time to complete each assignment and prevent last-minute scrambling.

Furthermore, time management includes the capacity to say “No” to activities that are not important or for which you do not have time. Distractions and procrastination must also be avoided.

Finally, time management is an important skill since it helps us to achieve more in less time, decreases stress, and increases overall productivity. You can take control of your time and achieve your goals by defining clear goals, prioritising work, and making a timetable.

Quotes of some internationally famous personalities for Speech on Speech on Time management

• Benjamin Franklin: “Lost time is never found again.”
• Stephen Covey: “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.”
• Bruce Lee: “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”
• Albert Einstein: “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”
• Jim Rohn: “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”
• Winston Churchill: “To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.”

Quotes for Speech about Time management

• “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.” – William Penn
• “The key is not in spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen R. Covey
• “Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.” – Miles Davis
• “Time management is life management.” – Robin Sharma
• “Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.'” – Lao Tzu
• “Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin
• “Time is a precious resource and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.” – Unknown
• “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler
• “Time is a great healer, but a poor beautician.” – Lucille S. Harper
• “Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it.” – Arthur Schopenhauer
• “Time is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed.” – Peter Drucker
• “Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can’t afford to lose.” – Thomas Edison
• “Make use of time, let not advantage slip.” – William Shakespeare
• “Time is like money, the less we have of it to spare, the further we make it go.” – Josh Billings
• “The shorter way to do many things is to do only one thing at a time.” – Richard Cech

5 Minutes Speech on Time Management

Time management is the practise of planning and exerting deliberate control over the amount of time spent on certain tasks, with the goal of increasing effectiveness, efficiency, or productivity.

Many folks are always on the go. They have a lot of duties and must manage their professional and personal lives.

Time management is an important skill that may help these individuals manage their time better so that they can have more leisure time outside of work.

Time management is the capacity to manage and utilise one’s time effectively. It is a skill that can be learnt, practised, and perfected.

Time management is a crucial skill for everybody to have since it allows them to get more done in less time and with less stress. Time management skills may help individuals live better lives by avoiding procrastination, which can lead to physical health issues such as obesity or depression.

There are several methods for enhancing one’s time management abilities. These are a few examples:

• Establishing excellent habits
• Task Prioritization
•  Establishing objectives

Time management is one of the most critical talents a person can have. It aids in goal achievement as well as stress reduction. There are several methods for managing time, but the most essential thing is to be conscious of how you spend your time and to create objectives appropriately.

The first step in managing time is deciding what you want to accomplish with it. This might help you determine how much time you need each day and week. The next stage is to determine your priorities, which will help you choose which chores need more attention and which are less essential. The third stage is to keep track of your progress so you can see whether your strategy is working or not. Finally, it is essential to maintain a balance between work and personal life since excessive stress may have a negative impact on our health as well as our job performance in the long term.

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10 Incredible TED Talks About Time Management You Should Watch Right Now These time-management talks can help improve your productivity.

By John Rampton Jun 26, 2020

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Just like millions of other people, I'm hooked on TED Talks. They're innovative, informative and engaging, but these talks are also intentionally short enough to be consumed when you feel like you only have a couple of minutes in the day. You will learn something new or be reminded of a topic that's essential that you haven't thought about for a while. TED Talks help to expand your mind to think other thoughts that you may regularly think about. Think something new, hear someone new and change how you relate to the world .

Speaking of time, there are also plenty of TED Talks that can help you step-up your time-management game , or at least change your perspective on this essential skill. The following ten talks that you should watch right now when you have a couple of minutes to spare.

1. Laura Vanderkam: "How to gain control of your free time."

168 hours. That's how many hours there are in a week. That's a lot of time when you view it this way, explains time-management expert Laura Vanderkam during her TEDWomen 2016 presentation.

"If you are working a full-time job, so 40 hours a week, sleeping eight hours a night, so 56 hours a week — that leaves 72 hours for other things," explains Vanderkam. Even if "you're working 50 hours a week, maybe the main job and a side hustle," there's still free time — 62 hours available. What about putting in 60 hours? "Well, that leaves 52 hours for other things."

So, why do we keep saying that we don't have time? Well, according to her research, it comes down to priorities. As one small business owner and mother of six explained it, "Listen, Laura, everything I do, every minute I spend, is my choice." And instead of saying, "I don't have time to do x, y or z," say, "I don't do x, y or z because it's not a priority."

To make this a reality, you need to determine your priorities in life and add them to your calendar. Ideally, this should be done every week, like on a Friday afternoon. As for everything else? Get creative. For example, if you commute to work, use that time to read, listen to a podcast, or clean out your inbox.

2. David Pogue: "10 top time-saving tech tips."

I think we can all agree technology is often a blessing and a curse. For example, it allows teams to collaborate and communicate with each other, and there is a wide range of productivity-scheduling apps that can help you create a daily routine, develop healthy habits and keep you focused. At the same time, technology can be distracting. In fact, according to RescueTime , on average, we spend three hours and 15 minutes on our phones. However, for top users, daily screen time exceeds four and a half hours.

In this short TED Talk, just over five minutes, tech columnist David Pogue shares tips for saving time on the technology that we use daily. Some of these shortcuts may only shave off milliseconds. But, when put together, these ten keyboard shortcuts and hidden functionalities of your equipment will certainly add-up in saving you time.

Related: How Agile Leaders Help Organizations Thrive

3. Tim Urban: "Inside the mind of the master procrastinator."

The struggle against procrastination is real, and it's time management's greatest foe. But, why do we do this to ourselves? Well, that was a question Tim Urban, founder of the site Wait But Why, wanted to answer.

To better understand his own behavior, Tim went to an MRI Lab. His goal was to study the differences between the minds of a procrastinator and non-procrastinator.

"Both brains have a rational decision-maker in them," Urban explains. But, "the procrastinator's brain also has an instant gratification monkey." That means even if you planned to productive, "the monkey doesn't like that plan" and will take the wheel. As a result, you end up doing things that are either fun or easy — especially when there aren't deadlines.

But, what if you do set realistic deadlines? Well, as that deadline approaches, the Panic Monsters creeps-in. Because this bad boy terrifies the Grafirication Monkey, it can force you to stay on track. On the flip side, it can also cause unnecessary pressure. For instance, you have a project to complete in 2-weeks and only can crank it out when there is a couple of days left.

What can we do about this? Tim suggests thinking harder about what we're procrastinating on. If it's something that's pushing you closer to your goals or dreams, then make a move today and not tomorrow.

4. David Grady: "How to save the world (or at least yourself) from bad meetings."

Meetings. They're a necessary evil. On the one hand, they improve collaboration, engagements and creativity. They're also essential for resolving problems and keeping everyone in the loop. But, they can also be ineffective, unproductive and vast wastes of time.

David Grady offers a simple solution from his 2013 TED Talk.

"First of all, the next time you get a meeting invitation that doesn't have a lot of information on it at all, click the tentative button!" Don't worry. You aren't going to offend anyone. You just don't want to automatically accept this time request until you're 100 percent positive that it's necessary. How can we determine this? By making sure that there's an agenda so that you know what the objective is.

If the event doesn't have a purpose, politely decline the invite. Or, look for a less time-consuming alternative like a phone call.

5. Chris Bailey: "A more human approach to productivity."

If you would, please, open up your calendar. Is it jam-packed? That's not a bad thing. But, how many of those entries are helping you move closer to your goals?

To be honest, this is a quagmire that most of us experience. We're doing what seems like a million things. As a consequence, we feel strapped for time. In reality, though, we're just wasting it on things that aren't all that important in the scheme of things.

In short, we're busy instead of being productive.

Productivity expert Chris Bailey, between his own experiences and research, says the solution is to set your intentions. During his 2016 speech, Bailey suggests that every morning, you identify the top three things that you want to accomplish for the day. You're then going to manage your attention, energy and time only on those activities.

6. Andy Puddicombe: "All it takes is 10 mindful minutes."

When was the last time you truly did nothing? I mean nada. Zilch. I would venture to say it's probably been forever.

Now, it may seem counterintuitive, but according to mindfulness expert Andy Puddicombe , blocking out ten minutes a day to do nothing should become a priority. After all, mindfulness has the power to increase concentration and productivity. Why? Because mindfulness is a simple and effective way to refresh your mind and keep you in the present.

7. Paolo Cardini: "Forget multitasking; try monotasking."

Despite what you may believe, multitasking doesn't work. Our brains just aren't capable of focusing on multiple things at once. Even if you think that you're the exception, just consider that research shows a meager 2.5 percent of people possess this skill.

Instead, product designer Paolo Cardini suggests during his presentation to "Find your monotask spot within the multitasking world." When you monotask, which is simply putting all of your attention to one task at a time, you'll be more efficient and productive. The reason? You aren't splitting your attention and experiencing information overload, both of which will slow your down.

Related: Common Workplace Distractions and How You Can Stay Focused Anyway

8. Jason Fried: "Why work doesn't happen at work."

Jason Fried, the co-founder and president of 37signals, conducted a survey to see where people go when they want to get things done. His findings were surprising — it's not in the office.

If you've ever worked in an office, this really shouldn't be all that surprising. It's full of distractions that interrupt you, primarily what Fried calls M&Ms; Managers and Meetings.

To handle these, cut back on the number of meetings that accept or schedule. Remember, meetings should only occur when there's a clear purpose. If you're in a management position, then implement something like "No-talk Thursdays." You may also permit your team members to work wherever they want. And whether you're in charge or not, turn off your gadgets when you don't want to be disrupted.

9. Rory Vaden: "How to multiply your time."

"How is it that we have more tips, tricks, tools, technology, calendars, and checklists than ever before, and yet we still always seem to be behind?" asks Rory Vaden, a Nashville-based leadership consultant.

His answer? "It's because everything you know about time management is wrong."

It's not uncommon for us; we manage our time by writing lists and then prioritizing these items. To accomplish this, we assign value to them by their urgency and importance. But, Rory states that there is a third element significance.

Instead, you should ask, "What's the most important thing I can do today that would make tomorrow better?" For example, setting up online bill pay. While it does take a time investment upfront, this will definitely save you time in the long run.

In short, Vaden recommends that you can free up time by asking four questions:

• Can I eliminate this task?
• If it can't be eliminated, can it be automated?
• Can it be delegated, or can I teach someone else how to do this?
• Should I do this task now, or can I can it later?

10. David Allen: "Getting in control and creating space."

Ever since the publication of his bestselling books, Getting Things Done, in 2001, David Allen has been a great source for improving personal productivity. During his 2014 TED Talk , however, Allen argues that if you want to achieve something, you need to plan for it . If not, you end up waiting until the last minute. And, that leads to feeling rushed, stressed, and letting less essential activities usurp your priorities.

Related: 11 Secrets to Staying Productive and in Control

Take a break and watch these fantastic TED Talks. As an Entrepreneur, especially during this COVID-19 time — we need to have a pick-me-up. The isolation is wearing. TED Talk helps fill your mind with something thought-provoking with its engaging style, and it gets your mind out of the stress for a moment or two.

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® VIP

Entrepreneur and Connector

John Rampton is an entrepreneur, investor, online marketing guru and startup enthusiast. He is founder of the online invoicing company Due . John is best known as an entrepreneur and connector. He was recently named #3 on Top 50 Online Influencers in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine and has been one of the Top 10 Most Influential PPC Experts in the World for the past three years. He currently advises several companies in the San Francisco Bay area.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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Mastering Speaking Time Management: Elevate Your Presentations

Rosie Landry

As a journalist who has delivered countless presentations, I know firsthand the importance of effective time management during public speaking engagements. It can be challenging to strike a balance between engaging your audience and staying within your allotted time frame. However, mastering speaking time management can take your presentations to the next level.

Table of Contents

In this guide, we will explore key time management strategies for speakers, the art of pacing and timing, and ways to effectively incorporate visual aids and multimedia while staying on track. We will also discuss how to handle time limitations and adjust on the fly, as well as strategies for practicing efficient time management during speech preparation.

Key Takeaways:

• Effective time management skills can improve the impact of your presentations.
• Setting clear objectives, creating a structured outline, and utilizing time management tools are practical strategies for managing time effectively.
• Pacing and timing, engagement with the audience, and dealing with unexpected changes are crucial aspects of speaking time management.
• Efficient preparation and continuous self-evaluation can help improve time management skills.

The Impact of Effective Time Management in Public Speaking

As a professional speaker, I know that time management plays a critical role in delivering a successful presentation. If you’re struggling to keep on schedule, your message may get lost, and your audience may lose interest. Effective time management skills not only help you stay within the allotted time but also give you the confidence you need to deliver a great presentation.

One of the biggest challenges speakers face is balancing the time allotted to each topic with the need to engage the audience. When you have a lot to say, it’s easy to get carried away and run out of time. Conversely, if you don’t have enough material, your presentation may feel thin and unengaging, leading to audience disinterest.

By mastering time management techniques, you can ensure that your presentation is engaging, informative, and delivered within the given timeframe. These techniques include setting clear objectives, creating a structured outline, utilizing time management tools, rehearsing, and pacing and timing your delivery correctly.

The ability to manage time effectively can make a significant impact on the success of your presentation. Not only does it help you stay on schedule, but it also demonstrates your professionalism and preparedness for the event. By keeping your audience engaged and delivering a well-organized speech, you leave a lasting impression on your listeners.

As we move forward in this guide, we’ll discuss some key time management strategies that can help you elevate your presentations and improve your overall speaking skills.

Key Time Management Strategies for Speakers

As a speaker, effective time management is essential for delivering a successful presentation. Here are some practical strategies you can use:

• Set Clear Objectives: Before starting on your presentation, establish clear objectives and time limits for each section. This will help you stay on track and avoid going over time.
• Create a Structured Outline: Organize your presentation into a structured outline. This will help you maintain a good pace and avoid getting sidetracked. Use bullet points or numbered lists to break down your ideas and ensure that each point is addressed within the allotted time.
• Utilize Time Management Tools: There are many time management tools available to help you stay on track during your presentation. For example, you can set a timer or use a stopwatch to monitor your progress. Use a countdown clock to give yourself and your audience a clear indication of how much time is remaining.
• Rehearse and Practice: Rehearsing your presentation is essential for effective time management. Practice your delivery and timing until you feel comfortable with the material. This will help you identify any sections that may need extra time or attention, and allow you to make adjustments before the actual presentation.
• Be Adaptable: Despite your best efforts, unexpected situations can still arise during your presentation. It’s important to be adaptable and make adjustments on the fly to stay within your allotted time. For example, if a question from the audience takes longer than expected to answer, be prepared to adjust the pace of your presentation to accommodate for the extra time.

By applying these time management strategies, you can deliver a more effective and engaging presentation while ensuring that you stay within your allotted time.

The Art of Pacing and Timing

As a speaker, maintaining a consistent pace and timing is essential to keeping your audience engaged and interested. However, pacing and timing can be challenging and require constant attention and adjustment. Here are some effective techniques to master the art of pacing and timing:

1. Utilize Pauses

Pauses can be a powerful tool to emphasize points, allow your audience to reflect, and create a sense of anticipation. However, overusing pauses can also lead to boredom and disengagement. Practice incorporating pauses strategically throughout your presentation, and gauge audience reactions to adjust timing as needed.

2. Gauge Audience Reactions

Pay attention to your audience’s non-verbal cues, such as body language and facial expressions, to determine if you are pacing and timing effectively. If the audience appears restless or disengaged, it may be time to speed up or change tactics. If they seem bored or uninterested, a well-placed pause or change in tone can recapture their attention.

3. Be Adaptable

Even with careful planning and preparation, unexpected situations can arise during a presentation that can impact timing. It is important to be adaptable and able to adjust on the fly while maintaining the core message. Practice flexibility in your pacing and timing to handle any situation that may arise.

Overcoming Time Pressure and Nervousness

One of the most common challenges speakers face is managing time pressure and nervousness during a presentation. While these pressures can be overwhelming, there are several effective strategies you can use to stay calm and focused.

Here are some tips to help you overcome time pressure and nervousness:

• Practice, practice, practice: The more you rehearse your presentation, the more confident you’ll feel on stage. Practice in front of a mirror, record yourself, or ask a friend to listen and provide feedback.
• Breathe deeply: Take a few deep breaths before you start your presentation to calm your nerves and clear your mind.
• Use time cues: Create a timeline or use time cues to help you stay on track during your presentation. This will help you manage time pressure and avoid going over your allotted time.
• Visualize success: Close your eyes and visualize yourself delivering a successful presentation. Imagine yourself speaking confidently and engaging with the audience.
• Be flexible: Be prepared to adjust your presentation if you encounter unexpected time constraints or issues with the audience. Stay calm and flexible to ensure a smooth delivery.

“Remember, nervousness is normal and even experienced speakers feel it. The key is to manage your nerves and be confident in your preparation.”

By applying these tips, you can manage time pressure and nervousness effectively and deliver a memorable presentation.

Incorporating Visual Aids and Multimedia Effectively

Visual aids and multimedia can be powerful tools in engaging audiences and reinforcing key messages in presentations. However, they can also consume valuable time if not incorporated effectively. Here are some tips for making the most of visual aids while also managing time:

• Choose visual aids that are relevant and enhance the message you want to convey. Avoid using excessive graphics or animations that may distract the audience.
• Prepare your visual aids early in the process to allow ample time for testing and refinement. This will help avoid unexpected technical difficulties during the presentation.
• Structure your presentation to allow for seamless transitions between visual aids and other components. This will help maintain a consistent pace throughout.
• Utilize multimedia that enhances the message without adding unnecessary complexity or length to the presentation. Keep videos and audio clips short and to the point.
• Practice incorporating visual aids and multimedia into your presentation to ensure smooth execution and timing.

By following these tips, you can successfully incorporate visual aids and multimedia without overextending your time and losing the audience’s attention.

Engaging the Audience without Overextending Time

As a speaker, engaging your audience is crucial but it can also be a challenge when it comes to managing time. To ensure that audience engagement enhances your presentation rather than consuming excessive time, here are some effective strategies:

• Be clear about the purpose of audience engagement and limit it to that purpose.
• Encourage audience participation through interactive exercises and questions that are directly related to your presentation content.
• Allocate a specific amount of time for audience engagement and stick to it. If you are receiving a lot of questions, consider asking the audience to submit their questions in writing so you can answer them all at once at the end of your presentation.
• Stay focused on your presentation goals and do not allow audience interaction to become a distraction.

These strategies will help you engage your audience effectively without overextending your time limits.

Handling Time Limitations and Adjusting on the Fly

As speakers, we always strive to deliver our message effectively within the allotted time frame. However, sometimes unexpected situations arise, such as technical difficulties, interruptions, or a shorter than anticipated speaking slot. In these cases, it’s crucial to be able to adjust on the fly while maintaining the core message.

One effective technique is to have a backup plan in case of unexpected situations. This could mean having a condensed version of your presentation prepared or being able to skip certain sections without compromising the overall message.

Another strategy is to prioritize the most critical points and deliver them first. This ensures that even if the presentation is cut short, the most important information is still conveyed. It also allows for flexibility in adjusting the remaining content to fit the time available.

It’s essential to remain calm and composed when facing time limitations and unexpected changes. Take a deep breath, assess the situation, and make quick decisions in real-time . Remember that the audience is there to hear your message, and as long as you maintain the core message, they will still benefit from your presentation.

In summary, handling time limitations and adjusting on the fly requires preparation, flexibility, and composure. By having a backup plan, prioritizing critical points, and remaining calm in unexpected situations, speakers can maintain control over their presentation while still delivering an effective message.

Practicing Efficient Time Management in Speech Preparation

As a journalist, I always make sure to allocate enough time to prepare for any speaking engagements I have coming up. Effective time management is crucial in ensuring that my presentations are well-organized, impactful, and delivered smoothly. Here are some practical tips for practicing efficient time management in speech preparation:

• Organize your research and content gathering: Start by creating an outline of the key points you want to cover in your presentation. This will help you stay focused and avoid spending too much time on irrelevant topics.
• Allocate time for rehearsal and refinement: Practice makes perfect! Be sure to schedule enough time for rehearsing your presentation and making any necessary adjustments.
• Create a structured outline: Use your outline to create a detailed structure for your presentation. This will help you stay on track and ensure that you cover all key points within the allotted time.

Remember, time management is crucial not just during the presentation itself, but throughout the entire preparation process. By following these tips and practicing efficient time management, you’ll be able to deliver a polished and impactful presentation that will leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Evaluating and Improving Time Management Skills

As with any skill, mastering speaking time management requires practice and self-reflection. Here are some tips for evaluating and improving your time management skills:

• Track your performance: Keep a record of your time management performance during presentations. Note where you succeeded and where you struggled, and look for patterns that may indicate areas for improvement.
• Seek feedback: Ask colleagues or trusted friends to provide feedback on your time management during presentations. Solicit both constructive criticism and positive feedback, and use the information to adjust your techniques.
• Experiment with new strategies: Don’t be afraid to try new time management techniques and experiment with what works best for you. Keep what works and discard what doesn’t.
• Prioritize continuous improvement: Make it a goal to continuously improve your time management skills. Use each presentation as an opportunity to test new strategies and refine your techniques.

By committing to regularly evaluating and improving your time management skills, you’ll be on your way to becoming a master of speaking time management in no time.

The Importance of Mastering Speaking Time Management

As a professional copywriting journalist, I understand the crucial role of effective time management in delivering powerful presentations. As a speaker, your ability to manage time can determine the impact and success of your message. By mastering speaking time management, you can elevate your presentations, captivate your audience, and achieve your objectives.

FAQ on Speaking Time Management

Q: why is speaking time management important in delivering effective presentations.

A: Speaking time management is crucial in delivering effective presentations because it helps speakers stay organized, maintain audience engagement, and ensure that they cover all key points within the allotted time. By managing their time effectively, speakers can enhance the impact of their presentations and deliver a clear and concise message.

Q: What are some key time management strategies for speakers?

A: Some key time management strategies for speakers include setting clear objectives for the presentation, creating a structured outline, utilizing time management tools, rehearsing and practicing, and being adaptable to unexpected situations. These strategies help speakers stay on track, maintain a consistent pace, and effectively manage their time during presentations.

Q: How can speakers overcome time pressure and nervousness during presentations?

A: Speakers can overcome time pressure and nervousness by practicing effective time management skills and implementing strategies such as staying focused, utilizing relaxation techniques, and developing a strong understanding of their content. By managing these pressures, speakers can maintain composure and confidently deliver their presentations within the allotted time.

Q: How can visual aids and multimedia be incorporated effectively without impacting time management?

A: To incorporate visual aids and multimedia effectively without impacting time management, speakers should choose and prepare visuals that enhance their message without taking up excessive time. It is also important to address potential technical challenges in advance and have contingency plans in place. By ensuring a seamless integration of visuals, speakers can effectively manage their time during presentations.

Q: What strategies can be used to engage the audience while maintaining control over time?

A: Strategies to engage the audience while maintaining control over time include effective audience interaction, managing questions and discussion efficiently, and ensuring that engagement enhances the overall presentation rather than consuming excessive time. By implementing these strategies, speakers can create a dynamic and interactive presentation while staying within the allotted time.

Q: How can speakers handle time limitations and unexpected changes during their presentations?

A: Speakers can handle time limitations and unexpected changes by adjusting the content on the fly, making effective decisions in real-time, and ensuring a smooth transition while maintaining the core message. By staying flexible and prepared for unexpected situations, speakers can effectively manage their time and deliver a successful presentation.

Q: Why is efficient time management important in speech preparation?

A: Efficient time management in speech preparation is important because it helps speakers stay organized, allocate time for research and content gathering, create a structured outline, and allocate time for rehearsal and refinement. By managing their time efficiently throughout the entire preparation process, speakers can deliver a well-prepared and polished presentation.

Q: How can speakers evaluate and improve their time management skills?

A: Speakers can evaluate and improve their time management skills by tracking and analyzing their performance, seeking feedback from trusted sources, and implementing strategies for improvement. By continuously evaluating and refining their time management techniques, speakers can enhance their skills and deliver more effective presentations.

Q: Why is self-evaluation and continuous improvement important in time management skills?

A: Self-evaluation and continuous improvement in time management skills is important because it allows speakers to identify areas for growth, track progress, and adapt their techniques to suit their individual needs. By prioritizing self-reflection and seeking opportunities to improve, speakers can elevate their time management skills and deliver more impactful presentations.

Q: What is the importance of speaking time management?

A: Speaking time management is essential for delivering effective presentations. It helps speakers stay organized, maintain audience engagement, and ensure that they cover all key points within the allotted time. By mastering time management skills, speakers can enhance the impact of their presentations and deliver a clear and concise message.

About the author

I’m Rosie Landry, your friendly guide through the exciting world of practical management here on this blog. Here, I delve into everything from practical tips to complex theories of time management, combining scientific research with real-life applications. When I’m not writing about time management, you can find me with my nose in a gripping mystery novel, creating culinary delights, or out exploring nature with my faithful golden retriever, Marley. Join me as we discover how to take control of our time and enhance our lives together. If you need to reach out, do so here.

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Time Management Speech for Professionals

Ai generator.

Good morning, everyone!

I’m excited to talk to you today about a skill that can significantly impact your career success and personal well-being— time management . As professionals, we juggle numerous responsibilities, from meeting deadlines and attending meetings to balancing work and personal life. Learning how to manage your time effectively is crucial for achieving your goals and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

First, let’s discuss the importance of time management.

Time management is essential for navigating the demands of professional life. With proper time management, you can reduce stress, improve productivity, and achieve a better work-life balance. Effective time management helps you stay organized, meet deadlines, and make steady progress toward your professional goals.

Now, let’s dive into some practical strategies for effective time management.

• Prioritize Your Tasks : Focus on what’s most important and tackle those tasks first. Use tools like the Eisenhower Matrix to distinguish between urgent and important tasks. By prioritizing effectively, you ensure that critical tasks are completed on time and that less important tasks don’t consume your valuable time.
• Use a Planner or Digital Calendar : Keeping a daily planner or digital calendar is essential for tracking meetings, deadlines, and tasks. Write everything down and review your schedule regularly. This helps you stay organized and prevents last-minute rushes. Tools like Google Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, or productivity apps like Todoist can be very effective in managing your schedule.
• Set Specific Goals : Break your larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks. Instead of saying, “I’ll work on the project,” specify “I’ll complete the project outline today.” Specific goals are easier to achieve and help you measure your progress. This approach also prevents procrastination and keeps you focused on what needs to be done.
• Avoid Procrastination : Tackle the hardest tasks when you have the most energy. The Pomodoro Technique is a great way to maintain focus—work for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break. This cycle helps maintain high levels of concentration and productivity. Additionally, breaking tasks into smaller segments can make them seem less daunting and easier to start.
• Eliminate Distractions : Identify and eliminate distractions that hinder your productivity. This could mean turning off notifications on your phone, finding a quiet place to work, or setting specific times for checking emails. Creating an environment conducive to focused work is essential for effective time management.
• Review and Adjust : Regularly review your progress and adjust your plans as needed. This helps you stay on track and make necessary changes to improve your efficiency. Reflecting on what works and what doesn’t can help you develop better time management habits over time.

Let’s discuss the benefits of good time management.

Effective time management leads to numerous benefits:

• Reduced Stress : When you manage your time well, you feel more in control and less overwhelmed by your responsibilities. This leads to lower stress levels and a more relaxed approach to tackling your tasks.
• Increased Productivity : With a clear plan, you can accomplish more in less time. This allows you to be more efficient and get more done during your day.
• Achieving Goals : Effective time management helps you stay focused on your long-term goals, ensuring steady progress. By breaking down your goals into manageable tasks, you make consistent progress and eventually achieve your objectives.
• Better Work-Life Balance : Good time management allows you to balance your professional, personal, and leisure activities effectively. This balance is crucial for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and overall well-being.

Consider a professional who balances work projects and personal time by setting clear priorities and sticking to a schedule. This balance not only boosts their productivity at work but also enhances their personal well-being.

In conclusion, mastering time management is key to a balanced and productive life. By prioritizing tasks, using a planner, setting specific goals, avoiding procrastination, eliminating distractions, and regularly reviewing your progress, you can take control of your time and achieve your goals. Remember, time is a precious resource—use it wisely.

Thank you for your attention, and I encourage you to start implementing these strategies today. The difference it makes will be remarkable!

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• Professional

10 Examples of Public speaking

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The Philosophy of Time Management

Importance of Time Management and 7 Tips to Improve It

Time management can be described as a skill that helps you use your time as effectively and productively as possible, especially while at work. 

But this somewhat “dictionary definition” of the term doesn’t give us the full scope of what time management actually is. Not because it is inaccurate but because time management is so much more than a single skill or ability.

Thus, let's look closely at the importance of time management.

What Is Time Management?

The importance of time management: what does the research say, 7 tips to improve time management at work.

• 1. Employ Technology
• 2. Set Clear Goals
• 3. Try out Different Time Management Techniques
• 4. Minimize Distractions at Work
• 5. Learn to Delegate
• 6. Avoid Multitasking
• 7. Take Breaks Regularly

Main Benefits of Good Time Management (At Work and Personal Life)

• 1. Higher Productivity Levels
• 2. Increased Confidence Levels
• 3. Hitting All the Deadlines
• 4. No More Procrastinating
• 5. Better Self-Discipline
• 6. Higher Motivation Levels

Time management is a combination of different strategies aimed at helping you or your employees split time between specific tasks to achieve greater productivity and efficacy, better work results, and daily, weekly, or long-term goals. 

Time management can:

• Help with your decision-making process
• Teach you how to set personal and work-related goals
• Allow you to allocate your time systematically
• Helps you organize and prioritize tasks based on importance

Effective time management not only boosts your employees' productivity and efficiency but can help you create a calm and supportive work culture. 

When employees don’t miss deadlines and complete their work obligations consistently and on time, that can create a sense of accomplishment, which can go a long way in improving their overall job satisfaction. 

This is especially true if they are praised or rewarded for their good work performance (but that’s a topic for another day).

“ Does time management work? A meta-analysis ”, a study from 2021, examined the impact of time management on work performance and well-being, and the results the researchers got were rather interesting.  

Their conclusion challenges the modern narrative that time management enhances work performance and that any benefits to our health and well-being stem from that. The study’s findings illustrate that it’s actually the other way around — time management improves well-being, and the result of that is an increase in work performance.  

A 2014 study from the University of Wuerzburg further supports this claim. This study, done on a group of students, shows that effective time management helps reduce feelings of stress and anxiety . 

With just two to four weeks of time management training, students reported a noticeable reduction in perceived stress and anxiety levels. Sadly, the study did not focus on the student’s academic results and how or even if time management had any effect on that, leaving much to be desired.

These two studies are just a small part of a larger body of research that has consistently proved the importance of time management by showing its positive effects on people’s well-being and/or work performance.

Here are some tips that can help you improve your or your employees’ overall time management.

There are numerous digital and cloud-based tools that can save you time, help you streamline tedious processes, and ultimately make you more time-efficient. 

• One of those is time and attendance software , a solution that helps you manage your employees' time, track and manage absences, quickly create and export information needed for payroll, and more.

Like any efficient tool, time and attendance software will make certain processes easier and less time-consuming. This will allow you to switch your focus to other work or personal tasks and make you more productive. 

Time-tracking software is another digital solution that can help you improve time management at work. It will allow you to manage your and your employee's work tasks while also tracking work hours, task and project progress, and more. 

Time tracking tools aim to give you all the data you need to analyze the way you or your employees spend time at work. With that information, you can identify areas that need improvement more easily, then work on them and improve either your or your employee’s overall time management.

A big part of improving time management revolves around setting clear goals and diligently working on achieving them.  

You can start working on your goals by listing them on paper, in a notebook, in a to-do list , or in a digital document (i.e., Google Docs, Word, etc.). 

After that, try to assess your goals and form a plan of action to achieve them. If that doesn’t work for you or you feel like you need more guidance, you can always try one of the many proven methods and techniques for setting goals.

One of those proven goal-setting techniques is the S.M.A.R.T method , a relatively simple yet effective way to increase your chances for success in personal development and business or project management.

To start with this method, you should:

• Set S pecific goals that are clear, defined, and focused.
• Ensure that the goals you set are M easurable and include criteria that allow you to measure progress toward achieving them.
• Make sure to set goals that are realistic and A chievable. Take into account your skills, limits, as well as available resources. Don't underestimate yourself, but also don’t overvalue your abilities.
• Make sure the goals you’re setting are R elevant to you, your core values, and your personal and career objectives.
• When you set goals, always make them T ime-bound (i.e., create deadlines for achieving goals). This will help you stay on track by creating a sense of urgency.

A good way to improve your time management at work is with proven time management techniques . They are methods used by millions of people around the world. Here are a few very popular ones:

The Eisenhower Matrix

The Eisenhower Matrix , a widely popular prioritization method, was developed by the 34th president of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

This technique focuses on task prioritization by categorizing tasks based on their importance and urgency. The more urgent and important a task is, the higher it should be on your list of priorities.

To try it out for yourself, you should:

• Create the following four categories of tasks: Important and Urgent, Important but Not Urgent, Not Important but Urgent, and Not Important and Not Urgent.
• Evaluate your current tasks and put each of them into the appropriate category.
• You should do the tasks in the Important and Urgent category immediately.
• You should schedule a time to do the task in the Important but Not Urgent category.
• You should delegate the tasks in the Not Important but Urgent category.
• You should delete the tasks from the Not Important and Not Urgent category and not worry about them.

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro time management technique was invented by a college student, Francesco Cirillo, in the late 1980s. This method puts an almost equal emphasis on rest periods as it does on doing the actual work.  

The Pomodoro method is really simple, and if you want to try it out, you should:

• Set up a 25-minute timer and work until it goes off
• Take a 5-10 minute short break
• Set the timer again and repeat for four consecutive turns (work, short break, work…)
• After the 4th round of work, instead of taking a short break (5-10 minutes), take a longer one (15-30 minutes)

The Timeboxing Method

The Timeboxing Method is a time management technique that revolves around setting up “boxes of time” for various tasks or activities and thus limiting the amount of time you spend on them. It’s about creating fixed schedules for tasks and sticking to those schedules religiously. 

To try it out:

• Choose an activity or a task that you want to put in a timebox
• Put a strict time limit on the task or activity you chose (i.e., create a timebox)
• Do the activity until the time you’ve allocated runs out
• Adjust the timebox if the activity or task took less or more time to complete than you originally anticipated

Distractions at work are one of the biggest productivity killers. A survey by Career Builder details some of the most common work distractions that office workers face. 

Some of those distractions are:

• Texting or using cell phones
• Spending time browsing the internet
• Using or scrolling through social media sites
• Gossiping or noisy colleagues (you know who you are)

These micro-level distractions can have a huge (read negative) impact on the macro level. This means that distractions can negatively affect a company on an organizational level , leading to various issues, including:

• Compromised work quality
• Missed deadlines
• Lower morale due to other employees having to pick up the slack
• Negative effect on the manager/employee or boss/employee relationship
• Lowered revenue 

So, because micro-level distractions affect companies on a macro level, it logically stands that dealing with distractions on an individual level can prevent organizational issues . 

Whether you’re looking to minimize distractions for yourself or your employees, our advice is to try the following: 

• Turn off your phone (or at least phone notifications) when you start working and advise your employees to do the same.
• Don’t use social media at work or prevent the use of social media sites on work devices (mobile phones, computers, etc.)
• Have a set time during the day to answer emails instead of checking your email throughout the entire day. If possible, advise your employees to do the same.
• Try using earplugs if you find your work environment is too loud (can also help with chatty co-workers)

Delegation allows you to use the strengths of your employees, team members, or colleagues.

It's a good way to improve your overall time management and give yourself additional work hours to focus on more important tasks. 

According to this study and many others, delegating tasks can improve employees' job satisfaction by creating a greater sense of autonomy at work. And why is job satisfaction important? 

Simple, because job satisfaction is closely linked with productivity at work, and if high, it can drastically improve it.

So, learning how to delegate impacts not only managers but also their direct subordinates, employees, or team members. It gives managers more time to deal with higher-difficulty, higher-priority, or managerial tasks while also empowering employees and increasing their job satisfaction (which in turn positively affects employee productivity).

To start delegating, you should:

• Analyze your workload and try to identify tasks that you can delegate to others. These tasks could be standard routine tasks, tasks that take up too much of your valuable time, or tasks that you don’t have direct experience dealing with
• Make sure to choose a suitable person for the job . One of the vital, if not the most important, parts of delegation is finding the right person to delegate tasks to. Getting it wrong can nullify all the benefits of delegating, making it take up more of your time instead of freeing it up for more important/difficult tasks. When deciding on the person to delegate tasks to, consider their skills, work experience, and current workload. You can also set up short meetings with your top picks (sort of like mini job interviews), where you can discuss their skills and relevant experience in greater detail.
• Give clear instructions . Make sure to give clear instructions and provide any additional details about the tasks to the person you’re delegating them. Also, ensure they are aware of all expectations and any potential deadlines.
• Create a feedback loop and give support to the person you choose to delegate tasks to. This will help them meet deadlines and will ensure that the quality of work is not compromised.

Multitasking may seem like a good idea to increase productivity, but in practice, it does the opposite.  

Instead of allowing you to complete multiple tasks or projects, it puts most people into the position of working on multiple tasks or projects simultaneously but never finishing them (or not finishing them on time/within the deadline).

According to the study, poignantly titled “ Multicosts of Multitasking ,” working on multiple tasks concurrently can actually cause our brains to overload with information, effectively decreasing the brain’s processing power. This, in turn, lowers productivity and leads to higher chances of mistakes and, ultimately, lower quality of work.

So, instead of multitasking, try to invest your energy and time in individual tasks and work on them until they're done.

A study that analyzed the effects of micro-breaks on well-being and performance showed that regular 10-minute breaks can significantly improve one’s well-being and reduce the build-up of work fatigue.

Regular breaks are a proven method for managing and maintaining your productivity during the day. In fact, not having breaks and working long hours can lead to being overworked and can also cause burnout. Which, frankly, nobody wants.

The important thing here is to realize when you need to take a break and then simply take one . A 10-to-15-minute break is not going to hurt your work (unless you’re an ER doctor), but it can do wonders for your focus, productivity, and well-being.

There’s no better way to emphasize the importance of time management than through its many benefits. And that’s exactly what we aim to do here. Here are some of the most common benefits of good time management :

Good time management allows you to prioritize your tasks more effectively and complete them in a timely manner. 

With time management, you’ll not only be meeting all of your deadlines but also increasing your overall productivity.

The study, which examined the effects of self-esteem and time management skills on nursing students' GPA (grade point average), showed some interesting results. 

The researchers postulate a direct correlation between time management, confidence, and student’s GPA. The sample size was too small to empirically claim the connection. 

Still, the idea behind it seems logical and sound — The better someone manages their time, the more confident they’ll be and will produce better results.

Time management and deadlines are inalienably intertwined. Deadlines serve as checkpoints for time management that help you stay on track with your tasks, and never fall behind in their planning and execution.  

With time management, you can organize your work schedule and tasks in a way where you never feel overwhelmed or overworked. When you do that, meeting deadlines becomes a natural, calm part of your daily schedule.

A small study looked at the effects of time management on procrastination . Procrastination is defined as a self-regulatory issue, and the idea the researchers had was to prevent it by dealing with self-regulation problems through the use of time management. The results showed that, as expected, time management works.  

The group that used time management showed little to no signs of procrastination, while the control group (no time management) kept making the same mistakes.

This study shows that procrastination directly results from not knowing how to manage time properly. When there is no clear focus on specific goals, people almost instinctively veer into procrastination. 

On the other hand, by having clear goals and actively working on time management, people can better manage their workload, feel in control of it, and ultimately stop procrastinating.

A study done on a group of high-school athletes had some interesting findings, with one of those being particularly riveting (at least to us) — the researchers found a direct correlation between self-discipline and time management. 

The higher the self-discipline is, the better the athletes are at managing their time. From there, it’s easy to postulate the opposite; the better someone is at time management, the better they’ll be at self-discipline.

Finding motivation is a big problem for a lot of people. The same goes for managers and team leads who are always looking for new ways to motivate their employees. But what if the answer was so obvious that it was staring everybody in the face the whole time? Yes, we’re talking about time management. 

A 2020 study shows the positive effects of learning time management and self-discipline skills on students' motivation for learning. And, if time management can motivate students to study more, in this day and age, imagine what it can do for you, your employees, and ultimately your business.  

As you can see, there are many reasons to pay attention to the importance of time management. Wise use of time is essential if you or your company want to be more successful.

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