Action Plan Free Essay Example

Introduction

It is rightly said “Time and Tide wait for none”. An individual should understand the value of time for him to succeed in all aspects of life. People who waste time are the ones who fail to create an identity of their own.

My Rational on my first action plan was:

I have poor attitudes towards managing time, such as managing time to study. Developing effective study habits is important as they will help me to use my study time more productively and will also help to handle stress.

Therefore, learning some effective memory techniques, developing a good support network and working with other class members will enhance our study habits (Anthony, 2012). So it is important for me to make an action plan about time management. Benefits of time management could be; “Time Management makes an individual punctual and disciplined. One learns to work when it is actually required as a result of effective time management.

To make the judicious use of time, individuals should prepare a “TASK PLAN” or a “TO DO” List at the start of the day to jot down activities which need to be done in a particular day as per their importance and urgency against the specific time slots assigned to each activity.

A Task Plan gives individuals a sense of direction at the workplace. An individual knows how his day looks like and eventually works accordingly leading to an increased output” (Management Study Guide [MSG]). If we do not have a proper time management skills, it will be more difficult to achieve the goals in your future.

This report includes a deep research about time management skills. This includes a brief description of what is time management, how it helps in an organisation and some benefits improving your time management skills. And lastly the action plan with the actual outcomes.

What is time management

Time management is the art of arranging, organizing, scheduling, and budgeting one’s time for the purpose of generating more effective work and productivity. There are an abundance of books, classes, workshops, day-planners, and seminars on time management, which teach individuals and corporations how to be more organized and more productive. Time management has become crucial in recent years thanks to the 24/7, busy world in which we live (Wisegeek, 2013).

Time management is important for everyone. While time management books and seminars often place their focus on business leaders and corporations, time management is also crucial for students, teachers, factory workers, professionals, and home makers. Time management is perhaps most essential for the person who owns his or her own business or who runs a business out of the home. Managing work and home responsibilities under the same roof takes a special type of time management (Wisegeek, 2013).

An important aspect of time management is planning ahead. Sometimes, successful time management involves putting in more time at the outset in order to reorganize one’s life. Though many time management books and teachings differ in their suggestions, most agree that the first step in efficient time management is to organize the workspace or home. Even if one’s schedule is well-ordered, but the office and filing system are a disaster, time will be wasted trying to work efficiently in a disorderly place (Wisegeek, 2013).

Lastly, good time management involves keeping a schedule of the tasks and activities that have been deemed important. Keeping a calendar or daily planner is helpful to stay on task, but self-discipline is also required. The most efficient to-do list in the world will not help someone who does not look at or follow his own daily planner (Wisegeek, 2013).

Time management helping in organisations.

Time Management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is allocated to the right activity. Effective time management allows individuals to assign specific time slots to activities as per their importance. Time Management refers to making the best use of time as time is always limited. Time Management plays a very important role not only in organizations but also in our personal lives. (Management Study Guide)

Time Management includes:

1.Effective Planning
2.Setting goals and objectives
3.Setting deadlines
4.Delegation of responsibilities
5.Prioritizing activities as per their importance
6.Spending the right time on the right activity

Effective planning:

Plan your day well in advance. Prepare a To Do List or a “TASK PLAN”. Jot down the important activities that need to be done in a single day against the time that should be allocated to each activity. High Priority work should come on top followed by those which do not need much of your importance at the moment. Complete pending tasks one by one. Do not begin fresh work unless you have finished your previous task. Tick the ones you have already completed. Ensure you finish the tasks within the stipulated time frame (Management Study Guide).

Setting goals and objectives:

Working without goals and targets in an organization would be similar to a situation where the captain of the ship loses his way in the sea. Yes, you would be lost. Set targets for yourself and make sure they are realistic ones and achievable (Management Study Guide).

Setting deadlines

Set deadlines for yourself and strive hard to complete tasks ahead of the deadlines. Do not wait for your superiors to ask you every time. Learn to take ownership of work. One person who can best set the deadlines is you yourself. Ask yourself how much time needs to be devoted to a particular task and for how many days. Use a planner to mark the important dates against the set deadlines (Management Study Guide).

Delegation of responsibilities:

Learn to say “NO” at workplace. Don’t do everything on your own. There are other people as well. One should not accept something which he knows is difficult for him. The roles and responsibilities must be delegated as per interest and specialization of employees for them to finish tasks within deadlines. A person who does not have knowledge about something needs more time than someone who knows the work well (Management Study Guide).

Prioritizing Tasks

Prioritize the tasks as per their importance and urgency. Know the difference between important and urgent work. Identify which tasks should be done within a day, which all should be done within a month and so on. Tasks which are most important should be done earlier (Management Study Guide).

Spending the right time on right activity:

Develop the habit of doing the right thing at the right time. Work done at the wrong time is not of much use. Don’t waste a complete day on something which can be done in an hour or so. Also keep some time separate for your personal calls or checking updates on Facebook or Twitter. After all human being is not a machine (Management Study Guide).

Organized – Avoid keeping stacks of file and heaps of paper at your workstation. Throw what all you don’t need. Put important documents in folders. Keep the files in their respective drawers with labels on top of each file. It saves time which goes on unnecessary searching (Management Study Guide).

Don’t misuse time – Do not kill time by loitering or gossiping around. Concentrate on your work and finish assignments on time. Remember your organization is not paying you for playing games on computer or peeping into other’s cubicles. First complete your work and then do whatever you feel like doing. Don’t wait till the last moment (Management Study Guide).

Be Focussed – One needs to be focused for effective time management. Develop the habit of using planners, organizers, table top calendars for better time management. Set reminders on phones or your personal computers (Management Study Guide).

Benefits of time management.

It’s normal to hear time management discussed in business circles; yet, it is a topic that can be of great benefit to everybody. Time is a challenge for all of us, whether we’re business people, workers, students or stay at home moms or dads. There seems to be less time in today’s world, and that’s why it’s a lot more important to learn how to properly manage our time. In this article, we are going to be discussing a few key reasons why time management is so important (Marie, 2012).

A big benefit of time management is just how that it boosts your productivity. It is something that almost everybody hopes to be able to do. Seldom do you hear of individuals who feel that they’ve got adequate time to do the things they need and wish to do. In lots of instances, the problem is not not enough time but rather the fact that you do not have an efficient way of managing your time. Time management shows you how to set priorities, and to focus on how much time you’re wasting every day. The idea is not really to put yourself under more pressure to try and do more, but to utilize your time more wisely so you appear to have more of it (Marie, 2012).

One positive advantage of time management is decreased levels of stress. Not having enough time is one of the main reasons we experience stress. Think about how tense you feel if you are worrying about being late for a scheduled visit or if you’re stuck in traffic. These issues relate to time, and if you have this type of situation often you could probably benefit from some training in time management. Learning how to control schedule so that overwhelmed us and become an issue indicates that you are supervising your time efficiently. We often believe that the solution to our problems is doing things faster, but it could be even better and more relaxing if we learn how to manage our time better (Marie, 2012).

Time management doesn’t just include boosting your productivity and efficiency; you also want to feel more pleasure and a better quality of life. Time is an important component of life and so we feel better about our lives when we have the ability to control our time. Conversely, feeling that we’re running out of time can create an overall feeling that we aren’t good in some part of life. Those who are genuinely successful are aware that time management is a crucial skill they have to get good at. It could be the one determining factor that lets you live in the moment and appreciate your life instead of feeling that time is a merciless boss (Marie, 2012).

Time management is very significant in our present times, even more so than in previous decades. Existing technology allows us to do things faster than before and yet we feel forced to continually increase the pace. As an example, we continue to have difficulty keeping track of the large number of available information even with computers and other gadgets that are extremely powerful. Time management is the component that can give us a sense of control over time so we can quit rushing and loosen up (Marie, 2012).