Time management

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Under time management (including scheduling ; English time management ; [ -'mænɪdʒmənt ]) are understood in the context of self-management all measures available to time possible productive use.

General

The compound is made up of time as a sequence of events ( perceived through the past , present and future ; philosophy of time ) and management as the organization of tasks and processes. According to this, time management is the organization of running events within a certain period of time by means of planning . Important features of planning in business administration are the planning object , planning subject , planning data and planning period . The object of planning is time management, the planning subject is the workforce setting up the schedule , planning data is all the data belonging to time management and the planning horizon that limits the time scope of planning . In the context of time management, productivity is when as many tasks as possible are completed within a certain period of time without idle times causing idle costs .

Time management involves both the labor of working people and the time of man. The scheduling of tasks , operations , transactions , meetings , negotiations , discussions or other events is one of the main contents of time management with the calendar date as an orientation date. In the economy of time, the time plays an essential role as a linear succession of measurable time units . Time management has to allow for a sufficient period of time for the fulfillment of these events . Time management is “the consistent and goal-oriented application of proven work techniques in daily practice in order to manage and organize oneself and one's own areas of life in such a way that the time available is used sensibly and optimally”.

Time management is an object of knowledge in ergonomics , work ethics , work methodology , business administration and organizational theory .

history

The Roman poet Horace brought in his around 23 BC. Chr. Appeared Ode to Leukonoe the sentence "enjoy the day" ( Latin Carpe diem ), which in German as household word " seize the day " is known. Horace called for people to enjoy their short life today and not postpone it until the next day. With this he presented one of the basic rules of time economics, not to postpone upcoming tasks, but to do them according to plan. The humanist Leon Battista Alberti is regarded as pioneer of economics time, because with it the sensible use of time (played in 1433 latin tempo ) of an important role in the economy utility of private household . In the Middle Ages, however, there was otherwise no need to watch and save time, measure it accurately and know its small parts. This epic leisureliness of medieval life was based primarily on the agrarian nature of feudal society .

The saying " time is money " ( English Time is money ) states that time value , it can (like money ) saved , spent or wasted are. It is therefore valuable and should be used economically (“time economy”). He became known through the English expression Time is money , which was popularized by Benjamin Franklin's 1748 publication Advice for Young Tradesmen ( English Advice to a Young Tradesmen ). There Franklin admonishes:

"Remember, that time is money."

"Remember that time is money."

For the first time, Franklin set rigid rules for dealing with money and time, because time should be viewed as a scarce resource . In 1768 the mathematician Georg Christoph Lichtenberg put together “Small house tables about the use of money and time” and gave advice on how to use them well.

The engineer Frederick Winslow Taylor examined every industrial work process from 1880 to discover wasted time, because profit increases when the volume of work increases while the quality of work remains constant . He realized in 1914 that targeted corporate governance requires a detailed work schedule and developed a method of time study of work ( English time study ). Henry Ford managed to reduce the production cycle (from ore extraction to delivery of the finished cars) from 22 days (before 1921) to 3 days and 9 hours (1925) by means of time management during transport . In 1924 he recognized the irretrievability of time: "A waste of time differs from a waste of material only in that this waste is irretrievable".

Time management as self management

While the management of companies otherwise takes on the organization of work processes for other organizational units, time management is usually left to the planning employees themselves. Like time management, self-management is a technique of self-regulation. Only a few staff positions or management positions can take over time management for others (e.g. the board staff for the board of directors , the secretariat for associated executives ). This is due to the fact that every employee knows and can assess the events to be recorded in time management best. Time management begins with drawing up a to-do list and continues with task management and task planning. The most important component is scheduling , where too many appointments can lead to stress that can be prevented by scheduling. In meetings, the agenda can be an important time management tool.

Timing and division

While the division of time represents a monochronous behavior, the division of time is polychronic . According to the anthropologist divided in 1959 Edward T. Hall , the workers in monochronic and polychronic types to which certain patterns of behavior - can be assigned - especially with regard to time management.

Monochrony Polychrome
A task after the other do do many tasks at the same time ( multitasking )
high concentration high distraction
Appointments are taken seriously Dates are irrelevant
Orientation towards plans Plans don't matter
Disturbances of others are avoided Interferences from others are accepted
high punctuality low punctuality
Methodical work the patient is easily lost

Monochronous types can therefore set up and consistently maintain time management more easily than polychronic types.

activities

On the strategic level, time management includes the development of time-related strategies that are to be implemented on the operational level through specific measures. For this purpose, methods are to be used that systematize time management. The common ALPEN method includes:

  • The to-do A set TASKS: First of all cataloged on a specific date tasks to be completed.
  • L ength (duration) of these requirements, time schedule: The time required for each task work is identified or located by REFA -Arbeitsstudien ago.
  • P ufferzeiten considered: For unexpected job stopper and disturbances should be scheduled time reserves. These are free time slots included in the schedule in which no other tasks need to be performed.
  • E ECISION for priorities: the cataloged objects are in view of its importance and urgency in a ranking and to bring
  • N achkontrolle perform: A target-control after the work product or at the end of working ensures whether and to what extent the time management has worked.

The comprehensive catalog ensures that the time management can be used operationally in the daily routine.

Furthermore, specific measures and techniques in the area of ​​time management are presented here.

Reduce and delegate tasks

A core competence within time management is to only take care of the most important things and either delegate the less important things to other people or not do them at all (see Eisenhower principle ). However, delegating requires trust in the people involved. The equally time-consuming micromanagement is closely linked to the lack of delegation .

Create daily plans

Daily plans force the user to structure the daily routine, to reserve time windows for certain activities and to plan time reserves. The goal of a daily plan is to have completed all the activities planned for that day without leaving the workplace later than planned. For this, it is necessary to realistically estimate the time required for all activities, and it is recommended to keep 20% of the working time free as a reserve. This time reserve should not be used for recreation, meals or the like - it is only there to compensate for unplanned events and delays.

For the daily plans, both the individual, daily performance curve and the priorities (see below) must be taken into account. Many people tend to put off uncomfortable or difficult tasks and do the least demanding tasks first (see procrastination ). While the simpler tasks can be completed when the mind is tired and distracted later in the afternoon, the difficult tasks are completed the quickest if the performance is still high enough in the morning.

Avoid distractions

A major distraction or interruption takes an average of six to nine minutes. In order to fully understand the topic again and to continue the task at the same level, it takes about another four to six minutes.

Various advisors point out that interruptions (e.g. an e-mail that has just arrived , a telephone conversation) disrupt the work flow, so that one has to familiarize oneself again with the context of the actually intended activity. One technique is to hold a "quiet hour" in the morning in which all external influences are switched off, or to use existing undisturbed time windows (for example a flight or train journey during which one can view business documents).

The distractions also include meetings . On the one hand, they are necessary, on the other hand, the topics of the meeting do not always affect everyone present and thus take up working time. Meetings should therefore always be announced with a list of topics and a schedule - so employees can decide whether to leave the meeting earlier or not to attend at all. If discussions fail to achieve a goal after 5 to a maximum of 30 minutes, they should be broken off - either by voting or by the chairman assigning someone to find further arguments or information and to present solutions in the next meeting.

Divide tasks

Longer activities can be divided into smaller, manageable steps, for which you can reliably estimate the time required. The progress of the work can also be observed more closely; Feedback to superiors, colleagues and customers is therefore more reliable. Many people also benefit from dividing tasks into short blocks followed by breaks (e.g. Pomodoro technique ). By allowing space for distractions at short intervals, you can work all the more concentrated on the task.

set priorities

The most important element of time management is the choice of priorities. Every user of a time management technology is free to decide where and how he sets his priorities - after all, the priorities can be set in such a way that they harm the employer, for example. However, only consciously set priorities mean that the most important things are done first and without delay. Adhering to priorities ultimately also reassures the user: If you have to interrupt your work for any reason and take care of something strange, you have at least already done the most important things; the interruption is therefore less severe. This leads to added value for everyone involved.

Mackenzie's time trap , for example, recommends evaluating every planned activity according to two aspects, according to two separate priorities:

  1. urgency
  2. Meaning for the future

Thus, something that is not urgent but that can be done positively in one's personal future has the same priority as something that is urgent but does not improve the future in any way. The two priorities can be added using a point system; the list of tasks is then done strictly according to the total priority (urgency + importance for the future).

Record time usage

Many advisors recommend recording the time consumed in a diary to get started . For this purpose, every 15 or 30 minutes, what you are doing is noted. This time diary can already lead to the first improvements by raising awareness about the use of time. When analyzing the diary, particular attention should be paid to the times of the day that unimportant activities were performed - or the times of the day that the diary was not even filled out.

Avoid mistakes and perfection

A lot of time is lost if, for example, a customer requests improvements after a defective execution. In order not to expose yourself to the risk of time-consuming elimination of defects, you should take a little more time to understand the requirements exactly, plan the necessary preparations and do the job well in the first run.

On the other hand, the urge for perfection leads to a high loss of time. Authors save a lot of time if they first write a rough but largely complete draft of a text and only then work out the details.

Document the status of activity

Only an exact knowledge of the project status allows a forecast of the time still required and thus a prediction of the completion date. Especially with longer projects and activities that are characterized by interruptions, it is worthwhile to create a short, three-part status report at set intervals:

  • Done: What has been done since the last report? → Provides information about the speed with which the project is progressing.
  • Current status: where is the project now? → Valuable for external communication (boss, employee ...)
  • Next steps: what needs to be done next? → Set binding dates and time frames for the next steps.

These status reports can be created for yourself or for superiors or project partners. The purpose of these reports is to keep track of the project's progress and make timely decisions before it falls behind. The “Next Steps” part also serves as a reminder if you take up the undertaking again after a long break or absence.

Time management

Time management is understood to be measures and methods for determining, processing and using work-related time data. It forms the basis for many forms of performance pay and has had a corresponding significance in the course of the ages. An expansion is currently taking place in the sense of a time-based management in industrial engineering and thus no longer relates only to production and assembly, but includes all work processes. In addition, measures for the recording, documentation and control of attendance or working times among staff are increasingly included in the scope of working time management .

In this way, the originally typical time-quantity data is supplemented by sequence, load, ergonomics, process, quality and cost data. In the context of demographic change , this data is becoming increasingly important when planning work assignments.

Time management is based on time studies , which are ideally broken down into time modules so that target times can be put together for the planning of work processes and the calculation of orders .

Disruptions

The scheduling of time management can be endangered by procrastination . This means unexpected appointments, time thieves, delays , interruptions or operational disruptions . The resulting loss of time must not lead to error costs and must be made up again later. Unexpected appointments are mostly external in nature and can hardly be changed (e.g. company audits , trade supervisory authorities ); Time thieves include unexpected long phone calls , waiting times or unexpected visitors ; Delays can affect the procurement of material ; Job stoppers are among the interruptions. Unnecessary time pressure can be countered by not too tight schedules or sufficient time reserves. The deferment of (unpleasant) tasks until shortly before the end of time ( english deadline rush ) reduces the preparation time for these tasks, increased the time pressure and thus the risk of errors . Many people tend to put off uncomfortable or difficult tasks and do the least demanding tasks first. Time management takes the work curve into account and plans the simpler tasks when the performance low in the afternoon, while the difficult tasks are scheduled for the morning.

The scheduling can be affected by external disturbances ( environmental condition ) or internal disturbances. Frequent disruptions to work processes can reduce work performance by 28%. Only a maximum of 60% of the working time should be planned so that sufficient time reserves are available for disruptions and unexpected events. Lothar J. Seiwert considers it appropriate that in time management 60% of the working time is reserved for planned activities, around 20% is to be used for unexpected disturbances and time thieves and the rest for spontaneous and social activities.

Time management in organizations

The organizations include companies , authorities or other associations of persons . The most extensively researched is time management in companies; it can be transferred analogously to the other organizations. In companies, individual operational functions can be examined for typical aspects of time management:

Time management in private households

Households can apply corporate scheduling to their private time management accordingly. A time analysis must first ensure that only the most standing outside working hours available time can be used for private time management. The working curve must be taken into account when determining the priorities. The most important data parameters for private time planning are appointments (for authorities , visits to the doctor , recreational sports or travel ) and deadlines to be observed . Scheduling is part of time management and must ensure that interdependent appointments are planned in the correct order. Depending on the ability to plan the duration of the appointment, time reserves must be built in. This means that schedules can be adhered to and do not have to be postponed. In addition, good time management also prevents the so-called “procrastination behavior”, i.e. “unnecessary postponement of necessary ... activities”.

meaning

On the one hand, time management aims to avoid wasting time and idle times, on the other hand, punctuality in meeting deadlines and greater efficiency in working hours or free time should be aimed for. Employees with good time management experience less stress or burnout and higher job satisfaction . In addition, good time management ensures improved work performance and quality of work . Good time management is an expression of the fact that people can organize themselves well. In the modern working society, employees only have a short window of time to complete tasks, the structure of which they have to plan themselves. This is why time management is now considered a key skill . Finally, time management can also help improve the quality of life .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Günter Wöhe , Introduction to General Business Administration , 2013, p. 63.
  2. ↑ Wolfgang Lück (Ed.): Lexikon der Betriebswirtschaft , 1983, p. 895.
  3. ↑ Lothar J Seiwert: More time for the essential , 1984, p. 14.
  4. ↑ Theodor Fontane : Frau Jenny Treibel , in Chapter 16 : “Listen, singer and brother, carpe diem. We Latins put the accent on the last syllable. Carpe Diem. [...] So again, what you want to do, do it soon. "
  5. ^ Leon Battista Alberti: Della Famiglia , 1433, p. 49.
  6. ↑ Aron Ja Gurevič: The world view of medieval people. 1972, p. 174.
  7. ↑ Benjamin Franklin: Good advice to a young craftsman , translation 1819, p. 72.
  8. ↑ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Small house panels on the use of money and time , in: Göttinger Taschen-Calender, 1768, p. 172 ff.
  9. ↑ Frederick Winslow Taylor: The management in particular of the workshops , 1914, p. 14 ff.
  10. ↑ Harry Niemann, Armin Hermann: 100 Years of Trucks: History and Future of the Commercial Vehicle , 1997, p. 49.
  11. ^ Henry Ford: The Great Today, The Greater Tomorrow , 1924, p. 143.
  12. ^ Edward T. Hall: The Silent Language , 1959, p. 36.
  13. ↑ Uwe Götze, Barbara Mikus, Jürgen Bloech (eds.): Management and time. 2000, p. 11.
  14. ↑ Lothar Seiwert: 30 minutes time management. 1998, p. 46 ff.
  15. ↑ Rüdiger Maas: Time management Avoid distractions and save time. October 1, 2016, accessed May 12, 2020 .
  16. ^ Eberhard Kruppe: Time management. In: Kurt Landau (Hrsg.), Lexikon Arbeitsgestaltung: Best Practice im Arbeitssprozess , 2007. S. 1333 - ISBN 978-3-87247-655-5 .
  17. ↑ Lothar J. Seiwert: The 1 × 1 of time management. 1989, p. 24.
  18. ↑ Uwe Götze, Barbara Mikus, Jürgen Bloech (eds.), Management und Zeit , 2000, p. 21 ff.
  19. ↑ Uwe Götze, Barbara Mikus, Jürgen Bloech (eds.): Management und Zeit , 2000, p. 13
  20. ↑ Anna Höcker, Margarita Engberding, Fred Rist: Reduction of Prokrastination. In: Behavior Therapy 19 , 2009, p. 28.
  21. ↑ Alexander Häfner, Time management and its effect on performance and well-being , 2012, p. 200.
  22. ↑ Brigitte JC Claessens / Wendelien van Eerde / Christel G Rutte / Robert A Roe, Planning behavior and perceived control of time at work , in: Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25, pp. 937 ff.
  23. ↑ Silke Weisweiler / Birgit Dirscherl / Isabell Braumandl, Time and Self Management , 2013, p. 13 .
  24. ↑ Cornelius J König / Martin Kleinmann, Business before pleasure: no strategy for procrastinators? , in: Personality and Individual Differences (37), 2004, p. 1045 ff.