I am afforded in my current position a high degree of
flexibility and I enjoy managing my own time throughout the day. Some days I
work through lunch on a hot project other days I’d classify it as “grazing
about in pasture.” I still have events or meetings to attend at times but day
to day I set my own schedule.
One of the military schools I attended went to great length to
teach time management. On average they charged you with 50 tasks and enough time
to complete about 35 of them. For instance,
the day started off with the cadre waking you up, announcing several things
(words, numbers, letters, or phrases) you had to memorize as you scurried about
to be used throughout the day. From the
first whistle blow your group, about 55-60 people, had to change into the
correct uniform, make their bed “correctly,” brush their teeth, and move
downstairs into formation. All this had to be accomplished in 7 minutes. Oh the
days I do not miss. Since then, I’ve developed skills such as goal setting,
schedule making, and over time have maintained an internal locus of control.
The following rules from our text I apply in a consistent
manner as an individual. This stems from the internal locus of control and
allows me to manage my time efficiently and effectively. Make a list of things to
accomplish today, Prioritize your tasks, Do one important thing at a time, Determine
the critical 20% of your tasks, Don’t procrastinate, Set Deadline, Reach
closure on at least one thing every day, Write down long-tem objectives (Whetten,
Camerson, 2011). As a leader and manager, I find the following rules of out
text extremely helpful. Hold routine meetings at the end of the day, Cancel
meetings once in a while, have agenda, stick to them, and keep on track. Start
meetings on time, Insist that subordinates suggest solutions to problems. Don’t
over schedule the day, Have a place to work uninterrupted, Keep
the workplace clean, Delegate work (Whetten, Camerson, 2011). These lists are ot all includes but represent how
I work and manager my time. As far as improvement I think I have areas that I can work on as an individual and manager. As an individual I want to be more diligent on reviewing my calendar. I tend to update my calendar in spurts rather than use it as a main stream organization hub. I also need to slow down and add more personal time for “thinking.” I sometimes find myself in a “go, go, go” mentality to get things down. I shall call this “Shawn Time” and its going on the calendar. As a manager, I want to improve on my emotional intelligence. It was the lowest quartile within my personal self awareness and is going to be the most difficult skill to master. I don’t anticipate by the end of the course being able to pull a “Jedi mind trick” on someone. However, after increasing my understanding of this skill, I think emotional intelligence plays an important role in the workplace.
Action plan is as follows: Calendar review and update each morning prior to work and at the end of the day, just prior to “Shawn Time.” My thinking time will be blocked for 15 minutes minimum with no distractions such as radio, television, wife or kids. Lastly, during “Shawn Time” give thought to interpersonal interactions with the people throughout the day and how emotional intelligence came into effect.
Whetten, D. A., Camerson, K.S. (2011). Developing Management Skills (8th
Ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
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