There are a lot of management techniques out there. A lot of authors have written on the topic of how to manage your time and get the most out of it. Most of the books written focused on business leaders and corporate executives.
Stephen Covey's time management book, First Things First, is a well acclaimed book. His time management technique is focused on giving tips to individuals to do things effectively.
Let us take a look at Stephen Covey's Time Management Matrix.
-FIRST QUADRANT (URGENT)
MANAGE / QUADRANT OF NECESSITY - Crisis - Medical emergencies - Pressing problems - Deadline-driven projects - Last minute preparation for scheduled activities
-SECOND QUADRANT (NOT URGENT)
FOCUS / QUADRANT OF QUALITY - Personal leadership - Preparation / Planning - Prevention - Values Clarification - Exercise - Relationship Building - True recreation / relaxation
-THIRD QUADRANT (NOT IMPORTANT)
AVOID / QUADRANT OF DECEPTION - Interruptions and some calls - Some mails and reports - Some meetings - Many "pressing matters" - Many popular activities
-FOURTH QUADRANT (NOT IMPORTANT)
AVOID / QUADRANT OF WASTE - Trivia, busywork - Junk mail - Emails - Time wasters - Escape activities - Viewing mindless TV shows
There are 24 hours in a day. Eight hours is for sleeping and the next 16 hours are for our usual schedule. In Stephen Covey's time management book (First Things First), he noted that most of us spend our 16 hours in the third and fourth quadrant, the quadrant of deception and waste.
If you will really look at our daily activities, Stephen Covey is actually right. Most of us spend hours watching TV, reading unimportant emails, answering calls, and other things that actually does not help us accomplish anything.
Stephen Covey's time management is a great tool that can help us finish more important things before a day ends. You just have to focus yourself and experiment with the quadrants and how it can help you. In getting things done you have to set your mind on what you will do. The activities in the first quadrant need to be managed in the best way that you can. Focus on the Quadrant of Quality and Personal Leadership because this can help you achieve your goals faster.
The last two quadrants should be avoided as much as possible. The third quadrant looks deceiving, it may look important but it is not. While the fourth quadrant will never help you get things done.
How we manage our time is all up to us. Whatever the consequences of our actions might be, we only have ourselves to blame.
More Information:
If you wish to learn more about
covey time management, be sure to check out our site today. It has tons of helpful tips and information on managing your time.
Categories
