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The Difficult “NO” |
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Common Scenarios |
General Approach |
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These will invariably happen when: 1) you are completing |
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addressing the common scenarios presented. |
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You are invited to your first visiting professorship |
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Prestigious organization X asks you to be on |
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a committee |
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Consult your mentor |
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Your Division Chief offers your name as |
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Have a clear plan (with options) |
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someone who is perfect and available for |
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The Dean’s office nominates you for a task |
Openly recognize the importance of the task |
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Openly recognize the importance of the |
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Several of your collaborators team up to apply |
invitation |
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Negotiate: Is it possible to do it next year? |
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FIGURE 15.6 Useful tips for saying “no”
Activity Logs
Activity logs are time-management learning tools. If you are really struggling with time management, this is an extremely useful exercise. The best way to start the log is to plan the night before how you will document your activities.To get the best detail, plan to write down everything you do on a 30-min time scale. This can be done on a sheet of paper or by using your PDA.Try to update it every 1–2 hours. Most people are surprised how they spend their time. This activity can help motivate you to prioritize, schedule protected blocks of time, and manage relationships. Tables 15.1 and 15.22 list common time wasters and useful time savers.
Scheduling Protected Time
Emails, telephone calls, meetings, and administrative tasks can fill your schedule and make you inefficient if you allow it. Grouping like tasks on the same day will increase your chances of being able to have protected time for reading and
Chapter 15. Time Management 241
TABLE 15.1 Common time wasters
• Worrying about it and putting it off, which leads to indecision
• Creating inefficiency by implementing first instead of analyzing first
• Unanticipated interruptions that do not pay off • Procrastinating
• Making unrealistic time estimates
• Unnecessary errors (not enough time to do it right, but enough time to do it over)
• Crisis management • Poor organization • Ineffective meetings
• Micromanaging by failing to let others perform and grow • Doing urgent rather than important tasks
• Poor planning and lack of contingency plans • Failing to delegate
• Lacking priorities, standards, policies, and procedures
From Clark2; with permission
writing (Fig. 15.7). For example, if you have two clinical days per week combined with three research days, it works better if you can have your clinical days back to back (preferably Monday-Tuesday or Thursday-Friday).This will enable better control of your schedule and increase the likelihood that you can schedule protected time (i.e. Tuesdays for scientific writ- ing). The more diligent and consistent you are about your protected time the easier it will be to institute an action plan and meet your goals.
Eliminating Distractions
It is important for you to identify the things that distract you. This will enable you to work on ways to minimize or com- pletely eliminate distractions. You may be surprised how
242 C.M. Pugh
TABLE 15.2 Useful time savers
• Managing the decision-making process, not the decisions • Concentrating on doing only one task at a time
• Establishing daily, short-term, mid-term, and long-term priorities
• Handling correspondence expeditiously with quick, short letters and memos
• Throwing unneeded things away
• Establishing personal deadlines and ones for the organization • Not wasting other people’s time
• Ensuring all meetings have a purpose, time limit, and include only essential people
• Getting rid of busywork
• Maintaining accurate calendars; abide by them • Knowing when to stop a task, policy, or procedure
• Delegating everything possible and empowering subordinates • Keeping things simple
• Ensuring time is set aside to accomplish high-priority tasks • Setting aside time for reflection
• Using checklists and to-do lists
• Adjusting priorities as a result of new tasks
From Clark2; with permission
much work you can finish in an hour of uninterrupted time. In addition, you should resist the urge to distract yourself with other things.Try hard to finish one task before jumping to another. In other words, chain yourself to the task chair. If you find yourself struggling with this, it may be that you have not broken the task into achievable units. The more you are able to fully concentrate and commit to the work you are doing in a scheduled time period, the faster you will be able to complete the task. Finding a hide-out may greatly facili- tate this.
Chapter 15. Time Management 243
USEFUL TIPS WHEN PROTECTING TIME
"Find your creative time and defend it ruthlessly." Dr. Randy Pausch
“Plan an hour per day for ‘Me Time’. Give twenty-three hours to the world but keep one hour for yourself.” Dr. Donald Wetmore
When negotiating your schedule, group like activities (i.e. 2 clinical days followed by 3 research days). This will help you to compartmentalize your tasks.
Be purposeful in generating a culture of protected research time. A closed door on Tuesdays will send the message that this is a “do not disturb” day
FIGURE 15.7 Useful tips when protecting time
Buffer Time
In addition to underestimating the time it will take you to complete a task, there are several things that will invariably pop-up or intrude on your scheduled time. Planning for the unexpected is a helpful way to keep yourself on time and on target toward meeting your goals. When working on large tasks such as a research project or grant, plan for failed experiments, late equipment, computer viruses, or writer’s block. When traveling during the winter months, it is always helpful to build in a day or two of buffer time between your planned return and important face-to-face meetings. Rescheduling important meetings wastes everyone’s time. Not only do you have to inform everyone that you will miss the meeting, you then have to repeat the process of reviewing meeting materials and goals and finding available dates, and conference rooms, etc. Other unexpected events commonly include family emergencies, home and car emergencies, and unplanned personal health issues. Having the buffer time keeps you less stressed and on time.
Whether you are working on-line or using your PDA, it is tempting to check email every minute or every hour. This is a form of distraction that can significantly hinder task