Time Management Web Quest
Introduction
Many people find it difficult to complete their daily work because they lack a proper plan to enable them to manage time effectively. Lack of planning on what one needs to do may lead to disorganized work and increased cases of procrastination. Some individuals try to use shortcuts or multitask so that they can do a lot of work within a short time. For some, this may work but in many cases the job done may not meet the quality requirements as Rigby and Bilodeau (2015) demonstrate. This web quest intends to outline some of the tasks, resources, processes, aspects and give an evaluative criterion for effective time management strategies. The web quest will offer the necessary information for individuals to develop effective time management strategies.
Individuals need to plan their tasks on a priority basis to ensure that they manage their time efficiently and that tasks' completion happens as scheduled. A clear definition of the task helps in making arrangements for timely completion of the roles. Many people fail in their time management efforts because they have not stated the task they intend to take on and the time they are supposed to start. Different tasks have different time requirements to complete.
The following tasks need to be adhered to for effective time management
Clear definition of the task.
Prioritizing the activities to be done.
Identify the best-suited person and consult with others.
Choose the best time to work.
Set the deadline for each activity.
Mark the completed tasks and move to the next.
Review and proofread the completed tasks for errors.
Resources
Understanding of tasks and time management
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/time-management.html
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/time-management-mistakes.htm
2.0 prioritizing the to do activities
http://www.time-management-guide.com/prioritizing.html
http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/organizational-skills-to-do-list-prioritize-tasks/
3.0 Identify the best-suited person and consult with others
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/internships/guide/choosing.aspx
http://www.briantracy.com/blog/leadership-success/how-to-delegate-the-right-tasks-to-the-right-people-effective-management-skills-for-leadership-success/
4.0 Choose the best time and place to work
https://blog.bufferapp.com/your-bodys-best-time-for-everything-how-to-eat-sleep-and-work-more-efficiently
http://www.gearfire.net/7-important-factors-in-choosing-a-good-work-environment/
5.0 Setting deadline for each activity
http://www.connectionsacademy.com/blog/posts/2014-01-10/How-Students-Can-Achieve-Goals-by-Setting-Deadlines.aspx
http://teachingcommons.cdl.edu/cdip/facultyresearch/Usingdeadlinesstrategically.html
6.0 Mark completed tasks and move to the next
http://lifehacker.com/5967563/master-the-art-of-the-to-do-list-by-understanding-how-they-fail
https://zapier.com/blog/task-management-strategies/
7.0 Review and proofread completed tasks for errors
http://writing.umn.edu/sws/quickhelp/process/editing.html
https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/editing_proofreading.php
Process
understanding of tasks and time management
Prioritizing the to do activities
There is need to prioritize tasks to ensure effective time management. In many cases, important tasks are done first before completing any other task. Experts recommend that individuals should begin with tasks that are important at the top of the to-do list, and those that are less important should follow. An individual needs to have a well-organized to-do list to help them capture all the tasks needed to be done. Depending on the type of task in the list, priorities are likely to differ. Some tasks are done well when an individual’s mind is fresh before they are tired while others can be done at any time. Difficult tasks are food to begin with so that one finishes them before they get tired to avoid procrastination.
Identify the best-suited person and consult others
Tasks are done well within the required amount of time without compromising the quality if assigned to the right individuals. People with expertise or knowledge in a particular field are best suited to perform such activities especially if the task involves group efforts. For individual activities, it is also essential for an individual to consult others on a particular task to gather information about the requirements of a given task. Consulting with others makes understanding a task easier and researching on the topic is also simplified.
Choosing the best time and place to work
It is essential for individuals or groups to choose the best time and environment to work as this helps save time spent on tasks if a good working environment prevails. A quiet environment is usually preferable for people to complete tasks on time. Minimum distractions are present to divert the attention of an individual or group from the task. Some people work best in the morning, others in the evening and there are those that work best at any time of the day. One needs to identify the time they work best and take on tasks at this particular time. All the distracters from focusing on a particular task such as mobile phones, television, and social platforms should be avoided at this time. It is advisable for people to leave their mobile phones and other gadgets such as tablets used to surf the internet outside or away from the working environment. This way, individuals will devote much of their time taking on the task rather than doing something else.
Setting the deadline for each activity
Setting the deadline for each and every activity is essential to ensure tasks completion within the required time. Deadlines for multiple activities for one task are necessary to help avoid any chances of a particular activity delaying the entire process of completion. Individual activities should be given deadlines that are not so long to permit enough time to compile information from other activities in case a task involves multiple activities. If a task involves a single activity, it is also critical to set a deadline for that activity to avoid prolonged periods. The deadline for a particular activity should also give time for review and editing of the provisional copy to come up with a final copy of the task. It is advisable for individuals or groups to avoid the last minute deadlines because they do not allow for time to review and work on errors in a given task. Last minute deadlines in many cases give rise to poor quality work which may not be pleasing.
Mark completed activities and move to the next
When working on a given task, it is necessary for one to mark all the completed tasks in the list of the to-do activities. Marking of the completed activities helps one to avoid any cases of repetition when doing their work. It is advisable for individuals to avoid going back to the completed activities before they complete all the tasks on their list. This saves time since all the activities awaiting completion get attempted and errors checked at a later stage. Going back to the completed tasks is likely to consume a lot of time because one will want to correct the entire work before moving to the next. Correcting before completion may also alter some meaning in the intended work since there is no free flow of information linking the activity to the next one.
Review and proofread completed task for errors
Errors and mistakes are a common aspect of any work; it is, therefore, important for individuals to review their work for errors and mistakes. Work review helps in saving the time of having to revise the job or correct mistakes after someone else notices the mistakes. There should be enough time allocation to reviewing the tasks completed to ensure that quality work is done. It is essential for individuals to create enough time and deadline to ensure that the entire task and activities get reviewed for errors. A final compilation of all the activities done by different individuals or at different levels should be considered. One needs to go through each and every activity to check for mistakes and errors at this stage. The final work should be assessed to find out whether the different activities done separately align to each other and if they give the intended outcome. A focus on the main subject of study or the purpose of activity should be considered in the review and editing of the final work.
Evaluation
Assessing how a time management process worked is essential to find out areas that need to be improved. A good evaluation criterion entails all aspects that are supposed to be completed for quality and timely work.
Conclusion
Time management is essential in ensuring completion of tasks within a particular duration in an organized manner. Time management helps individuals to do quality work without procrastination. For an effective time management, there is the need for individuals to understand the task to be attempted, this helps reduce cases of confusion when working on an activity. Putting together the required resources to complete the task and outline the steps or processes to follow in an organized manner. A list of the tasks scheduled for completion needs to be in place to help avoid cases of confusion and repetition when working on activities. Important activities should be done first followed by the less important ones. Consultation with others and assigning individuals activities based on their strengths is essential. A good working environment and time should be picked for good and timely work since different individuals work best in different conditions. Deadlines should be fixed and enough time set for proofreading, editing, and reviewing. Individuals need to have an evaluation criterion of how effective their strategy is after they have completed the intended task. Evaluation helps in pointing out the areas that pose challenges and necessary steps should be taken to work on the challenges faced in time management.
References
http://lifehacker.com/5967563/master-the-art-of-the-to-do-list-by-understanding-how-they-fail
http://teachingcommons.cdl.edu/cdip/facultyresearch/Usingdeadlinesstrategically.html
http://writing.umn.edu/sws/quickhelp/process/editing.html
http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/generic/internships/guide/choosing.aspx
http://www.briantracy.com/blog/leadership-success/how-to-delegate-the-right-tasks-to-the-right-people-effective-management-skills-for-leadership-success/
http://www.briantracy.com/blog/time-management/organizational-skills-to-do-list-prioritize-tasks/
http://www.connectionsacademy.com/blog/posts/2014-01-10/How-Students-Can-Achieve-Goals-by-Setting-Deadlines.aspx
http://www.gearfire.net/7-important-factors-in-choosing-a-good-work-environment/
http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/time-management.html
http://www.time-management-guide.com/prioritizing.html
https://blog.bufferapp.com/your-bodys-best-time-for-everything-how-to-eat-sleep-and-work-more-efficiently
https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/editing_proofreading.php
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/time-management-mistakes.htm
https://zapier.com/blog/task-management-strategies/
Jones, G., & George, J. (2015). Contemporary management. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Rigby, D., &Bilodeau, B. (2015). Management Tools & Trends 2015. London, Bain & Company.
