Review of Article on Time Management: Effectiveness and Limitations

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Assignment: 1

Review of article on Time Management: Meaning and Its Importance
Time is both limited and valuable and it is therefore very important to manage time effectively.
Time management can be viewed as a way of monitoring and controlling time (e.g. Patrick
Forsyth,2013). Poor time management often result in delays, incomplete tasks and quality issues
with the tasks (Chase.et.al.2013). The article covers in the detail the meaning time management
and a number of suggestions to manage the time effectively. The article however does not cover
in detail the importance on time management and benefits of it. Before we get into evaluating
various suggestions on time management let us first understand the importance of time
management and its benefits.
Benefits of time management far outweigh the work required to manage it effectively. It enables
individuals to prioritize the activities and tasks. Research have indicated that managing time
effectively reduces the stress and anxiety level. It helps one become more organized. People who
stick to plan and follow effective time management often realize their goals and objectives in
shortest span. It helps reduce rework by being more organized. It helps individuals to save time
and less waste of time thereby providing additional time to focus personal development. It makes
individuals more disciplined and punctual.
The author of the article has presented a number of suggestions which can be effective in time
management however the article assumes that the workplace environment and the culture is
suitable for planning one’s day and employees are empowered to be able to say “no” when
needed. In practice, however, these assumptions might not hold true and it might not be possible
to plan one’s workday because managers, or the workflow procedures determine the order and
timing of activities. In other words, jobs where autonomy is low and the organizational culture is
not supportive enough the suggested time management techniques might not work completely.
The article does not comment or cover any point of view in such scenarios.
Effective planning indeed is an important element for time management. The author highlights
the importance of preparing to-do lists and task plans basis the time activity. Many studies (e.g.
Patrick Forsyth, 2013) have suggested these simple remedies of writing work plans and creating
“to-do- lists” in order to manage time effectively and increase job performance. However,
planning for activities and tasks not always lead to the completion of the planned work more
prominently in cases when the time pressure is high. A careful balance of time allocated in
planning and preparing lists and actions is therefore needed in time pressure situations. But no
matter what, a certain level of planning and prioritization is definitely a right way of time

management. It is often suggested to use a planning tool capturing all tasks in priority sequence,
schedules, completion status etc.
Setting goals and working towards defined milestones is often a key requirement to be successful
in any tasks. The article clearly highlights this as an important technique to manage time
effectively. Many authors such as Richard Walsh, 2015 have inferred this to be an effective
technique. The article mentions that the targets which one sets should be realistic and achievable
however this is often not rue and is not in control of the person in many situations. For scenarios
where the goals ae top down and individuals have a lesser say on what is realistic and achievable.
The article makes a very generic assumption that individuals have a free say in defining and
deciding their goals and time within which those should be completed.
As rightly discussed in the article it is very important to distinguish between what is important
and what is urgent (Richard Walsh, 2015). A 2 by 2-time management Matrix categorizing the
tasks into four buckets under: Important, not important, urgent and not urgent. Usually most
important tasks are not the most urgent ones and we often end up spending time in working on
urgent tasks losing the sight of what is important. While it is important to prioritize important
and urgent activities first, the framework suggests that we should spend lesser time on tasks
which are not important (irrespective of their urgency) and prioritize important activities first.
Having clarity of what is important and urgent in terms for tasks is very crucial technique and
prioritizing them basis their importance has a positive impact on deliverables.
Setting deadlines is a very important technique to keep one focused. It is often a good practice to
break every task into smaller number of milestones and set deadlines for each of the milestones.
While the article discussed that the person himself is the best judge of the timeline it might not
always be true and many times the deadlines are top down where a person might not have much
say to define the deadlines as per his/her judgement. But no matter who sets the deadlines it is
very important that there are deadlines defined for each task and one should track the completion
activities as per deadlines and should strive to complete tasks as ahead of deadlines.
Delegation is also one of the very effective techniques to ensure both 1) No single individual
ends up doing everything 2) Tasks are assigned basis the individual expertise and everyone is
equally involved in task completions.
The author has done great job presenting some the very relevant suggestion in time management
on top of what is presented the following additional techniques can also be helpful:

Limit Multi-tasking: Psychological studies (Rubinsteim et al, 2014) have shown that multi-
tasking often reduces productivity and does not help save time. Multi-tasking therefore should be
avoided and concentration and focus should be maintained on single task at a go.
Reduce Distractions: Avoiding any distractions which can affect the work negatively is very
important. Such distractions often result in lose focus and commitment. While working therefore
it is often very important to avoid any external distractions. For e.g. one should not take phone
calls or check mails check mails while in the middle of something important. Similarly, it is
always a good idea to all meetings are planned in advance and you are not abruptly pulled into
meetings which disturbs your schedule.

References:
 Chase, J.A.D., Topp, R., Smith, C.E., Cohen, M.Z., Fahrenwald, N., Zerwic, J.J., Benefield,
L.E., Anderson, C.M. and Conn, V.S.,2013. Time management strategies for research
productivity. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 35(2), pp.155-176.
 Patrick Forsyth, 2013. Successful Time Management. Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 90–93.
 Richard Walsh, 2015. Time Management: Proven Techniques for Making Every Minute Count.
Adams Media. pp. 161–163.
 Rubinsteim, J., Meyer, D. & Evans, J. (2014). Executive control of cognitive processes in task
switching. Journal of Experimental Psychology — Human Perception and Performance, 27(4),
763-797.