Time management

Good time management is vital for researchers. Sometimes it can feel almost impossible to do everything that we need to do. Time management skills can help us to regain control over our work and focus on doing the things that will have the most impact.

What should I be spending my time on?

The first step towards effective time management is knowing what you should be spending time on. So first, clarify your priorities.

Speak to your line manager to find out what they expect of you in relation to your project. Find out what their priorities are. Make sure you know which areas are your responsibility, and which are someone else’s – and let the ‘someone else’ deal with the areas which are not down to you.

Don’t forget that you will have long-term priorities, as well as more urgent ones – including your career development and ambitions for the future. A good line manager will help you find the time to address these priorities too.

How can I plan my time?

The key to effective time management is prioritisation – to make sure that everything that is important gets done at the right time.

Have a look at the Planning Table below. Make a list of all the things you have to do, and put each one in one of the boxes.

There is a difference between ‘important’ and ‘urgent’! To decide if a task is important, ask yourself:

• Is it helping me achieve the aims of my research?
• Is it helping me achieve my goals for my career?

If the answer to either question is ‘no’, the job might not be as important as you think it is.

The real skill in time management is to reach the point where you are doing the important things BEFORE they become urgent!

• The list in the do box should get smaller as you get better at time management
• Jobs in the delay box should only be delayed while there are things in the do box. Make sure that delays are not long, to avoid these jobs becoming urgent!
• If you can, find someone else to do the jobs in the delegate box. Or you could try ‘dumping’ them, to see how important they really are
• The dump box can take some willpower. There may be jobs here that you have to set aside, even if you really want to do them.

Time wasting activities

If you are concerned about poor time management, try keeping a log of the different tasks you do during the course of a day, or a week, and how long you spend on each activity. This will help you to identify where you are ‘losing’ time, and whether you are letting other activities get in the way of your priorities.

Other sources of ‘lost’ time can be: disorganisation, so that you are reacting to jobs that come along rather than planning how and when to tackle them; poor communication, so you don’t have the information to do the job properly; and failure to set objectives and deadlines, so that your work is not focused.

Time management tips

• Set clear objectives for each area of your work
• Devote time to planning as well as ‘doing’
• Work backwards from deadlines. Identify the key stages and then make a daily/weekly plan of what needs to be done, and when
• Use a diary, personal organiser or online calendar to help record your plan
• Split large tasks into smaller, more manageable sections
• Manage other people’s expectations of you. Learn to say ‘no’. Developing your assertiveness skills may help
• Do one thing at a time
• Develop a good filing system (paper-based and electronic) so that you don’t waste time looking for information
• Don’t respond to email as soon as it arrives. Check your email at set times of the day and make sure that you can accommodate new tasks into your plan
• Keep your desk tidy
• Reward yourself. Give yourself a small incentive, to motivate you into getting important tasks done.

Using your ‘highs and lows’

Most people have times of day when their concentration is at its best, and other times when it is at a low ebb. If you are a ‘morning person’ or a ‘night person’, it is best to tackle those activities that require the greatest brainpower at the times when your brain is working most effectively. There is no sense in struggling with a high-concentration task at a time of day when your brain isn’t receptive, so use these times for more routine activities, or those which require physical rather than mental effort.

What if things go wrong?

Identify what went wrong and plan to do things differently next time. Your time management will improve as you learn to prioritise, set achievable goals and review progress.