Introduction Dealing with problems

7.3 Managing your time 157 Figure 7.2 The time management process The time management process, shown in Figure 7.2, is similar to the concept of personal development planning PDP, briefly mentioned in Chapter 3 as an aid to project selection. In recent years, PDP has been promoted and supported by higher education institutions. PDP is about identifying your aims in terms of personal devel- opment, putting a plan in place to achieve these aims and monitoring your progress as you strive towards those goals – much like the time management process introduced here. For further information, the Higher Education Academy provides some useful material on personal development planning, including case studies, newsletters, surveys and links to other PDP web sites see, for example, Higher Education Academy, 2008. Each of the stages of the time management process will now be addressed in turn before some specific ideas are introduced that can help you improve your use of time.

7.3.2 Decide what you want to do

The first stage of successful time management is to decide exactly what you want to achieve in terms of goals and objectives. Most time management texts and courses will recommend that you identify both your short- and long-term goals as part of this process. Short-term goals represent those things you want to achieve during the following year. Long-term goals stretch much further into your future, such as five, ten or twenty years hence. For the purposes of this book, the main focus is your short-term goals and it is assumed that completing your project is one of these goals. It is far easier to categorise your goals according to their different types, rather than just attempting to identify broad objectives. Ferner 1995: 11 defines four categories you can use to identify your goals: Work Goals, Family Goals, Community Goals: and Self Goals. Thus, if you were to categorise your goals for the year ahead, they might include targets such as: Work Goals Complete my degree with at least an upper second Family Goals Spend more time with my partner Start a family Teach my children to swim Visit my parents at least five times this year Community Goals Help out at the local youth club Train the local football team Do a sponsored walk for charity Self Goals Achieve grade 5 piano Get my golf handicap down to 10 Learn to swim