A version of this infoKit is available for download as a printable version in pdf format. (The Adobe Acrobat Reader to allow viewing of pdf files is available for download here).

"Time is the scarcest resource of the manager; If it is not managed, nothing else can be managed" Peter F Drucker, (1909-2005), Management Guru

Introduction

You can't add any more hours to your day so learning to manage your time more effectively will help you plan your work more efficiently and ensure deadlines are met. Managing time effectively is a particularly crucial ingredient in successful projects. It is important to manage both your personal and professional lives because as much as you try to keep them separate they cannot help but infringe upon one another. Managing your own time will not only benefit you but those around you as well.

Within your team you will need to recognise that people work differently, some may have a structured view of working (where promptness is highly valued and most tasks are done one at a time) whereas others have a non-structured view of working (where promptness is more context related and greater emphasis is placed on multitasking). All project work requires a degree of flexibility but as a project manager you need to know when to be strict with schedules and plans and when to take a less structured approach. If your work requires you to deal with different countries then you will need to appreciate that different cultures have different perceptions of time i.e. in terms of how they view punctuality and average number of work hours.

One of the most important messages about time management is that it takes place in the present moment; the choices of how you manage your time are only available to you now.

This resource aims to help you manage your time more effectively by suggesting a number of tools and approaches that you may find applicable to your own circumstances.