FAQ on Time Management

FAQ (Frequently asked questions) on Time Management

* Whats the main thing which Time management stresses on?
Time mgmt. stresses on direction not on speed.

*From which paradigm I should carry out my activities?
Study shows that most successful man in the world operates from Importance paradigm not from Urgency paradigm.

*Which are the four quadrants of TM & in which quadrant I should spend most of my time?
There are 4 quadrants of TM based on type of activities:
Q1 - Important, Urgent
Crises, Meetings, Deadline driven projects, Pressing problems
Q2 - Important, Non - urgent
Preparation, prevention, planning, Values clarification, Relationship building, True recreation, Empowerment
Q3 - Non Imp., Urgent
Interruptions, phone calls, some meetings, some mails, some reports, many proximate, pressing matters,Many popular activities
Q4 - Non Imp., Non - Urgent
Trivia, busywork, Excessive TV, Time wasters, Escape activities, some phone calls, Irrelevant mails.

You should spend most of time in Q2.

Q1 : You can't ignore activities which falls under Q1 like meetings, phone calls & other important & urgent work but you should be smart enough in identifying your activity whether it really falls under Q1 or Q3.
Q2 basically comprises of all main activities like planning, prevention, controlling, learning, building relationships etc.
Q3 : This is the quadrant which comprises of activities which are urgent but not important. People who are urgency addicted they consider those activities as Q1 & by thinking these are first things (which are not first in reality) they spends unnecessary amount of time doing that. If you want to increase time in Q2 activities then you should try to get it by reducing Q3 activities.
Q4 : This is the quadrant which comprises of activities which doesn't help at all in our growth. So we should try to bring it down to 0%. When a person works more from urgency paradigm he tries to get relax by escaping to Q4 activities like watching T.V., reading & sending unnecessary emails etc. There are more better ways for renewal & we should follow those constructive renewals.

*How much time successful & non successful industries spent in each quadrant?
Successful -> 20-25% in Q1, 65-80% in Q2, 15% in Q3, less than 1% in Q4 Non Successful -> 25-30% in Q1, 15% in Q2, 50-60% in Q3, 2-3% in Q4

*What are the 4 basic needs of human being?
Physical,Social,Mental & Spiritual are four basic needs. In other way it means to live, to love, to learn & to leave legacy.

*What are the 4 endowments of human being?
Conscience,Independent will,Creative Imagination & Self awareness. Highest level of Q2 activities are those which nurtures & empowers your these 4 endowments.

*Which are the two keystones out of 4 needs & endowments?
Contribution (To leave legacy) & conscience - These are most important because they provide meaning to and energize the others.

*Which are the two stumbling blocks?
Discouragement - which comes as a result of living life on illusion rather than principles. Pride - Pride in living, Pride in loving, Pride in learning & Pride in leaving a legacy. If you are doing activities just to nurture your pride then its just cotton candy satisfaction. When you are doing the things after finding real meaning to it then it will be long lasting.

*What should be the vision of my life?
As per fourth generation of TM, to live a quality of life you should have a vision which can satisfy your all 4 needs. As we know this we can not accomplish with a single role so you should identify your different roles in life & in all the roles you should have a vision which is based on values of principles.

*How can I acquire this final vision?
To acquire this final vision you should have weekly goals in your different roles. You should identify which are the first Q2 things I should carry out in next week which can lead me to my final vision in each role. Some of your most important roles are as personal development, As professional at work, As family member, As friend, Member of Society etc.

*What is the best vision out of all visions?
Raising vision in others

*Shall I go for daily planning or weekly planning?
Fourth genertion TM recommends Weekly planning is better than daily planning.

*Why balance of roles is important & maximum around how many roles I should plan out my goals in a week?
Balance of roles help in reducing stress & it also helps in satisfying all 4 needs. It doesn't mean that you should plan out your weekly goals in each role but depending on circumstaces you should try to cover goals in all roles. You should not plan goals for more than 7 roles in a week.

*What are the three circles & where I should utilise my time?
Outer circle is circle of concernInner to that is circle of InfluenceInner most circle is centre of Focus. Study shows that people who are most successful spends most amount of time in centre of Focus. Which automatically increses their circle of influence.

*Shall I spend time in producing or in increasing capacity to produce?
Society & People judges you from what you are producing. They are interested in final results. So you can't ignore producing but you should also realise that our ability of producing gets directly affected by the amount of time we spend in increasing our capacity to produce. So a proper balance is needed between two.e.g. you are spending specific amount of time with people to build relationhips. This is an act of producing. When you spend certain amount of time in learning ways to win friends & influence people (An act of increasing capacity to produce) then you will be able to build reltionships with people in less time & more effectively.

*Shall I prioritize my schedule or schedule the priorities?
You should schedule your priorities to continue working from importance paradigm.

*Shall I treat people as interruptions & continue what I'm doing to stick to the schedule?
No. Fourth generation TM suggests to operate from paradigm of building relationship with people.

*How should I categorize my weekly goals?
You can categorize it as Determinant goals & Perhaps goals. At any cost you should try to accomplish your determinant goals to keep the commitments to your self & to maintain courage. Perhaps goals are the one which you may or may not achieve depending on any other higher priorities come in the week.

*How can I achieve multiple goals in short time?
By doing multiple activities parallely. e.g u identify Health improvement & building relationship with son as 2 goals of week. You can achieve both things together by taking your son along with you while going for exercise.

*Which are tools available for orgnizing my activities?
Digital Organizer (Sharp 128kb)Software tools like MS Outlook

*Related website?
www.covey.com

*Books on time management?
"First things first" by Stephen Covey (NY Times best selling book)