Time Management Workbook
This workbook is a companion to the video training available at http://ncu.attackyourday.net.
You will need at least 30 minutes a day for 5 consecutive days to complete this workbook. The entire
workbook, including viewing the video, will take you approximately 10 hours to complete, so plan
accordingly.
You will upload this entire workbook for your Mentor. Your content grade will be based on evidence
that you completed the training; there are no right or wrong answers.
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Time Management Workbook
Before you get started, please answer these questions. Be honest with yourself.
1. Have you completed a formal time management training course in the past?
If yes, what program?
Yes
No
2. Do you have a plan for scheduling the 10-15 hours per week you will need to engage in learning
activities?
Yes
No
Maybe
3. On a scale from 1-7, how effective do you think you are at managing your time, with 1 being not
at all effective, 3 somewhat effective, and 7 completely effective? Select the choice that is
closest to where you are now.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Not at all-------------------------------------Somewhat------------------------------------Completely
4. Thinking about the last 30 days, how frequently have you experienced anxiety or stress due to
not having enough time to get everything done?
1-never
2-occasionally
3-frequently
4-most days
If you have not yet watched the Welcome! video, please do so now.
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5-every day
Time Management Workbook
Introduction Section
Watch the Introduction Video (Duration 9:15)
Completed
1. This workshop will teach you 5 skills: Choosing, Arranging, Flexicuting, Tracking and Focus.
Which skill are you most interested in learning and why?
2. What time management tools do you currently use?
3. Do you consider yourself a multi-tasker?
Yes
No
Sometimes
4. Do you currently start each day with an action list or to-do list?
Yes
No
Sometimes
MENTOR’S COMMENTS/FEEDBACK
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Time Management Workbook
Track Your Time
Track your time for two days
Day One
Day Two
Once you have watched the introductory video, track your time for two consecutive days. Do this
before watching the next video. You will find the time tracking worksheets at the back of this
workbook in the Appendix: Track Your Investment of Time (note that you cannot type information
into these sheets). Please print them and carry them with you filling them in throughout your day.
You will not turn these into your Mentor, but the exercise does need to be completed in order to
answer other questions in the workbook.
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Time Management Workbook
Choosing
Watch the Skill of Choosing Video (Duration 10:51)
Completed
This video focuses on the skill of choosing. You will be asked to write down events that fit in different
categories (red, green, yellow, and gray). The video asks you to consider work and personal domains.
If you are not in the workforce, then focus on the personal domain (after all, continuing your
education is a personal goal!).
1. Write down as many RED activities (true urgencies) that you can imagine in 3 minutes.
2. Write down as many GREEN activities (go here) that you can imagine in 3 minutes.
3. Write down as many YELLOW activities (caution - reschedule) that you can imagine in 3
minutes.
4. Write down at least 3 GRAY activities (time wasters) that you can remove from your life and
free up more time for your course work.
5. Refer to your time tracking sheets and designate each activity you tracked as red, green, yellow
or gray. Add up the amount of time you spent in each color for both days and then divide by 2
to get an “average” over the 2 days. Input your results in hours:
RED GREEN YELLOW GRAY 6. How do you think coloring your choices will help free up the time you will need for pursuing
your degree?
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Time Management Workbook
MENTOR’S COMMENTS/FEEDBACK
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Time Management Workbook
Arranging
Watch the Skill of Arranging Video (Duration 8:33)
Completed
This video focuses on the skill of arranging. You might want to download and print the handout
(Interruptions Filter Question) in the downloads tab and hang it in a few visible places.
1. List 5 activities currently on your to-do list and color them.
Activity:
Activity:
Activity:
Activity:
Activity:
Priority Color:
Priority Color:
Priority Color:
Priority Color:
Priority Color:
2. Commit to planning your day. What is your plan? (include the time management tool you will
use, when you will plan your day, etc).
3. Plan your day for the next 3 days. You can use the Activity Game available as a PDF download
under the Arranging video and Downloads tab, or any time management tool you already use.
You will not turn this into your Mentor. Once you have planned your day for 3 consecutive days
using your new time management skills, write a short reflection on this exercise for your
Mentor here.
4. Now, look over for the next month and write down the due dates and corresponding dates and
times you will be preparing for the next 3 activities. Submit your plan here.
NOTE: you do not need to wait until you have tracked your time for 3 days before moving
onto the next videos.
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Time Management Workbook
MENTOR’S COMMENTS/FEEDBACK
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Time Management Workbook
Flexicute
Watch the Skill of Flexicute Video (Duration 8:45)
Completed
This video focuses on the skill of flexicuting: being willing to leave your activity list.
The video will instruct you to download and fill out a time management style worksheet. That
worksheet appears below for your convenience.
Time Management Styles: Are you polychronic, monochronic, or a combination?
When and how you plan your academic activities depends upon necessity, practicality, efficiency, and
spontaneity discussed in the Skill of Arranging, as well as your personal style of doing things. These
styles range from highly structured (monochronic) to highly unstructured (polychronic).
Instructions: Check one choice below for each numbered pair that represents your dominant style,
even though you may do both on occasion. Then add the number of checks in each column and enter
the number at the bottom of each column.
Monochronic Style
Task oriented
Do activities in a linear manner
Socially reserved
Limited expression of feeling
& emotions
Focus on structure & systems
Individually oriented
Formal
Direct
Fixed
Focused on the goal
Total:
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Polychronic Style
Relationship oriented
Do several activities simultaneously
Socially expressive
Open expression of feelings & emotions
Focus on trust, communication, respect
Group oriented
Informal
Indirect
Flexible
Focused on the process
Total:
Time Management Workbook
1. Beware of multi-tasking! This video introduces the concept of time contamination. It will be
difficult, if not impossible; to complete your program if you allow yourself to contaminate the
time you spend on your learning activities. You must be 100% present and fully engaged while
you are working on your course activities. Write a reflection on the concept of time
contamination.
MENTOR’S COMMENTS/FEEDBACK
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Time Management Workbook
Tracking
Watch the Skill of Tracking Video (Duration 10:19)
Completed
This video explains the need for “buckets”.
1. Take time to decide how you are going to track your time, or how you might modify the method
you already use (i.e. electronic application or paper and pencil method, or a combination of
both). Decide how many buckets you need and name them.
2. Explain your tracking system here.
MENTOR’S COMMENTS/FEEDBACK
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Focus
Watch the Skill of Focus Video (Duration 7:56)
Completed
This video focuses on the skill of knowing when to say “No.” The video asks you to download the
Focus Breakers exercise. It has been included here in your workbook for your convenience.
Focus Breakers
Self-Imposed, Internally Motivated Focus Breakers
Start learning to focus by taking a personal inventory of the negative activities that cause you to break
your focus.
Instructions: Look carefully over the following list of self-imposed, internally-motivated focus
breakers, and put a check mark by the ones you do that break your ability to stay focused.
Insufficient planning
Surfing the net
Getting lost in details
Ineffective delegation
Arguing
Procrastination
Your own errors
Your need to over-control
Poorly defined goals
Failure to anticipate events or changes
Socializing
Attempting to do too much
Preoccupation
Unwillingness to say “no”
Lack of self-discipline
Failure to prioritize
Failure to listen carefully
Unrealistic time estimates
Misplacing or losing items
Responding to counterfeit urgency
Have some focus breakers not on the list? Add additional focus breakers below.
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Time Management Workbook
External Focus Breakers
Now, what about all the focus breaker activities that are externally motivated? These are the activities
we are often sucked into that cause us to break our focus as well as make us feel irritated and
frustrated.
Can we say no to all of those? Not really, but to many of them we can. First, complete the following
assessment. Check the Externally Motivated Focus Breakers you encounter most often.
Meetings
Delayed decisions
Computer problems
Errors by others
Frequent visits (drop-ins)
Poor definition of tasks or problems
Understaffing
Unclear roles
Conflicting priorities
Changing instructions, priorities
Delayed work
Inappropriate use of email, voicemail, etc.
Poor communication
Telephone calls
Lengthy visits
Unclear lines of authority
Lack of feedback
Ongoing incompetence
Emotional conflicts
Have some focus breakers not on the list? Add additional focus breakers below.
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Time Management Workbook
1. List three internally imposed focus breakers and then revise them to make them focus makers;
which one will you focus on first?
2. Pick three external focus breakers that you will need to resolve while you are working on your
degree. List all three and then pick one and explain your plan for resolving it.
3. The video offers strategies for exercising your “no” muscle: Refusal statement, delay tactic,
helping hand approach. Think of a situation that will likely occur in the next month that may
interrupt your coursework time and how you can say no. Explain the situation and your plan
here.
MENTOR’S COMMENTS/FEEDBACK
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Time Management Workbook
Conclusion
Watch the Conclusion Video (Duration 4:27)
Completed
This program introduced you to 5 skills related to time management. But, these skills are skills you
will need to practice to truly tame the time management beast! Consider signing up for weekly
productivity strategies. You can do this by clicking on the “Subscribe to Productivity Strategies”
link under the Productivity Strategies tab. These are emails that will remind you to practice the
skills of Choosing, Arranging, Flexicuting, Tracking, and Focus.
READ THE PRODUCTIVITY STRATEGIES IN THE PRODUCTIVE STRATEGIES TAB
1. Pick three strategies you will likely use while completing your degree and list their numbers
here.
You have decided to aim high and complete a higher degree. You will need the support and
understanding of your family, friends, and co-workers to eventually cross that finish line.
2. Draft an email to people that will be impacted by your new time management techniques
(family, friends, co-workers) explaining your new time management strategies. You might want
to explain that there will times, that unless something is a RED, you might not be able to attend
to it. You might want to share a productivity strategy with them as well. It would also be
prudent to thank them in advanced for supporting you during this journey (which will last
years).
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Time Management Workbook
Now that you have completed formal time management training, please answer these questions.
1. Do you have a plan for scheduling the 10-15 hours per week you will need to engage in learning
activities?
Yes
No
Maybe
2. On a scale from 1-7, how effective do you think you are at managing your time, with 1 being not
at all effective, 3 somewhat effective, and 7 completely effective? Select the choice that is
closest to where you are now.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Not at all--------------------------------Somewhat------------------------------------Completely
3. Since completing the program, how frequently do you think you will experience anxiety or
stress due to not having enough time to get everything done?
1-never
2-occasionally
3-frequently
4-most days
5-every day
4. Did you learn new skills that you think will be beneficial to you as you integrate going back to
school into your life?
Yes
No
Too soon to tell
MENTOR’S COMMENTS/FEEDBACK
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Time Management Workbook
Activities can easily be tracked using the Activity Record. This tool is unique in its simplicity.
Instructions:
Put a mark next to the time you begin the first activity of the day. Do not write in the description until
you have completed it and you are ready to move on to the next one.
As you transition from one activity to the next, simply put another mark on the line next to the time
your completed the activity and, in the space provided, describe in a word or two what the activity
was. At the end of the day you’ll have an accurate history of which type of activities consumed your
time and energy throughout the day.
Do this for two days. Once you have viewed the Skill of Choosing Video, you will be instructed to
color code the activity– RED, GREEN, YELLOW, or GRAY.
Guidelines:
•
•
•
•
Carry the activity record with you and fill it out as soon as you complete an activity (note: you
will not input your notes into your workbook, but will need to complete this activity to answer
questions in the workbook).
Be honest with yourself. Making up details won’t serve your purpose.
List interruptions and assign them a color, too.
Do not rely on your memory; mark the activity record at the completion of every activity.
Average:
After completing this activity for two days, add up the amount of time (in minutes) you spent in each
color. Then average these times over the 2 days and round your average to the nearest hour. You will
enter this data into your workbook.
Day 1:
Red ______ Green ______ Yellow ______ Gray ______
Day 2:
Red ______ Green ______ Yellow ______ Gray ______
Total Time: Red ______ Green ______ Yellow ______ Gray ______
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Time Management Workbook
Track Your Investment of Time
Event / Activity
R G
DATE: _________________
Y
GY
Event / Activity
5:00
3:00
5:15
3:15
5:30
5:45
6:00
6:15
6:30
6:45
7:00
7:15
7:30
7:45
8:00
8:15
8:30
8:45
9:00
9:15
9:30
9:45
10:00
10:15
10:30
10:45
11:00
11:15
11:30
11:45
12:00
12:15
12:30
12:45
1:00
1:15
1:30
1:45
2:00
2:15
2:30
2:45
3:30
3:45
4:00
4:15
4:30
4:45
5:00
5:15
5:30
5:45
6:00
6:15
6:30
6:45
7:00
7:15
7:30
7:45
8:00
8:15
8:30
8:45
9:00
9:15
9:30
9:45
10:00
10:15
10:30
10:45
11:00
11:15
11:30
11:45
12:00
12:15
12:30
12:45
STOP
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R G Y
GY
Time Management Workbook
Track Your Investment of Time
Event / Activity
R G
DATE: _________________
Y
GY
Event / Activity
5:00
3:00
5:15
3:15
5:30
5:45
6:00
6:15
6:30
6:45
7:00
7:15
7:30
7:45
8:00
8:15
8:30
8:45
9:00
9:15
9:30
9:45
10:00
10:15
10:30
10:45
11:00
11:15
11:30
11:45
12:00
12:15
12:30
12:45
1:00
1:15
1:30
1:45
2:00
2:15
2:30
2:45
3:30
3:45
4:00
4:15
4:30
4:45
5:00
5:15
5:30
5:45
6:00
6:15
6:30
6:45
7:00
7:15
7:30
7:45
8:00
8:15
8:30
8:45
9:00
9:15
9:30
9:45
10:00
10:15
10:30
10:45
11:00
11:15
11:30
11:45
12:00
12:15
12:30
12:45
STOP
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R G Y
GY
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