1 Introduction

Most first line managers probably feel they have too many things to do. How is it possible to know how to apportion time appropriately? Is it best to do the easy things first, or the important things, or the urgent things? How can we decide?

'Dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of'. Benjamin Franklin, The Way to Wealth (1757).

In this session of the workbook, we'll start by looking at the decision process itself. Next, briefly, the subject will be 'timing' rather than 'time', for it's important to get the timing of a decision right.

We will then go on to examine the typical demands made on our time and who makes them.

After that the discussion turns to habits good ones and bad ones.

The rest of this session is devoted to a clever device called a time management grid, which should help you decide just how urgent and important a particular job is.