Taming of the clock

Take a look at these web resources on scheduling and time management and get organized.

By Russ Kratowicz, executive editor

PlantServices.com

Are you down in the dumps, suffering from an abject case of time poverty? Does it seem like you're always getting flogged for something you didn't do? Are you working faster but getting behinder? Is that what's bothering you, bunky? Well, there is now something you can do about this cruel outcome.
This month, we chronicle another journey into the morass we call the Web in search of free, non-commercial, registration-free resources that gives you, the user, solid information about getting ahead of schedule and staying there. One caveat: If you really are so short of time, you probably shouldn't be wasting your time reading this column.

Back to basics
College is the fountain of knowledge, and everyone goes there to drink...or, so goes the old saw. Nevertheless, it's was supposed to be during one's college years that we were expected to get a grip on reality and prepare ourselves for a lucrative lifetime career as an overworked, underappreciated, underpaid wage slave. That's why time management is a skill that students could do well to acquire. If you didn't so it then, now might be the ideal time to learn the time skills relevant to a simpler time, and build from there. The kind folks at the Counseling and Development Centre at York University in Toronto offer tips and ideas about the fine art of clock taming in a document titled Time Management for University Students. It's available in two formats--HTML and PDF. Reading the former option is a click-intensive effort with typical load times. We are, after all, trying to get control of our time. That is why I advise using the PDF choice. Doing so will give you a 23-page document to cherish for all time. Visit www.yorku.ca/cdc/lsp/tm/time.htm for your very own copy.

If you know college students who are having trouble getting with the expectations, you might suggest they also follow the link to Return to Learning Skills Program Homepage at the bottom of the page. That will take them to even more material covering reading, note taking, exam tips and tips for reducing stress.

If you go to www.webshops.uoguelph.ca/learningtime/, you will find Learning Time, a compendium of information, strategies, suggestions and advice to resolve time management issues commonly faced by experienced university students. This site is brought to you by the good folks at the Learning Commons at the University of Guelph, Ontario.

"Links to a Better Education" is a Web page that goes with a chemistry class taught by Bob Jacobs at Wilton High School, Wilton, Conn. Go to http://www.chemistrycoach.com/lbe4.htm and click on the phrase "Time Management" to access a series of links to time management ideas from various institutions of higher learning around the country. Without a doubt, there is a lot of duplication in the content, but it's another free resource. And what do you expect for free?

Procrastination is now passe
If you still haven't gotten started on this temporal renewal of your lifestyle, the folks at the University of California, Berkeley can fire you up. They provide two concise pieces about getting to the career success that lies just beyond Procrastination Mountain. The Seven Day Procrastination Plan is found at http://students.berkeley.edu/slc/CalRen/procrastination.html and Techniques To Manage Procrastination is at http://students.berkeley.edu/slc/CalRen/procrastechniques.html. Now you have another tool. Use it.

Life in the big leagues
There is a Web page that gives down-and-dirty ways executives can tame the beast, with ideas such as keeping track of what you do during the day, avoiding getting trapped doing the work of subordinates, scheduling appointments and projects, and monitoring the activities of your staff. Personal Time Management for Busy Managers is the work of Dr Gerard M Blair, former Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, now with Hewlett-Packard in Fort Collins, Colo. This document can be found at www.ee.ed.ac.uk/~gerard/Management/art2.html.

Following closely on the heals of the good Dr. Blair are the folks at Mind Tools Ltd. in Horsham, West Sussex. The company's document, How to get the most out of your time, is a richly interlinked work with much in the way of genuine no-cost, registration-free content. I must warn you, however, of one drawback. Although each page of the document has content, the bulk of the lower half of each page is devoted to the advertising of books related to time management. If you avoid reading down the page too far, you'll be okay. Check out the content at www.mindtools.com/page5.html.

Be a paragon of productivity
Getting your schedule under control is only one remedy for that terrible feeling that you are behind. If you are going to make any forward progress once you tame the time monster, you'll need to be productive. Otherwise, you will have gone through a great effort and merely end up with a lot of free time on your hands. So, get off your duff and become productive using some of the principles espoused by David Allen, a management consultant, productivity coach and educator. His Web site is at http://www.davidco.com/. The two best places to click when you get there are "Gear, Tips & Tools" and "Food For Thought." You can learn some shortcut keystrokes for Mr. Bill's ubiquitous software menagerie, how to organize your workspace, how to deal with lists and much more.