SLEEPING FAMILY Here are some tips Dr. Jacox recommends using to get “you” in control of your situation. © In an office move your “In” basket off your desk so you won't stop and look every time something is dropped into it. You control when you look in your “In” basket and do it only once a day. ee nwasivr a 2976 Write replies to letters on the letter you just received, saving much explanation time and filing time. Limit yourself to one sentence replies where possible, minimize details, use outlines. WORKING & RECREATION 2340 - 936 Be willing to pay the price to be organized. Spend one day a month getting reorganized and 15 minutes each night refiling, reorganizing and rescheduling. = ee "Eat an elephant a piece ata time!” © Stand while talking on the telephone. You won’t talk as long. During one year people spend 34% of their time sleeping, or 2,916 hours. The next largest portion of time is 27% spent working, with 11% for family and recreation, 4% each for commuting, preparation, eating, meetings, and service and 2% reading. Then comes the six percent for “great things.” The percent that a lot of us miss out on through inefficient management of time. “Most people can’t take off 65 days work to devote to their “sreat things.” However, there are 527 hours or 65 days possible out of a year for these endeavors. Using the writing of a book as an example, Dr. Jacox pointed out that first he makes an outline of things he will need to do and an estimate of time each item will take. “If I have fifteen minutes I find something I can accomplish in that length of time - such as write a letter to a publisher or if I have two hours I skim a “Too often we look at the whole and it’s too much tackle. If you have to eat an elephant do it a piece at a time!” In the 1900’s, said Dr. Jacox, Vilfredo Pareto studied the Italian economy and discovered that 20% of the people held 80% of the wealth. Last year at an industrial engineering symposium, papers defended this concept, extending it to include production. Eighty percent of productive work is done in 20% of our time and 80% of the time is not productive. “Mathematically this means each of us can improve 16 times over what we are. This is exciting and says there is tremendous potential for every person, far beyond what we realize.” To get started on this 16 times improvement possible to us, list all time wasters you feel you can control and those which you cannot, advised Dr. Jacox. “People generally feel they can control about 40% of their time wasters. Actually it turns out that a person can control them all if they really want to.” ee —_ et i i © Have a book with you, then you need never waste time waiting for appointments, rides, airplanes etc. | © When you are waiting for a meeting to begin flip open a small notebook and work out of it. (Handy if the meeting is boring as well). Keep your watch set three minutes fast. Be early to avoid frustration. Make minutes pay in terms of relaxation, enjoyment and finding oneself. ae The key is efficient management of time. concentration, such as outline a chapter or gather data,” Dr. Jacox said. / ‘i fy © Try pushing yourself —— a past year. background reading book. When I can set aside an eight hour segment I do the tasks that really need unbroken occasionally - really press to get things out. Set short time limits to do it in. a It’s possible to “write that book” or do other great things in the six percent of your time left over after all the necessary functions of life are taken care of. Dr. Gordon Jacox, associate dean of the School of Business and Economics, proved his theory by doing just that during the © Clean off the desk and make “to do” lists in order of priority. (These tips work just as well for wives and mothers at home as for men and women working). © Learn to make decisions quickly. Make a decision, type a memo or letter, hold three days. If it’s still a wise decision move on it. If you’ve had second thoughts or better ideas you can change it but you haven’t spent three days in indecision. Delegate authority. “Using time efficiently will give you those moments necessary in which to accomplish the ‘great things’ you want to in life,” said Dr. Jacox. Page 3