Time Management

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In order to prioritise these tasks I create an important and urgent quadrant template and divide my tasks for the day between the four quadrants. I nominate all of my delegated tasks as important with little regard for the urgency aspect. An obstacle I faced while using this matrix was that I only begin doing the very important and less urgent tasks after all others are completed, leaving a very restricted time period in which the important tasks must be completed.

Regarding meetings and appointments I created an open schedule and planner between myself and my manager this way we can both see what the other has planned each day. I find this particularly useful as if I am attending a meeting that my manager has forgotten to tell me about I am still aware and prepared on time. In Aryzta there are both national and international projects, meaning that my manager cannot attend each meeting. In this case she can check the schedule and, without delay, send me to a meeting if she is unavailable.

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STEP 3

Make a couple of recommendations / resolutions for your future work practices and / or those of your team, based on your experience over of the last few weeks.

(Approximately 333 words)

In order to improve my application of an effective time management technique I will change two particular areas that have hindered my success in time management.

When using the important and urgent matrix for delegated tasks, it is important, to always enquire as to their level of urgency and importance. I determined this myself and sometimes it may not have always been the correct decision.

Another consideration to be taken into account is energy levels throughout a working day and when one is most productive. I found that I was planning to complete high importance projects in the late afternoon when my energy levels were low and I was not as productive as perhaps earlier in the morning. I would recommend planning important and more challenging tasks in the morning or immediately after a lunch break when productivity and energy levels are at their highest.

A factor that I personally did not take into account was allowing approximately 15-20 minutes extra for tasks in order to translate written work into either French or English depending on the context. As Aryzta France works regularly with the other relevant European countries we require a large amount of our work to be translated in both languages.

With all things considered I am happy with the progress I have made in tackling an effective time management technique. I will continue to use this technique daily, making adjustments in order to better deal with the dynamic environment in which I work.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Claesson, B.J.C. Van Eerde, W. Rutte, C.G. and Roe, R.A. (2009) Things to Do Today...: A Daily Diary Study on Task Completion at Work. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL REVIEW 59 (2), pp. 273-295.

Tu, Y. and Soman, D. (2014) The Categorization of Time and Its Impact on Task Initiation. JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH 41, pp. 810-822.

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