Assignment 2

[jbuehler]

I have also learned this lesson during my time in admin. One of the biggest adjustments has been realizing that some things are accomplished over an expanded time period. Usually, quick actions and hard work will solve most operational tasks, but in admin a project may take months or years. I will need to better plan for long an short term goals. Thanks, JB

When I moved in to the administration area, I quickly realized managing time in the office is different than managing time on shift.  On shift, I rarely had long term items to prepare.  In the office, I had to develop other techniques to manage my time.  I found that creating a list of long and short term benchmarks helped.  I set calendar notifications to keep me reminded of items due.  Being organized and not procrastinating are key elements.  I prioritize daily, weekly, and monthly tasks.       

I typically work ahead if I’m going on vacation or will be away from the office for more than a week so that I am not bombarded with a bunch of work we I return.  However, sometimes this process back fires on me due to not having all the information I needed prior to doing the work.  It has caused me to redo work.   

Working ahead, most of the time, is beneficial.  However, making sure that I have all the information needed is critical.  Additionally, knowing things may change without having knowledge and I may have to adapt to those changes.

[kclary21]

What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively? 
I have a calendar book that I use to manage my time. I usually list what is needed to be completed on each day. It is the only way that I can visually see what needs to be done and when it is needed to be completed.

What are some of your biggest obstacles to you managing your time effectively? 
I found that unforeseen event usually disrupt my time management.  I have found that when I plan a day to complete certain goals, something will interrupt my time management. I know in this line of work, which will always play a role in time management while working toward a goal.

What can you do to remove some of these obstacles? 
I have limited the amount of goals to complete in a certain time to overcome these obstacles. I have that this leaves room for the unforeseen events throughout a day and giving more time to complete a goal.

I think it is important to limit the amount of goals or tasks that we try to accomplish in a certain amount of time.  When we try to get too much done in a short time frame, we may set ourselves up for failure.  Even with the best plans, we have to be realistic about the amount of times things will take. 

[kclary21]

What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively? 
Over the years I have found pocket calendar and not pad have been best way for me to stay organized during the day.  This allows me to look at what needs done and check off what has been done.

What are some of your biggest obstacles to you managing your time effectively?
Helping others with their projects and not continuing to work on my projects.  This happens at home just like it happens at work.  Need to make my morning routine more consistent, makes me feel more productive when my days start the same. 

What can you do to remove some of these obstacles?
Learn to achieve my daily objectives along with helping others.  Beginning my morning with a consistent routine at work and at home will help me not waste valuable time.  Writing daily plans and goals on a pocket sized not pad would be more beneficial than just writing them on an 8.5x11 note pad.

I agree with your ideas.  I use my calendar and my note pad.  That way there is a set of things to complete during the day.  I am a big believer in consistency and routines.  When my day is planned out, no matter what comes up, I can jump back into what I need to work on.  If I can't get to something, then I move it forward to the next shift. 

[Tony]

What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively? I use the Microsoft calendar to keep track of training and daily duties that need to be accomplished.  At the beginning of each shift before breakfast I sit down and figure out what are the priorities and what needs done but can wait.  I have found in the last couple years what really helps me manage my time better is figuring out what I need to do and what can be done by other members of the crew with little or no assistance from me.

What are some of your biggest obstacles to managing your time effectively?  For me the biggest obstacle to managing my time is feeling the need to be part of the crew when they are working on projects or an improvised training they have come up with.  I let this distract me from some of my things that I'm working on and end up being up at work late catching up on things that got pushed back. 

What can you do to remove some of these obstacles? Again it goes back to making sure priorities get taken care of first.  Determining what is a priority and who it's a priority for are where the obstacles come in.

[blykins]

What strategies do I use to manage my time? When riding up I like to check my Microsoft calendar and email first thing in the morning. I also like to communicate with the Battalion and find out what he wants done for the day. Once I have a list established I then begin to prioritize the tasks by time sensitivity. After the time sensitive tasks are complete I help manage the crews to complete any other tasks needed and then we can work on individuals tasks.

Some of the obstacle I face is trying to stay on task when unexpected items pop up. Keeping up with emails and daily activities is hard to keep track of some days when there is a lot going on. I need to work on staying focused on the important tasks and then keeping a list of items to be done later. Once their is time in the day I could work on the less important tasks. Another distraction is just finding myself getting involved in conversations for long periods of time that are not important.

When working with time management I need to remember to stay on task and keep organized with time frames by using lists and keeping distractions from people and other devices while at work.

I agree, trying to keep "devices" from being a distraction is hard in today's world of everything being done with electronic devices.

[NBaldridge]

What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively? I use my Microsoft calendar to help keep track of events and items I need to accomplish. I also send myself emails as reminders to do things. Often times, I will have a thought enter my head that reminds me "hey don't forget you need to do this thing". I send my self an email reminder to do it or make a plan for it. This allows me to put it out of my mind and get back to time with he family. I also recently learned about an email management system that helps to sort the things I need to do. This allows me to keep track of things that are ongoing projects.

What are some of your biggest obstacles to you managing your time effectively? One obstacle is email. It just comes in all day and constantly reminds me of other things I need to do. Even though, I have found a better way to manage them, it still interrupts my thought process. I think I need to schedule times to deal with email and not worry about them until it is the appropriate time. 

What can you do to remove some of these obstacles? As I stated above, I think I will need to schedule time for emails rather than dealing with them as they are received. I also think that more daily exercise with help to improve my thought process and energy to deal with them.

Good idea on scheduling a time for just emails.  The one problem with that is for the shift guys that sometimes there are time sensitive emails that if we don't check periodically throughout the day, we may miss a deadline due to being off for the next two or maybe six days.

[blykins]

Like most others I have an E-calendar I use.  I have set times I check my email.  I usually check first thing in the morning and right before 17:00.  I try to take breaks because I will find thoughts drifting to a different subject.  I will try to tackle my more important tasks before lunch in case other things come up that take priority.

The big issue I have is eliminating distractions.  Working in the watch office at 21s it is easy to get involved in conversation or helping coworkers with their projects.  It’s also easy once you’re distracted to fall completely off task.  I often have more than one task going on at once.  I struggle with keeping things organized.  I have found myself looking for information or notes in a giant stack of papers that I had piled up from multiple projects.

 I will often time put in headphones and turned on music.  I find it useful to be able to have the back ground noise and not get drawn into other activities in the watch office. I like the quadrant system and will definitely use this to help prioritize tasks in the future.  I will have to be more disciplined in staying organized.

Watch office is distracting, I found using the training room computer reduced distractions.

[NBaldridge]

What strategies do I use to manage my time? When riding up I like to check my Microsoft calendar and email first thing in the morning. I also like to communicate with the Battalion and find out what he wants done for the day. Once I have a list established I then begin to prioritize the tasks by time sensitivity. After the time sensitive tasks are complete I help manage the crews to complete any other tasks needed and then we can work on individuals tasks.

Some of the obstacle I face is trying to stay on task when unexpected items pop up. Keeping up with emails and daily activities is hard to keep track of some days when there is a lot going on. I need to work on staying focused on the important tasks and then keeping a list of items to be done later. Once their is time in the day I could work on the less important tasks. Another distraction is just finding myself getting involved in conversations for long periods of time that are not important.

When working with time management I need to remember to stay on task and keep organized with time frames by using lists and keeping distractions from people and other devices while at work.

The devices that make our lives sometimes more efficient are often times the distraction that makes us less efficient in the long run.

[michael.toothman]

The irony of me posting late on an assignment about time management is not lost on me. With that said, I'll still do my best to be insightful.

Strategies:  Don't take on more than you can handle.  I would rater produce a one or two high quality products than 5 or 6 that don't fulfill the need.  Ask for help if you need it.  Sometime we stuck in an area of work and need a hand.  Seek out someone who is an expert (or just knows a lot about the matter at hand ) for guidance. Prioritize.  The mission comes first.  Complete the tasks that will insure the mission we be completed and it will reduce the stress over all

Biggest obstacles: For me it would be spending too much time on the small details.  I find myself sometimes fine tuning things that are not essential and add no value to the product.

How I over come the obstacles:  Get the project or product completed and make sure it is done right.  If you have time, then go back and do the small detail stuff.  And, of course, remember your time line so you don't have to rush last minute.

[michael.toothman]

I use these strategies to manage my time, both personally and professionally:  I prioritize tasks based on the necessity and how critical they are to operations or people.  I make sure the most important things come before everything else.   I use my calendar to schedule things at work and at home.  I have a separate work and personal calendar.  I make lists.  I have a daily list and a separate list for long term items.  My daily list may include long term items, but I make one list every day.  If something is not complete, I carry that over to the next day, or I reschedule that task.  I look ahead to forecast and plan.  I get help or delegate items that people can assist me with.  I make sure I have time to take on any task that I accept.  I get assignments like everyone else, but I have to watch how much extra stuff I take on. 

Some obstacles I face in time management, and how I remove them:  I let myself get distracted.  I have to focus and decide how much time to spend on a task.  I will also get up and take a break to get refocused.  My mind will wander, and I won’t get work done.  I can get frustrated when multi-tasking.  I will schedule time in the day to do individual things.  I will set self-imposed deadlines.  I will force myself to eliminate time wasting activities, because I use these to avoid doing what I need to do.  Sometimes, I have to close the door and dedicate time to finishing a specific activity and eliminate all distractions.  I also find that sometimes the best solution is to just go ahead and do something right now, to ensure it is completed. 

As simple as many of these things sound, it can be difficult to manage time to accomplish tasks.  Always being prepared for an emergency call, along with the amount of distractions, whether from people, email, electronic devices, phones, or whatever else, it is important to find a way to manage time effectively.

It's funny that technology is your best and worst friend in keeping you focused i.e. calendar vs. e-mail

[michael.toothman]

Some of the biggest strategies I use for time management are a bit of a combination of the strategies we read about.  I use pen and paper to organize my day.  Each morning I make a list of all the task that I plan to accomplish for the shift.  These are kind of like goals for the day.  Using a modified quadrant system, I prioritize them.  I don't necessarily do the most important ones first but I do plan a time to have high priority items done by certain times.  Being able to cross off item on a list give a sense of accomplishment and also motivates you to complete more.  I also believe in a work hard play hard mentality.  This give me a reason to push myself.  By enjoying the blessings I have, I create a desire to increase them by working hard and staying focused

Personally, my biggest obstacle is myself.  It seems the more I have to complete the better I do at organizing and prioritizing them.  The less I have the more sense of free time I think I have and start losing my focus.  This is when I tend to get in trouble and not getting things accomplished.

Probably the best way for me to remove these obstacles is to develop good habits.  By creating some daily routines and staying organized, I can force my self to stay busy.  Less down time means less time without focus.

I to find clutter and lack of work space an obstacle, I have a need to clean the area before I can work.

[nullj.21]

I like your view on how to remove obstacles.  Part of this is also being ok with these interruptions.  Often times in the fire service, some peoples days are totally derailed if the plans they made are interrupted by calls.
We have to be able to juggle everything-its our job...

[astafford]

What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively?
On a daily basis I like to use a hand written list and have it sitting in a place I will see throughout the day. I can mark items off as I complete them and it can be a visual reminder as to what still needs to be done. For long term I keep a master calendar that has both work and personnel items in it.

What are some of the biggest obstacles to managing your time effectively ?
Dealing with things that need to be done but are not necessarily goal related. Both in work and at home.

What can you do to remove some of theses obstacles?
They are not going to go away so you try to prioritize the best you can.

I have found that keeping a daily list has helped me accomplish what needs to be done too.

[astafford]

What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively?

     I currently use 2 calendars, outlook calendar on my work computer and my calendar on my iPhone. I use these calendars in combination with notes i keep on my iPhone to organize and prioritize a to-do list.

What are some of your biggest obstacles to managing your time effectively?

     The biggest obstacle I have is the fact that I don't have a dedicated work space or computer. Another obstacle is unplanned items that may occur during a work day.

What can you do to remove some of these obstacles?

     Some obstacles cannot be removed, they just need to be expected. Allot extra time for items when possible and don't procrastinate. I think sticking to a daily routine (as much as possible) helps things flow easier.

 I could imagine the lack of workspace will limit the amount of work you can accomplish. I has been an issue at station 21 for awhile now.

[dgerspacher]

What strategies do you use to manage your time effectively? 
Over the years I have found pocket calendar and not pad have been best way for me to stay organized during the day.  This allows me to look at what needs done and check off what has been done.

What are some of your biggest obstacles to you managing your time effectively?
Helping others with their projects and not continuing to work on my projects.  This happens at home just like it happens at work.  Need to make my morning routine more consistent, makes me feel more productive when my days start the same. 

What can you do to remove some of these obstacles?
Learn to achieve my daily objectives along with helping others.  Beginning my morning with a consistent routine at work and at home will help me not waste valuable time.  Writing daily plans and goals on a pocket sized not pad would be more beneficial than just writing them on an 8.5x11 note pad.

I also like the feeling of manually crossing an item of my list.