Planning your work day: effective tips. Rules for planning the beginning, middle and end of the working day

Do you know what planning is and how important it is to make a plan? It is believed that when you spend a little time planning and organizing your workday, you save many times more time due to good coordination of events and the correct sequence of solving problems. Without a doubt, planning brings continuous benefits and benefits.

There are known statistics on the scale of entire organizations, according to which scientists have found out. Those offices that deal strategic planning- V long term more successful and financially wealthier than their competitors who do not engage in strategic planning. Planning the day is essentially the same planning, but at the tactical level. Planning is a powerful tool for achieving the goals of any modern successful person. So, here are the main advantages of planning:

WHY DO YOU NEED PLANNING?

1. Workday plan. Nothing will be left unattended.

Unfortunately, despite the fact that our brain is a powerful tool in our work, our memory is very limited. There are people with better memory, there are people with worse memory. Memory can be developed. But when there are a lot of things to do, some matter may escape our attention. And the devil, as we know, is in the details.

Scientists believe that the human brain, on average, is capable of holding seven objects in mind (plus or minus two). Moreover, this is a very optimistic assessment.

In addition to the fact that we will not forget anything, we also relieve ourselves of stress - we stop worrying and asking the question “have I done everything for today?” Personally, I am currently writing this article using a planner in my planner.

2. Spending time on planning will help you get more done.

Benefits of planning obvious. When you think through all the work in advance, then on the one hand, during the work you are not distracted from it. On the other hand, you have more time that you can spend either on extra work or you can leave work early. Both essentially mean increased productivity. It is believed that drawing up a plan for the day takes no more than 10 minutes with a cup of morning coffee. And the time savings is at least two hours. Over the course of a month, this can save up to 40 hours of work, which equates to a full full-time work week.

3. Planning your work day helps you prioritize.

For example, today I first wrote two articles, for which I will be paid 1000 rubles for each. Then I wrote a general thematic article on interesting topic and I also spent time on the publication you are reading. All this work is on the list of priorities. Since I have a clear work plan for the day, I don’t waste time on non-priority tasks. As a result, important things will not be forgotten or postponed until later. Let's be honest with ourselves. We often put off important things until later, until tomorrow. That is, many of us suffer from procrastination.

4. Having a plan for the day relieves stress and deadlines

The benefits of planning It also lies in the fact that we stop worrying about the fact that we need to do an incomprehensibly large number of things today that should have been done yesterday. You choose a feasible amount of work and work day by day, which allows you to completely avoid deadlines and endless stress because you don’t have time to do something. As a result, the workflow becomes predictable and manageable.

Have you heard about? In essence, planning your workday allows you to use this principle to your advantage, which means you can accomplish many times more. We do only the most important dalas first, because... we have a deliberate plan. Then you can do secondary tasks or neglect them altogether. Plan your day and make it a habit, but make an effort for other people. This is especially true for new and complex projects.

Working time planning is not just a set of beautiful words, but a system of knowledge that can bring benefits both to individual level, and on the scale of the entire enterprise.

You will learn:

What does rational planning of working time at an enterprise provide?
What methods of working time planning exist.
What are the rules for effective planning of working time?

It is no secret that the effectiveness of an organization is not least influenced by the return on the daily work of management personnel. The lack of modern techniques and methods of work, the refusal to improve the individual working style of the manager and his subordinates lead to the fact that difficulties in organizing the work of such a team become an axiom.

The components that determine how prepared a leader is to be successful are quite simple. These are his skills, abilities, professional knowledge and, of course, personal qualities. Nevertheless, one should not discount the analysis of cause-and-effect factors that cause problems and difficulties, as well as the desire to overcome them and improve the quality of one’s work. This is where the manager’s rational use of working time comes to the rescue, in other words, its planning. After all, it is designed to eliminate defects in the daily work process.

The effectiveness of working time planning is based on activity goals depending on their duration: short-term and long-term. Such a management basis does not require additional effort, since all designated actions and activities received their deadlines during the organization process.

The goals set by the manager have two functions: to determine the actions necessary for their implementation and to stimulate their implementation. When a leader sets a clear task for himself, his actions become conscious in its implementation. Goal setting is a kind of driving force that charges the actor with energy until the very achievement of the result.

In order for planning the balance of working time to be as effective as possible, the manager needs to resort to the tactics of “planning periods” (they can be different time periods: a year, a month, a week, a day). The peculiarity lies in the individuality of each such range, which implies the creation of separate plans that would reflect the corresponding time period.

Thus, the main positive emphasis of proper planning of free time is the gain of time itself. The manager will be able to effectively and efficiently achieve the described work goals, while spending as little time as possible. In the organisation individual work The role of planning is difficult to overestimate: after all, it helps to prepare for the achievement of set goals and structure the time allotted for work.

How to delegate tasks to save 25% of your working time: checklist

To cope with a huge flow of information and develop a business, it is important to manage time rationally and not waste energy on routine matters. To do this, you need to correctly delegate tasks to subordinates and monitor their implementation.

Using the checklist prepared by the editors of the Commercial Director magazine, check whether you are managing your working time correctly or making mistakes in delegating tasks and staying late at work.

Working time planning methods

Pareto principle

Vilfred Pareto (1848–1923) formulated the principle that, within a given group, the objective importance of some small part will be significantly greater than its relative weight within that group. Pareto used the 80/20 formula in his model, which began to be used everywhere.

From 20% of goods sold you can get 80% of the profit.
The 80% of remaining products will only generate 20% of the profit.
20% of mistakes cause 80% of losses.
80% of other mistakes cause 20% of losses.

Fans of working time planning have not bypassed this principle either. If we project it onto the work of a manager, the result will be as follows: to achieve 80% of the results, you need to spend only 20% of your working time. The rest of the time spent brings only 20% of overall result.

In the language of the labor process, this would mean that easy and enjoyable work, which requires a minimum of effort but a decent amount of working time, should not be a priority. It is necessary to start activities with maximum consideration of the importance of each task. Vital issues should come first when planning work.

To fully implement the Pareto principle in matters of rational planning and accounting of working time, it is necessary to analyze all tasks in terms of the percentage of their contribution to the overall result, and also distribute them into ABC categories.

ABC planning

ABC analysis is based on experience demonstrating that the proportions of cases of higher and lower importance are often approximately equal. The letters A, B and C are used to distribute the importance of tasks regarding the implementation of goals into three classes. This principle has caught the fancy of many managers.

You can also use this analysis in planning the use of your working time. The main thing is to remember that you need to distribute working time in relation to the importance of tasks, and not their labor intensity and weight in the overall plan of activity.

ABC analysis is based on experience based on three pillars.

Category A tasks (the most important) receive 15% of the manager’s total tasks. Despite their low relative weight in planning, they contribute 65% to achieving goals.
Category B (important) tasks make up approximately 20% of overall indicator tasks, and their importance is also estimated at 20%.
Category C tasks (as the least important): they are allocated about 65% of total figure, however, their importance is negligible - only 15% of the relative weight.

Accordingly, when planning working time, ABC analysis focuses its attention on the initial completion of tasks from category A, since they bring the lion's share of the effectiveness of the final work activity. Next in order are questions from group B, the contribution of which to the final result should also not be neglected. And finally, you can decide what to do with the remaining tasks of category C: include them in planning your working time or delegate them.

The Eisenhower Principle in Time Planning

The Eisenhower Matrix (priorities) has earned widespread recognition as a tool for planning personal and work time.

It consists of four fields (quadrants), where each of them corresponds to a specific category of tasks. Categories are based on two principles: importance and urgency. Their relationship is best illustrated in the figure below.

Quadrants are filled in only if the cases entered into them correspond to a specific field. To fully understand how this matrix works, you need to identify the tasks that correspond to each quadrant. It is worth remembering that the matrix will only be effective for tasks throughout the day or other short period of time.

Quadrant 1: Important and Urgent

The heart of the Eisenhower matrix is precisely the first quadrant, since it contains main secret- it is left empty. This will indicate that the person has the skill of effectively planning working time to achieve goals.

The presence of cases vying for the first quadrant indicates constant rush jobs in the life and work of such a person. Consequently, a person is not accustomed to the distribution of his affairs and responsibilities, but instead puts off everything he can until the last moment. And, when deadlines are pressing, he gets to work.

Of course, it is best to prevent possible situations if you think about everything in advance. After all, there is a well-known principle according to which it is always more difficult to eliminate consequences than to foresee all possible troubles. If such tasks can be done by other people, they should be transferred.

Quadrant 2: Important and non-urgent

In planning his work time, Eisenhower identified the tasks from the second quadrant as the most important tasks. If a performer consistently completes a task placed in a given quadrant in a timely manner, then he can afford to spend as much time on it as necessary. He will not be haunted by vanity, haste and various Negative consequences. It's a lot like going to the doctor: how a preventative eye exam will prevent more serious problems with vision, and the right time to work on the report will allow you to avoid urgent night overtime.

Planning and recording of working time within the second quadrant is done in such a way as to achieve the employee’s personal goals.

And although the sword of Damocles in the form of urgency of work does not hang over workers, which allows them to focus on the quality of work, we should not forget that there are still deadlines, and they need to be monitored, since failure to complete a task in the second quadrant automatically transfers it to the first. And this outcome is fraught with consequences for planning personal time.

Quadrant 3: Urgent and Unimportant

The type of cases corresponding to the third quadrant does not allow you to concentrate on more important matters because of its urgency. And such matters are easy to confuse with matters from the first quadrant. However, it is worth drawing a line between urgent and important, since these concepts are not synonymous. There is a simple way to make this determination: you need to ask yourself whether this or that task brings you closer to achieving a given goal. Typically, cases from the third quadrant receive a negative answer.

Most often, everyday issues are included in this quadrant: dry cleaning clothes at the end of the season, helping neighbors with an urgent matter, unimportant meetings and negotiations. There is another example - computer repair, but here you should be extremely careful: if this equipment is needed for work, then its repair will become a task of paramount importance (that is, the first quadrant), and if it is used only for entertainment, then the place for this problem is in the third quadrant.

Things in this quadrant not only do not fit into the planning of working time, but even distract from the main goals and take away valuable time. It is best not to pay attention to them, if possible. How can you determine the importance of a task for yourself? Very simple. The question you should ask yourself is: “What will happen if I don’t do this?”

Quadrant 4: Unimportant and not urgent

This category includes matters of our everyday life that have nothing to do with work: social media, forums, surfing the Internet, computer games, watching TV series. Yes, these activities are definitely enjoyable, but they are not required.

In general, this activity significantly reduces the productivity of the working day; Eisenhower called activities in this category “personal time wasters.”

Take, for example, a series lasting 200 hours - in recalculation, you get a whole week of wasted time, which could have been used with much greater benefit.

Therefore, it is necessary to identify your personal eaters and strive for strict control over them by planning not only working, but also personal time.

There are also routine tasks in this quadrant, which for many are not so pleasant: for example, washing dishes, cleaning, cooking. Here, too, it is worth seeking a compromise with those people with whom you live in the same house, in order to plan an even load.

Healthy indifference: instructions for those who do not believe in time management

The instructions, which were prepared by the editors of the “Commercial Director” magazine, will tell you how to find harmony in life even in hopeless situations, explain which attitudes imposed by society and the media you urgently need to get rid of, and tell you what to do if you don’t even have enough time for a day to get the job done.

Working time planning table

Let's give a simple example in table form.

Tuesday		Subtask	A comment
	Check your to-do list
	Commute to work
	Phone calls		Get the numbers of two contacts from your work email
	Writing an article	Materials Analysis
	Writing an article	Translation additional materials With foreign language and basic text typing	Don’t forget to provide footnotes to sources and correct hyphens on dashes
	Going to the editor
	Meeting

Wednesday

This example clearly demonstrates the principle of constructing work plans. If necessary, tables can be deeper, with more space for notes. It doesn’t matter what program will be used to implement, say, individual planning the working time of a manager/specialist. Table - The tool is universal, it can be drawn even on plain paper. What is really important is to be able to adapt it to yourself, your tasks and goals, and determine for what time intervals it will be used: by day, week, month.

How the working time fund is planned

The initial planning stage consists of analyzing the initial parameters of the system - the presence of activity to improve the working time fund (WF) and its directions. This is followed by an answer to the questions: who is responsible for this activity (specialists, services) and its planning? To what extent are working hours taken into account? Is work time spent monitored? Are the reserves of the Federal Reserve Bank disclosed? Are measures taken to reduce the loss of working time at the planning stage? What methods are used for this?

The next stage is the analysis of the use of the PDF. Within its framework, the dynamics of workers' output is studied (time-bound - hourly, daily, annual) and the factors influencing it are identified; analyze the state of the FRF and identify unused opportunities to reduce individual species no-shows; study observation data on the operation of the working time fund, etc. More information about methods for analyzing the use of the working time fund can be found in educational and methodological literature.

The information base for the analysis of the PDF is made up of statistical and time sheet working hours; summary of primary accounting (sheet about downtime, overtime, elimination of defects); self-photographs and photographs of working hours; data from surveys and questionnaires.

The analysis examines the application of the entire PDF and its components- daily and intra-shift funds within various levels of the enterprise (structural divisions, the enterprise as a whole, professions and groups). This approach makes it possible to identify bottlenecks that should be addressed first. The result of the analysis is an assessment of the reserves for improving the use of the FRF and, accordingly, increasing the efficiency of working time planning.

The results obtained are used to plan useful working time. This event includes preparing a planned balance sheet budget, comparing its components with enterprise standards, as well as saving working time on unproductive costs. Methods for distributing the balance of working time have received adequate coverage in educational materials and benefits.

Planning and analysis of working time have acquired specific features in a market economy. For example, compulsory administrative leaves are beneficial for an enterprise in terms of its costs. Part-time workers have lost their reserve status.

In planning the Federal Reserve, a differentiated approach for permanent employees full-time, temporary workers; in part-time modes.

In order to most effectively organize and plan working time, the enterprise carries out special measures: socio-economic, organizational, technical and therapeutic and preventive. They are reflected in various organizational and technical plans, planning for improving working conditions, etc. The involvement of external participants should be discussed with local authorities and only then included in activity planning. Any event must be resource-based.

How to plan your working time correctly

Rule 1. Get up at the same time

This initial stage of any planning is very disciplined and promotes a surge of strength.

Rule 2. Positive mood at the beginning of the day

Work on your mood every morning, because it greatly influences the solution of tasks to achieve your goals. To do this, you can ask yourself three questions:

How will “today” bring me closer to success?
What should I do to make today as much joy as possible?
What should you do on this day to maintain your health?

Answering these questions and creating positive motivation often takes less than two minutes. Give them to yourself before starting your regular morning activities.

Rule 3. Start the day right

The key to a harmonious morning is a good night's sleep and a good breakfast. But many sacrifice them, using the excuse of lack of time. However, both missions only require prioritization during the planning stage of the daily routine - essentially, you just need to allocate your time so that you go to bed early.

Rule 4: Consider factors such as fatigue when planning your work day

Many people feel that their work productivity changes all day like a sine wave. This does not depend on daily biorhythms - whether you are a “lark” or a “night owl”. It is worth finding out your personal periods of increased activity and placing the most important things in your activity planning for this daily interval. It is better to devote afternoon time to daily routine work that is not particularly important.

Rule 5. Take breaks on time

One of the basic rules for planning working time is a short rest, since it allows the body to regain strength and regain attention for work. Be sure to take short breaks from work; set the duration and frequency yourself. Remember to be regular.

Rule 6. Finish what you start

Try not to jump around in your work and bring the work you start to its logical conclusion. Don't get distracted by smaller things, because they steal working time. Remember that each time you return to something you have already started, you will have to repeat old actions, and this will affect the balance of planning your personal activity.

Rule 7. Find useful application free time

Strive to fill all unaccounted gaps in your schedule (waiting in line, uninformative meetings) with useful activities. Determine its essence yourself by asking yourself the question: “How can I fill these minutes to get the maximum benefit?”

Rule 8. Stick to the 70/30 principle

You only need to record 70% of your working time in your diary. Otherwise, even if you schedule your workday 100%, you will not receive guarantees that all tasks will be completed, and even more: many actions will not coincide with the schedule. The purpose of planning working time according to this principle is to preserve nervous system from overload, preventing you from feeling like a machine and being confined to a rigid framework.

Rule 9. In the evening, make a plan for tomorrow

Plan your tasks for tomorrow at the end of today and do it in the form of a written list - this way you won’t miss anything. It is better to establish the importance of tasks in advance and distribute them into columns. This will make it possible to focus attention on the necessary tasks, and less significant ones can be moved in the event of force majeure.

Rule 10. Find time for rest in every hour

An immutable rule for everyone. The more often you can find time to relax, the more productive you will be at work later. During this period, you can clean up your workplace or home, wash the dishes, read a magazine or book, take a walk in the fresh air, and help others. If you cannot do this spontaneously, subject these actions to planning.

Rule 11. Be realistic about your capabilities.

Don’t overwhelm yourself with a huge amount of work, thinking that you can handle any mountain. Approach the assessment soberly own strength and better take what you are guaranteed to handle in a day/week/month; such planning of working time will be more effective.

Rule 12. After using an item, return it to its place

This approach to items on the table and in the office helps save time in the future. Make it a rule, after using an item, to return it to where you took it. Set specific places for different types things - a folder for papers, a pencil case, a desk drawer or a box for receipts.

Rule 13. Be active and healthy image life

It would seem, why does an office worker need sports, yoga, fitness, proper nutrition, gymnastics? Then, a healthy body and good well-being best set the mood for positive energy and readiness for highly productive work activity, especially after its high-quality planning.

Rule 14. Do what brings you pleasure

The best way to self-organize in planning and implementing professional activities is to feel a sense of satisfaction and love for your work. Its advantage is that motivation does not have to be pulled out with pincers; it comes on its own and in large quantities.

Planning and organizing the manager’s working time

Tip 1. Review your plans for the day

To do this, you can use ABC analysis or the Eisenhower matrix. Even ten minutes of preparation for the workday can save up to two hours a day. Use them wisely.

Tip 2. Formation of blocks of similar cases

A constantly distracted person needs much more time to work than a focused and enthusiastic person. This occurs due to the need for another “take-off” and “immersion”, that is, a return to work activity. Blocks of tasks of the same type will help save working time: they are easier to fix at the stage of activity planning.

Tip 3. Give yourself personal time at work

Often visitors, subordinates or clients over the phone distract you from your direct duties. All of them create strong interference when performing really important tasks and disrupt the balance of working time. In this regard, it is impossible to be available to everyone throughout the entire working day- both in your office and over the phone. In the process of planning working time, masters of their craft organize periods for themselves when no one will disturb them. You can also use their tools, for example, set visiting hours, use an answering machine.

Tip 4: Allow limited time for each work task

The duration of a certain type of work is directly dependent on the time available. Even the smallest task is subject to planning: learn to devote exactly as much time to a task as it takes to complete it. For example, business negotiations should not be delayed; all issues of interest should be discussed as much as possible, but no more than an hour. This can be done using strict time frames and regulations. Be guided simple rule: “Time is money,” value and save it.

Tip 5: Use delegation

No time-respecting person should perform all tasks on their own. This approach has already been described in the principles and rules of working time planning: everything that can be delegated to other people (65% of tasks that consume time and effort, but do not bring significant results) should be delegated to them. This applies not only to the help of employees, but also to the use of help from third-party agencies, organizations, and consulting firms.

Tip 6. Break large tasks into components

People tend to shirk large or voluminous tasks and delay their completion in every possible way because the result seems too far away to them. This fact indicates poor personal time planning skills, but it can be circumvented. Almost everyone likes things that give the fastest results. Albert Einstein noticed this with the example of chopping wood. The same can be done with long term goals And big projects: Divide them into small tasks, plan them out, and then methodically complete them over a period of time (for example, two hours a day). After, say, a week, the first results will appear - the goal of the first part of the project will be achieved (according to planning), this will give strength and motivation to continue working in this direction.

Tip 7. Set personal deadlines for priority tasks

When you know in advance exactly what tasks will be a priority for the current month, you can mark them on the work calendar and consider them in your personal planning of tasks on a par with the same negotiations/meetings. Thus, when the need arises to schedule another event or action for this date, it will already be “booked,” which will once again remind you of the objective significance of the task at hand. This advice is of particular value in the matter of planning work activities.

Tip 8. Organize your workplace correctly

First of all, this concerns the order on the desktop. Only those documents that are necessary to complete tasks of category A should be left on it. This action has a psychological background: order on the table helps order in thoughts, and extra papers take up time.

Tip 9. Try not to let others burden you with additional responsibilities.

Managers often become interested in and engage in new activities, expanding their areas of competence. By coming out of personal interest to negotiations that an employee usually does not attend, he may end up in working groups or receive additional tasks that are not included in his plan and will ultimately become a burden on the main work and its planning. It is best to double-check all your actions to see if they are necessary within the scope of your position, thereby improving your work time planning skills.

Tip 10. Assess how important and urgent the things they suddenly want to involve you in are truly important and urgent.

Force majeure and other urgent matters are a common occurrence for any firm or enterprise, even if they strive to operate within the framework of strict planning. To solve them, all available resources are mobilized. If you agree to help in this situation, remember that it will take time away from important tasks in your schedule, so always weigh whether it's worth sacrificing.

Tip 11. Don’t act on impulse - make only informed decisions

Sometimes certain decisions are made as a result of an impulse, an uncontrollable impulse. But this provokes deviations in the schedule and interferes with the effective planning of working time to achieve the goal. If you feel a momentary urge to do something (for example, make a call), think carefully and weigh whether it is really worth carrying out your plan.

Tip 12. Set your priorities correctly

In a large flow of things - conferences, meetings, calls, texts - it can be very difficult to navigate, and when you take on everything at once or grab parts from different ends, you end up getting very little done. Here it is useful to remember such a method of planning time as a priority matrix, and start activities by completing clearly defined and clearly significant tasks, gradually moving towards less important ones.

Planning the working hours of the manager's secretary

The main responsibility and purpose of planning the secretary's individual working time is to relieve the boss as much as possible and help him distribute his time. It is his responsibility to increase the efficiency of using all possible hours and minutes for work activity. This means that the tasks and planning of the activities of the manager and secretary are interdependent.

First of all, the secretary helps in organizational, preparatory and managerial types of work, freeing up space for creativity for the boss. For this purpose, the assistant needs to know the daily routine of the higher level, the schedule of his tasks for all possible periods - day/month/quarter. Effective planning of a secretary's working time depends on the schedule of his immediate supervisor, since he is involved in preparing all meetings, negotiations and other matters (receiving visitors, processing documents) that are on the boss's schedule. A key role in planning is played by the hierarchy of tasks according to their value and importance.

In addition, the duties of the secretary also include other work that does not depend on the boss’s daily routine (and is reflected in the planning of work activity): checking mail and responding to correspondence, document flow, control card file, etc. The assistant's time planning skills must be excellent. The starting points of his schedule are always repetitive actions, for example:

prepare the manager's workplace;
tidy up your own workplace;
process all types of incoming letters;
view the control card;
provide management with a summary of the state of affairs and clarify the schedule for the current day.

Let's look at a simple example of planning working time in relation to the manager's schedule. The secretary's action program will look something like this. When the boss’s plans include a meeting at 11:00, then the assistant’s plan for 10:30 will include its organization with all the ensuing actions: reminders, photocopying of materials, cleaning the conference room, taking minutes. If at 14:00 the manager scheduled negotiations outside the office, then the secretary’s schedule will include items about calling a car and collecting documents. The list of work also indicates with whom and at what time the boss needs to be connected for a telephone conversation, which documentation needs to be corrected and which one needs to be filled out from scratch, etc.

The best option is to determine, together with your boss, a permanent time interval for daily actions: signing documentation, receiving visitors. This will improve the work and help plan the working time of both the specialist and his assistant. When developing a work schedule, you also need to leave a decent reserve in case of sudden urgent and important assignments, phone calls and other emergency situations.

The secretary devotes the end of the working day to sending outgoing correspondence, and also plans events for tomorrow.

When the working day is over, and the manager is late in the office, the assistant can go home only if there is an appropriate agreement between them and he provides the boss with all the necessary data.

Before leaving the premises, the secretary removes all documents, closes cabinets and safes, turns off electronic equipment (this does not apply to the telephone, modem, fax), and puts the workplace in order.

Manager's working time planning

The essence of planning is preparation for the implementation of goals and regulation of working hours. The principles of planning a manager’s working time do not differ much from the general principles of regulation labor activity. Rational use of your time resources involves understanding your functions, goals, objectives and time budget.

In the process of organizing a specialist’s working time, widely known planning techniques are used. The manager must follow these rules:

60% of the daily work plan is allocated to planned work;
20% of the time - for unforeseen actions;
The last 20% is best left for spontaneously arising tasks.

"Flat" organizational structures used in small enterprises to solve complex problems under conditions of significant uncertainty. Such units are characterized by the following disadvantages: excessive workload of managers, difficulty in controlling actions large quantity people, as well as difficulties associated with coordinating the work of departments.

The time spent (especially if it is not noted at the planning stage) must be recorded with a mandatory indication of what and how it was used. This contributes to the fact that, having received a complete picture of the costs of his working time, the manager will be able to more effectively organize his planning in the future; In order to develop a quality plan, tasks will be divided into short-, medium- and long-term.

Regularity, systematicity and consistency should be positioned as the basic principles of planning. It is necessary to follow one of the important principles of activity planning - the reality of goals: take on as many responsibilities as you can handle.

The rational use of a manager’s working time is based on his long-term plan. This is a multi-year system, taking into account which annual and quarterly plans are created. The latter can be coordinated with the annual and be divided into monthly. The daily and weekly plans fully comply with them and at the same time most accurately reflect the use of the manager’s working time. Planning work activities at the level of one day - important step V general planning manager’s work activity, it is subject to constant monitoring and adjustment depending on the situation.

From this article you will learn:

What are the reasons for working time shortages?

What rules should you follow when planning your working time during the day?

What methods are used when planning working time?

How to check the effectiveness of employee time planning

Working time planning includes effective management time and its technology rational use in order to achieve the goals of an organization and improve performance. IN modern world also called time management. Time is the most irreplaceable and valuable resource, so it must be used very rationally. You also need to work on your ability to plan your working time.

Why is scheduling your work time so important?

To say that time can be managed is not entirely correct. Time cannot depend on any processes, does not denote a constant value, it cannot accelerate or slow down.

It is important to be able to use various tools for planning working time, regardless of the position of the employee in the enterprise. This is important to consider at all levels - from subordinates to superiors. Effective planning of working time directly affects labor productivity, and, consequently, the profit of the enterprise.

For each employee, effective planning of working time affects the completion of all planned tasks by the required deadline.

One of the indicators that must be taken into account in an organization is the working time fund. It determines the consumed working time resources and affects the number of working employees, and, consequently, the material costs of the organization.

When is working time planning necessary?

Deficit means a lack of something. When planning working time, this term refers to the lack of working time to complete a certain task by an individual employee or structural unit and the organization as a whole.

As a result, this may lead to a delay in order completion, which may entail negative consequences. Most often, inept planning of working time is associated with the illiteracy of the head of the organization.

The reasons leading to lack of time are classified into three groups:

Personal qualities of the boss.
Leader's actions.
Independent reasons.

Personal qualities of a boss, which lead to loss of working time and are associated with improper planning, are expressed as follows:

Vanity, that is, unbalanced and nervous actions, the effectiveness of which is reduced to zero results.
Systematic rush.
Lack of rest due to delays at work or home improvements necessary to restore high performance.

If the boss acts illiterately and without planning working hours, the following signs of disorganization appear:

Lack of motivation among staff.
Destruction of interpersonal communication in an organization.
Inability to organize things according to their level of importance.
Failure to delegate some powers to subordinates.

From the point of view of working time planning, the reasons that do not depend on the will of the manager and lead to a shortage of working time for himself and all employees of the organization are:

A long list of tasks, assignments, to-dos.
Unscheduled actions.

In most cases, the above reasons do not appear separately. Usually one follows from the other.

Ultimately, a deadlock situation develops, which can be improved effective planning working hours. You should also establish control over the implementation of planned activities and verification of spent working time.

Basic rules for planning working time during the day

Rules for planning working time at the beginning of the working day

From the very morning you need to tune in to a positive mood. You should try to start every day only with positive emotions, since the mood with which you begin to solve upcoming tasks is important for achieving results.
In the morning, you must replenish your energy and “recharge with nutrients,” that is, have breakfast and then go to work.
It is better to start work at the same time. Such systematicity day after day leads to self-discipline and helps mobilize your strength.
In the morning, you should double-check your plan for the day. To do this, you can use the ABC analysis method or the Eisenhower principle.
Tasks, instructions and affairs should be started immediately.
First of all, you need to solve the most important problems.
If you have an assistant manager or secretary, you need to coordinate the current plan for the day with them.

Rules for planning working time in the middle of the working day

Your workplace should be prepared for productive work. You should remove documents and papers from your desktop that you do not yet need to perform important tasks.
You need to install specific date to complete each item of the plan for the day.
You should refrain from performing actions that may cause a backlash.
You need to be able to remove additional emerging tasks.
A leader should not be impulsive.
You need to systematically take short breaks. In any work you need to provide breaks. Their regularity and duration must be individual. Short breaks should also be taken into account when planning working hours.
You should group small, similar tasks into groups and perform them in series.
It happens that some employees do not complete one task while starting another - they should first complete what they started. A chaotic transition in work from task to task, and sometimes doing several things at once, will not lead to a positive result.
Know how to use time intervals.
There should be an hour of rest during the day.
It is necessary to control the deadlines for completing tasks and monitor the drawn up work plan. When priority tasks change, make changes to the plan.

Rules for planning working time at the end of the working day

By the end of the working day, you need to finish all planned tasks. Failure to complete individual tasks leads to the risk of failure to complete the entire plan, and, as a result, to an accumulation of cases that, when “raked out,” will require additional work time.
You must monitor the implementation of the plan, control yourself. Compare the list of what you have planned with what you have completed. Figure out why you veered off course. This is a prerequisite for productive activity.
After the analysis, you need to make a plan for the new day in the evening, and double-check it in the morning.

The influence of personal factors on working time planning

Planning your working time is also significantly influenced by how you set yourself up. You yourself may subconsciously hinder the effective planning of your working time. What exactly might be stopping you:

Your uncertainty life goal. Without striving for something, it is difficult to decide how and with what you will fill your life.
You like the feeling of constant drive. Plan interesting things to do outside of work so that you will be motivated to finish your work day on time.
The lack of any activity scares you. Are you trying to occupy every minute of your working time so as not to be left alone with your thoughts? Better yet, solve your problems once and for all.
You do not know how to refuse and are ready to take on any task. This will cause you to forget about your personal life.
You are afraid to fail. Ask yourself: “What bad thing could happen if I fail?” Keep in mind, failures help us move on.
You fear that you will achieve success for which you are not yet ready. Are you thinking about what happens in your case? career growth, you will no longer be able to be with family and friends as often. Communicate more with people who have already achieved self-realization, get used to the feeling of success.
You are not ready for change. Fear of change in life stems from fear of failure. This can be overcome by gradual, planned movement towards your goal.
You are afraid of the ending - for individuals, the activity itself is more important than its result.

You need to remember that after solving one problem, you have the opportunity to take on a more interesting one.

The most common methods of scheduling work time

Pareto principle (ratio 80:20)

According to this principle, 20% of the effort leads to 80% of the result, and the remaining 80% of hard work produces only 20% of the result. For example:

The Pareto principle is also applicable in the work of a manager: an employee spends 20% of his working time to obtain 80% of the result, the remaining 80% of his working time produces only 20% of the total result. This means that when planning your working time, you need to remember that it is better to start your working day by solving the most important and complex tasks, and leave the “little things” for last.

Consistent application of the Pareto principle becomes real if all tasks are analyzed according to their contribution to the final result and arranged according to ABC categories.

The use of the Pareto principle becomes truly possible if all tasks are systematized according to their importance for achieving the result and arranged according to ABC categories.

ABC planning

The main purpose of ABC work time planning is to perform a sequential prioritization of tasks. ABC planning can be carried out in any field of activity. If analyzed in percentage more important and less important matters, then we will see that this ratio will be approximately the same. We start planning working time by dividing all tasks into three categories according to their importance. The letters A, B and C are used for this. This method of scheduling work time has become popular among managers due to the fact that it gives tangible results.

The ABC planning methodology is based on the following principles:

Category A includes the most significant tasks, which make up 15% of the total number of manager tasks. But these are really significant tasks that make up 65% of the contribution to the implementation of the plan.
Category B includes simply significant tasks; they will constitute on average 20% of the total number of tasks and have 20% importance in the manager’s activities.
Category C includes the least significant tasks; they will account for 65% of the total number of tasks and have only 15% of the importance of the entire result of work.

According to this technique, you must first solve the most important tasks, then move on to slightly less important ones, and finally leave minor tasks that do not have much impact on the results of your work. This must be taken into account when planning working hours.

Eisenhower method

In order to correctly prioritize when planning your working time, you can use the Eisenhower method.

Ask yourself questions:

Am I in the habit of wasting my time working on one urgent task instead of another equally urgent one?
Isn’t it possible that many of the most significant tasks remain completely unsolved because of this habit of mine?

According to the principle proposed by American General D. Eisenhower, the advantage of solving problems should be considered based on their significance and the allotted time.

All the things that need to be done can be divided into four groups:

All the urgent and most significant tasks that need to be done as a matter of priority.
Urgent, but not that important. The point is that since they are urgent, we want to be sure to solve them as quickly as if they were very important, applying the maximum of our energy. But if it is not that important, then it is better to postpone them or transfer their decision to someone else.
Significant, but not so urgent. Due to the fact that this group of cases is not urgent, they are postponed until later. But at one point they also become very important, but there is no longer any time to complete them. It's time to hand them over to someone else for careful execution. When you give an important task, it motivates and develops the staff.
Non-urgent and unimportant tasks. Tasks from this group often take up a lot of space on your desktop. Many people, not understanding the essence of working time planning, carry out these tasks, despite the fact that they spend a lot of time on them. If they must be done, try to spend a minimum of your time on them.

Why do you need planning?

This article will discuss the benefits, benefits and advantages of planning. Workday planning is a tool used by everyone successful person which will make your work better and more productive. By making plans, a person determines the scope of his work. He knows what he needs to do, when and why. Let's take a closer look advantages of planning.

Why do you need planning?

1. Workday plan: and not a single thing will go unnoticed

No matter how good your memory is, if things are going through the roof, you won’t remember everything. A workday plan laid out on paper will make it easier to memorize and free up your attention for more important matters. And you won’t be bothered by the question: “Have I done everything?”, because you will always have the opportunity to look at the diary. The benefits of planning in this case are obvious!

2. When we spend time planning our work day, it becomes longer.

The life experience of a large number of successful people shows that increasing the time spent on planning leads to a reduction in execution time and, ultimately, to saving time in general. Benefits of planning The idea is that every minute spent planning an activity saves 10 minutes of implementation. That is, it gives a 1000% return on the invested mental, emotional and physical energy.

Making a plan for the day will take 10-12 minutes. This small investment of 10-12 minutes will save you 100-120 minutes of execution, which provides an additional two hours of productive time per day, that is, a 25% increase in your daily productivity from the very day you start planning your work day in advance. This amounts to 2000-2400 minutes per month, which is 4-5 full working days!!! And no loss of time!

3. A work plan sets priorities.

By distributing the order in which you perform the tasks facing you, you will know in what order and what should be done. You will no longer experience a situation where more important and necessary matters are forgotten or left for later, as often happens when a person suffers. procrastination.

4. A daily plan ensures a calm emotional state.

The benefits of planning also lies in the fact that a person determines the scope of his work. He knows what he needs to do, when and why. Since the formulation of the main tasks is before your eyes and the approaches to solving them are outlined, a new day full of work no longer looks gray and difficult, but foreseeable, planned and manageable. The fear of the unknown and uncertainty disappears. A person has information, therefore he is calm and emotionally ready to perform this or that work.

Some people manage to do as much in a day as others do in three. The secret, as we see, is simple: planning a working day, a person who manages to complete a large amount of work knows how to plan his time, highlight the main tasks and secondary ones. It is impossible to act without making plans for the day in our time, although statistics show that only 20% of the population has an activity plan. If you have never planned even the upcoming work day, I assure you that you should make it a habit. You will learn how to do this correctly from the following article: "Methods of working time planning".

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.