Time management is the process of being cautious with time by planning and exercising control over the amount of time taken on an activity. This process increases productivity, effectiveness and efficiency. To achieve time management there must be proper planning, setting appropriate goals, efficient allocation of resources, organizing and prioritizing just to mention a few.
There are many benefits of effective time management; some of these benefits include greater productivity, confidence, control, fun and ability to meet goals. For someone who desires more in a life, time management is a crucial component for them. Through proper time management, one is able to take a measure of control over their life. An individual becomes orderly by pre-planning their activities early enough, and set their focus on what they need to achieve at the end of a task. This helps one be more in control of their destiny. Productivity results from proper time management when taking a task. An individual will schedule their activities such that they would have time for the activities, and not enough time to waste, hence, in the process so much is achieved. Proper time management builds your confidence. This is partially because one takes back control of their life for time management. Confidence grows with your accomplishments. It is impossible to meet your goals without proper time management. Ability to meet your goals will help reduce frustration since you have achieved the intended purpose. Finally, an individual who manages their time well is able to create time for having fun. Prioritize the most essential and pressing things to be done first then get time to do other things.
Time management begins from commitment to change; it is a skill from necessity. There are varieties of approaches in which time management skills can be reviewed. These involves planning where an individual make a list prior of what they are to carry out at a time. It involves prioritizing key issues to aid in achieving the objective. Reward yourself after accomplishing a task. Always tend to concentrate on one thing at a time. Avoid procrastination and set personal deadlines. Delegate responsibilities or work as a team to increase the average productivity. Time management tools such personal digital assistance and time log are very vital in analysing and determining areas that need improvement. In analysis the time spent on activities, i use skills such as delegation of duties, prioritization of work then with the help of personal digital assistance which is portable and handheld there will be outperformance. In an assessment of my time on an hourly basis, there is nowhere time is not being used effectively though there maybe delays to move to the next activity. The only viable improvement is to work on the speed of doing a particular activity and employing more skills that are relevant.
Skills Audit
Human beings are unique individuals having different personalities. Some are ready to learn new things as compared to others. All the same, we are all in a position to gain new experience for the continued development as well as motivating others to face challenges that they might want to avoid. There are many significant of continued self-development, which include; improving social abilities through interaction with different people, developing talent or strength involving identification of your strength and working tirelessly to improve it. Continued self-development is also essential in improving the knowledge one already have. Reasons being- personal development helps achieve self-improvement, as well as self-awareness. This is only possible if one is open to change and is capable of letting go of their comfort zone. Therefore, one will be able to learn from those around them gaining more knowledge and skills.
Continued self-development enhances the quality of life with regard to career opportunities. Outstanding managers make an effort to advance in many areas. This helps them prepare to face the dynamic world. This is because they are conversant of continued personal development. Individuals also work extra hard to improve their lifestyles since no one wants to remain in the same position. Finally, self-development also helps in fulfilling aspirations and improving personal health. One is determined to live a very healthy life with regard to their personal assessments.
There are various methods used to assess skills and competencies against the organization and personal objectives. It is important to access and analyse organization information such as journals, portfolio and learning contracts. This will be able to act as an indicator of an organization. Performance appraisal is necessary to help review the activities undertaken within the organisation, and to understand the competences of individuals. Critical thinking and making judgements is another suitable method. It is possible to do an assessment by evaluating, reflecting and developing an argument. It is also possible to assess a person through interviews and tests to evaluate their scores and determine their competences (Smale & Fowlie, 2009 pg 78)..
Skill gaps can be filled in various ways such as personal development through experts, investing in learning, reading journals and magazines; this will enable an individual acquire information that will improve the quality of their work and gain competitive advantage. The organizations need to evaluate themselves by improving their technology and work on their production techniques. Training of the workers is also essential accompanied with better rewards for high motivation.
Personal SWOT
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Rate your strength |
Work on your weakness |
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Good communication skill Good performance in class which highly motivate |
Lack of enough money to buy book Inability to access some learning materials Not being so good in some units |
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Identify opportunities |
Avoid threats |
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Interacting with lectures for assistance Participating as a group leader in group works |
Noise making in class Unnecessary time wastage |
Personal Development Plan
A personal development plan is a plan of action that allows an individual to set goals and achieve them. It also helps bring out changes and improve their readiness for effective work. To produce a personal development plan there are three steps involved to arriving at such a plan. First, requirement of your current and future role, secondly, identify your strengths and development areas then finally, build up a SMART action plan to bring change and development. The format of SMART objectives ensures that the PDP is constructive and tangible, and progress can be monitored. The following steps are involved to come up with a personal development plan regarding the success in academics (Carroll, 2012, pg. 57)
Step one: the requirement of my role. This will involve key relationships that are important for success such as being the class representative, developing close contact with the lecturers and active participation in-group discussion. The key tasks involved are acting as a bridge between the lecturers and students and spearheading group discussions (Forsyth, 2010, pg. 102). Apart from the information learnt in class, it is vital to do extra reading for additional knowledge. The mode of communication must be diversified from lecturer to students and those important for your academic success. Through this step, we will be able to understand your area of strength and determine ways to use it more extensively. The second step will require identification of three areas for development since the feedback has made it clear, and the plans put in place to address them in future. Focus will shift mostly to areas where there is weakness to improve on them (Rivera, 2007, pg. 114).
Step three is a SMART action plan, which involves working in areas that have been selected in step 2. Therefore, coming up with a specific action to bring about change and development:
- Specific: I want to be position one in my class.
- Measurable: it uses dates, time and numbers to achieve the objective. In this case, I intend to achieve this by the end of this semester.
- Achievable: involves the resources necessary to meet the objectives. I will use the money to buy books, utilize my time properly on my studies.
- Realistic: the goal is achievable through taking much time in book.
- Time-bound: the deadline for achieving this is the end of the semester. This will act as a motivation to other plans.
This Personal development plan needs money and time to facilitate its implementation. Therefore, money will be needed to buy books and other reading materials will time is of the essence for maximum studies.
Implementing Personal Development
Successful development is because of constant reviewing of the personal development plan. It is essential to monitor your development to help demonstrate the successful completion of the plan. To reflect on your success and progresses realizing the great potential of your personal development plan. Monitoring also helps revise or adjust your plan accordingly (Beausaert, 2011, pg34). The unnecessary things are removed, and important things included. Monitoring also help determine the milestone or estimation of time of completion when the goal is achieved.it is also important in maintaining consolidation level that helps to maintain the acceptable level of performance.
Aims and objectives of personal development plan can be reviewed through assessment of the current situation that involves skills, interest, abilities, and knowledge. Though, the outcome and the product will act as evidence to show accomplishment of your objectives. The objectives are subject to review if their product is not worthwhile. The aims and objectives can also be reviewed using PERT which is a statistical method that analyses and represents tasks involved in achieving the objectives of a project. This technique takes into consideration three major factors that influence objective achievement. These factors include, time technical performance specifications and resources (Cottrell, 2003, pg78). Evaluation plan is a skill of reviewing objectives. It is an indicator of the success of the objectives in achieving the desired goals. The objectives are evaluated using a variety of criteria and means to achieve the result (Adair & Allen, 2003, pg. 45).
The objectives are adjusted depending on the plan that we already have in place. There may be very many objectives, but as time goes by, the objectives will reduce because some will be accomplished in the process. There may be changes on the action plan that may lead to changes or updating the objectives accordingly. Initial feedback and revision triggers reviewing and updating of the aims and objectives. Consultations may also may also help provide a wide basis of relevant goals for the implementation of development plan.
Reflective Learning Statement
The unit has been very fundamental in helping understand how to produce personal development plan, also of essence is the keeping PDP up to date since it acts as the motivator and a reminder to achieving the set objectives. Understanding the time management skills and tools, and being able to learn the benefits of time management. The unit also exposes the importance of continual self-development with necessary methods to assess skills and competences. The strength of this unit is that it gives an elaborate explanation of different parts. The weaknesses may be due to non-practical aspect of the study. Some parts also involve a lot of thinking because of their difficulty to understand.