HOW TO ACHIEVE QUALITY RESULTS USING TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUE

David Adeoye, CFA

David is the Team Lead, Transaction Advisory Services, MBC Capital Limited

It was the late management sage, Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005), who said in one of his books that “the limits of any process are set by the scarcest resource and in the enterprise called knowledge work, this scarcest resource is time.” This principle applies across a wide range of activities. Whether the objective is to acquire new knowledge, develop a new skill, pass an examination, earn a doctorate degree, write a thesis, or even prepare lesson notes, time commitment remains a most critical factor.

For many of our endeavors, when time commitment is zero, results achieved is also zero. As the quantum of time committed increases, the quality (and sometimes the quantity) of the result improves as well, even if not in a linear fashion. Other factors such as background knowledge, a person’s efficiency in the use of time, working or learning conditions are also important considerations. Yet none of this factors will ever become a substitute for committing ample time.

For many individuals with an interest in academics, professional educational, or simply personal knowledge development, I am pleased to share with you a process that I have tested and found to be effective in handling tasks and programmes that require assimilation and mastery of new information despite other demands on my time (including work, family and commuting). It’s a three-step process that involves planning, execution, and presentation (or communication).

While the concept of time management is well known, its measurement or application may require some further thought. In managing knowledge work, time is best measured not in months or weeks or days but primarily in hours (many industries use the term ‘man-hours’). Hence it’s more meaningful to say, I plan to invest 120 hours in writing my next book or I need to commit 250 hours towards passing my next exam. Then the ‘time budget’ can be spread over a longer horizon. Let’s use an example: a person plans to take an exam in early June and decides in late December to invest 150 hours over the next five months. This translates to an average of 30 hours per month or one hour per day. Depending on the work load and a few other factors, this ‘time budget’ may or may not be adequate.

So where and how do you start if you must win (achieve your objectives) using the one resource that is equally available to everyone – time?

The first place to start is planning. Begin with an evaluation of the volume and distribution of your work-load. If it’s an examination, how many subjects do you have to take? What is the size of the material? How familiar are you with each of the subjects? Then you should ask the important question: given what I already know and how I study, what is the minimum number of hours that I must invest in studying, practicing, and reviewing this material if I must achieve a minimum score of 75% in this course? Repeat this process for each of your subject and sum the answers you get. If you have the following (Course A: 36 hours, Course B: 39 hours, and Course C: 21 hours), then you need to carve out of your days and invest 96 hours over the applicable number of weeks or months.

Now I do not suggest you will not achieve your objectives if you invest less than 96 hours. Rather, I’m asserting that based on this example, if you invest 96 hours, you are nearly guaranteed a good grade provided your hours go into the right set of activities and in good proportion. On two different occasions, I invested just about 80% of my study time budget and still passed my exams while on a full-time job (though as a matter of policy, I do not study at work).

After the initial planning comes the execution phase. Results do not answer to elaborate plans or intentions. They answer to quality investments of time and effort. Any area of your work programme that is suffering very likely receives far less than ample investment of your time.

Depending on the type of knowledge work, gathering materials (making photocopies, sorting your notes, etc.) will be necessary but does NOT qualify as investment or belong in execution. For an exam, execution is sitting down to study, reviewing what you have studied and getting hands-on practice and application. Those are the things that produce mastery. For research work, you need to direct your time towards what generates insight.

In recent years, I start out four or five months ahead of an exam. I decide on a time budget and aim to execute with discipline. I’ve sometimes had to make some painful sacrifice, giving up otherwise legitimate things. I remember my car wheels dancing ‘skelewu’ on the road to University of Lagos (main library) as I drove through Makoko to beat the Yaba traffic after close of work on week days. I would read till 9:30pm- putting in just 2 hours and sometimes less. There are other tales but this is sufficient to illustrate the point. For my last exam, Energy Risk Professional (ERP), I invested not less than 150 hours between August 1 and November 19, 2015, (15 hours in August, 51 in September, 49 in October, and 38 in November). I also made the time investment was well distributed across the eight subject areas in proportion to allotted points on the exam. The result was released a few days ago and I got a comfortable PASS. Moreover my performance across subject areas was well-balanced.

The last phase is presentation or communication. If it’s an exam, first make sure you don’t miss your examination. If you must travel, set out early and plan to arrive on time. Manage your time well. Again, where possible, allocate your time across questions. There are usually no spill-over of points from one question to another. Then, don’t just write what you know, address the question that is asked. Communicate your mastery. If its report writing or some academic or business project, invest adequate time in crafting your final output. Let the final cut reflect the depth of work you have put into the preparation and analysis.

For other aspects of knowledge work, the application of time management may vary but the principle remains unchanged: break the work that needs to be done into simpler parts and invest sufficient time in execution: learning, thinking, drafting, revising, editing and finally presenting your results. Don’t just track your time mentally (it’s hardly effective). Get a paper-based or electronic tool to monitor how much time you have invested and how much time you still need to invest.

While I do not deny the existence of the miraculous in achieving distinction in a person’s academic, professional or commercial calling, I do know that the laws governing the universe show that the most profound results in life require that hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of hours be invested in diligent, focused pursuit of some definite achievement. Unless a person does not intend to achieve much, the hours must go in. Whether it’s in music, technology, medicine, economics or mobile applications development, deliberate investment of time and energy remains indispensable to achieving quality results.

Twitter: @fritova

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