Brainstorming tips for better time management

The major bottleneck in any planning or problem solving process is brainstorming or generating new ideas and options for specific
actions and solutions.
The resulting outcome of your solution or plan is only as good as your best options and ideas you put in it. It is also important how
fast you can come up with new ideas, as you will need many of them in your time management and decision making.
Fortunately, there are ways to significantly improve your effectiveness in brainstorming new ideas.
Though sometimes word brainstorming refers to group brainstorming sessions, here we will look at how you can brainstorm to
generate ideas on your own.
With very few exceptions, everyone already has a natural ability of creative thinking. Yet, that creative ability is fragile. It is
easy to block it just by the way you use it, by your attitudes, by the way you think.
Here is a selection of brainstorming tips that can help you to unlock your idea generation ability. Those tips are like brainstorming
tools that you can use systematically every time you need new ideas.
The best practical way to have good ideas is to have many of them first, and then to select the best ones. Generating many ideas
fast is what brainstorming is focused on.
In your brainstorming session you can follow these steps.
First, take a few minutes to think about what it is you would ideally like to accomplish. How clear a picture you see in your mind?
Try to refresh and extend your view of the problem. In particular, think of 5 people you know that come from different background
than yours. Imagine what each of those people, one by one, would see in your problem, how they would approach it.
Now it is time to start the actual brainstorming exercise. Take a sheet of paper, a pen, and your watch. Set a goal to write a certain
large number of options (over 10 or 20) or ideas within a specific short time interval (minutes). A good example is a goal to write
20 ideas within 5 minutes.
What is important in this activity is that you focus on quantity of ideas, not quality. When you brainstorm, you just write in a list
manner whatever comes into your mind, and write fast. You let your imagination flow, you play. Forget all judging or analyzing,
common sense, rules, or practicality.
A pressing, almost unrealistic, deadline plays an important role in the brainstorming session. It mobilizes your subconscious and
conscious minds. It helps to paralyze your judgment, analysis, and other mental blocks, freeing your imagination.
After the time is up, take a few more minutes to brainstorm a few more ideas, until you feel you cannot squeeze anything more out
of your mind. Often those last ideas will be the most valuable ones.
At the end of this brainstorming exercise you have a long list of ideas, options, and thoughts. You will discard most of them later,
at the judgment stage. Yet, the ideas you eventually select tend to be much better than something that would logically follow from
what you had in your mind before the brainstorming exercise.
The outcome may surprise you. It is worth every minute you spend on it.

Decision making skills and techniques

We use our decision making skills to solve problems by selecting one course of action from several possible alternatives. Decision
making skills are also a key component of time management skills.
Decision making can be hard. Almost any decision involves some conflicts or dissatisfaction. The difficult part is to pick one
solution where the positive outcome can outweigh possible losses. Avoiding decisions often seems easier. Yet, making your own
decisions and accepting the consequences is the only way to stay in control of your time, your success, and your life. If you want to
learn more on how to make a decision, here are some decision making tips to get you started.

A significant part of decision making skills is in knowing and practicing good decision making techniques. One of the most
practical decision making techniques can be summarized in those simple decision making steps:
1. Identify the purpose of your decision. What is exactly the problem to be solved? Why it should be solved?
2. Gather information. What factors does the problem involve?
3. Identify the principles to judge the alternatives. What standards and judgement criteria should the solution meet?
4. Brainstorm and list different possible choices. Generate ideas for possible solutions. See more on extending your
options for your decisions on my brainstorming tips page.
5. Evaluate each choice in terms of its consequences. Use your standards and judgement criteria to determine the cons and
pros of each alternative.
6. Determine the best alternative. This is much easier after you go through the above preparation steps.
 7. Put the decision into action. Transform your decision into specific plan of action steps. Execute your plan.
8. Evaluate the outcome of your decision and action steps. What lessons can be learnt? This is an important step for
further development of your decision making skills and judgement.
Final remark. In everyday life we often have to make decisions fast, without enough time to systematically go through the above
action and thinking steps. In such situations the most effective decision making strategy is to keep an eye on your goals and then let
your intuition suggest you the right choice.
******

Time management tips

What is the point of time management tips? Changing time management habits takes time and effort, and it is always much easier
when you have a simple system of practical rules and hints that are easy to keep in mind. That is exactly what the tips below are
for.

Know what you want from your time

The proven way to do it is to set goals, and to set them SMART. The rest of the time management tips below will help you be
effective in achieving your goals and making time management decisions.

Learn to see the difference between urgent and important

The important tasks are those that lead you to your goals, and give you most of the long term progress and reward. Those tasks are
very often not urgent. Many urgent tasks are not really important.

Know and respect your priorities

Aim to do the important things first. Remember the 80-20 rule: 80 percent of reward comes from 20 percent of effort. One of the
aims of time management tips is to help you refocus your mind to give more attention and time to those most important 20 percent.

Plan your actions for achieving your goals

Convert your goals into a system of specific actions to be done. The first significant point of planning is the planning process itself.
It is a known fact, and you will see it for yourself, that the planning process stimulates your brain to come up with new efficient
solutions. It programs your subconscious mind to search for shortcuts. It makes you much more prepared for each specific action.
Besides, planning will help you to identify potential conflicts and crises, minimizing the number of urgent tasks.

Planning can also significantly lower the time spent on routine maintenance tasks, leaving you more time on what you like to do or
for what you think is important for your long term success.
Also remember that planning and related time management tips work best when you review your plans regularly.

Schedule time for your tasks

Your concentration can be easily lost in the sea of many boring or less important things waiting to be done in your head. Undone
things circulating in your mind are also a big drain of your mental energy. Most often, there is no way to get those things out of
your mind except of either doing them or scheduling them in a trustable system, convincing your mind that they will be done in
due time.

Know how you spend your time

Keep a time log during some time interval, like a week, and then analyze it to see where your time goes. For example, what
percentage of time you spend on urgent and on important activities, what people you devote most time to. You are likely to be
surprised, and you will see much better if you could use more time management tips. This is also an effective way to get a
feedback on how well time management tips and techniques are working for you, and where you need some adjustments.

**********

How to use a decision matrix to streamline your decision making process

Decision matrix is one of the simplest decision making techniques. You identify the key elements of your decision making
situation. You assign each such element a special number (score). You then put those numbers into a special table and use a simple
calculation to tell you which choice is the best.
This allows you to process a complex decision on paper, one byte at a time, without choking your mind with too many details at
the same time. A decision making matrix also makes it easier for you to comprehend the bigger picture of your situation.
To build a decision matrix you first need to decompose your decision making context into its basic elements, its building blocks.
There are two main types of such building blocks. The first type is your options or alternatives from which you are choosing.
Write those down. You may want to extend your options further by taking another sheet of paper and going through a
brainstorming exercise.
The second type of decision elements is the selection criteria you can use for judging your options. For example, various kinds of
costs or losses, as well as benefits (in terms of money, time savings, health, fun, and so on). Think carefully about those and list all
of them on paper. Look at them again. Can you make them more clear and specific? Are you missing any other relevant factors?
Now you can make the first step in converting your decision context into numbers. In particular, based on your feeling of the
relative importance of different factors, assign each judgment criterion (selection factor) some weight of importance. Just pick
some numerical scale, let’s say 1 to 5. Then use that scale for weighing the importance of each criterion. The more important a
given factor feels to you, the higher number you give it, within your chosen range.
Next use your lists to start a weighted decision matrix table. The rows and columns of the table correspond to your judgment
criteria and options/alternatives, respectively. The first column lists all selection criteria. The second column lists the importance
weights of the corresponding criteria. Then each additional column will describe your alternatives. Put the names of the
alternatives across the top of the weighted matrix as column headings.
Score your alternatives. Again choose some range/scale, like 0 to 5, or 0 to 100. The roughest scoring system could be –1, 0, 1
(“positive impact”, “negative impact”, and “does not matter”). Now go alternative by alternative (columns), and then criterion by
criterion (rows), and put some score at each table cell. The score should reflect your best judgment, based on your feelings and
knowledge, of the benefits of a given alternative in terms of a given selection criterion.
Now based on all those numbers you can calculate the total score (overall desirability) of each alternative in the weighted decision
making matrix. For each alternative (column) in the table, multiply all scores by the corresponding weights of importance (from the
second left column), and then sum those weighted scores together. This one number will be the total score/desirability of a given
alternative. Put such numbers in an extra row at the bottom of the table.
Finally, the alternative that has the highest total score is your decision matrix’s conclusion on what is your best choice.
*************
To do list tips

A written to do list is a simple technique that can increase your productivity by 20 percent or more, if you don't use it already. It
also has extra benefits of clearing your mind and saving you energy and stress.
Try to spend 5-10 minutes each day on planning your activities with a daily to do list. Start your day with it. Even better, every
evening write a plan for the next day, listing your daily things to do. It is important that you actually write your tasks.
Some people are more comfortable doing it on paper, while others prefer using a computer. Try and see what works better for you.
After you've listed all your tasks, review your to do list and decide on the priority of each task. Give higher priority to the tasks that
get you closer to your goals.
A proven simple technique is an ABC rating of your priorities. Mark the tasks on your to do list with "A's" if they are critical for
your goals and simply must be be done that day (or else you face serious consequences).
"B's" are less urgent but still important tasks that you should start right after you are done with "A's". "C's" are "nice to do" things
that you could do if you have any time left after "A's" and "C's". Those tasks can be safely moved to another day.
One important tip to keep in mind. If during a day some new unplanned task comes up, don't do anything until you put that new
task on your list and rate it by priority. See it written among the other tasks and put it in perspective. The more you let go off the
urge to skip that simple step, the more productive and satisfied you become.
When making a to do list, break down your complex tasks into smaller manageable pieces, and focus on one at a time.
Finally, after completion of a task take a moment to look at the result and feel the satisfaction of the progress.
**************

TIME MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

As a student, there are some basic Principles of Time Management that you can apply.
1. Identify "Best Time" for Studying: Everyone has high and low periods of attention and concentration. Are you a "morning
person" or a "night person". Use your power times to study; use the down times for routines such as laundry and errands.
2. Study Difficult Subjects First: When you are fresh, you can process information more quickly and save time as a result.
3. Use Distributed Learning and Practice: Study in shorter time blocks with short breaks between. This keeps you from
getting fatigued and "wasting time." This type of studying is efficient because while you are taking a break, the brain is
still processing the information.
 4. Make Sure the Surroundings are Conducive to Studying: This will allow you to reduce distractions which can "waste
time." If there are times in the residence halls or your apartment when you know there will be noise and commotion, use
that time for mindless tasks.
5. Make Room for Entertainment and Relaxation: College is more than studying. You need to have a social life, yet, you
need to have a balance in your life.
6. Make Sure you Have Time to Sleep and Eat Properly: Sleep is often an activity (or lack of activity) that students use as
their time management "bank." When they need a few extra hours for studying or socializing, they withdraw a few hours
of sleep. Doing this makes the time they spend studying less effective because they will need a couple hours of clock time
to get an hour of productive time. This is not a good way to manage yourself in relation to time.
7. Try to Combine Activities: Use the "Twofer" concept. If you are spending time at the laundromat, bring your psychology
notes to study. If you are waiting in line for tickets to the REM concert, bring your biology flashcards to memorize.
These are some ideas to get you started. You can read more about time management in one of the books in the bibliography. You
can also learn more at time management workshops. In addition, you should know that college students aren't the only ones who
have become more efficient workers. Get a headstart and learn how to manage yourself in respect to time NOW.
If you have some favorite time management tips, send them to the developers via the feedback link at the bottom of this page.
Also, if you have questions about time management, send them to the Study Strategies TAs .