Chapter 7 Managing Your Time

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In this chapterPlan->measure->manageTime budgets; ()How to make a time budget;And how to meet your time budget?

Element of Time managementDecide how to spend your time;Make a time budget;Track the way you spend time against the budget;Decide what changes to make to bring your actions into agreement with the budget

Procedure of time management Categorizing your activities Gathering data on time spent by activityEvaluating your time distributionMaking a time budgetGathereing data on time spent against the time budgetEvaluating the time budget(activity and distribution)

Categorizing your activitiesCover all of your principal activitiesYour weekly activity summary shows the average, maximum and minimum times you spend on each activity each week.Focus on those few categories that take the most time.Gathering data on time spent by activity

Evaluating your time distributionAsk yourself whether you are spending time the way you want to?Which activities are most important? Whether you are giving them enough time?Do some tasks take so long that you never get to others that are some important?What are your personal commitments?Must balance schoolwork, jobs, recreation, and social life.

Making a time budgetFormat of Weekly Time Budget (Table 7.1)Your plan for how to spend time.student date instructor class

Weekly activity summary (Table 7.2)

Making a time budgetPhilosophical views of making time budgetYour time budget should be a doable plan, not a wish of that you spend time;There are 24 hours a day. If you want to spend more time on some activities, you must take this time from other activities.Dont be too cruel to yourself when you making your time budget Dont be too friendly to yourself when you wasting your time.But sometimes you need more time

Finding more time Setting ground rules for youMake weekly activity budget (See table 7.3)Do like what you decided and planed.Rules you have established for managing your time!Prioritizing your timeCategorizing your time:Fixed time: class, part-time job, writing programsVariable timeRequired: home work, reading textbook, studying for examsdiscretionary () : eating, sleeping, social activities.

Setting ground rulesNow that you have decided how you want to spend time, you need to actually spend it that way.A simple RULE!Actual time management requires making decisions on a minute-by-minute basis.What a time-management budget is: rules you have established for managing your own time.Need a daily time budget to guide.

Prioritizing your timeOne essential step in time management is establishing priorities.Fixed times and variable timesScheduling the fixed items is no trouble.Problem is allocating the variable time2 kind of variable activities:Required & discretionaryTaking a close look at fixed, required, and discretionary to make adjustments.

You only have 24 hours a day!Where to get additional time needed?Cutting sleeping and eating time can damage your health!Skipping and pulling all-nighters generally not a good ideaYour willingness to actually work to the established plan. A certain amount of leisure activity is necessary.Bad time plan lead you revolt against.Time plan need adjustment or revision.

Managing your time budgetTable 7.6 for formated weekly time schedule and budgetProcess the unexpected eventsBalance between modifying the time budget promptly and sticking to the time budget as tightly as possibleYour ability to work according to the time budget will largely depend on personal discipline.

Managing variable timeWhat are your high priority items?Are there any tasks that should be done at specific times?Allocate specific times for these demand.Are there activities you want to do as soon as you have the time?Keep a list of things you need to do.Keep time budget with your engineering notebook.clip inside the cover!

Your time management objectiveGet an overall picture of your time distribution rather than to know the details.The point of gathering time data is to help yourself manage time.If not to be useful,reconsider your wayGather more time data until you understand how you currently spend time.

SummaryElements of time managingProcedure of time managingAnalyze->budget->trackMaking a time budgetFinding more timeManaging your time budgets

Assignment 7Using table 7.4 and 7.6, make weekly time budget for the future several weeks based on your weekly activity summary

Chapter 8 Managing Commitments

In the chapterWhats the Commitment ()The importance of managing your commitments and how to manage Commitments

Whats the Commitment?Elements of a commitment:Aim ---make your aim clear and verifiableWhat will be done;The criteria for determining that it is done;Responsibilities---make your tasks and return clearWho will do it;The compensation or other consideration to be given in return;and who will provide this compensation or consideration. Due date--- better be a clear date, not dependent on the other tasks.When it will be done;

Personal and contractualWith a contractual commitment, 2 or more people must agree on the intended action before it is a commitment.Time , payment a key characteristic of personal commitments is that they are voluntary.To become truly committed, you must have thoughtfully considered the alternatives and decide that this is sth you can and will do. True agreement is the most important single characteristic of a personal commitmentWhat, when, what in return.

Check listWhat will be doneThe criteria for determining that it is doneWho will do itWhen it will be doneThe compensation or other consideration to be given in returnWho will provide this compensation or consideration

Responsibly made commitmentsAnalyze the job before agreeing to the commitment.Support the commitment with a plan.Document the agreement.If unable to meet the commitment, promptly tell the other party and try to minimize the impact on that person.software

Steps in making a commitment1.meet other parts, requirement phase2.consider the taskswilling&capabilityCan you do the job?Can you do it in time and for the required?3.examine personal time commitments, find the time slot4.discuss the pay and the date to start.5.Agree on all the items discussed.

Handling missed commitmentsAn occasional schedule or cost miss is unavoidableNotify the other party promptly and work together to solve any resulting problems. longer time,Reduced scope,examplesMinimize the customers disruption.Dont give up without seriously trying to meet the commitment.Not defer facing up it.ostrichlike

The importance of managing commitmentsThe principal reasondont overlook or forget any!You may have many commitmentsHelp you when the work you need to do exceeds the time available.Quickly identify those commitmentsPromptly notify the other parties.

Consequences of not managing commitmentsWork required exceeds time available.Failure to meet commitments.Misplaced priorities---emergent tasks not important tasks first.Poor quality work---reduce the test work.Loss of trust.Loss of respect for your judgment.

The most important single asset a software engineer can have is a reputation for meeting commitment.One important purpose of this book is to provide tools to help you make realistic commitments that you can consistently meet.

The way to manage commitmentsMaking a list of the commitments you already have.Note the date each commitment is due and the amount of time it will likely take. (See p95 table 8.3).Several facts:If you falling behind, you must do something different except working harder. If you dont know precisely where you are in a project and how much work remains, you are almost certainly in trouble. Dont count on luck.When you estimate are wrong, they are almost always too low.Almost all changes involve more work. Face up to and deal with

SummarySummaryDefinition of the commitment.The importance to meet commitments and how to manage commitments. The steps to managing commitmentsMake a list of current commitmentsInclude what is to be done and whenInclude an estimate of how much work each commitment will take

Remember software engineers facts of life1.you will continue to fall behind unless you do something different.2.just trying hard will not help3.you need to know precisely where you are and how much work remains4.you cant count on luck to pull you through5.your estimates always too low if wrong6.Almost all changes involve more work.

Assignment 8Make a list of your commitments.