Effective Time Management
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What you'll learn
Define short- and long-term professional goals to align your daily actions with your core values.
Keep a precise time log to track task efficiency, eliminate distractions, and map your personal energy cycles.
Delegate tasks effectively, practice the diplomatic "no," and choose customized planning tools to minimize time wasters.
Learn by doing. Perform guided, step-by-step hands-on activities on your own computer.
Details to know
January 2026
1 assignment
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
There are 6 modules in this course
Time is a form of currency, and the ways you talk about it illustrate its value: people say “Time is money,” and “My time was well spent,” or “It's a waste of time.” Like most professionals, you've probably struggled with managing time effectively. In this course, you will acquire day-to-day time-management tools that will help you more effectively use your time so you can direct your energy towards fulfilling your short- and long-term professional and personal goals.
Your time is a precious and limited resource. Too often, you may feel frustrated that there aren't enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you hope to do. Effective time managers enjoy the satisfaction of directing their talents and energy towards productive, goal-centered activities. By identifying improved time management and organizational skills, you, too, can use your time and energy effectively, focusing your efforts on the activities that will help you reach your goals. Professionals in a variety of fields who are seeking improved time-management skills, so that they can meet their long-term goals and perform more effectively. In this course, identify effective time-management strategies, including defining personal and professional goals, establishing priorities, and identifying the tasks that will be critical to achieving those goals. You will create a personal time-management action plan. You will: • State your goals. • Analyze how you are currently allocating your most precious resources: energy and time. • Identify elements of your personal work style that contribute to your effective use of time. • Assemble a collection of time-management tools and strategies that you can use to take control of your time. • Create an action plan for your time-management process and identify ways to evaluate and improve your efforts. This course requires that you have Microsoft Office installed on a Windows PC. The course setup instructions provided in the first module of the course go into more detail about the hardware and software requirements.
People who are effective time managers are able to focus their efforts on achieving their long-term goals. Defining your goals is the first step towards managing your time effectively. You need to define your goals so you'll know what you want to accomplish through improved time management. In this lesson, you will identify the basic underlying philosophy and processes of time management, and you will clearly state your goals for the future by identifying two critical guiding lights: your dreams and your regrets.
What's included
22 plugins
22 plugins•Total 90 minutes
- Data Files and Setup for This Course•15 minutes
- About This Course•1 minute
- Lesson Introduction•1 minute
- Topic 1A: Define Time Management•1 minute
- 1A-1: Reading•5 minutes
- 1A-2: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 1B: Describe Your Dreams•1 minute
- 1B-1: Reading•1 minute
- 1B-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 1B-3: Reading•1 minute
- 1B-4: Activity•15 minutes
- Topic 1C: Identify Regrets•1 minute
- 1C-1: Reading•1 minute
- 1C-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 1C-3: Reading•1 minute
- 1C-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 1D: State Goals•1 minute
- 1D-1: Reading•1 minute
- 1D-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 1D-3: Reading•1 minute
- 1D-4: Activity•15 minutes
- Lesson Summary•5 minutes
In the previous lesson, you described your dreams and regrets, and stated your goals. Effective time managers make informed, conscious choices about using their time and energy in the most effective manner possible. Analyzing your energy allocation is the first step towards making better choices. In this lesson, you will identify how your energy is spent, and then analyze your tasks, time usage, and energy flow.
What's included
20 plugins
20 plugins•Total 106 minutes
- Lesson Introduction•1 minute
- Topic 2A: Create a Time Log•1 minute
- 2A-1: Reading•5 minutes
- 2A-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 2A-3: Activity•15 minutes
- Topic 2B: Analyze Tasks•1 minute
- 2B-1: Reading•10 minutes
- 2B-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 2B-3: Reading•1 minute
- 2B-4: Activity•15 minutes
- Topic 2C: Analyze Time Usage•1 minute
- 2C-1: Reading•5 minutes
- 2C-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 2C-3: Reading•1 minute
- 2C-4: Activity•15 minutes
- Topic 2D: Analyze Energy Flow•1 minute
- 2D-1: Reading•10 minutes
- 2D-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 2D-3: Activity•15 minutes
- Lesson Summary•5 minutes
In the previous lesson, you analyzed how you use your time and energy. Every person has a unique personal style that includes preferences about work and organizational techniques that affect their use of time. In this lesson, you will identify your personal style so that you can identify personal motivators and personal strengths; in the context of time management, this is significant because it will help you to be as effective as possible. Identifying your personal style will help you capitalize on your strengths, leveraging the influences that help you achieve your greatest productivity, and downplay the effects of any detractors, such as the factors that deplete your energy.
What's included
27 plugins
27 plugins•Total 89 minutes
- Lesson Introduction•1 minute
- Topic 3A: Review a Successful Day or Project•1 minute
- 3A-1: Reading•1 minute
- 3A-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 3A-3: Reading•1 minute
- 3A-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 3B: Analyze Your Preferences•1 minute
- 3B-1: Reading•5 minutes
- 3B-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 3B-3: Reading•1 minute
- 3B-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 3C: Identify Personal Strengths•1 minute
- 3C-1: Reading•1 minute
- 3C-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 3C-3: Reading•1 minute
- 3C-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 3D: Identify Personal Motivators•1 minute
- 3D-1: Reading•1 minute
- 3D-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 3D-3: Reading•1 minute
- 3D-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 3E: Reduce Time Wasters•1 minute
- 3E-1: Reading•10 minutes
- 3E-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 3E-3: Reading•1 minute
- 3E-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Lesson Summary•5 minutes
In the previous lesson, you identified your personal style. Effective time managers use a variety of techniques and strategies to achieve their goals. In this lesson, you will explore various negotiating skills and delegating skills that will help you manage your time; and you will identify ways to achieve diplomatic resolutions and to block out time and space for your own needs. You'll assemble a toolbox of skills that will help you manage your time more effectively. Assembling an array of effective time-management tools will help you to manage your time better. By identifying and implementing new strategies, you'll be better equipped to address any time-management issues as they arise.
What's included
17 plugins
17 plugins•Total 70 minutes
- Lesson Introduction•1 minute
- Topic 4A: Negotiate for Success•1 minute
- 4A-1: Reading•5 minutes
- 4A-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 4A-3: Reading•1 minute
- 4A-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 4B: Delegate Tasks•1 minute
- 4B-1: Reading•5 minutes
- 4B-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 4B-3: Reading•1 minute
- 4B-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Topic 4C: Choose Tools that Work for You•1 minute
- 4C-1: Reading•15 minutes
- 4C-2: Guidelines•1 minute
- 4C-3: Reading•1 minute
- 4C-4: Activity•10 minutes
- Lesson Summary•5 minutes
In the previous lesson, you identified time-management tools and techniques. Effective time managers have a structured framework to guide their use of time. As they evaluate their progress, they refine their approach, as needed, so they can continually make improvements. In this lesson, you will create a time-management plan to guide your time-management process and develop a system for evaluating and improving your efforts. Creating your own time-management plan will help you to tailor a time-management system to your own needs, requirements, and style of working. By creating a time-management plan, you will be better-equipped to move ahead effectively while focusing on the areas you need to improve and leveraging the personal strengths that you embody.
What's included
12 plugins
12 plugins•Total 80 minutes
- Lesson Introduction•1 minute
- Topic 5A: Create the Action Plan•1 minute
- 5A-1: Reading•10 minutes
- 5A-2: Guidelines•5 minutes
- 5A-3: Reading•1 minute
- 5A-4: Activity•20 minutes
- Topic 5B: Evaluate the Time-Management Action Plan•1 minute
- 5B-1: Reading•15 minutes
- 5B-2: Guidelines•5 minutes
- 5B-3: Reading•1 minute
- 5B-4: Activity•15 minutes
- Lesson Summary•5 minutes
You'll wrap things up and then validate what you've learned in this course by taking an assessment.
What's included
1 assignment1 plugin
1 assignment•Total 30 minutes
- Course Assessment•30 minutes
1 plugin•Total 1 minute
- Course Summary•1 minute
Instructor
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