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Assign

When you have mapped your time usage consider you actions in a number of categories:
 Controllable / Initiation.

 Importance.
 Urgency.

 Delegatable.

 Controllable/ Initiation Control and Initiation
Ask yourself: How many of my activities Place a cross on the appropriate axes control and initiation.
do I have control over? Which If you rated the activity as high on the control axis and high
also on the initiation axis, the activity is probably very
activities have to be completed as part
important to you. You were a major force in initiating the
of my job? If you are spending too action and had considerable control over its direction.
much time on activities not directly

related to your job, or activities
someone else should or could be doing,
you may be wasting your time. How
many of your activities did you initiate
yourself? How many were initiated by
others? Use the figure below to help
determine control and initiation.
Rate yourself over your control and
your initiation over the activity (0‐6).

 Importance
You can also rate your activities as being ‘very important’ to ‘not important’. Importance refers
to the consequences of decisions or activities. If you are spending too much time on activities
which are unimportant in relation to your goals and major responsibilities, you are probably
wasting your time. Pareto’s Law, sometimes labelled the 80/20 rule, tells us that only 20 per
cent of a leader’s time creates results, whereas 80 per cent of time tends to be spent on
unstructured ‘little things’. The importance of an activity is related to your professional, career
or personal goals. Very important tasks should be given your immediate and undivided
attention.

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