Time management

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.” Alan Lakein

Do you find that there is too much to do and too little time to do the things you want to do? If you answered yes, perhaps looking at your time management skills may be helpful to address these challenges. I suggest taking a moment to complete a quick survey about How Good Is Your Time Management?: : https://www.mindtools.com/aavjrgg/how-good-is-your-time-management. What did you learn about your time management skills?

As one of my Boston University colleagues, Dr. Anne Sullivan-Soydan shared in her time management presentation for undergraduate students, there are five keys to time management: 1. Priorities, 2. planning, 3. paper, 4. people and 5. pause. Let’s briefly look at each of these keys. For priorities, reflect on your values that drive your choices; set goals; rank tasks; include chores in your priorities and really reflect on what you have considered an emergency to see if that is really the case. As for planning, plan everything; set specific times for each task; track and monitor the time you spend as well as waste and place boundaries on your work time. For paper, sort, file consolidate and then recycle as much as you can. Thinking about people, delegate if possible or ask for assistance; don’t over volunteer and learn to say no (for me this is not the easiest strategy!). Finally, pause. Pause is an important key which includes taking time for leisure occupations; eat healthily; sleeping; taking regular stretch breaks perhaps going outside for a walk; and finding time for mindful occupations such as meditation. After writing this paper, I am committed to improving my time management skills; I hope you are, too.

This issue of WORK contains 24 regular papers and eight that are related to COVID-19 including a Sounding Board editorial on the role of telehealth in the care of musculoskeletal pain conditions after COVID-19.

This issue also includes a special section on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) guest edited by occupational therapist Amy Mooney. This section begins with Amy’s editorial and then includes eight papers. My gratitude is extended to Amy for organizing this important special section on ME/CFS.

The Editor’s Choice paper is Exploring relationships between health-related lifestyle habits and fatigue among flight attendants and trainees authored by researchers Hong, Hsu, and Hu. This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of 107 flight attendants and 109 trainees concluded that, “The flight attendants’ sleep patterns, diet, activity, and relaxation had a more significant impact on fatigue than trainees. Therefore, a healthy lifestyle is important in this population for good workplace performance”.

Our upcoming Learn at WORK webinars include:

Wednesday, March 22, 2023 from 1pm-2pm EST will be the Learn at WORK webinar presented by Kimberly Wickert on the paper published in WORK titled, A “win win”perspective on workplace accommodations: RETAIN Kentucky’s self-advocacy guide to promote successful return to work and stay at work outcomes for workers with disabilities.

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6782315912236171534.

Tuesday, April 25, 2023 from 1pm-2pm EST will be the Learn at WORK webinar on the paper, Emerging vocational rehabilitation strategies for people with diabetes mellitus which is part of the Return to Work Corner series. The paper was authored by:

Phillip D. Rumrill, Jr., Beatrice Lee, Deborah Minton, Malachy L. Bishop, Lynn C. Koch, and Cassidy Pittman.

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1365909428917483872

Tuesday, June 13, 2023 from 1pm-2pm EST will be a Learn at WORK webinar focused on A perspective on occupational therapy and assistive technology: Research, contributions, challenges, and global initiatives presented by Dr. Hassan Izzeddin Sarsak.

Registration: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/157832024519176029

If you’ve missed any of the Learn at WORK webinars, you can find them at: workjournal.org/learn-work.

As always, I welcome hearing from you.

With appreciation,

Founding Editor, WORK

Occupational therapist & ergonomist

workjournal.org

blogs.bu.edu/kjacobs/