Who Manages Time?

Time - "A continuous, measurable quantity in which events occur in a sequence proceeding from the past through the present to the future."

In doing Project work, we manage people, money, and materials. Those are often thought of as the basics. Within reason, we can get people and manage what they do for your Project. We can get money (okay, let's not argue about this one in the current lending climate!) and we can manage it. We can get more materials and we can manage them.

But we can't really get more time. And, how do you manage time?

MORE TIME

1. Time is a different resource for a Project. Like the definition says, we can measure it. It only happens in a sequence.
2. Customers need the Project completed in a FIXED amount of time - by a certain date. Very seldom is it their preference, even if they add to our Project Scope, to give us more time.
3. Every work day, we only have a fixed amount of time.
4. Even if we excel in productivity (doing more in less time), Project tasks will take some amount of time.
5. One task may wait for some time before another is completed so that it can start or finish.
6. We may have a schedule that says something will be done in a certain amount of time. If that something isn't done as planned, it doesn't really get more time - it uses time from something else - that can't get more time - that uses time from something else - on and on. I know, it's not all that sequential.
7. We don't really ever get more time.

MANAGING TIME

So, how do we MANAGE TIME?

1. We don't really manage it.
2. Sometimes it seems to manage us, instead.
3. We can only treat is for what it is - a scarce resource (usually) that is part of the whole Project picture.
4. We can manage the USE of our time. Deciding what to do today and in so doing deciding what not to do today.
5. Time needs attention. 
6. We have to stay aware of it. Late is never acceptable on a Project. If you are late, sometimes everything else that went well is forgotten. All that is remembered is - "She was late". "He didn't complete it on time."
7. "Better late than never" - is a lie. At least for Project work. So, though we can't really manage it, we must make the best use of it on our Projects.