tone: date=April 2009

Time management refers to a range of skills, tools, and techniques used to manage time when accomplishing specific tasks, projects and goals. This set encompass a wide scope of activities, and these include planning, allocating, setting goals, delegation, analysis of time spent, monitoring, organizing, scheduling, and prioritizing. Initially time management referred to just business or work activities, but eventually the term broadened to include personal activities also. A time management system is a designed combination of processes, tools and techniques.

Some authors (such as Stephen R. Covey) offered a categorization scheme for the hundreds of time management approaches that they reviewed

• First generation: reminders based on clocks and watches, but with computer implementation possible can be used to alert of the time when a task is to be done.
• Second generation: planning and preparation based on calendar and appointment books includes setting goals.
• Third generation: planning, prioritizing, controlling (using a personal organizer, other paper-based objects, or computer or PDA-based systems activities on a daily basis. This approach implies spending some time in clarifying values and priorities.
• Fourth generation: being efficient and proactive using any of the above tools places goals and roles as the controlling element of the system and favors importance over urgency.

Some of the recent general arguments related to "time" and "management" point out that the term "time management" is misleading and that the concept should actually imply that it is "the management of our own activities, to make sure that they are accomplished within the available or allocated time, which is an unmanageable continuous resource".

Time management literature paraphrased: "Get Organized" - paperwork and task triage "Protect Your Time" - insulate, isolate, delegate "set gravitational goals" - that attract actions automatically "Achieve through Goal management Goal Focus" - motivational emphasis

• "Work in Priority Order" - set goals and prioritize
• "Use Magical Tools to Get More Out of Your Time" - depends on when written
• "Master the Skills of Time Management"
• "Go with the Flow" - natural rhythms, Eastern philosophy
• "Recover from Bad Time Habits" - recovery from underlying psychological problems, e.g. procrastination

Time management and related concepts

Time management has been considered as subsets of different concepts such as:

• Project management. Time Management, can be considered as a project management subset, and is more commonly known as project planning and project scheduling. Time Management is also been identified as one of the core functions identified in project management .
• Attention management: Attention management relates to the management of cognitive resources, and in particular the time that humans allocate their mind (and organizations the minds of their employees) to conduct some activities.
• Personal knowledge management: see bellow (Personal time management).