Seven Questions Answered

1. What are the major activities and tasks that take up most of your time (at a minimum, include family, school, and work)? Explain how much time you spend on each of these major activities on a daily or weekly basis.

Obviously (and unfortunately) work and sleep consume most of my day. I spend between eight and twelve hours at work and between six and eight hours sleeping each day. School, on average, takes up about an hour of my day, so far. Of course, that won’t remain accurate as I begin to take more and more intensive classes. Sadly, a distant third on my pie chart is the time that I get to spend with my family: most days about four hours with my children before they go to bed and perhaps another two to three hours after that with my wife before we turn in.

2. Define Circadian Rhythm in your own words. When is your high-energy time (be specific as to the time of day)? What activities are you completing during this high-energy time? Is any study time during your high energy time?

The Circadian Rhythm is your body’s natural wake/rest cycle. It usually dictates that you’re awake during the hours of daylight and asleep when it’s dark out. My “high-energy” time changes drastically depending on which shift I’m on. Currently I’m on grave shift and my energy starts to peak just as the sun is coming up. Unfortunately, I’m usually driving home at that point and on my way to bed. When I’m on day shift, I have the most energy just before lunch time, which tends to be my most productive time of the day. Since I’m at work, though, I don’t really have any time to study when that happens.

3. Your textbook emphasizes the importance of using “To Do Lists.” Go to this website: www.mindtools.com. Find the section that deals with ...

... middle of paper ...

... suppose that, from a business owner’s standpoint, the more time that he and his subordinates spend producing whatever product the company sells, the more money the business can potentially make. As far as my hypothetical business is concerned, I’m not entirely sure what you mean by the “bottom line.” If you’re asking if I would plan out every moment of my and my staff’s day, I would give a resounding “No.” Going back up to the previous question’s management practices, one of the most important of those in order to run a successful business with happy employees is delegation. I see so much micromanagement every day in the Air Force, and it actually hurts productivity. So, if you want to say that “Time is money,” you would do well to ask your staff to “Take this time to make us some money,” rather than standing over them and timing how long they make you money.