Research Strategy Paper

Research Strategy Paper
Laurie Mack
GEN200
October 4, 2010
Adam Rheim

Research Strategy Paper
I have time management issues that are significant.   As an assistant to the Chief Financial Officer and a financial analyst of a large health care organization, I am always busy meeting deadline.   In addition to my fulltime job, I am also attending school to further my education.   I must work to support myself and my family. How can I solve my time management issues and still work fulltime, spend quality time with my family and attend school?   I must use the research tools I have learned to assist in my goal of better time management.  
An evaluation of my daily activities must be completed so I can get a grasp at where my time is being spent and where I can make adjustments.  
To better understand where my time is used and how it is used, I will, for one month, keep a daily log.   “Activity logs help you to analyze how you actually spend your time. The first time you use an activity log you may be shocked to see the amount of time that you waste! Memory is a very poor guide when it comes to this, as it can be too easy to forget time spent on non-core tasks.”   (Mind Tools 2009) Knowing where and how my time is spent will allow me to get to the next level of understanding how to better manage my time.
Now that my daily log is complete, I have a better understanding of how my time is being used and wasted.   As I review the log, I see that much of my time is being wasted because of bad time management.   How can I fix this?   I will change my daily schedule to utilize my wasted time.   Instead of sitting at the kitchen table in the morning, I will use that extra 15-20 minutes to log onto the classroom and read post and reply. I found myself wasting time even at work. When I have down time at work I will also use this wasted time to check in the classroom. Logging on two times a day for 15-20 minutes will save me more time at night with my family. The extra 30-40... [continues]

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