Presenters: Jennifer Bartlett, Jennifer Brannock, Dr. Lori Haight, Brenda Hough, Preston Salisbury. Presented at the virtual Georgia Libraries Conference in October 2020. Librarians wear a lot of hats. Far from a quiet profession with an easily defined range of tasks, a librarian might be called upon to unclog a toilet, clean up a spill, and provide technical support all in the same day (or hour!) How can a librarian stay on top of all of the needed tasks and maintain sanity? This program will consist of a short review of current research on librarian time management and a panel discussion of current librarians discussing ways they manage time, with time for questions and answers.

1. Only So Much Time
in the Day
TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

2. Jennifer A. Bartlett
◦ Assistant Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning, and Research,
University of Kentucky Libraries
Jennifer Brannock
◦ Professor and Curator of Rare Books and Mississippiana, University of Southern
Mississippi
Dr. Lori Haight
◦ Career Services Practitioner and Adjunct Professor, School of Information and Library
Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Brenda Hough
◦ Author of Crash Course in Time Management for Library Staff, adjunct instructor,
Emporia State University.
OUR PANELISTS

3. What time management
advice do you have
for MLIS students or
early-career
librarians?

4. (Retrieved from https://toggl.com/time-management-tips/,
August 28, 2020)

7. EFFECTIVE TIME MANAGEMENT
1.Be aware and intentional about how you’re spending your time.
a. Time logging
b. To do lists
v Get better at estimating how long things will take.
v Get better at breaking big projects down into smaller tasks.
2.It’s about energy management, too.
3.Talk about it.

8. How should time ideally be
allocated/prioritized, and
how might this vary
between different types of
libraries?

9. ALLOCATING/PRIORITIZING
HOW YOU SPEND YOUR TIME
1.Your job description
2.Your manager
3.Your department or team’s goals
4.Overall organizational goals (what’s in the
strategic plan?)

10. (the sweet
spot)

11. How has your understanding of
time management evolved
throughout your career; and if
you could go back to the
beginning, what is one thing you
would tell yourself to help you
better manage your time?

12. What types of
technologies do you use
and recommend for time
management?

13. NOT ALLOWING ENOUGH TIME
It's very easy to underestimate the time it will take to
complete a project or do a task.
◦ Interruptions
◦ Project change of focus
◦ Other projects may suddenly take priority

14. TIP #1:
DO A TIME
AUDIT
THE EISENHOWER MATRIX
HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/FILE:7_HABITS_DECISIO
N-MAKING_MATRIX.PNG
DAVIDJCMORRIS / CC BY-SA
(HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY-SA/4.0)

15. TIP #2:
USE A
CALENDAR
Schedule work on your
projects as though they are
meetings
“Batch schedule” your work
Leave space between
appointments

16. TIP #3:
SET A
FLEXIBLE PLAN
FOR YOUR DAY
The Night Before
• Straighten up your desk or work area
• List 2-3 most important things (MITs)
to do the next day
First Thing in the Morning
• Check e-mail and messages
• Start on your top priority item – eat
the frog
And remember, perfect is
the enemy of done!

17. SUGGESTED TECHNOLOGIES
Online Calendar – Gcal, Outlook, Apple Calendar
To Do List
◦ Digital – RTM, Todoist, Asana, Things, 2Do, Nozbe…
◦ Analog – Bullet Journal, physical planner (Moleskine, etc.)
Time Tracker – RescueTime, Toggl

18. QUESTIONS?
Questions will be collected and sent to each of our panelists and
responses e-mailed to attendees. Or, contact panelists directly
Jennifer Bartlett: jen.bartlett@uky.edu
Jennifer Brannock: Jennifer.Brannock@usm.edu
Dr. Lori Haight: lhaight@email.unc.edu
Brenda Hough: bckhough@gmail.com, @bckhough, brendahough.com

19. Thank you for
attending!