The POSEC method of personal time management is one of the popular methods of time management strategies that you can apply in your life.
POSEC means “Prioritize by organizing, rationalizing, economizing and contributing”.
Prioritize: means to put first things first. That is the most important down to the bare minimum. It’s about how you spend your time with your tasks in relation to your goals.
It is loosely based on Abraham Maslow’s theory of the “hierarchy of needs.” It gives you a realistic tool to set your priorities when it comes to your own unique needs and goals in life.
The second part of the POSEC time management method is “Organize”. The way you organize yourself involves making your plan work on goals that will help you feel more stable and secure.
This involves the things that you must do on a regular basis in order for you to eventually be successful.
You should know that this is a plan to meet your most basic needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, and security. This should include acceptance and love from other people.
About the things you do
The third part of the method is “Simplify”, which deals with things that you may not like to do, but that you must do in some way.
The rationalization applies to those little “dirty” jobs, such as work and housework, that are important in order to live properly. It involves managing and maintaining your personal stability and security.
The fourth part of the POSEC method of time management is “Economize”, which refers to the things to do or the things to enjoy. This includes activities like hobbies and socializing activities.
They can be fun and entertaining, but they are not urgent, like submitting reports on deadlines. These are the ones that should be least on your task priorities.
The last and fifth part of the POSEC method is “Contribute”. Contributing has to do with your social obligations. What you give back to the world.
This involves paying attention to the few remaining things that make a difference.
Based on Maslow’s understanding of the human psyche, this becomes more doable when his other goals are achieved.
Deeper purpose of the method
The POSEC method of time management offers you clear guidance to help you prioritize your goals in life. In theory, this method should encourage upward movement on “hierarchy” charts.
This method was purposely created to develop your personal efficiency and to improve the effectiveness of a team working together.
In addition, this method provides guidelines to help management set the goals of its employees in order of importance so that they can do their jobs better.
However, the correct use and execution of this method determines the appropriate result.
The POSEC method of time management can be broadly defined as a way of dividing your main goals into smaller tasks and smaller goals.
This makes it easier to handle one minor goal after another until the major goals are finally achieved.
Other advantages of this personal time management method is that they also give you some priorities for your social obligations and hobby activities, in addition to your focus on prioritizing tasks in your workplace.
However, some people would prefer to simply focus much of their priorities on work, but work-life balance should not be forgotten.
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Maslow’s theories are closely related to this method of personal time management and it is helpful for the individual applying this method to be familiar with his research on “the hierarchy of needs.”