Time and Project Management: Job Hacks, with Adriana Buelna

Adriana Buelna, an associate project manager at AVID Center, shares her insights on time and project management. She emphasizes the importance of evaluating task value and reallocating time to productive activities. Adriana highlights the significance of personal branding, relational equity, and adapting to change. She recommends using tools like Smartsheet and the Eisenhower Matrix for prioritizing tasks. Adriana advises new professionals to set boundaries, delegate tasks, and reflect on their performance to improve efficiency. She also stresses the importance of staying current with industry trends and leveraging available resources, such as The Project Management Institute's (PMI's) free resources and templates. To learn more, visit AVID.org/alumni.

Transcript

Adriana Buelna 0:00 I really encourage you that as you're planning your week, your day, your projects, you take a look at the deliverables in the task at hand and say, Does this really bring value? Is this going to move the work forward? Is this moving the needle in what I'm doing? And if it's not, then you get the opportunity to reallocate your time to things that will do that for you.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 0:21 Welcome to Avidly Adulting, the podcast where we tackle the wild ride of transitioning into your first career and all of the life lessons in between and beyond when life and career merge into adulting.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 0:39 Welcome to Avidly Adulting. I'm your host, Dr. Aliber Lozano. Today, our topic is time management and project management: how to be more effective and efficient at work, especially if you are new at work. And for some of us, we're going to refine our skills. We may even learn how to incorporate time management and project management into our personal lives. To talk to us about these topics, we have an expert. She is an Associate Project Manager, and yes, she works at AVID Center. She's also an AVID alumni. Please welcome Adriana Buelna. Adriana, welcome. Start by telling us a little bit about your AVID journey.

Adriana Buelna 1:20 Hi, Aliber, it's good to see you, and thank you for having me here. I was an AVID student since seventh grade. Mrs. Morgan, who was my history teacher at that time, invited me to be part of her AVID class, and she helped me test out of the ELD class that I was taking at that time so I could join her AVID class.

So that's where it all started for me, and I didn't stop there. I was in AVID eighth grade, ninth grade, all the way through high school, and I do want to give a great appreciation and shout out to Mr. Johnson, and especially to Mr. Campion, who was my AVID teacher and coordinator and now a friend. He was my first boss when I was an AVID tutor right after high school, and he's been part of a milestone ever since then.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 2:04 You said ELD. Most people may not know that, but English was your second language, so what you needed to come out of is make sure that you had English mastered in order for you to come into AVID, which requires you to take the most rigorous of courses.

Adriana, I too, want to shout out all educators as you're helping inspire and motivate students to reach their fullest potential. Today, you're going to help us reach our fullest potential by talking about time management and project management. Before you go there, I've already shared a little bit. Tell me about your full time job and how that is helping you in your life?

Adriana Buelna 2:42 Yeah, definitely. So I am a Project Manager here at AVID Center. I help oversee and manage some of our strategic plan projects in relation to our organization initiatives, and I also help oversee projects in connection to our products and services that we offer to our educators.

AVID has definitely played a big part in my profession. I've been in AVID since seventh grade, and it has been part of my life for most of my life, if anything. But I do want to honor and just celebrate some of the values and traits that I gained throughout my upbringing, my life experiences. I've always been very curious. I've always been a lifelong learner. I embody my parents' work ethic and hard work. I've never really asked for permission to learn new things or wait a different opportunity to do that.

But coming to AVID, AVID has helped solidify that framework that I was building for myself. It has provided many skill sets that have been invaluable going to college, and now in my career. I've been able to learn a lot about agency, critical thinking, organization, collaboration, and those skills have really been embedded in who I am and the way I show up to work every single day.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 3:59 So you talked about intentionality, being authentic, and never asking for permission to lead with curiosity. So I'm not going to ask your permission. I want to know if you were able to know everything right now in your career, what would you like to have known then, since you would have been more effective today as a Project Manager?

Adriana Buelna 4:22 That's a really great question. So if I can look back and tell my younger self, I would probably tell her, be intentional with your personal branding. That, to me, is who you are, what you represent, what you value, the way you show up every single day. In other words, a mentor of mine said it's the things that you do and don't do.

So being intentional with that, with your personal branding, will allow you to show your value proposition in your organization. It will allow you to take control of your career narrative, as well as building credibility and visibility with others, and expanding your network and possibly positioning you for an opportunity that will give you learning experiences and growth.

I think it's very important for you to be intentional and investing in yourself. That's the best investment you can do, and that may require that you may have to read a little bit more, or may have to be staying current in your industry, staying relevant in the skill sets, and being able to just be intentional in the way you're growing and expanding and maximizing who you are. Every day is an interview. Impressions are not everything, but it is an entry point for you to build that bridge, build that relationship, build that opportunity, that connection, to allow you to showcase the value that you bring to your organization or who you are.

And as a Project Manager, as an example, what I can say is, part of my brand is I really value people. I value building relational equity, building relationships. I know part of our job is to manage processes. It is to manage timelines and scope and budget, but another big part of our job is to manage people, and I think that you can go a lot further when you're able to build that relational equity with others and be able to achieve the intended outcome, when you can bring everybody along. So that's something that I make sure that I represent. The way I show up and represent myself is something that I like to be known for in my organization.

And another thing that I would like to share is many people may have a bad association with failure, but I really think that failure is just an opportunity for you to learn, so fail forward and do not be scared of that. Turn those setbacks into opportunities for you to grow and to learn. So next time you encounter a similar situation, you know what to do. You can make better decisions. You can build a skill set. You can be much more adaptable and flexible and nimble, and it just gives you the opportunity to just get better in your craft and what you do.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 7:06 Wow, you've given us a lot to unpack: if you only knew then, and you can apply it now. And your advice, we can all apply it, which is our branding. We've talked about in our podcast what it means to have your digital brand, but you've unpacked it even more. I want to repeat the words of your mentor, which is, your branding is not just the things you do, but the things you don't do, and sometimes in the things that you don't do, you fail. And you talk about failing fast.

So that's where I want to start. You talk about learning from your failures. So can you tell us, as we engage now in time and project management, when was the time in your career that you felt overwhelmed with deadlines? How did you handle it, and how did you learn about managing your time and that project?

Adriana Buelna 7:56 An example that comes to mind was during the pandemic, and everything changed for everybody, not just for us, for everybody. And that also changed the scope of a project that I was working on. We were needing to turn our face-to-face professional learning experience into a digital experience. We had a short runway, a few months, to turn that around. We were trying to meet our partners' needs and be able to provide them with resources and professional learning to equip them and prepare them for the upcoming year.

I do consider myself a Project Manager, but I also want to consider myself as a stress manager as well, because I do my best to turn that stress into opportunity and be able to redirect that energy into something much more productive. I try my best to navigate challenges and not let that hinder the productivity of the project.

So the way that I approached that was I leaned into what I knew. I didn't have to reinvent the wheel. Lean into what you know, and there are processes in place for a reason. They are there to guide us, to provide us a framework, to provide us a way to get things done. But I also kept that line of communication open. I surrounded myself with thought partners that I can bounce ideas with, that I could ask for recommendations or advice, or asking, how would you approach the situation, or how would you manage this risk? How would you go about this dependency? And it's okay to ask questions. I think there's a lot of power to that. I think that opens up the doors of opportunity to learn something new. So do not let your stress or your feeling overwhelmed hinder you from moving forward.

Think about that. We're not perfect. Nothing's perfect. Change is inevitable. Disruptions happen all the time. So as a Project Manager and the way you manage your time, how is it that you can move the work forward? With that short timeline, we were able to produce a wonderful digital experience for our partners. We were able to meet their needs. We were able to celebrate at the end that even though it was hard and overwhelming, we didn't let that get the best of us and stop us from producing something great.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 10:11 And we're going to be talking about this as our new reality, as you just described, Adriana. The challenges you felt then, that you felt overwhelmed, came out in the end to provide better experiences, even though how we're engaging today, whether you're going to be virtual, whether you're remote, or face-to-face in your professional career, and in some sense in your personal life, what skills do you have? So let's dive right into it. What are some simple ways, effective strategies you recommend for managing time, especially when we're working in a fast-paced environment at work?

Adriana Buelna 10:51 There are many strategies that are in my back pocket, and one of them is understanding the value of the work that you do. So look at what you're doing, the deliverable, the task, the email, the meeting, and think about, Does this move the work forward? Am I going to see a return on investment in what I'm doing? Because if that's not the case, then you're probably either doing busy work. It may not matter as much. You may have to reprioritize it. You may have to focus on something else that will drive the work forward. So I really encourage you that as you're planning your week, your day, your projects, you take a look at the deliverables and the task at hand and say, Does this really bring value? Is this going to move the work forward? Is this moving the needle in what I'm doing? And if it's not, then you get the opportunity to reallocate your time to things that will do that for you.

Something else that's much more practical is blocking your calendar, doing some time blocking, allocating specific slots of your day to have some focus time, learning where in the day are you much more productive, where you can dedicate that focus time and minimize distractions? Don't let your notifications on your phone or notifications on your team's message or the emails or the pings and anything that's maybe distracting you take away that focus time, because that's very valuable and very important, and I'm guilty of that sometimes.

So what I do is I'll keep a notebook next to me, and when I'm having my focus time, if something comes up, or I get a call or a message or something that's a little distracting, I write it down. I finish what I have in front of me, and when I come back and reassess, sometimes it's not even that critical or not even that pressing in time. So I'll either plan it for later or maybe just not allocate the time at that moment. So just make sure that you are also in control of your time and block that time out.

As you are moving in your career, I encourage you as well to be very reflective. I think there's a lot of power in doing that, reflecting and adjusting. So at the end of the week, look back: what went well? What didn't work well? Adjust your strategy so next time, you can maximize your time and be able to be much more productive and produce quality work.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 13:17 Effective strategies. First, when you're stressed, ask for help. Secondly, take inventory of your work so that you can categorize it. Brilliant is so that people don't get your calendar. Put some "do not disturb" time in so that you get down and focus on doing some work. And fourth, at the end of the day, at the end of the week, reflect, because through reflection, we learn.

Now, Adriana, I'm a first year, second year staff member in my new job. These are great strategies, but what if I don't have full control, and I am going to have to do what I consider busy work? This is off the script, and I'm not going to ask for permission. How do I say no? How do I say no to my team? How do I say no to my supervisor when I'm a novice employee in this organization?

Adriana Buelna 14:04 Well, this is where agency comes in, and self-advocacy. We have to be able to advocate and say, what are some things that can get off my plate, or what are some things that I can pause? And that's a really scary question when you're coming up in your career and you want to make an impression, and you want to be able to have rapport with your supervisor or the people that you're working with, but that's the reality. If you don't, if you're not able to advocate for yourself, you're going to get in this trap of over committing and overworking yourself, experiencing burnout and not being as productive, and you ultimately compromise the quality of your work, and you don't want to do that.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 14:48 Adriana, that is great, because what I heard there regarding how do I say no? The first thing is to make sure that I have relationship equity, which you started off with, building that rapport so that I have that trust and confidence to be able to explain.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 15:00 What has to pause? What can I keep on my plate? And what can I pick up right now to solve the immediate? And ask for help, of course, if I'm stressed. So there's a little off script about how to say no. I'm sure everybody's listening to that response to your question, so that we can learn how to say no. Whether it's your first or second year or it's your 20th year in your organization, how to say no is very difficult for all of us. So let's talk about some common pitfalls in time management. What are some common pitfalls with time management that especially new employees do? What should we avoid?

Adriana Buelna 15:35 I would say that over committing would definitely be a common mistake that we all go through, really. Taking too many tasks can really compromise your productivity. It can lead to burnout. So it's really important for you to set those guard rails, those boundaries, to be able to prioritize a workload that really matters for what you're able to produce at that moment.

Another mistake that's kind of silly to say, but it's multitasking. Trying to juggle multiple things, multiple tasks at the same time, just really hinders your productivity, and there's more likelihood of you committing human error when you're very distracted. So focusing on one task at a time, I think there's more value that can improve the quality of what you're producing and the productivity that you're doing.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 16:24 So you mean, while I'm in a Team Zoom meeting, I shouldn't be multitasking by doing my work and not listening to the meeting, because I'm going to miss a cue, especially in my first or second year, that might have been really important to me. That's what we're defining as multitasking, and that's some of the pitfalls we're going to try to avoid. It's still a lesson I'm trying to learn, as you described earlier, so that's something that we're going to help and try to get better at.

And I really like that the common pitfall is over committing, because as a young employee, you want to prove yourself. You want to say yes to all of the jobs that come at you, and you could say yes, but let it not affect your productivity in the others. And most importantly, what I hear you also saying is make sure it brings you joy. So there's a balance there. You're getting something else back, which is not just proving yourself and your value at work, but it is bringing you with your well-being and considering yourself first, which you reminded us earlier.

Let's get into project management. For someone new to project management, what's the best way to approach organizing and tracking a project?

Adriana Buelna 17:49 I may sound like a broken record, but I do want to ensure that you have a clear understanding of the objective. Have a clear understanding of the intended outcome. That's super important, because if you have a clear understanding of that, then you'll be able to redirect and stay on time and within scope. That's something that as you're getting started, you always have to have the ability to understand that and redirect.

And I also would say, leverage your project management tools to work for you. Create a report that's going to be giving you the deliverables that are going to be due in the upcoming two weeks to 30 days. It allows you to have more of a focused view of what's coming up in your project. Take advantage of the automations to be able to remind people when deadlines are due, when deadlines are coming up, and it will just provide you a clear picture of what you're trying to accomplish and how to stay engaged with others, and whatever you need that can simplify the work that you're doing, take advantage of those functionalities and let it work for you.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 18:54 Got it. You do this so often: clarity of objectives. I know, working with you in some of the projects, you will paraphrase to make sure that we are calibrated, not just you and I, but the team is calibrated on the deliverables, so that everybody knows exactly what to do, and we're not spinning our wheels, and no one's doing the same thing in two different parts. And that's part of the effectiveness and efficiency we talked about when we come to time management, and now as we're talking about project management.

So, Adriana, as we're trying to manage our projects, clear objectives, got it. Make sure we're calibrated, got it. How can someone ensure that they are meeting deadlines while juggling multiple projects? It's not my choice, but it is the reality that I do have multiple projects. So what are some ways that I can be successful in completing those tasks?

Adriana Buelna 19:46 You really want to identify which tasks are much more urgent and important. There are so many tools and resources you can use to be able to identify that, and I mean, even simply looking at upcoming deadlines, you can help prioritize your top three and be able to focus on those milestones for that week. So making sure that you are clear on which tasks or milestones are urgent and important and require more attention.

And I also want to just remind you that there's no such thing as a perfect project. There's nothing that's linear, that's perfect, and that you have to remain nimble and flexible. So just be prepared to adjust your timeline. I know we take time sometimes, prior to us kicking off a project, to plan and create our project plan, our schedule, and our milestones, but just be prepared to adjust any timelines, your resources, have strategies that are needed to accommodate any changes or unforeseen challenges. I think having that in mind will help you be more flexible and adaptable as you're navigating and approaching any upcoming timelines in your project.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 21:00 What are some tips that you do with your calendar to manage these multiple projects?

Adriana Buelna 21:05 That's a really good question. Some of the things that I do that's much more practical is I add the milestones into my Outlook, just to have it there as I'm planning my week. I know there's some milestone coming up that's approaching, or I'll have a centralized location where I have all my milestones for all my projects, and be able to monitor what's coming up there as well.

I make sure that I use different methods. The Eisenhower Matrix has been one of the things that I've used to be able to use the quadrants and prioritize the task and work that I'm doing. And it changes. It's not always the same. Every project, it looks a little bit different depending on the quarter or the year. I'm constantly adjusting my approach, my strategy, to work for me and be able to give me clarity on what I need to focus on.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 21:52 All right, you mentioned Eisenhower method. You lost me. Tell us a little bit more about that in the lay person's terms.

Adriana Buelna 22:01 So the Eisenhower Matrix is a tool that I use sometimes when I want to prioritize the work that I'm doing, especially when I have many things that are upcoming and their deadlines. And it's simply a four quadrant tool. It's divided in a way where you can identify what you need to do now: what's urgent, what's important.

Then there's another quadrant, where it allows you to schedule time, where it's not too urgent, but it's important, and you have to get to it.

There's another quadrant that I have embraced more: what can you delegate? What can you let go? What can you share with others? Have that shared responsibility and shared ownership.

And then there's the last one: what can you eliminate? It's becoming my favorite. What can you delete? What is not urgent? What's not important? That's something that I use whenever I find myself in a place where I have so many deadlines coming up, so many tasks on my list, and I want to really prioritize the work that I'm doing.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 23:06 I know our subscribers are going to take a look at this Eisenhower Matrix a little closer, because they're going to look into those two Ds a little bit closer: how to delegate and how to delete. Always two good resources to have in your back pocket as you described. You continue to share some really practical skills on time management and project management. If I want to listen to this podcast again, to just review and listen, that's one of the ways I can learn better. But what other tools, apps or websites do you recommend that our subscribers take a look at to see what's the best fit for them to be more effective and efficient at work?

Adriana Buelna 23:44 That is a great question. There are so many software and apps and tools that are available to you to monitor your time, to track your projects. I think the first step would be check out what your organization offers. Many organizations have some sort of project management tool and see what functionalities they have. Take advantage of all the templates and functionalities that you have. If not, identify the need and be able to search for a platform that's going to work for your team. Every organization is different.

Here at AVID Center, I use Smartsheet. We use this platform to monitor all of our projects. We monitor all of our risks. We use all the dashboards. You have so many great functionalities that you can maybe check out and try for yourself. But if you're interested in project management, there is the Project Management Institute where you can get certified to be a Project Manager, which I highly recommend. And on that website, you will see some resources, some templates, blogs, podcasts, that are accessible to you for free. I just encourage you to check it out and see what could be valuable to you.

Dr. Aliber Lozano 24:53 Great. I use a to-do list, right? But as you explain, whether it's Excel or Smartsheet, that's taking it to the next level. So now I'm using Excel and Smartsheet, because you've given me no other choice, Adriana, but to manage my projects and my time using these instruments. And pmi.org, as you said, is free, and you can go in there and check out templates, and there are some really good resources, whether or not you're trying to be a Project Manager. Adriana is doing some recruitment here.

I do want to thank you, Adriana, today, for sharing your advice, tips, and hacks of how to manage our time, projects, and therefore ourselves at work. And we even talked about managing other people by saying yes and by saying no, taking inventory and making sure that you're bringing value into your work and not devaluing it by taking on too much or not being organized, effective, and efficient using the time management and project management tips you've shared with us.

I'd like to leave this podcast with a quote by Stephen Covey: "The key is not spending time but investing in it." Adriana, you talked about investing in yourself, investing in the organization through time management and project management skills. This is what this quote is talking about, to make sure that we are using these tools for the effective use of our time, and so that we are then being extremely efficient, so that we can move on to the next task and put it on our Smartsheet or Excel or your favorite tool, as you'll visit pmi.org.

Thank you subscribers for participating in this episode. That's our time today for Avidly Adulting. Be good today, and together, let's strive to be great tomorrow. Avidly Adulting is powered by our AVID alumni, and is brought to you by AVID. To learn more about AVID, visit our website at avid.org. If you are an AVID alumni, join our network at avid.org/alumni. Thanks for listening to Avidly Adulting. Join us the first and third Mondays of every month as we feature guests and topics to help you navigate your first career with laughter, insights, and life lessons, because adulting isn't just a job, it's an adventure. [Music].