CPC Time Management Strategies 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A client frequently says yes to requests and then feels overwhelmed. Which time management skill should the coach build first?
- Speed reading
- Boundary setting and assertive refusal (Correct answer)
- Better calendar software
- Delegation to subordinates
Correct answer: Boundary setting and assertive refusal
Learning to say no or negotiate requests is foundational to protecting time for high-priority commitments.
Question 2: According to the Pomodoro Technique, what happens after four consecutive work intervals?
- A 5-minute break
- A longer break of 15–30 minutes (Correct answer)
- A full day off
- A review session
Correct answer: A longer break of 15–30 minutes
After four 25-minute Pomodoros, Francesco Cirillo's method prescribes a longer break to allow deeper mental recovery.
Question 3: Which strategy addresses the tendency for work to fill all available time regardless of actual complexity?
- Parkinson's Law mitigation — setting artificial deadlines (Correct answer)
- The Eisenhower Matrix
- The Getting Things Done review
- Weekly planning sessions
Correct answer: Parkinson's Law mitigation — setting artificial deadlines
Parkinson's Law states work expands to fill the time allotted; setting tighter self-imposed deadlines counteracts this inflation.
Question 4: A coaching client wants to stop losing time to disorganized email. The BEST first recommendation is:
- Check email continuously throughout the day
- Designate two or three specific email-processing windows daily (Correct answer)
- Archive all emails immediately without reading
- Hire a personal assistant
Correct answer: Designate two or three specific email-processing windows daily
Batching email into set processing windows prevents reactive context-switching and reclaims deep-work time.
Question 5: In the context of time management coaching, 'decision fatigue' refers to:
- Inability to make decisions under time pressure
- Declining quality of decisions after making many choices (Correct answer)
- Fear of committing to a schedule
- Overthinking low-stakes tasks
Correct answer: Declining quality of decisions after making many choices
Decision fatigue means the quality of decisions deteriorates as the number of daily decisions increases, depleting mental resources.
Question 6: A client's weekly review reveals 60% of time spent on administrative tasks yielding little value. The coach should guide the client to:
- Eliminate all administrative tasks
- Automate, delegate, or batch those tasks to reclaim high-value time (Correct answer)
- Hire more staff immediately
- Accept administrative work as unavoidable
Correct answer: Automate, delegate, or batch those tasks to reclaim high-value time
A strategic response to low-value time sinks is to automate, delegate, or batch them rather than eliminate or ignore them.
Question 7: The 'capture' step in David Allen's GTD methodology serves primarily to:
- Prioritize tasks by urgency
- Remove all open loops from the mind into a trusted external system (Correct answer)
- Schedule tasks into the calendar
- Delete unnecessary commitments
Correct answer: Remove all open loops from the mind into a trusted external system
Capturing every open loop into an external system frees mental RAM and reduces cognitive load from trying to remember everything.
CPC Time Management Strategies 3
A client frequently says yes to requests and then feels overwhelmed.
Which time management skill should the coach build first?