Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, died last July at the age of 47. In 2007, after learning that his pancreatic cancer was terminal, he delivered a lecture on time management, a subject obviously of great concern to him at the time. This article will encapsulate his advice on managing time at the office.

It is essential, he says, to set goals, to avoid wasting time, and to learn how to delegate. Ask yourself, Why am I doing this? What is the goal? What happens if I don't do it? Keep in mind that there is a difference between doing things right and doing the right thing. “Doing the right things adequately is much more important then doing the wrong things beautifully.”

Only a small number of things on your to-do list are going to yield the majority of the value. If you are a salesperson, 80% of your revenue is going to come from 20% of your clients. Figure out who those people are and spend all your time on them.

If you fail to plan, says Pausch, you plan to fail. Spend time planning every day. It is a mistake to say, “I'm not going to plan because things might change.” You can always change your plan, but not if you don't have one.

As for to-do lists, break things down into small steps. Do the ugliest thing first. “There's an old saying: 'If you have to eat a frog, don't spend a lot of time looking at it first. And if you have to eat three of them—don't start with the small one.'”

Using a chart by Stephen Covey, Pausch delineates things as Important/Due Soon, Important/Not Due Soon, Not Important/Due Soon, and Not Important/Not Due Soon. Most people have no trouble identifying Important/Due Soon as the highest priority and Not Important/Not Due Soon as the lowest, but many people have trouble finding Important/Not Due Soon as the second in order of priority. Pausch advises us to avoid thinking, “This is not important, but it's due soon, so I'll get right on it.” We will often find that the Not Important but Due Soon can be dropped from the list. If we omit the Not Important but Due Soon, we will have a lot more time for the Important but Not Due Soon. So the latter may never get to the Due Soon category.

The typical office worker, says Pausch, wastes about two hours a day, and a cluttered desk, and resultant inability to find things, has a lot to do with that. “One of the mantras of time management is 'Touch each piece of paper once.'” Finish with it and move on. This is especially true of e-mail. “Your in-box is not you to-do list.” Take a look at the item in the box and decide whether to read it or file it. A filing system is essential. Without it, e-mail can swamp us just like paperwork.

If you delegate something, give the person authority and responsibility. Give him or her the resources, budget and time needed to get the job done. “Do the dirtiest job yourself”--so that it is clear that you are willing to do your part, too.

Be specific when delegating. Give the person a specific thing to do and a specific date and time for its accomplishment. And advise the person of a specific reward or punishment for them (depending on whether the task is satisfactorily completed. Underdelegation, by the way, is a common problem in the workplace. People want the opportunity to prove to you and to themselves that they are capable.

In delegating, be sure to communicate clearly. Make a written record of the person's assignments. Give the person objectives, not procedures. If he gets the job done, that's what counts. As for procedures, his may turn out to have been better than yours would have been. And if you give the person several tasks, tell him the relative importance of each.

Pausch stresses the importance of treating your people well. Respect them, he counsels. Thank them—and praise them.