Tips on Time Management

Time is the scarcest means of production available to a modern man. Be wise in the use of time. The question in life is not "how much time do we have?" The question is "what are we doing with it? …. Anna Robertson Brown

Great philosophers have said that time is the most valuable asset man has – and we all have unanimously been accepting it as a universal truth. The only problem with us is our realization of the truth only after this asset is already lost and painfully enough, this happens every day. If given everything you require, you can do nothing if you do not have time – let alone pressing task assigned by your boss, you simply cannot have your lunch if you do not have time.

Amongst most of the natural elements, time has many unique properties, to enlist a few:

·         it is free throughout the universe

·         your daily slice of time is credited in your account with every  “Good Morning”

·         it is distributed equally in a measure of 24 hours to a President or a Peon, without any partiality or priority

·         it is the most perishable commodity – grab it, else it might be gone forever.

·         though it cannot be stored, it can be stolen, most of the time, without the knowledge of the victim or culprit

·         while victim is stealing your time, you knowingly or unknowingly, allow the misdeed and when the loss is realized you repent without any remedy against the culprit.

What is the way out?

With the economic development, we all are becoming “money rich and time poor”. It was hoped that the modern gadgets and technology would prevent us from becoming “time poorer” but the reality is quite contrary to what was hoped for. Every working man or woman is abysmally “time poorer” than ever before. As a result, Time Management has become an important life skill. Given hereunder are some “home grown” and some “exotic” tips on Time Management for average working individual which can be put to use depending upon individual’s circumstances:

1. Get up early in the morning

2. Finish daily bathroom routine before picking up the news paper or switching on the TV

3. While taking breakfast watch the news on TV

4. Except making important call or SMS, do not touch the mobile in the morning. Leaving the home in time and reaching at workplace in time is more pleasurable than giving lame excuses for reaching late after foolishly wasting time in viewing frivolous videos on mobile. Your race on road against the time can land you or the other innocent person in hospital.

5. Before leaving the home, ask your family members if they want anything from the market when you return home in the evening.

6. Each minute at the workplace is precious. On reaching to the workplace, get into the work immediately. Do not discuss what happened since you left the workplace the previous day. Do not give your ears to learned colleagues who are discussing the hot and interesting issues.

7. Keep your “tools of trade” in tidy way.

8. Use intercom, mobile, telephone, email etc to substitute face to face talk as far as possible.

9. Communicate with clarity. Clearing unclarity eats into your time.

10. Do not be perfectionist. Output with acceptable standards is OK.

11. Do not procrastinate (postpone) the task. Procrastination will make the task complicated and requires more time to finish.

12. Be proactive and plan your work with foresight.

13. Be a smart worker. Do not be shy in seeking advice of experts. Exploit internet to find solutions.

14. Do not give unsolicited advice. This will not only save your time but will also improve your image.

15. Be a silent operator. A silent operator is more productive that a noisy workhorse. Wherever possible, delegate work to others. Invest your time to train your subordinates.

16. Talks to visitors must be confined to official work. If the visitor is sticky, flash polite signals to indicate that you want to conclude the talk.

17. Do not “institutionalize” your personal problems by discussing it in workplace.

18. Before closing the day, keep the next day’s task papers in “Ready to Go” stage so that your work plan of for the next day is ready and your mindset is well tuned for the same. Prioritize the pending work from “To do List”. Wind up your workplace in a systematic way and leave in time. If you have used your each minute wisely, there should not be any eventuality of sitting late for hours.

19. While returning home, remember the things you have to carry from the market as asked by your family members.

20. Finish your dinner early. Enjoy TV. Peep into your mobile. Respond to respondables and delete the rest without thinking twice. If you are not judicious mobile user, it is becoming a monster eating into your time more than any other time wasters.

21. Before going to bed, keep your tomorrow clothes and accessories ready and also put papers / files in your office bag which are to be taken to office next day. Take care of your lunch box.

22. Go to bed early. Sleeping is more refreshing than any TV Serial or mobile app. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.

23. “Money poverty” can be mitigated easily as there are many “money lenders” but “time poverty” cannot be mitigated as there is no “time lender”.

24. Schedule all your household jobs and social visits on holidays in a planned way. Taking appointments and if taken a one, keeping time is not our culture. You must leave this culture if you or the person at other end is time poor.

25. Learn art of saying “NO”. Prudent NO can save your lots of time – and some time troubles and money too. This will help you to keep away from “distractors”.

26. Do not go to other colleague without official work and waste your and his time. Waste not, want not.

27. When you have a dispute with any person: Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice. - William Shakespeare (Listen more, speak less). As soon as you realize that you are, in fact, on wrong side of the matter,  be bold enough to say sorry and  thank the other person. This will save time of both the parties.

28. Habit of time wasting gets deeply rooted in our personality if you are not on guard. Give your precious time to leave this habit. It requires your own conscious and constant efforts to learn the skill of time management.

29. When you have made your point clear, do not harp on your clarification and waste your time. Stop there and then, like what I would like to do here.