TIME MANAGEMENT

Time management is managing ourselves in relation to time. It is setting priorities and taking charge of your situation and time utilization.

Try and answer this

How old were you five years ago? What did you look like at that time? What did you do then?

What has changed ever since? What have you achieved in this time? And

How quickly do you think has the time passed?

You will agree with no hesitation that TIME has passed very quickly! That is the mystery with this phenomenon called TIME. It passes very quickly and no one seems to know how! Any way like in everybody’s case, in your case also, nothing can be done about the past.

How quickly do you think would the time pass?

Would it be slower or faster in coming future? The time would neither be faster nor slower. The clock would move at the same speed, one second at a time. This has never changed and will never change! 24 hours is what we all have in common. Yet some achieve SO MUCH in this time and some achieve NOTHING. WHY?

Let us look at an old story of A KING, his attendant and the Minister. One day, the King looking out from his Palace window saw some settlements forming at the banks of the river. He said to the attendant “Find out what it is”? The attendant ran and reported back after few minutes-“Your Highness, they are tents”. The King asked again “Where are they from”? The attendant ran again and reported back after some time – “From Persia”. The King asked again “How many people are there?” The attendant once again ran to find out and reported back “675 men”. “No women?” asked the King and off went the attendant again. Relentless questions and corresponding trips by the attendant followed!

Attendant was already getting irritated and started wondering why the King cannot think cohesively and ask more questions in one go rather than asking one question at a time. The King was already asking his nth question to the attendant when the minister appeared. Hearing the King, the minister intervened and said “Let us discuss what all we should know about that gathering near the river . They went into a meeting for some time after which the minister went off to find out more. He was back after 2 hours. And what did he bring after being gone for 2 hours?

Here was the Minister’s report: The tents at the banks of the river belong to a caravan of traders from Persia. There are 675 men, 210 women and 85 children. The leader of the group is ………………..….”. The minister also said “they have 200 horses which they want to sell and I have negotiated the price at…… I need your consent on this”. The minister also explained on what all benefits the kingdom can accrue from the visit of these traders etc….

And what is the moral of the story? It does not matter how hard you work or how much Time You spend working, but what matters is HOW much you achieve in a given period of time. So the minister made the king explain what all he wanted in one go, did proper planning, prioritized the job, did some value add of his own and above all. PUT THE AVAILABLE TO BEST USE. That is TIME MANAGEMENT and it is all about PRODUCTIVITY

Get “SMART” with TIME…..SMART is Simple Measures that Ascertain Resourceful usage of Time.

Some of the measures are:

To do list - a flat list of tasks that a person needs to complete to increase the efficiency.

Goal setting - Set clear & specific short term goals & long term goals.

Proactiveness - Get proactive in your discussions. Ask and force your teachers, friends, parents to explain what they want in one Go! (Like the king & minister in the story).

Priorities - mark each activity according to its importance (A: Extremely important; B: Important; C: relatively unimportant; D: ignore.

Understanding Others - Understand thoroughly what are the expectations from you.

Improving Yourself - Do a SWOT analysis of Yourself.

S – Strength: advantages, what others don’t have?

W– Weakness: how can you improve and avoid

O – Opportunity: good, useful, interesting, future opportunities

T – Threats: obstacles coming on your way, any of your weaknesses seriously threaten

Tips for Successful Time Management

Doing things with concentration, dedication and commitment and not in a careless manner.

Trust others and distribute works to others

Never think about unnecessary things and never interfere in others matters

Postponement of planned events is a bad habit

Breakdown your goals into short & long term with manageable steps

Be punctual

Hurrying up is the best way of doing a thing faster

Don’t forget or misplace things

Use a calendar/ Get organized

Imagine the happiness of having more time:- To spend with your family and friends, To fulfill your dreams, To spend on your hobbies Or just to relax and enjoy the life. Yes, all of this is possible but you should manage your time.

24 hours per day X 60 minutes per hour X 60 seconds per minute = 86,400 Seconds

Every Second Counts…Spend every second in an efficient and productive way and If you fail to use the day’s deposits, the loss is yours.

Soumya R