By Dr AK Srivastava
“The most efficient way to live reasonably is to make a plan of one’s day and every night to examine the results obtained.” – Alexis Carrel
God has blessed us with different qualities, lifestyles, personalities, family backgrounds and virtues. We are born, brought up, and educated in different countries, surroundings, and continents The colour of our skin may be brown, white or black. But one thing is common among all human beings: we all have twenty-four hours in a day. Now it is up to us whether we make our life a success story or a failure. Everything depends on our skill of time management.
“Defer no time; delays have dangerous ends,” says William Shakespeare.
We have several things to manage at every stage of our lives, and our success depends on our skill at time management. First of all, we should be very clear about our goals and priorities. We should handle all tasks according to our
priorities. The most important and difficult tasks should be attended to immediately, and other tasks can be taken up according to their significance.
It is not a wise decision to delay the difficult tasks and take up easy ones as priorities. We need to come out of our comfort zone to do the most difficult task first so that we have enough time left for the other jobs.
Benjamin Franklin says, “You may delay, but time will not.”
It is seen that successful persons always get up early in the morning so that they have more time to meet their assignments. It is a good idea to make a list of all tasks to be attended to on a particular day. It is also a good idea to say no to certain jobs because everyone cannot do everything. We should develop expertise in the job or profession that we are doing. Another thing is that we should be available all the time.
It is time to accept changes and challenges in our career, and finally, our behaviour has to be very pleasant with people at our workplace.
If we observe these criteria in our profession, our productivity will certainly enhance, and our work will also be smooth and in time because our colleagues will appreciate us.
We need to assimilate all information and develop clarity of vision before starting the day. Always set deadlines and make an action plan to handle the routine of a day. Certain pieces of work, which we think are less important, can be delegated to
others or subordinates. A successful businessman always delegates tasks and gets reports from subordinates at the end of the day because he knows that he cannot do everything. Time is money. Hence, we should know how much money (time) is to be spent on which task.
“Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, and lost health by
Temperance or medicine may help, but lost time is gone forever.” – Samuel Smiles
It is certainly a good idea to have plenty of rest and sleep. Nobody can continue to work endlessly without a break. We need rest to recharge our bodies and minds. Our performance declines after a few hours, and we need to relax. Both creativity
and focus are enhanced when we take a nap or divert our minds. This is an essential point in time management.
Sometimes, we work on a long project that may continue for several days. It is wise to do it in parts, and some parts need to be done on a regular basis. It is seen that once we neglect a project for some days, it is neglected forever.
Most of us have a lot of stress in our lives. We should deal with stress through meditation, exercise and pursuing hobbies. If we have peace of mind, we can do better work in our office, we waste less time because our energy level and enthusiasm help us with productivity.
We live in the modern age of science and technology, where digital transactions
have made life very convenient and comfortable. Hence, we should take the help of such facilities in order to expedite our day-to-day work. We must keep ourselves in tune with the times by learning and updating our knowledge and skills.
Finally, we reach the conclusion that time management is very pertinent and crucial. It is an essential skill required for our personality development and success. Time is such a river that one cannot put one’s feet in it twice. The future is made by what one does today without waiting for tomorrow.
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” – Mother Teresa
(Dr AK Srivastava is Principal, DAV Inter College, Dehradun.)
