Time wasted is time lost

Time is one of the most important resources. Everyone has 24 hours in a day. Some work wonders with it, some while it away & still others do not know how the day slipped by. Time is so valuable , so precious & you must prioritize your activities & plan your day. There is no such thing as shortage of time. The harsh reality is that the clock ticks away & time lost cannot be retrieved back. So the need to manage time is of utmost importance & the one who masters time masters life.

How do you manage your time?

1) Plan your day & prepare a list of things you need to do categorizing them as Important & Urgent & Not so Important & Urgent & then set out to work accordingly setting a deadline for completing the work. Tick off the list as the work is done. Note down reminders & ideas as they come to you.

2)Set long term & short term goals that are practical, time bound & realistic. Those who have goals in life & are working with some specific purpose are able to utilize their time more meaningfully.

3) Identify your time wasters. You will realise that most of them are in your control.

4) Do one thing at a time. Avoid multi tasking. Set priorities so as to avoid trying to accomplish too many tasks at one time & getting confused & distracted.

5) Do not try to do everything yourself. Try to delegate responsibility to others making your expectations clear & setting time limits for the work.

6) Keep a track of your time by writing down what you do during the day. You may get a revelation of some uncomfortable but useful truths about where you are wasting your time.

7) Schedule time for e-mails. It can take up a lot of your time. So set specific time to read & reply e-mails.

8) Learn to say No when necessary. Consider your goals & schedules before agreeing to take on additional work.

9) Establish routines & try to stick to them as much as possible.

10) The telephone, originally meant for keeping in touch has now become a major time waster. Addiction to the phone can take up a lot of our time.

11) A lot of time is also wasted on gossip, sleeping during the day & unwanted visitors.

12)Television viewing also takes up a lot of our time. So set aside a particular & limited time for viewing the television.

13) The Internet is so interesting! So much to view & learn. One can just forget the time. You can actually spend hours if you don't watch out.

Postponing doing work because you feel lazy or the job is boring or difficult only accumulates more work load. Time is wasted & unnecessary tension is created when the dead line approaches. So stop procrastinating as the work needs to be done anyway. Indecision & procrastination are time wasters.

Be realistic about how much you can achieve within a time span. Never postpone what you can do today for tomorrow. Every minute is precious so make the most of it, enjoy it & value it. Regardless of circumstances we must make all possible efforts to get the most of life by managing our time well.