‘Time
is the scarcest resource and unless it is managed, nothing else can be
managed.’
- Peter
Drucker
The first step to
effective time management is to agree and believe that you need to manage time. Being
open to change is the most important and essential step.
Let’s consider that you have already made a
decision and you are ready to put all your efforts in understanding and
managing time. But, before
you can start implementing a time-management methods in your organization, the
change must begin with you.
It’s
not enough to be busy.
The
question is:
‘What
are you busy about?’
- Henry Thoreau
Let's do an interesting, quick and effective exercise
to understand your where do you want your time to go and where actually is
it going.
- Write down 5 points on a piece of
paper about some of your wishes/ambitions that you want to fulfil and when
do you think you plan to get there. It can be your short-term or long-term
goals. For example,
|
Ambition
|
When
|
|
1. I wish to begin my own architectural business
|
Beginning of 2014
|
|
2. I want to learn canvas oil-painting
|
Next Month
|
|
3. I wish to have more personal and professional
friends
|
Soon
|
|
4. I want to travel to international locations
|
Once in every year
|
|
5. I wish to visit my family
|
Once in 3 months
|
● Having done that, now create a list of activities that
you did last week. Pick out any one day and write about the activities of those
24 hours. For example,
|
Activities
|
TIME
|
|
Sleep
|
7 hours
|
|
Cook (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
|
30min + 30min + 30min = 1.5 hours
|
|
Eat (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)
|
2 hours
|
|
Morning walks
|
30min
|
|
Reading Newspaper
|
30min
|
|
Getting ready
|
30min
|
|
Housekeeping (Cleaning/laundry....)
|
1 hour
|
|
Traffic jam
|
2 hours
|
|
Office work
|
8 hours
|
|
Personal computer time (Facebook/email/chat)
|
30 min
|
|
Watch television / read a novel
|
30 min
|
|
Total
|
24 hours
|
Now, put both of these two lists in front of
you and compare.
This is usually the ‘light bulb’ moment!
This is when you will realize whether you
used those ‘86,400 seconds’ in the day to fulfil any of your ambitions from the
wish-list. This is the point where you will realize whether your wish-list is a
fiction or a possible reality. So, what is wrong?
Usually, the problem is that either your
wish-list is too big or there are too many unimportant activities in your daily
schedule because of which you are unable to reach your goals.
But
you can only solve the problem only if you know the problem.
Thus,
I would like to suggest you to take a few minutes to try answering the
questionnaire below with full honesty. This is created to make you identify not
only some time-wasters, but also some good time-habits which you may have in
your daily life currently.
Remember, Time
management begins with Self-Management!
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