Many people bemoan that “there is never enough time” to do everything that they wish to achieve. People often complain that time is flying and life is getting faster with people being bombarded with requests and information from all quarters. However, time is a priceless commodity and sometimes individual needs to take a moment to assess how and where time is spent in order to make the most of this precious commodity.
The internet and social networking platforms have provided fun, but in some instances, presented time challenges for many people. People can be found spending hours on Facebook, tweeting on Twitter or surfing on the internet for hours. In this case, the individual is in danger of idling away hours even without realising it. Others may argue that surfing on the internet, is a good way to relax and connect with people.
However, the important point here to ensure that minutes don’t turn into hours on a weekly basis, especially, if the individual has other pressing personal and professional demands on his/her time.
Time is a Priceless Commodity
Reacting to time pressures as opposed to adopting a proactive approach to choosing where time is spent economically, can lead to an individual feeling exhausted, deflated and unable to plan effectively. Other emotions that an individual can feel may include:
- Agitation
- Negatively impacting personal and professional relations
- Lack of motivation
- Anxiousness
- Short tempered
- Not using full potential
- Not having the time to assess what is working or not working
- Unable to relax unless all the time demands are honoured
- Unable to enjoy the present moment and constantly worry about events in the future that haven’t taken place
- Feeling as if the individual is drifting from one thing to another without setting out proper boundaries and framework on time allocation
- Feeling out of synch personally and professional
- Feeling "flat"
- Feeling guilty for spending too much time on certain areas and not others
Tips on Achieving Better Time Management
Identifying time activity analysis is a useful way of gaining an insight into the activities that an individual spends his/her time. Taking stock of where time is spent also enables an individual to make the necessary adjustments if any need to be made. The following provides a useful, but not exhaustive checklist on managing time better:
- Set aside 10-15 minutes to analyse where time is spent by identifying tasks and demands on time. Spending a little bit of time can yield profitable results.
- Of the tasks and duties noted, prioritise the list according to importance.
- Prioritise the list again in terms of length of time (the most time consuming activities at the top of the list)
- Identifying times of days when those activities have been taking place up to date.
- Look at the list and identify which activities need to be eliminated or added.
- Schedule the list in terms of priority and urgency and this can be noted using electronic tools, mapping or manual diaries.
- Maintaining the “time check” regularly so that this becomes a habit as opposed to an irregular activity.
The above will enable the individual to “slot in” fun/personal/professional activities that s/he enjoys doing. If the individual is struggling in managing the above alone, then s/he may consider turning to friends and family for support or even consider a professional coach to assist with better time management.
Success Factors
Managing the best use of time is an age old argument and many businesses and individuals have capitalised on performance management and time tracking band wagons. Attempts have been made to quantify the best use of times and endless gurus have put forward their perspective. Time is also big business as the old adage suggests “time is money” and many people are beginning to feel that there is never enough time in the day to do “everything that an individual chooses to do.
Some gurus argue that individuals to spend some time scheduling a week in advance so that the individual can gain a clear perspective on time demands for the week ahead. Others argue that people can benefit by waking up an hour earlier each day, whilst others have created social platforms which have enticed millions around the world to connect with one another in a virtual world, thus adding to a burgeoning list of time demands.
Managing one’s time is not rocket science, but it does require an individual to keep a healthy check especially, if s/he faces multiple demands on time from various personal and professional quarters. People often feel most contented when they have a “grip” on their time demands, which will enable them to select the activities and duties that enable them to function within their world. If kept unchecked, time can flow like running water with minutes, hours and days turning into weeks and months, with the individual wondering where time had flown.
Pervin Shaikh - We all have the necessary inner tools in our tool box to make a huge impact on our personal and professional lives.
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