Managing Time

“I need more time”
“There just aren’t enough hours in a day!”
“Where did the time go?”
“He isn’t just giving me enough time”
We may complain about time more than anything else. Yet time is one of the few things equally given to everyone on earth and it is the most precious thing. And if we are not being cheated out of the time we get, there is one thing that is obvious; we fail to manage our time. So in the fast- lane life of human life cycle we should enjoy the ride and go with it when we want it at the same time knowing when we need to pull out and how to pull out. There are various good but simple techniques that will help us to ride comfortably or in other words to manage time effectively.
First we need to set our priorities in all areas of life including family, financial, spiritual and social. If starting this is difficult, then brain storming the priorities may help. That will help to set them in an orderly way and we will have something to work with and form into goals. Setting both long term and short term goals is very important in managing time effectively. Goals come in all sizes, life goals to daily goals, and you need to plan activities when you have priorities. If you failed to plan then actually you have planned to fail. And goals need to be SMART. “Goals define our mission in life. Without goals, we have no criteria to judge each job or carrier change”, said Amy Lindgren, the president of prototype Career Services.
Goals, objectives, plan and schedules must be protected from procrastination- the habit of putting off until tomorrow… And the next day…and the day after…..there are various other challenges to manage time such as telephones, TV, friends, crisis situation, lack of focus, emotional blocks, and sickness. In all of these cases, the first step is to recognize the problem and resolve to improve. Use priority lists to focus attention. Try positive self-talk. There are number of articles written about time management but reading them won’t necessarily help to manage our time unless we start applying them in our daily routines. Don’t forget that the time won’t stop for us and we have to make time a friend not an enemy. Time creates change and change is the only thing that will be permanent.