Time is as precious as every thread of gold! It is a fragment of eternity in in-between period bridging life and death.
A famous English writer has said, “To choose time is to save time.” In his words, if time is the most precious of things, wasting it must be the greatest folly since lost time is never found again. That we call time through is always less enough.
It is strong and peculiar quality of time! It cannot be recalled. Oliver Goldsmith has put it admirably: even a coach with seven horses cannot pull it back.
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I prefer to give another suitable comparison. Time is like blowing of the whistle. Once blown, nothing in the world can put it back in its place.
Time is symbolically depicted bald. But, it has a forelock at the forehead. That is why you have the phrase: catch time by the forelock. The implication is that if you do not catch the forelock, you cannot catch it as all over it is bald! Exact words are from Swift. He says, Time is painted with a lock before and bald behind, signifying when it is once passed, there is no recalling it.’
The parable of a princess’s ring will illustrate the point. She was taken to a garden in which beautiful flowers of all hues and flavours bloomed. She was asked to saunter through the garden, and pluck the flowers of her choice. She walked through the garden, wishfully looking for more and better flowers. At last, she came to the end of the garden without having plucked a single flower. Time and tide wait for no one.
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Yet, sadly we are spend-thrifts in this precious possession. When the clock strikes the hour, we seldom take a serious note of it. It is a mere ritual for us. We think that the clock is doing its duty. King James once gave an appointment to a nobleman. The latter came fifteen minutes late.
When the kind politely reminded him of his delay, the nobleman casually remarked, “Better late than never.” The King, cut to the quick, retorted, “Better never than late.” And ended the meeting.
The lesson taught to the careless nobleman has a stern message for all, especially the youngsters, who nurse the notion that the ocean of time never gets drained out! With efficient management of time, you are able to do things you have always wanted to but could not do so because you never had enough time. In consequence, you feel empty and unfulfilled though time is rushing by you.
Time management does not mean that you should become time clock, watches. Nor does it mean an over organized robut who is making lists, updating them and then Time is Fragment of Eternity forgetting them.
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It is a judicious mix of control, planning and action. Without the combination of these three elements, you cannot manage time. It is highly elusive. The general complaint is, “I have so much to do! There is just not enough time for me to do it all.”
Such people do not have time because they do not plan their time and thus waste it on activities that are of no consequence or do not further their goals. Planning means bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it.
You choose goals that are more important and more satisfying. In all planning, long range, middle range or short range, first make a list of the goals and then give them priorities of action.
One way is to make out a list of goals and objectives you wish to achieve. Three important questions: What are my lifetime goals? How would I like to spend the next three years? If I knew now I would be struck by lightning six months from today, how would I live and what would I do until then? It provides clear perspective of the long range, medium range and short-range goals on which you focus.
Once you are clear in your mind about the goals, the next step is to plan your time in such a manner so that with the least expenditure of time you are able to achieve them. No matter how busy you are, you should always take time to plan. Spend some time on planning your time. Perhaps you would want to do everything you did before plus the activities you plan to do now.
One is to plan each day’s activities in the light of your life. Ask yourself what is the most important activities and not so important ones. You remain free from confusion and save time also.
Be flexible; keep for yourself time for reading or catching up on paperwork. You must allot sufficient time for relaxation. It makes your life colourful and saves you from excessive wear and tear.
Planning goes into managing time for your day’s work. You have also to plan your night time. The largest single block of time is sleep time. Ask yourself: ‘Am I sleeping away?’ You can experiment with reducing your sleep time by half an hour or so and use it to further your goals. Give yourself time to adjust to the new sleep pattern.
You can utilize your sleep hours to advantage. Just before going to sleep pose a problem to your mind suggesting at the same time that a meaningful answer to the problem will come to you when you awaken in the morning. You will be solving most of your problems while you are asleep. Tape recorders under the pillow are new innovations. Time management also means transforming planning into reality.
Very often people leave off the process of time management at the level of planning. They find it boring. One way to take away the sting out of daily tedius boredom is to make of it a game. Check your daily list in the evening to see how many items written in the morning still remained undone and then give yourself a score.
Give yourself cent per cent when you achieve a day in which every single item on the list is crossed off. In this way manage your time and you manage your life for success. You are warned well in time as time is a horse downhill.