Time Management is the only Skill to Master!

To make my perspective effortlessly comprehensible, consider that you have dedicated your time to read this article. The time which has several units, though, is the basic building block of one's life. Regardless of the biology and chemistry involved, the physics of time makes the final mark and defines the longevity of life. Yes, it can be affected by several factors, though time is always a factor whenever you consider a lifespan.

Considering life as a collection of moments and to effectively exploit and enjoy these moments – you need to master time management. Though in my opinion, there are three essential skills which everyone should master irrespective of the job/role/industry/lifestyle they are into – Time Management, Effective Communication, and Socializing. Rest all skills are either bi-products of these skills or are intellectual gifts from your genes. To further make the point, a task to be accomplished needs one fundamental entity – that is, the TIME.

One may argue that skills or knack or giftedness can be more advantageous than the learned skills such as time management. Yes, it may be for a while; but doesn't even gifted persons did give time to hone their skills?

A formula one race driver spends only 2 hours in the race car on race day. Even if you include the whole race weekend, it comes around only 10 hours in the car, including practice and qualifying rounds. But they spend the whole of their year practicing, travelling, trouble-shooting, exercising, media interaction, conditioning and many other tasks which will make those 2 race hours' worth it.

And, the team which makes every race a success works tirelessly on complex tasks such as the engine improvements, the aerodynamics of the car, speed optimization, but the champions of any race are the pitstop mechanics especially the tire-gunners who change the tires. They practice changing the tires at the circuit and the factory for more than 1000 times, and it is not overstated.

Statathlon.com conducted a thorough study on pit stops performance and race wins, where time management at a pit stop makes the race winners and gives the skilled drivers much needed few hundred meters advantage over their competitors. Here is a link to the analysis - https://statathlon.com/analysis-of-the-pit-stop-strategy-in-f1/

To quantify and understand it better, let's consider a simple equation to get the results from the skills, a certain amount of time is to be spent. Here we go with the equation –

skills + time = yield;

skills + 2x time = 2x yield;

skills + 10x time = 10x yield…

skills + n x time = n x yield

After a while, skills reach a plateau and don't make a further difference to the product or yield. Still, the time keeps making the difference given that the productive work is conducted during that time.

Now the big question – How to learn to manage the time? The key is – give it time!

1.      Log the time spent – Logging anything can help in a big way. And, if it is time logging, with new apps available for your mobile devices, it's much easier to visualize where your time is spent. In the beginning, you may feel that this is an added task, though after a while, with the development of the habit, it will become part of the routine. The benefits – it will help in killing the time killers - the non-value add tasks such as internet surfing or spending too much time on your coffee breaks.

2.      Always do only one task at a time. There are many studies around the fact that trying to accomplish multiple tasks at once affects productivity. Human brains are not designed for multitasking, so prioritizing tasks is an important activity that can help in a big way. This doesn't necessarily mean that you can't have multiple tasks in your task list for the day, only catch here is to focus on one task at a time and give it all the attention it needs.

3.      Plan and Prioritize your schedule – With the above two actions, you will soon need to Define and Refine the tasks in your schedule, for good. You will quickly find some tasks which are time-eaters. However, they don't necessarily help in you being productive such as lining up for groceries on weekends; this can be done quickly on any weekdays while commuting, and it saves much time and avoids the frustration of unnecessary waiting in the queue.

To conclude, let's finish it here and save some time!