Time Management

Managing Time...

Time Management is a term often associated with being more productive and efficient, achieving more during a working day and not wasting time in non-productive activities.

I am going to talk about managing time in a larger perspective; I am going to talk about time from perspective of our whole lives or whatever is left of it.

Each one of us is born with unknown yet limited number of days & hours of life. What we do with this limited time during our lives makes our lives good or great. Let’s also take note at this juncture that “Time” is irreversible, the moment which just went by will not return.

Surprising fact is that we start earning right from the minute we are born; we earn love, care, health, knowledge, education, respect and money. All this while that we are earning there in only one spending that we do, we spend time. So next time when you set out to spend your time either with someone or doing something ask yourself what are you going to earn? Does this earning holds value for you? Is it worth your time?

Time is money! You don’t believe it? Look at any social media platform, they collect countless minutes spent by millions of people across the world and convert this time into money, a lot of it!

I look at money as deposits of time! Example a $100 bill is actually worth 8 hours of my work time from past. I use this money to buy things which others have invested their time in producing, now when I spend this $100 on something, that something should have same value as my 8 hours of hard work. If you start looking at money in this form you are more likely to make wiser decisions of what you do with your money.

Here is why a work life balance is important; if you have not created enough time deposits in form of money you would need to continue to work for a longer time of your life. So focus on your work when you are at work, be productive to yourself, make wise and effective use of your time. On the contrary if you have spent all your time just creating these deposits but never used these deposits i.e. if you have worked long painful hours, been a workaholic to earn and collect a lot of money, but never stopped to enjoy the pleasures of life, family & friends then you have actually wasted your time because all this money in the bank account is of no use if not used.

Wealth: Since we have been earning a lot of things other than money, it will not be correct to measure wealth only in terms of money. Though money is an important and large part of wealth (since it is the deposits of time), it is not the only element. Often what makes a difference between a good life and a great life are elements like health, love, knowledge and respect. So earn wealth keeping a balance of all the important elements in life.

The only thing that can possibly buy more time is health. If you have good health, you can extend your work life and social life. Make sure you invest well in your health as early as you can. Spend time on being healthy today and this health will buy you more time tomorrow. So don’t skip a meal, don’t hog your food, don’t miss your workout, don’t live with a pain or discomfort in body just because you are too busy to visit a doctor. By doing so you are not saving time, you are actually wasting the time a good health can buy you.

We have seen how the time that we spend today has a deep impact on our future time spending, it’s a chain effect. Instead of living by the day or by the hour, which sounds cool and fun, we should actually take time out and plan on how we want to spend the rest of our lives. We should set goals for our life at a macro level, once we have done that our brains will naturally start looking for ways and means to achieve the goals. There is a possibility that life will throw a curve ball at you which may upset the plans that you made, but that should not stop you from planning. Even if you are in an unpredictable situation (like job loss, major health crises) your planning will help you get through this tough time much more smoothly. These unpredictable situations will also call upon all elements of your wealth (health, love, knowledge & money).

The crux is, stop spending time right from this moment and start investing it. View time as one of the most rare and expensive substance which is invaluable and be careful with every pinch of it that you give away, It should bring you maximum value. Not just be careful with the time that you have now, also plan for future. Measure your wealth holistically and identify the elements you have deprived yourself of. These are the elements you should start investing your time in.