Someone said a very true thing that ’’Time and tide waits for no man’’. You might have heard this proverb many times, but would have also heard this one as well that ’’Time is Money’’.
It is true that Winners are great time managers. Manage time effectively. I am here to give piece of my mind on this topic.
Introduction
5:30 AM: I am in a cottage in Liverpool, UK, having a nice time dreaming on my cosy bed. But just then the clock rings and brings me back to real world.
6:15 AM: I have just come out of the bathroom and am waiting for my breakfast to arrive. And there the doorbell rings and the gorgeous 62 years young lady hands me over some lovely dishes.
7:30 AM: A fairly long ride makes me reach my business school. It looks lovely as ever.
12 noon: The classes are over and I am off to the library to lend some books.
2:30 PM: I am inside the office of Infomatics and am heading towards my PC. I should expect a lot of work today.
7:30 PM: Office time’s up. Let’s collect the daily wages of 90 pounds.
8:00 PM: I am inside a Indian Hotel where I will have my dinner.
9:00 PM: Back at the cottage and will sleep now.
This is the time-table I follow everyday. I live, learn and earn in the UK. If I have to succeed, I must stick with this time-table for the next 11 months coming up. My every second is booked for something or the other. Specially, when I am at work, I have to move according to the deadlines set for me. How I am going to achieve them in a tight schedule is important. But I have worked out a plan that helps me very much. I will take you through those points, by explaining each of them.
Let’s start:
1) Set the goals and daily targets
Let’s say there is a lad who wants to be a great cricketer. That’s his goal. But to achieve this goal, he must accomplish daily targets. Like, first he should learn to handle the ball and the bat. Then he must improve his skills. Then he must play well to get selected for the zonal level. Then he should move on to the national level. And when he reaches the international level, he should play well to stay there. So, you see that you achieve a single, long-term goal, he first has to accomplish many different targets.
You too must have goals, which you should achieve by fulfilling daily targets. Let’s say you have to check 1000 files for a certain company within 10 days. You would be demoralised by looking at that 1000 figure. But look at the brighter side. You have 10 days! Each day you can check just 100 files, and the other 100 the next day, and so on. So, 1000 files is your goals, and checking 100 files each day is your target. So, this means you have broken-up your job in easy installment-kind of a thing. Now an unimaginable thing seems to be achievable by you. Isn’t it? So, goals and targets are very important in time management at work.
2) The Time-table
A time-table will display systematically the break-up of your 24 hours. Like the one I have. To maintain a time-table or a schedule is a good method of time management. Sometimes things go haywire, but at the other times it does work. You must maintain a realistic time-table, which you can achieve. Like saying that a file will be checked in 5 minutes, and therefore, 100 files would be checked in 500 minutes, i.e., around 8 hours 20 minutes. This implies that you have to work for every minute to check all those 100 files. What if there are 200 files or more? Will you work for 16 hours at a stretch? So, make a realistic time-table on your experience. If you check a file in 5 minutes, and there are 50 such files, which gives a time of 4 hours 10 minutes. So, write in 5 hours for checking 50 files. Some time should be given to recreate and rejuvenate.
You should not hurry to complete everything in a single day. Start afresh the next day, as fresh minds work better than preoccupied ones.
3) Talk less, work enough
Your pal may come in talk to you about just anything. The pep talk could be about the last Friday’s booze party, or about the new girl who joined this week. Such talks do come as a relief, but such discussions should not last long. First, because it is wasting your time on something not needed, and second, your concentration is disturbed. Let such talks last for 5-10 minutes, so that you can get back to work to achieve your daily targets, according to your time-table.
I did say ’’Talk less, work enough’’. If you work enough, it’s good for you, and if you work more, it is good for your boss. You have the choice!
4) That last one hour
Our anxiety to reach home starts well before our wind-up time. Usually, we start packing our bags well before an hour of our see-off moment. That one hour disturbs our rhythm, and it is very important to escape the home-sickness-in-the-last-hour feeling.
One day our teacher said to a late-comer who was an hour late that son you have not wasted an hour, but you have wasted 3600 seconds! Sounds big, isn’t it.
We must make our every second count, while at work. Remember, your performance is measured everytime by an unknown medium. How you put in your efforts at work, how you manage time, and how eager you are to reach home, counts variably in your performance report. So, work well even for that last hour. Nobody is going to chain you after those 8 hours or so of your job timings.
5) If you missed it once, you missed it forever
A man requested a very high-profiled personality for an interview. That personality was a very successful businessman. He said to the interviewer that he has just 15 seconds to ask all the questions. The interviewer was very happy with this opportunity of an exclusive interview. So, he started thinking about an appropriate question to ask. But in the process he wasted some crucial time, and when he was ready, the businessman said, ’’Your time’s up, lad!’’. Saying this he went away, leaving the interviewer with empty-hands.
This story tells us to bank on opportunities, and not sit and wait for the right time to come. Opportunities just show us a hint. It is left to us to understand it or not.
You might feel that this is off-topic. But by time-management I don’t mean to manage those 8 hours of job timings; but I actually mean your whole life at work. You are giving one-third of your life to the work. You are giving your time to the work. How you manage those moments at work is totally up to you. Opportunities, threats, rejoice, agony, ecstasy, etc. all comes by time. You cannot miss any of these, as both the good and the bad teach you something. So, don’t think you know all and have seen all, but actually be a good student of life, and a learner always.
Take those tough decisions and act appropriately. Time would not come back again, and would be not so good always.
A man who moves with time sees himself ahead of those lagged behind in hope of a push. Time will bring you joy and riches, if you use it effectively. I don’t say I am great, and I know everything. But I am just telling you what I have experience in this short phase of my life.
So, when somebody asks you now that where do you find yourself in 20-30 years down the line. Just say confidently, ’’At the top!’’