“Doest thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.” Benjamin Franklin was spot on when he gave us this now famous quote. In fact, his life was run by this ideal, that you should live life to its fullest. Franklin did quite a lot in his lifetime, contributing many things to the advancement of science, technology, politics, and other important areas of America’s history.
Time management can be an effective anchor on which life can be built with consistency in spite of all the other variables. Time management is first an attitude and only then a skill. Time management is first an attitudinal change towards valuing time. Time management is in knowing what you want in return for the time you invest. The real challenge is not to manage time but to manage yourself.
There is more time than we can use, if we begin to use it wisely. The main secret to finding time is to identify the time stealers and get rid of them because time gets used up even if we don’t use them. Contrary to conventional time management, first compile a ‘Not To Do List’. These are all the redundant roles of your life that keep robbing you of your precious time, and vouch not to give those any more of your time.
Time management is not about tools; after all, a fool with a tool is still a fool. Time management is about self-management. It is the ability to say ‘yes’ to what is important, and more importantly, the discipline to say ‘no’ to ‘you don’t have to do’ aspects of life. If you know where you want to be tomorrow, then the only way to get there is to invest your time today in the direction of your tomorrow.
‘That on which you invest time grows’. If your business has been doing well, it is because you been investing time on it. If your social circle is expanding, it is because you have been investing time on it. If your family life is deteriorating, it is because you have not been investing time on your family. If your relationship with a friend is not what it used to be, it is because you have not been investing time on that relationship. So also, your health may be deteriorating if you have not given due time and attention to it. The opposite is also true: ‘That which is starved of time, shrinks’.
Value time and you will value life. However, what you do with your time depends on what you want to achieve with your life. Life cannot be lived by the clock. It is lived through the heart. You can’t aspire to be a world champion in chess without giving enough time to chess. Life is all about focus. Give maximum time to developing your talents, the world will applaud you for your talents. You can reach where you want to reach tomorrow, only if you invest enough of your time today in the direction of your tomorrow.
In essence, time management is not about organising activities with reference to the clock, but about organising yourself and your life with reference to what you want to be in life. Where your time goes, there your future comes. The greatest compliment one can give oneself is to be able to say, “‘I had enough time for everything that I believed was important.”