– Thomas Merton
Are you human? Please know that you have priceless, inherent worth! Let’s say that again slowly in our minds – PRICELESS. INHERENT. WORTH! Nothing can take that fact away, even if someone says differently or perhaps you don’t yet know that for yourself. I’m going to show you; and you, in turn, will show yourself!
Often we find that, in spite of our best efforts, we do not achieve the desired outcome in our professional work or, in short, fail to achieve the targeted goals. Thereafter, we put in extra time to meet the set target in our workplace, cutting off the time reserved for our personal life at home. It may lead to unhappiness among family members, who may feel neglected at times. Hence, the best idea is to adopt certain ways to make the best, balanced use of the time allotted to every task, be it business, personal or otherwise.
Time is not the main thing. It’s the only thing.
– Miles Davis, Notable American Jazz musician
Analyze the Time Spent
First of all, we need to keep an eye over the time spent in fruitful work and also the time wasted for various reasons. We may maintain a schedule for a week, to keep strict vigilance over every moment spent in work or leisure. In this way, it will be easier to find out how we lose precious time that could be used in a better manner. Famous American author Zig Ziglar said, “Lack of direction, not lack of time is the problem. We all have 24-hour days.”
Set the Current Priorities
We all have multiple tasks in hand at a time, comprising both our professional and personal lives. Even at the workplace, we are often unexpectedly assigned more, which leaves us baffled as to the order in which to perform them. In this situation, we need to ascertain the importance of each task and find out which one needs to be done first. Thus, we can set the priority level for each task, which will help us to complete all tasks in the right time.
Keep Specific Time Targets
We need to assign a definite time for each task, according to the work volume and time available. These targets should be realistic, as per our working capacity. Then we should strive hard to maintain our own set deadlines so that we do not need to feel overly pressured over a perceived lack of time.
Create Daily Plans
It is essential to create a working plan every day. Ideally, we should make these plans either before going to bed on the previous night or in the early morning before starting the day. We only need to follow these schedules diligently and accomplish all our works in a fixed time. American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau said, “It is not enough to be busy. The question is: What are we busy about?”
These paths are definite steps towards maintaining balance and harmony in our regular life. Stephen King said about beating procrastination, “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”
