Waste Time And Time Will Waste You -
To be a good mediocre, underachiever or failure, try mismanaging your time. A quote by Harvey MacKay reads "Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.”
Some years back, I was listening to a preacher who spoke briefly on time management and he said " Time is an unbeliever because it never forgives. Waste time and you'll eventually find out time has wasted you".
As I pondered on that statement, I found out, it is so true". For example if you allocated an hour to do a task but fail to do it at that particular time, you will never regain that hour. The task could be done sometime later but that particular hour wasted can never be regained.
Since time is so valuable, time management is very essential in life and in order to be successful, one needs to be a very good time manager. Good time management isn't just about keeping busy like many people do, it is about making every second count and making real progress towards personal goals set.
It is often said that time is the only gift everyone one has equally. So, what then makes A more successful than B? "The only gift you have in the same amount as everyone else is TIME! Whatever you don't have, you've been unwilling to exchange your time for" – Felix Makanjuola Jr
This quote brings me to the conclusion that the extent to which you go in life depends on how well you manage your time.
Here are a few tips on effective time management!
1. Set specific and realistic goals with deadlines
2. Understand the difference between what is urgent and what is important ( For more info, check out the important vs. urgent model)
3. Identify what steals your time and tackle them
4. Avoid procrastination! Do what you can now, don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
5. Stay focused; disciplined and dedicated, avoid interruptions and distractions.
It is also useful to take time out of our daily routine just to reflect on how much progress we are making and what we really want from life. We can ask questions like “Yesterday, did I do what I needed to do? Did I do what I wanted to do? Did I do what I need not have done? What can I do to make my today better? What do I want to achieve at the end of the day? What are my priorities for the day? What do I want out of life in the future? How am I going to achieve it? How long will it take me? "
"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” -H. Jackson Brown, Jr.