TIME

Are we in control of our lives

or

the hectic and demanding constant flow of surrounding events are running us?  

Most people these days always think that they do not have enough time to accomplish all things they need to do.

Time is indeed our most precious resource as all activities needs time. Everything in life actually depends on our ability in managing our time.

Time cannot be saved as once elapsed it is irreplaceable. But we can have a better usage of our time by way of planning. We can choose to first carry out all activities of higher value, hence a more efficient and effective usage of our time.

People who are either running their own businesses or working as professionals and employees often think that they have too many things to do in the financial and career area to achieve maximum business results and to earn good incomes and as the consequence there is too little time for other aspects of their lives.

Instead of planning and make clear decision on what we want to accomplish, we fall into a continuous fire-fighting mode of living and just reacting to what is going on around us.

Ask the following questions to ourselves:

• Have we ever stood back and done some review about where we are going and maybe also to contemplate on who we are?
• Have we thought through what in life are really important to us that we want to accomplish?
• Have we ever evaluated our activities and think about their importance to our lives?
• Have we often faced with situations where we were forced in taking action without adequate thinking?

We are the master of our time rather than becoming slaves of the daily routines schedules that we created and sometimes even worsen by unexpected events.

People tend to forget that time management is not only required in the work and business environment. Good time management is also needed for other aspect s of life especially in the family and home as well as the social and cultural aspects of our lives. It is not only for enabling us to get more things done in a shorter period of time but it is absolutely essential in having good relationships with our families, friends and the societies in which we live.

We will always have other people in all six aspects of our lives - financial and career, family and home, physical and health, mental and educational, spiritual and ethical, social and cultural. In some aspects, e.g. financial and career, mental and educational, social and cultural, we may need to adjust some schedule of our activities with those people we work with. Often we even do not have control over how the activities shall be carried out. However, in the other three aspects of our lives – physical and health, spiritual and ethical, family and home, we have more control and freedom over how we use our time.

Take time to do planning of the usage of our time before we spend them for various activities. Planning will give us better time management and more time to do much more activities in all aspects of our lives hence improve the quality of our lives.

Everyone has the same 24-hours day so if we want to spend more time in another areas of life outside the financial and career, we need to plan for them. As external changes may impact our planned schedules, ask ourselves from time to time the following questions:

• What is really important to me?
• Which are my highest priority activities?
• What is the most valuable use of my time at the moment?

When we prioritise and schedule our activities properly, we will not only always know what to do now and next and what not to do but also when to do those activities so they will bring us the greatest happiness and satisfaction.

Organize our lives so we can achieve balance and harmony, the two mandatory ingredients for a succesful and fulfilling lives.