To think there isn’t enough time is madness. The fact is not that we don’t have enough time, but our time is mindlessly being stolen by the ‘trivial many’, which has little or no consequences on the overall effectiveness of our life.
There are too many times stealers in each of our lives. Identify your time stealers and stop giving them your time, Contrary to what time management gurus have taught us that is to compile a ‘To do list’, we 1st need to prepare a ‘Need not do list. ’ A big ‘no’ to mindless watching of mega serials in television. A big ‘no’ to ‘at the door’, then ‘at the gate’ and finally near the car park gossip. A big ‘no’ to the compulsive habit of reading everything in a newspaper from obituaries to tender notices. A big ‘no’ to becoming a member of every association and then attending those weekly meetings just because I have a social obligation to do so. A big ‘no’ to late night parties, for it does affect my efficiency the following morning. The list is endless .Large parts of our days get wasted. A tragic amount of time gets wasted everywhere and by everybody.
The starting point to revolutionize the way we use out time is to be honest with ourselves and confess that we are inefficient in the way we use our time. The timeless wisdom is, ‘’that on which you invest time, grows.’’ If your business has been doing well, it is because you have been investing time on it. Even within business, if your Northern region is doing well, it is because you have 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 any of your relationship is not what it used to be, it is because you have not been investing time on that relationship. If your health is deteriorating, it is because you have not been investing time on it. After all, the opposite is also true,’ ’that which is starved of time, shrinks.’’
Enlist all the redundant roles of your life that is robbing you of your precious time and vouch not to give those redundant roles any of your time any more. You will free yourself of so much time by withdrawing from the ‘trivial many’ so that now you will have time for every important aspect of your life. The quality of your life depends on your ability to say ‘Yes’ to what is important, and more importantly, the discipline to say ‘No’ to the ‘don’t have to do’ aspects of life. There is lot more time than we can use, if we begin to use it wisely.