Basics of time management you must know
“People often complain about lack of time when lack of direction is the problem.”- Zig Ziglar, American Author.
The above quote summarises the emotion behind the phrase ‘Time Management. There are innumerable articles and blogs present on Time Management on the internet. Many of those blogs are of excellent quality and offer lots of learning on Time Management. But few blogs of exhaustive nature cover all the Ws(What, Why, When, Who, Where, How) of Time Management. This blog attempts to bring my learnings on Time Management in one place. While writing, I am keeping students and young professionals as my audience. I will be covering the following aspects of Time Management:
- What is Time Management
- Why should I learn about Time Management
Let’s take them one by one.
What is Time Management?
Isn’t the phrase “Time Management” a misnomer? I feel this phrase is a misnomer. I have reasons for it. Let us first see the dictionary meaning of the two words: Time and Management. Time is “a nonspatial continuum that is measurable”. Management is “the act or art of managing”. If we look deeply into the definition of time, a question pops up. Can we manage time? Because time is a continuous phenomenon that is beyond human control. Time keeps moving at its own pace in a given space-time dimension. And how can we manage or manipulate something that is not under our control? So, we can conclude that we can not manage time as time is not under our control. What next? Should we end the blog? Definitely no. Let us see what exactly time management is.
Time Management is a phrase loosely but prevalently used for “Self Management”. Assuming that we know and understand the ‘self’, we can conclude that we can manage our-self. The knowledge of ‘self’ would depend upon the quality of knowledge one has acquired. Definition and understanding of ‘self’ would be different for a person who has delved only into material or physical knowledge. And ‘self’ will be seen differently by a person who has dived into the realm of spirituality.
Depending upon the understanding of ‘self’, ‘self-management’ will be approached. Let us move ahead with the general and prevailing perception of ‘self’. For most people, ‘self’ will be the physical body one has. So, self-management would be managing various attributes and outcomes of our physical body. A few of the characteristics of our physical body are:
- Physical Health
- Mental Health
- Emotional Well-being
A few of the outcomes of our body are:
- Our Behaviour towards others
- Our Actions
- Our Mood
So, if we can own the above-mentioned physical attributes and outcomes, we can control or manage our ‘self’. But why do we need to manage our ‘self’? Let’s see.
Why Should I Learn To Manage My ‘Self’?
Managing your ‘self’ is the only way to be at your best. The core motive behind time management is to be:
- more productive
- more efficient and
- more effective
Many people see productivity and efficiency as one and the same. But there is a very subtle difference between being productive and being efficient. Similarly, efficient and effective look similar, but there is a difference between both. Let’s explore these three words one by one.
Productivity
Productivity can be defined as the output we create with respect to time. The more work or yield we generate in a given time, the more productive we are.
Productivity is a function of skill. To be productive, we need to have skills. If we are not skilled we can not be productive. So, acquiring skills becomes the most crucial factor for being productive.
Efficiency
The difference between productivity and efficiency is that of quantity and quality. Efficiency is the quality output that we create in a given time. Efficiency is productivity+quality. As we need skills to be productive, we have to master the acquired skills to be efficient. Our efficiency depends on how good we are at our skill sets.
Being good at anything is the function of practice. The more we practice any skill, the more efficient we would be in that particular skill. Therefore, practicing acquired skillsets becomes the key to being efficient.
Effectiveness
Being effective means doing the right things right. There are two aspects to being effective:
- Knowing what are the right things.
- Doing them correctly
To know or identify the right things, we need to acquire knowledge of various domains. Knowledge acquisition gives us a bird’s eye view and we are able to see the larger picture.
So, being effective is a function of knowledge acquisition. Therefore, continuous learning is the mantra to be effective.
If any of the productivity, efficiency, or effectiveness is missing in our approach, then we would be stressed and dissatisfied. Eventually, we would start blaming time and start looking for time management techniques.
