We all know people who are constantly late. Likewise we can point people who are always too busy or ‘doing it later’, which seldom occurs. Funnily enough we still all have the same 24 hours per day. That’s something we have in common—no exceptions.
Busyness is an excuse. There is always the same amount of time for everyone. It is just a matter how we use the time available to us. When someone tells you that they don’t have the time right now or they are ‘too busy’ what they really are saying is that they have other priorities that are more important at that moment. It is always about priorities and never about the time itself. When you understand this point it can improve your life significantly. Are you appreciating your current moment the best possible way for you and for others? If not then you better consider more carefully your time management.
How much time do you spend talking about doing things—instead of doing them? Explaining and describing your tasks and future undertakings will not get them done. If you are truly occupied you do not have the time to talk about doing something, you simply are carrying them out. Multitasking is also often a good time waster. What might seem to be an efficient way to do things may in actuality result many things done poorly. A focused and intensive effort often enables you to get things swiftly over with and to move on for your other priorities. Don’t take a short concentration span and efficiency as interchangeable terms—they are not. Starting lots of things and finishing only a few is not a good track record for getting things done. You also are wasting a lot of energy for the unfinished business that keeps you occupied until you give them up as wasted efforts.
How to avoid piling up plenty of work for later days that never seem to arrive? Act at once. When you read your email do something about it immediately. Don’t postpone and read it twice or even a third time before doing the required actions, even if it just means simply deleting the mail. When you learn to do things properly at once you save a lot of time for your other things. Also carrying out tasks as they arrive makes it is easier to handle your workload. Seldom we expect to have ‘more time’ available for us in the future than currently.
And the most important time saver is a very simple but difficult concept called: “no”. If you don’t like something indicate it straight away. Delaying the moment of truth does not help anyone. It gets the easier the more accustomed you become to signal early on your opinions about something. Is there any better way to save time than by refusing to engage in something that is not for you in the first place? Time management is easy, learning the lessons may take some time. It is all about how we appreciate and value our efforts and of others—by prioritising.
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