3 Golden Rules to take control of your time

Of all the resources we have, the resource of TIME seems to be the most precious, because as we all know, time once lost never comes back. No matter how rich or how powerful a person is, he is given only 24 hours a day and he need to manage his life in such a way that it perfectly fits, this fixed amount of time. As all the achievements of our life are a direct outcome of how well we manage and use our time, it makes good sense to learn as to how to manage it well. So here are the 3 golden rules to take control of your time.

·           Don't waste your time

·           Don't waste other's time

·           Don't let others waste your time.

Let me elaborate a little more on each of this for the purpose of clarity.

Don't waste your time: Knowingly or unknowingly, there is a good amount of time we all waste I have heard many people saying, "My time is not under my control". But this is not true. There is a good majority of time, which is within our control and it is up to us, as to how to use it. We can use the time to sleep till late in the morning or wake up early and do some exercise. We can use the time to watch a TV serial or read a book. We can use our time to work on an important project or just spend it chatting with friends. It is our choice.

I am not suggesting that this is right and this is wrong, because everyone finds relaxation and happiness in different ways. Rather, what I would suggest, is to check, which of your daily activities are productive and which of them are not. If you make an audit of your daily schedule, you can find where your time is going? Once, you gain this awareness, you will know what are the better options available, to lead a more Productive life. This in turn will help you to use your time more wisely.

Don't waste other's time: Just like how our time is important to us, other's time are equally important to them. So we need to make sure that we do not waste other's time too. Just because we have some free/ leisure time, it does not mean, we can go and disturb someone else's productive time.

It is always good to ask the person for prior appointment and also briefly explain the purpose you want to meet him. (even if he is a close friend)Infact you can also tell him, how much time you need. This will help the person to allot the right and necessary amount of time. For example, you can say, "I would like to discuss with you about a business opportunity. I would need 30 minutes of your time. Can you please, tell me when would be the best time to meet you?

Similarly, it would also be a good idea, to ask someone whether they are free to talk, when you make a phone call. The person may be busy in between a meeting, or getting ready to go somewhere or in a family function or some other circumstances, where he would not be comfortable to speak for long. This is not a show of courtesy, but a genuine show of concern for other's time.

If we wish others to respect our time, then we should also learn to respect other's time.

Don't let others waste your time: This is the most important. If killing our own time is suicide, allowing others to kill our time is murder. I am sure, we do not want to allow others to do that to our time. We need to fiercely protect our time from intruders in the name of friends, colleagues and relatives.

Here is where, being assertive helps. When people tend to take your time for granted, you need to emphasise the importance of your time. When you are on an important task and need to be focussed, you can tell people that you are busy and you will talk to them later.

When I say intrusion of time,it doesn't only mean the personal meetings, but also unwanted phone calls, text messages, whatsapp, facebook and everything of that sort.

Just take effort to implement these 3 golden rules and see for yourself, how more productive your life can be.

Happy Reading,

D. Senthil Kannan

Article Dated Feb 2016